Modifications

[Sandy and Shirley]

I’d like to start a thread where all of us can post any modifications we have made to our Georgetown motor homes. Hopefully we can share things that have improved the usability of our Georgetown so that others can copy our ideas.

[Sandy and Shirley]

Rear window curtain tie backs.

We got our Georgetown about 6 weeks ago. We didn’t pay much attention to the appearance of the back window curtains, and they did look attractive with the provided hooks for holding them back.

The problem is that they are almost impossible to walk past without ripping them almost out of the wall.

There is only about 12 inches from the back wall to the bed, and the fancy hook to hold back the curtains are about 5 inches from the wall. Managed to avoid the problem on the first weekend trip, \but it got us on the second weekend.


We got some braded tie backs from Bed Bath and Beyond and some hooks from Lowes and mounted the hooks a few inches above the original fancy hooks.

As we did this we noticed that someone else must have knocked the hook out of the wall before we took possession. The screw holes on the left had wall anchors and the ones on the right did not!


After converting to braded tie backs, our back window now looks like this.

Not as elegant looking as the fancy hooks, but we can walk past the bed without worrying about ripping things off the wall.




I'm planning two more posts.

1. How I modified my Coleman Road Trip Grill so we can connect it directly to the quick connect on the side of the Georgetown. (Later today).
2. And I'm working on a spice rack and paper towel holder that can ride behind the stove while traveling. (Hopefully will post this one withing a week or two)

Would love to see how others have made improvements to their Georgetown!

[Iggy]

Great Georgetown Mods and looking forward to your additional one.

[Sandy and Shirley]

Hooking Coleman Grill to propane quick connect.

I highly recommend that you do NOT do this on your own. Working with gas lines can be extremely dangerous and should be done by a professional. I had my work checked by a pro before we plan to use it this weekend. If there are any problems with this, I will remove this post after Memorial Day and change it to just a warning!


Our new Georgetown came with an external propane quick connect. I have been asking Forest River and our dealer for over 4 weeks now to verify what the pressure of that propane is, it must be a company secret, so we are assuming that it is the standard pressure for safe input to a grill, about 11 inches of water or 0.4 PSI. We will be extremely cautious this weekend when we try to use it for the first time.

If the pressure is 250 PSI direct from the tank, I highly doubt that, or 10 PSI that is often used with a preliminary regulator to safe distribute propane to multiple devices which then each have their own regulators, then any grill used would require a regulator of its own.

If the pressure is 11 inches, which is the most common pressure for a quick connect, then using a regulator at the grill would not work at all.

Coleman uses a proprietary thread and connection to connect propane to their grills. The only publicly available source for that connector is the regulator that they sell. Using a Lock wrench to hold the fitting I was able to remove it from the rest of the regulator assembly. Then added the brass fittings necessary to turn the fitting input toward the ground and modify it to end with the male quick connect fitting.






The parts that I used were:

• A role of the YELLOW tape used on pipe threads, white is for water yellow is for gas
• The disconnected Coleman connector.
• A W Watts Brass Pipe LFA-712 - Street Elbow – 1/8 in MIP x 1/8 in FIP
• A short 1/8 in MIP to 1/8 in MIP extension to convert female end to male
• An AMC-FRE 756119-0402 FLF 7119 ¼ x 1/8 RED Coupler
• Mr. Heater F276328 Propane Gas Excess Flow Male Plug
  • 1/4 in Male Pipe Thread x Male Plug Quick Connect Fitting

As the new "connection" illustrates, we now have a direct, non-regulated, propane connection to our Coleman Road Trip Grill. The output of the Georgetown is a female quick connect and the grill input is a male quick connect. All we need now is a standard propane quick connect extension hose.




I am about to start work on a spice rack / paper towel holder that will fit behind the holding area for the stove top panels. When the work is complete I will post the illustrations on how it was made.




OK guys, I want to see what others have done with their Georgetowns to make them better than what was bought.

[Sandy and Shirley]

I just got a call from the Forest River representative. They had their engineer look into it. They said they have never been asked before? The word they gave me was it is 11 inches of water, about 0.4 PSI.

