Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-25-2015, 11:35 AM   #61
Member
 
Coachmanjk's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 36
I used the heavy cylinder kit from camping world. It was for full size queen/king mattresses. Here is the link. Heavy Bedlift Kit - Hatchlift 120-150 - Bed Pads & Mattresses - Camping World I bought this one because I am going to upgrade to a better mattress and wanted to be sure I had enough lift power. The only problem I encountered was when I followed the directions and mounted the lower bracket at 14" there was way to much lift for the cheap factory mattress. It would spring open on its own. The fix is that you move the lower bracket farther towards the back. You can see this in the picture I posted earlier. I had already glued and screwed the wood block in place so I didn't move that back, but you can see the bracket is right at the back edge. In the future when I get another mattress I may have to move it forward again, but for now it works great!
__________________
JK
Hanover, PA
2015 Coachmen FE 282BHDS
Coachmanjk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-25-2015, 11:39 AM   #62
Member
 
Coachmanjk's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 36
spatterso911,

I added a battery powered LED hockey puck light to the storage compartment. It is touch activated. I want to see how that works. If it is not sufficient then I will add a hard wired one.
__________________
JK
Hanover, PA
2015 Coachmen FE 282BHDS
Coachmanjk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-25-2015, 02:26 PM   #63
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 4
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coachmanjk View Post
spatterso911,

I added a battery powered LED hockey puck light to the storage compartment. It is touch activated. I want to see how that works. If it is not sufficient then I will add a hard wired one.
Another option, if you want to stay battery powered, is to use a motion sensing LED under counter light so that it would activate automatically once opened, or a set of remote controlled LED pucks where you can turn all 3 on at once. Costco and Sam's Club carry both kinds very reasonably.

I'd really like to have a 12V light wired to a pressure/contact switch on under bed storage box myself but I'm a little concerned that if there was not enough pressure on the bed it might activate the light and drain the battery.
Drelkor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-04-2015, 09:57 AM   #64
Member
 
Coachmanjk's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 36
Anyone added a new recessed light in the shower yet? It is very dark in there with just the light on over the sink. I tried a LED battery light, but it didn't help much. I now ordered a recessed LED to match the rest of the ceing lights in the camper from camping world. I pulled the trim cover from the roof vent and it looks like there is a space to fish wires from the other ceilng light to the shower between the roof truss. I am going to wire them together so they both come on with the wall switch. The light will be here next week. Just wondering if anyone had an experience doing this.
__________________
JK
Hanover, PA
2015 Coachmen FE 282BHDS
Coachmanjk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-04-2015, 12:51 PM   #65
Junior Member
 
spatterso911's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coachmanjk View Post
spatterso911,

I added a battery powered LED hockey puck light to the storage compartment. It is touch activated. I want to see how that works. If it is not sufficient then I will add a hard wired one.

I picked up a couple of battery operated motion detector lights from Costco months ago. I think they will be perfect in that space and should provide ample light. They are LED so I shouldn't have to change batteries too often.
__________________
2015.5 FE 282 BHDSLE
2011 GMC Yukon XL Denali
spatterso911 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-04-2015, 12:56 PM   #66
Junior Member
 
spatterso911's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23
How much time are people getting before you find out the battery is dead while the trailer is parked in storage? I'm averaging about 10 days before dead battery. I will have to wire in a battery cutoff switch. I am still using the interstate 12V the trailer came with.
__________________
2015.5 FE 282 BHDSLE
2011 GMC Yukon XL Denali
spatterso911 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-06-2015, 08:18 PM   #67
Junior Member
 
spatterso911's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23
Here are pictures of the latest upgrades/modifications to the trailer. Included are pictures of the gas struts for the master bed, LED lighting I installed in the storage under the bunks, and I switched out the TV mount to one that swivels and added an Apple TV. All mods working great!
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3595.jpg
Views:	184
Size:	201.7 KB
ID:	73349   Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3596.jpg
Views:	196
Size:	312.8 KB
ID:	73350   Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3598.jpg
Views:	159
Size:	242.4 KB
ID:	73351   Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3599.jpg
Views:	184
Size:	207.0 KB
ID:	73352   Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3600.jpg
Views:	176
Size:	238.5 KB
ID:	73353  

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3601.jpg
Views:	188
Size:	261.3 KB
ID:	73354   Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG_3602.jpg
Views:	181
Size:	254.8 KB
ID:	73355  
__________________
2015.5 FE 282 BHDSLE
2011 GMC Yukon XL Denali
spatterso911 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-07-2015, 05:08 PM   #68
Member
 
Coachmanjk's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 36
Today I made a corian sink cover to replace the cheap plastic one that came with it
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	1428444504518.jpg
Views:	189
Size:	105.7 KB
ID:	73464   Click image for larger version

