Sanibel 3801 & EMS

[RSSmith]

Hello all, this is my first time on the forum. Been creeping around it for a year and have picked up on some good ideas and found I am not alone with quite a few issues we have had. We brought our Sanibel home in June,2017 but due to health issues were unable to use it for the first year. Had to take unit back to dealer 2x for warranty fixes. Some were fixed, some not. Currently waiting to hear if kitchen slide will be addressed. Wrinkling & tearing of linoleum. Anyway as we near the closing on sale of our house (going fulltime)I have a couple projects to complete in the Sanibel today. One is swapping out the toilet for a Dometic 320 and the other is installing a Progressive EMS. My question is location for EMS. It sounds like behind the breaker panel may be the spot. Any other 3801 owners that have done this install ?

[rracer5]

Originally Posted by RSSmith

Hello all, this is my first time on the forum. Been creeping around it for a year and have picked up on some good ideas and found I am not alone with quite a few issues we have had. We brought our Sanibel home in June,2017 but due to health issues were unable to use it for the first year. Had to take unit back to dealer 2x for warranty fixes. Some were fixed, some not. Currently waiting to hear if kitchen slide will be addressed. Wrinkling & tearing of linoleum. Anyway as we near the closing on sale of our house (going fulltime)I have a couple projects to complete in the Sanibel today. One is swapping out the toilet for a Dometic 320 and the other is installing a Progressive EMS. My question is location for EMS. It sounds like behind the breaker panel may be the spot. Any other 3801 owners that have done this install ?

The kitchen slide because of what's installed in it (refrigerator, stove, pantry etc.) is very heavy. Even if you get it adjusted, it will eventually (because of the fridge located on that corner) start to make contact with the floor linoleum.

LCI (Lippert Components) makes a "slider kit" which are nothing more than a pair of thin vinyl sheets/planks approx. 40" long X 6" wide with anti-skid tape on the underside. Just lay them on the floor prior to bringing in the slide and the corners of the slide will glide on top of the "sliders" instead of gouging into the floor. Before getting the "kit" I used a thin (1/4" thick) cutting board on the floor where the slide was gouging into the floor.

Behind the power panel is probably the best and most common place that EMS units are installed.

Hope my info/suggestions are useful.

[RSSmith]

Thank you rracer5. I have seen mention of the Lippert slider kits. I will look into these. The EMS install was delayed as I found one of the inverter (?) cooling fans dangling in the housing. I thought it was worth mentioning to my maintenance guy at the dealership but after no reply I went on line and ordered a new fan for $2.75. The EMS install will continue. Thanks again for your info.

[esmoglo]

We had the same issue with our 2016 Crusader called PT direct explained the issue & they sent the parts out. See attached photo of what they look like (uninstalled) they go on the corners of the slide have had them installed now for almost 2 years so far so good. I would actively look in the future for an RV that doesn't have Darco wrapped slides bottoms, its crap it's just that simple. Will post a pic later of them installed as I am off to the RV to replace a stock crap faucet.

[RSSmith]

Thanks for the heads up. I went ahead and ordered a set of Lippert Slide Slickers (a few bucks cheaper thru Amazon). They have not arrived yet but hopefully they are worth it. Are yours permanent mounted or do you have to lay them down each time you run the slides ? I will keep a watchful eye on the underside of slides.

[clr]

I have a 2015 Sanibel 3601 and although I have not yet installed an EMS I have preflighted the install. In the case of the 3601 the wiring from the outside runs under the steps that go up to the upper bedroom. You can gain access by removing the vented front kick plates from the stairs. My plan is to leave the stock wiring alone and remove it from the outside fixture and move to the output side of the EMS. I would then place a new section of wire between the outside fixture and the input to the EMS. In this way I could easily remove the EMS in the future if I wanted to.

[RSSmith]

I like the idea of adding a pigtail. From what I've seen on you tube and read it may make the hookup easier and if you wanted to remove later, make the hookup look like original. Thanks.

[esmoglo]

Originally Posted by RSSmith

Thanks for the heads up. I went ahead and ordered a set of Lippert Slide Slickers (a few bucks cheaper thru Amazon). They have not arrived yet but hopefully they are worth it. Are yours permanent mounted or do you have to lay them down each time you run the slides ? I will keep a watchful eye on the underside of slides.

Lots to do on the RV today just got done it's hot out there.

Ok took a few photos of them installed they install under the drip rail on the lower part of the slide, also the bent up ends (on one side) go on the inside because when the slide is closed and I lift up the carpet I see it. I had the dealer put them in I have no idea how to lift the slide to make these fit. I do 100% of my maintenance except for slide & body work I leave that to the professionals. Hope the images help out.

[rracer5]

Originally Posted by RSSmith

Thanks for the heads up. I went ahead and ordered a set of Lippert Slide Slickers (a few bucks cheaper thru Amazon). They have not arrived yet but hopefully they are worth it. Are yours permanent mounted or do you have to lay them down each time you run the slides ? I will keep a watchful eye on the underside of slides.

Originally Posted by esmoglo

Lots to do on the RV today just got done it's hot out there.

Ok took a few photos of them installed they install under the drip rail on the lower part of the slide, also the bent up ends (on one side) go on the inside because when the slide is closed and I lift up the carpet I see it. I had the dealer put them in I have no idea how to lift the slide to make these fit. I do 100% of my maintenance except for slide & body work I leave that to the professionals. Hope the images help out.

They just lay on the floor/carpet in front of each edge of the slide. They have little "nibs" on one end to grip the carpeted areas. In my kitchen, I cut the "nib" end off so it would fit between the outside wall and the kitchen nook cabinet & the "nibs" won't put little dents in the lenoleum. The "grip strips under them help keep them in place while the slide glides over them.

As esmoglo posted, these are another "save feature" for the underside of the slide & they also alow water to drip off the plastic instead of running along and under the slide on the darco wrap material. They are held in place by double sided tape. You can lift the slide slightly to install these by using a 24" - 30" piece of 2x6 (or similar wide board) and jacking up just enough to sneak the vinyl/plastic sliders in.

[RSSmith]

Good stuff, thanks for the info.