Even The Simple Maintenance - Tighten Your Refrigerator/Appliance Screws!

   Like most of you, I drive my RV lots of miles. I'd wager if you drove a sticks and bricks house down the road at 60 MPH lots of stuff would get loose and/or break free. So it's no wonder that the major appliances and their mounts in the RV are going to do the same. It really pays to check them out after every (OK, not EVERY) trip. Recently, I heard a strange thump come from my refrigerator (just after my mirror changed it's position) After checking it out, it was caused by several of the screws holding the fridge to its frame mounting getting loose from the vibration of a drive. How can you stop that?

Well, you really can't completely eliminate screws backing out from continual vibration, but you can certainly slow them down. Easiest thing to do is tighten them up periodically. In my case, that stopped the movement of the fridge and I was done. Next time, or when I begin to winterize, I may remove each screw and use some thread locking compound (or just some white glue) to try and keep them tightened for a longer time. I will be looking into doing that at a later date. Maybe I'll even write an article about it...

Pay No Attention To The Bottle Of Seltzer!

On my Dometic refrigerator there are several screws inside the door frame on either side holding the fridge to the front framing of its enclosure. When I first bought the RV the original ones were completely stripped out or missing entirely. I replaced them with regular wood screws that fit the holes well, but aren't all that pretty, They hold well in the wood framing and the refrigerator door shuts completely, so looks aren't all that critical here. In addition to the screws on the door sides (fridge AND freezer compartments) there are screws at the top and bottom of the unit. In order to get to these, several small screws need to be removed to allow the plastic cover panels to be taken off and the screws accessed. The bottom one is pretty easy, but the top one has wiring for the control panel in it, so you have to be very careful when you pull it away from the fridge itself. Afterwards, just tighten the screws and replace the covers. Be careful not to pinch any wires or accidentally detach them! You'll know pretty quickly as the fridge display won't work properly. Don't ask how I know.

This is a tiny bit of easy preventive maintenance you can do whenever you have a few spare minutes. I keep a Phillips head screwdriver handy so I can tighten various screws around the RV. Especially after a particular bumpy ride. You'll also prevent the screw holes from becoming enlarged and that's a whole 'nother repair. Better to have an ounce of prevention than a pound of cure!

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com

Even The Simple Repairs - Fix Your Loose Oustide Mirrors

Elephant Ears!

    Outside mirrors are good. BIG outside mirrors are even better. Even with a backup camera, they are still a true necessity when navigating an RV both on the highway and in tight spots. There are a few companies that make them, but they all work essentially the same way. There are powered and unpowered versions. My RV has the powered variety. That just means I can adjust the mirrors themselves when I am driving without getting out of the RV. I was having a problem with the passenger side mirror moving out of position when I hit a large bump in the road. This was NOT due to the electrically adjustable mechanics of the system, but rather the simple ball and socket mount at the base of the mirror itself.

See The Rusted Set Screw?

In most installations there is a mounting arm that is screwed to the side of the RV and the mirror assembly itself mounts into it using a set screw or screws to adjust the tension on the ball inside the socket. Since it was adjustable, I figured I could simply reset the mirror and tight the allen/hex head set screws to keep it there. Sure, that would have worked except both set screws were rusted and impossible to turn! I sprayed a whole bunch of penetrating oil into the screw area and began hoping. You see, the housing is made of a different metal than the screws, so only the screws were rusted. I had a chance!

After a day (and two resprays) I was able to slowly back both screws out and clean them up. I also cleaned the screw holes and made sure they were clear of debris before putting the screws back in. Once that was done, I adjusted the placement of the mirror (definitely helps to have another person!) and tightened the screws till it stayed put. That's when I realized the other side would likely be the same....of course, Murphy was indeed an optimist!

I treated the set screws and holes the same way on the other side. I cleaned the holes, re-inserted the screws and I was done. A very simple fix. Though, the waiting for the penetrating oil to work was long. I rate this project a solid 2 out of 10 for difficulty. You need to be careful when you take the screws out. It would be very easy to strip out the threads in the holes and that would get expensive if you had to source an entire replacement mirror mount and then reinstall and seal it to the side of the RV. Be careful!

Now I have solid, sturdily mounted mirrors that I can adjust from the driver's seat at will. No more changes in aiming due to bumps...what could be better than that?

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com

Even The Simple Mods - Adding Lights To Gauges

My Gauges At Night!

    I like to be able to see my engine and other gauges when I am driving. It's always a good idea to monitor your systems while under way. Having back (or front) lit gauge faces is very helpful at night! Unfortunately, some gauges come from the factory unlit. A few years ago, I had to replace some push button valves on my rear air bag system. While working on them in the dash, I noticed they had a place for bulbs to be inserted, but had none! Hmmm, how tough would it be to wire them into the existing dash dimmer? Actually it turned out to be pretty easy.

Tiny Bulbs!

The gauges themselves had spots to insert bulbs from the factory. Odd that there weren't any installed. This particular airbag system was put together during the RVs original construction. Strange they wouldn't add a couple of bulbs. Oh well...that's what I was about to do. Usually I use LED bulbs wherever possible, but of course dimming them is always a problem. I could have used a PWM dimmer module for LEDs. They are very inexpensive on Ebay and work well, but  that would have added a lot of wiring work and a new subsystem to the original dash gauge wiring. Instead, I decided to use very small incandescent bulbs. These are often called "grain of wheat" bulbs because of their size and shape. They would fit in the existing holes and be plenty bright enough for the indicators to be read easily.

Daisy Chain Done!

I simply ran a ground wire from my under dash common ground (you could use almost any chassis ground point for this use.) After that, I had to locate a positive lead that could support the amp draw, which was VERY small, as well as it's original draw. Ideally it should light up (and dim) with the existing dash lights. I decided to build a simple blade style connector jumper to tap one of the existing dash gauge lights. This way, it would dim in concert with all the other gauges and it would be easy to access if it needed fixing later on. I built a "Y" shaped connector with two females and a male blade connector and then looked at the bulbs themselves. The wiring on the bulbs is REALLY tiny. Very thin wires that would break easily. These really couldn't be crimped into a connector easily, so I twisted them onto the ends of the wires and soldered them in place, making sure I slipped on a piece of heat shrink tubing beforehand. Each bulb is"daisy chained" with the other. So I had both negatives and both positives running back to the common ground and positive tap. Sounds complicated....it isn't!

Once the bulbs were inserted and everything secured I tested the light....looked perfect! How often does that ever happen? I got to thinking, what else could do with some dimmable illumination? Maybe I will backlight the labels on all my switches?? That would be really convenient and look pretty cool. We'll see...

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com