17FQ Modifications

[Sonworshiper]

Originally Posted by WNY_Clipper

Level your trailer, then put the level on the shower floorpan edges. Mine was so far out of level, caulk or splashguards wouldn't have helped.

Two trips now and no more water on the floor!

That is a great idea! We re-caulked the tub and all the seams, but alas, then we found the split wall!

[hbidlack]

We are still rookies, with our 2nd season of ownership coming up. One thing we discovered was that since we are boon-docking almost exclusively, we could only charge our cell phones and tablets when we had the portable generator running to power the electrical jacks.

A friend has the same problem, and he installed a USB charging port, tying into the 12v system of his trailer. This winter, I did the same thing. I tapped into the wires going to the CO2 monitor, and added in the 4-port USB charging plug I picked up. Now, we can charge our phones and ipads without having to run the generator. Because we will be dry camping so much (I'm an active amateur astronomer, so we are way out there, away from city lights), I overdid it on the batteries, so I have 260 amphrs of capacity. Our solar power panel does a great job of keeping the batteries topped off, so I don't think there is any problem using the USB charger. Any thoughts from the more experienced folks?
- rookie hal

(Sorry -- I do not know how to rotate the pictures when uploading them! If a smarter admin wants to fix, please feel free!)

[cdog7201]

Originally Posted by cdog7201

Before getting it worked on I could only get 2 stations on it in my driveway but now I get 16 stations. I get 26 on my home antenna which is about 20 ft high. so rewiring it made a big improvement. I am happy. they had to go through the cabinet and up through the wall to do it. I bet it was fun trying to fish it up that way.

We went camping this weekend about 30 miles from the nearest tv tower sitting n the middle of the woods I could only get two stations and 1was part time Im not impressed with the antenna. will look into maybe a Omni directional antenna in the future.

[schmoken]

16FB here, but this mod is pretty universal. Today we added a panel with usb, 12V, & a voltmeter.

[randomabstract]

Does anyone else have this problem?

If we have a significant amount of water in the kitchen sink, when we drain it the water first empties into the tub and then flows into the gray tank. Except food bits and such stay in the tub.

[WNY_Clipper]

Originally Posted by randomabstract

Does anyone else have this problem?

If we have a significant amount of water in the kitchen sink, when we drain it the water first empties into the tub and then flows into the gray tank. Except food bits and such stay in the tub.

Ours does not do that.

Sounds like the two are tied together before dumping into the Gray and you have some type of restriction between the shower and gray tank.

[WNY_Clipper]

Originally Posted by schmoken

16FB here, but this mod is pretty universal. Today we added a panel with usb, 12V, & a voltmeter.

That looks great!
I have thought about installing that too, but I have been looking for that with all four in a row instead of the 2x2 configuration.

[WNY_Clipper]

I had some of my LED strip leftover from the awning install, so I applied it to the underside of my kitchen cabinets. Now while making our morning coffee, we don't have that very bright overhead light blinding us!

[BC.campr]

That's a nice touch WNY...did you hardwire with a wall switch or still use a remote control on the string?

[WNY_Clipper]

Originally Posted by BC.campr

That's a nice touch WNY...did you hardwire with a wall switch or still use a remote control on the string?

I used an IR remote so I could still control the brightness and color.

[WNY_Clipper]

Originally Posted by BC.campr

That's a nice touch WNY...did you hardwire with a wall switch or still use a remote control on the string?

Before:


After:

[Kenrod]

Our 17FQ does the same thing. I have tried a couple of drain cleaners but it didnt seem to help much. It only does it a little bit so we are living with it vs. tearing things apart to only find it's just the way it is made and there isn't room to do otherwise with routing the drain or whatever.

[WNY_Clipper]

I mounted bicycle fork mounts to the underside of the dinette seats. Now when bringing our bikes with us I just drop the table, remove the cushions, and flip the seats over and attach our bikes there. Keeps them inside, clean and secure while traveling!

Fork mounts are similar to these:

[nlparrott1212]

I used a shower tension rod and regular curtain. Cheap and works great

[WNY_Clipper]

Originally Posted by nlparrott1212

I used a shower tension rod and regular curtain. Cheap and works great

I'm not sure what this was pertaining to. Can you give us more information?

[isthisidused]

Originally Posted by WNY_Clipper

I mounted bicycle fork mounts to the underside of the dinette seats. Now when bringing our bikes with us I just drop the table, remove the cushions, and flip the seats over and attach our bikes there. Keeps them inside, clean and secure while traveling!

Fork mounts are similar to these:

I just packed my bike for the first time in our new 17bhs and it was a bit difficult putting in the hallway. Love this idea! Thanks!

[Austintatious]

Revisiting the crappy antenna situation, I decided to try an inexpensive solution that can be taken down and folded up into very little space:

Hi-gain 80 mile directional antenna: $25
9 Foot Studio Lighting Mast: $16
15' RG-6 Coax: $3

If it's not tall enough then I might try a telescoping flagpole mount that can go up to 16' or more but those don't have stabilizing legs at the bottom like these studio masts have. I can break this whole setup down into something less than three feet long and six inches high so for less than $50 I figure it's worth a shot. I'll be headed to a CG next Friday where I can only pickup one station that fades in and out with the original omni antenna and will hook this up to the cable input to see if it's any better:

[WNY_Clipper]

Added a LED strip to underside of trailer to ascent the awning strip. I'm controlling both of them with a Bluetooth app on my iPhone, but they are starting to act finicky. I may have to come up with another option to control them.

[Austintatious]

Originally Posted by Austintatious

Revisiting the crappy antenna situation, I decided to try an inexpensive solution that can be taken down and folded up into very little space:

Hi-gain 80 mile directional antenna: $25
9 Foot Studio Lighting Mast: $16
15' RG-6 Coax: $3

If it's not tall enough then I might try a telescoping flagpole mount that can go up to 16' or more but those don't have stabilizing legs at the bottom like these studio masts have. I can break this whole setup down into something less than three feet long and six inches high so for less than $50 I figure it's worth a shot. I'll be headed to a CG next Friday where I can only pickup one station that fades in and out with the original omni antenna and will hook this up to the cable input to see if it's any better:

So I tried this tonight, compared to a channel scan with the OEM antenna and amplifier (which received 36 channels) my non-amplified directional Yagi antenna on an 8' mast got 32 channels. So I need to change to an amplified Yagi and add maybe another 10' or more using a flag pole mast. The combination of increased height, additional gain, and directional sensitivity would probably beat the OEM antenna but per my first trials it won't be easy to beat.

[Ky-N]

We shortened the dining bench at the door to give a little more room at the entry and still make it into a sleeping area if needed. Cut it down mainly to make it nicer for SWMBO to sit and see the television while seated at the table. Also included a place accessible from the door for shoes to be stored and a place for her folding stool and other narrow items.