Name:	1428444518972.jpg
Views:	198
Size:	73.3 KB
ID:	73465  
__________________
JK
Hanover, PA
2015 Coachmen FE 282BHDS
Coachmanjk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-16-2015, 02:05 PM   #69
Member
 
Coachmanjk's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 36
Completed the last few mods to the camper today. They were to add a new recessed light in the shower, add a half shelf to the bedroom closet, and add a shelf above the sink in the overhead cabinet. Also flushed and sanitized the fresh water tank. Leaving for the first trip of the year tomorrow.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	1429211087050.jpg
Views:	178
Size:	68.7 KB
ID:	74407   Click image for larger version

Name:	1429211102514.jpg
Views:	158
Size:	45.4 KB
ID:	74408   Click image for larger version

Name:	1429211116695.jpg
Views:	183
Size:	68.3 KB
ID:	74409  
__________________
JK
Hanover, PA
2015 Coachmen FE 282BHDS
Coachmanjk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-21-2015, 12:28 AM   #70
Junior Member
 
spatterso911's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 23
Today, I learned a valuable lesson about the battery. Long story...

** Skip to bottom for the take home message **

Just recently took a 3 night camping trip, and in preparation, brought the battery from home (had been on the battery tender in my garage) and re-connected it to the trailer. No power! I checked my work, and realized that I had connected the posts backwards. The dreaded REVERSE POLARITY!

I quickly disconnected, reconnected it properly and noted the power was on. Battery was full. I then brought the trailer home from my storage place, and parked it in my driveway. Over the next day/night, we prepped the trailer, cooled the fridge, and packed stuff for our trip, all while connected to a 15amp plug coming from my garage. All seemed to be going well.

On the day of the trip, we got everything ready to take off for our fun-filled trip, and lo and behold, I found that the radio was not lit. The display was dead. I pulled the radio, found a blown fuse, and ran out quickly, found a 10 amp fuse, and replaced it. Phew! the radio sprung back to life again. Easy fix, I thought. We then got ready to go, I checked the battery meter, and found that the battery was completely dead! What the! It was plugged into shore power all night and day, couldn't possibly be dead. I replaced it with a spare 12V, which was fully charged, and then everything seemed to be working well. We embarked on our trip, finally, but by this time, we were 2 hours late leaving. No worries. No clocks needed when you're camping...

We arrived, set up quickly, and enjoyed the evening. The lights worked well, and the fridge/microwave seemed to be working fine, but of course, we were hooked up to a 30A plug, so why wouldn't they??

Well, next morning, I woke up early. Turned on a light, and found that the lights were mysteriously dim. Turning on other lights seemed to make them all the more dim. I started to wonder, so I checked the battery meter, and found that the other battery was dead! After some quick research on this forum (Thanks FRF!), I realized that I needed to check more fuses. The Reverse Polarity Fuses on the main panel were blown. 40A fuses! Nope, didn't have spares. Ran out to a store, replaced the fuses, and she came back to life, with the meter finally showing that the battery was charging. I checked all other fuses and found them all intact, so I think this is the end of the problem. Turns out, if the RP fuses blow, the converter cannot convert shore line power to 12V and the trailer lives completely off of the battery. Once the battery goes, so does the rest of the trailer. Replacing the fuses "reconnects" the converter to the main electrical and 12V system, so that everything works. Rest of trip was uneventful, and we logged another 3 nights of camping in our awesome trailer. As you can guess, now I have 5 more 40 fuses, and an array of replacement fuses in my camper toolbox!

** Take Home Message**

Do not EVER connect the battery in reverse polarity. If you do, you can blow the RP fuses. Make sure you have spare 40A fuses (need at least 2 spares) on hand!
__________________
2015.5 FE 282 BHDSLE
2011 GMC Yukon XL Denali
spatterso911 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-17-2015, 05:25 PM   #71
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 4
Quote:
Originally Posted by spatterso911 View Post
Here are pictures of the latest upgrades/modifications to the trailer. Included are pictures of the gas struts for the master bed, LED lighting I installed in the storage under the bunks, and I switched out the TV mount to one that swivels and added an Apple TV. All mods working great!
Which Bedlift kit did you end up using for yours?
Drelkor is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-25-2015, 04:37 PM   #72
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Austin,TX
Posts: 268
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coachmanjk View Post
Today I made a corian sink cover to replace the cheap plastic one that came with it

Love this! I hate the cheap plastic one! It never stays in place.
__________________
2007 Rockwood 1640 LTD Popup -- SOLD
2004 Bantam 19 HTT -- SOLD
2015 Coachmen Freedom Express 292BHDS -- SOLD
2013 RAM 2500 CTD
2018 Prime Time Crusader 319RKT
Loraura is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
freedom express

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Forest River, Inc. or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:43 PM.