According to all I have read, that mean you can not have a second regulator in line. I will test their answer this weekend and post the results next week.

[MattL]

I have a couple of questions for you with regards to your propane.


1) Is your connection at your propane before the regulator or after
2) What kind of propane tank does your coleman grill use (the little green one or a large 20 pound tank?)

M

[Sandy and Shirley]

Originally Posted by MattL

I have a couple of questions for you with regards to your propane.


1) Is your connection at your propane before the regulator or after
2) What kind of propane tank does your coleman grill use (the little green one or a large 20 pound tank?)

M

Hi MattL,

I’m a software engineer, not a propane expert. But when we bought the new Georgetown I asked a lot of questions.

One: The propane quick connect on the side of the Georgetown is after the regulator, but according to the propane dealers in our area they could have done that two ways. They could have regulated it down to 10 PSI so that when both furnaces, all three stove flames, and the water heater are all on at once, there would be no chance of a pressure drop at any device. Each device would then have its own regulator. After finally talking to one of the engineers at Forest River today I was told that they drop the pressure to 11 inches of water, which is about 0.4 PSI, and there is no need for secondary regulators.

Two: Our Coleman Road Trip grill comes with a regulator that is designed for the small green tanks, but there are also hoses available to hook it up to a larger 20 pound tank. We have used it both ways in the past.

When your propane source is low pressure, 11 inches of water, you can not run that low pressure through another standard regulator. If you do you will get no propane at all at the grill burners. That is why we learned about and built the direct quick connect adapter.

As I said to Coleman, Coleman and all of the other grill manufactures are missing out on the RV camping market. A lot of manufacturers are placing these quick connects on the side of their RVs, but almost all of the grills on the market wont operate with the low pressure input.

[MattL]

Good Morning !!

The best bet is to have a quick connect installed before your regulator therefore the outline will just be screwed directly into the regulator of your BBQ the same way the green tanks are connected.

I connected mine the same way that way I can use the line for a large bbq if I want to as well.

[Sandy and Shirley]

Just be careful of what you use to do the connection and make sure everyone knows what you have done.

The standard connection on the side of an RV is 11 inches of water or about 0.4 PSI, something like blowing in your spouses ear. The little green tanks are about 100 PSI and the installed tank on your motor home could be as high as 250 PSI, something like using a leaf blower to blow off your driveway.

If you open up 0.4 PSI to fire you get a fairly large but not too dangerous flame. Do that with 250 PSI and it is a flame thrower that can roast your car or anyone standing near by.

Also, most rubber hose connection are not rated for 250 PSI. That is why on my motor home at least the metal pipe coming out of the tank is connected to other metal pipes which are then connected to two regulators in series. After the double regulators the piping becomes a rubber hose, and according to what forest river said after asking for 3 weeks, it has been regulated down to 11 inches of water.

Yes, the grill manufacturers and the RV manufacturers are not on the same page. For safety the RV manufacturers give you a regulated propane source and the nice grills require a non-regulated source. I wish someone would invent a regulator what could pass through an already regulated propane source. Maybe one that does not shutdown until the source is say less than 5 or 8 inches of water. They can’t pass everything through or you might risk the chance of the flame flowing back into the propane can and exploding.

[pakkdad]

We changed our hold backs to magnetic. Then put Velcro strips on back to hold to wall. Installed progressive hard wired protector on shelf above breaker box. Put hose holder underneath. Installed shelf keepers in med cabinet.
2011 Georgetown 337

[psgrandpa1]

Originally Posted by Sandy and Shirley

Just be careful of what you use to do the connection and make sure everyone knows what you have done.

The standard connection on the side of an RV is 11 inches of water or about 0.4 PSI, something like blowing in your spouses ear. The little green tanks are about 100 PSI and the installed tank on your motor home could be as high as 250 PSI, something like using a leaf blower to blow off your driveway.

If you open up 0.4 PSI to fire you get a fairly large but not too dangerous flame. Do that with 250 PSI and it is a flame thrower that can roast your car or anyone standing near by.

