2706WS Upgrades/Modifications

[acastillo74]

I would like to use this post to document some of the upgrades and modifications that I have recently made to our new baby, a 2018 Rockwood Ultralite 2706WS. The first item I would like to share is the addition of external solar panels. We live in Colorado and plan to do a lot of boondocking in the numerous state parks and federal forest lands. I did a lot of research and found a good deal on a 200 Watt foldable panel made by ACOPower.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The price is nearly half of what a comparable Zamp setup would be, and the company is located out of CA. In addition, they have an adapter that allows their panels to connect to the Zamp connector on the side of the TT.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have tried it out, and they work perfectly. The only downside is that these panel are a bit heavy, around 50lbs, but they fit perfectly in the pass-through storage compartment.

A future addition to compliment these panels will be a 6-volt AGM battery bank. But I think that I will wait a year before I do that. The 2 12-volt flooded batteries that came with the trailer should do fine until then.


God Bless,
Andrew

[acastillo74]

The next item I added to my 2706WS is a Mopeka propane sensor.

I was worried that we drained the propane on the trip back from picking up my camper late last year. We drove out to Salt Lake City to pick it up and on our way back to Denver, we got caught in a blizzard. I have to give kudos to my 2017 Ford Expedition, as it had no problem pulling this TT through the snow. I also have to give kudos to the 2706WS, as we camped outside of Breckenridge in a full blizzard with no hookups. The TT kept my family warm all night, and we still had 50% battery in the morning to close up the slides. So I bought these sensors to see how much propane we had left, which turned out to be more than 50% in tank 1 and a full tank 2.

Camping World is having a good deal on these right now, but you can also get them from Amazon.

LPG Tank Check Dual Sensor with Monitor Kit - AP 024-1000 - Fuel Efficiency - Camping World

The sensors have a magnet on them. You attach them to the bottom of your tanks, and the communicate to the monitor using Bluetooth. You can also connect them to your phone, but that's not as useful to me. I mounted the monitor above the thermostat in the TT. One note of these, after installing them, it took a full day for the sensors to give an accurate reading. I guess after flipping a tank over, it take a while for the propane to settle back down.


God Bless,
Andrew

[acastillo74]

The final upgrade that I will mention today is the shower head. I have been reading a lot of posts in this forum and others that campers love the Oxygenics shower heads. So I decided to try one out and get the Fury RV handheld showerhead.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It looks great, but I am going to have to wait for warmer weather to try it out.


God Bless,
Andrew

[nozzano22]

We have the same TT. Looking forward to following your posts. So far I habe purchased the shower head and total shut off valve

KES K1140B BRASS Shower Head Shut-Off Valve G 1/2, Polished Chrome https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HSWPYIG..._.YCBBbGB7CHXC

Also picked up the portable EMS. Bought 2 Costco golf cart batteries and made locking brackets with a strap of aluminum from HD a vise and hammer.

I am researching some stabilizer rods to attach to the scissor jacks and cut down on TT movement when parked. Also looking at the replacement door window with shade, and upgrading the 3 outdoor storage door locks.... Ours are always difficult to use and they have the same key as other TTs.

My big upgrade was the Micro Air Easy Start for the AC and a westinghouse 2500 iGen.

Thinking about moving the bumper mounted spare tire to underneath the rig and make a mount for the 48lb gene on the rear so we can run AC while driving to pre cool the rig while driving.

Lots on my to-do / wish list,

Mike

[acastillo74]

Mike,

That's quite the laundry list of upgrades. I like what you did with the batteries. I am looking to updare to 2 6-volt AGM batteries when the stock batteries die out. Which by any indication will be soon. I was thinking that I would need to buy a battery lock box, but I might now consider your solution. It's a lot simpler and cheaper.

Moving the spare to underneath might be difficult, given that the TT has an enclosed underbelly. I was thinking of reinforcing my bumper, moving the spare over, so I can put a bike mount. These look promissing:

https://mount-n-lock.com/mnl-cargo-p...bumper-failure

One other update I have done since this post was adding a PI Hardwired Surge Protector. I mounted it behind the fuse panel, under the fridge. I was able to route the monitor cable through the wall and mount the monitor along side the control panel. It is nice having all the monitors together in one spot. Plus, its light does not bother us in the living room, since you cannot turn it off.

[WoodLark-SC]

I just bought the bumper reinforcer kit you were looking at, but I haven't installed it yet on my 2503s.

I'll try to remember to post how the install goes once I get them done.

[mdavidson]

How did you route the data cable for the surge protector? I installed in in the same location, but just put the monitor under the fridge because I couldn't figure out how to route the wire to next to the door which would be preferred.

[acastillo74]

It wasn't easy. I took out the iRV32 entertainment console, and routed the cable behind it. I had to drill a small hole into the panel separating the fridge for the entertainment center. Then I had to fish a line down the side of the fridge to the fuse box where I installed the surge protector. There was an existing bundle of cables that followed this route, so I was able to follow those with my fishing tape. Once I pulled the cable back up and into the space behind the entertain center, it was simple to drill a small hole in the control panel wall and mount the monitor right above it. I will try to take some pictures of the path when I pick up my camper this week for our long 4th of July vacation trip.