Also, most rubber hose connection are not rated for 250 PSI. That is why on my motor home at least the metal pipe coming out of the tank is connected to other metal pipes which are then connected to two regulators in series. After the double regulators the piping becomes a rubber hose, and according to what forest river said after asking for 3 weeks, it has been regulated down to 11 inches of water.

Yes, the grill manufacturers and the RV manufacturers are not on the same page. For safety the RV manufacturers give you a regulated propane source and the nice grills require a non-regulated source. I wish someone would invent a regulator what could pass through an already regulated propane source. Maybe one that does not shutdown until the source is say less than 5 or 8 inches of water. They can’t pass everything through or you might risk the chance of the flame flowing back into the propane can and exploding.

WE HAVE DONE A LOT! All windows have day night shades with valances

Changed out furniture...elec recliner chairs with massage feature

Added adjustable queen bed to bed room

Look at our profile....more pictures.

Purchased a VENTED W/D.....did not like the ventless, at all!







Bryan & Vonnie Mathiesen
...you & me

2012 378


Sent from my iPad

[Sandy and Shirley]

Note to those trying to build the Coleman adapter for their grill. The listed and shown final connection, the quick connect, is the wrong one. I just got off the phone with MB Sturgis and I will report on if their quick connect is the correct one.

While on the phone they told be that they have a pre-fab connection for the Weber grills.

I should have teh part in a couple weeks. I will test it and post the results as soon as i have them.

[Sbryant]

Fixed my Bin Doors to open wider.
Fixed my Entrance Door to open much wider.
Added clear plastic to Screen Door so I could leave the Entrance Door open, yet be able to "picture window" see out with A/C or Heater on.
Added shelf behind couch with electrical plug for charging phones.
Added inside switch got Electric Water Heater.
All on a 2014 Georgetown 360 XL


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[rkulbok]

I think this is a great idea for a thread. Has anyone installed shelving in the wardrobes? The walls seem awfully thin for permanent shelves. I was thinking of using standalone shelves from Home Depot.

Any advice or similar experiences would be appreciated.

Thanks,

[KateE]

rkulbok-I have installed shelves inside of 2 wardrobes in my Roo. I built a frame inside the cabinet with 1" x 2"'s and then mounted white wire shelves. I'll post pictures later (I'm at work) if you are interested.

[rkulbok]

KateE - A picture would be great if you have time. Sounds like a very good solution.

[KateE]

rkulbok-I have enclosed pictures of the two cupboards that I put shelves in. The short cupboard is 22.75"deep x 16.75"wide x 35"high. The tall cupboard is 23.5" deep X 11"wide x 61"high. Both are set above a small (approximately 12" high) cupboard. I removed the hanging rod from both. The tall cupboard had a shelf just above the hang rod that I removed while leaving the shelf supports. I purchased a 10' length of 20" white wire shelving that DH cut to the desired lengths for me. I used 1" x 2" furring strips to build a frame. I actually put the shelf supports on the frame and then removed them so that the holes were already in place. If this looks like something you might like to try, I have more pictures of the building process. Oh yeah, the upper most shelf in the tall cupboard is actually an upside down shelf set on an angle. I use it for canned food, otherwise the top shelf is unreachable without a step stool.

[wvphil]

I posted this mod several months ago but will post again for those whom may of not seen. I have a 2013 378 with convection. The convection came from factory not vented to outside which resulted in excessive heat in coach when using oven and the fan over stove which is built into the bottom of the convection also was not vented resulting in cooking odors in coach while using stove. I used template which was included with the convection owners manual to vent the oven. Very happy with results. No more heat from convection and no more cooking odors.

[Iggy]

Both PsGrandpa1 and I have the 378TS model.
I did this about a year ago and was well worth the cost and effort.
I did add some good quality 1/2" plywood to both sides to help strengthen the side walls.
I also added the brown locking bars to hold them in place while travelling.
DW loves them because she has much more useable space.
Here are a few pictures.

[KateE]

Iggy- Those slideout shelves look great!