The dinette table uses the Sequoia Table Leg & Base System (most often seen in marine applications) consisting of a pair of aluminum tubes that twist-lock into plates bolted to the floor and fit into tapered sockets attached to the underside of the table. Despite the high-quality of this hardware I felt the table was very unstable and would wobble & tip under the slightest pressure; which as you can imagine can be pretty disastrous when covered with a full compliment of dishes & silverware!. I think this is primarily because the small diameter base plate simply could not control the lateral load created by the 30''+ lever arm of the tube - you actually could see the floor decking deflect as the table moves! It was also uncomfortably high (even for me at 6'-2'') so I wanted to lower to an inch or so.

My previous trailer used a standard interlocking aluminum extrusion that rigidly connected the table to the wall, so I ordered a 30'' set from my local dealer for less than $5. My situation was complicated somewhat because the table was spaced about 2'' away from the wall (for clearance for the window blinds?); so I fabricated a hinged plywood spacer to bridge the gap that flips up to connect to the support rail on the wall and flips down out of the way when the table is used to support a bed. I also removed the plastic caps from the top of the Sequoia tubes, sliced off one inch with my miter saw, & reattached the caps.

The table is much more stable now, hardly deflecting even when you place your full weight on the edge (as many people do when getting up). It's also a better height - amazing how much difference a single inch can make! As time permits I'll paint the mill-finish support rails White & stain or paint the plywood spacer.

UPDATE 5/23/10: Replaced with Install larger TV & satellite wiring modification.

The trailer came with a decent Haier 15" high-def LCD TV mounted up in the corner cabinet designated for that purpose, but there were a few issues with that location: 1) Because the top of the screen was nearly at ceiling level you had to look up almost 6' to watch TV. Considering the sofa is only about 6' from the screen means you're tilting your head to a 45 deg. angle & it pretty quickly gives you a sore neck! 2) There was no provision to tip the screen down or swivel from side-to-side so viewers who weren't looking at the screen straight-on couldn't see the picture. As anyone who's tried to sneak a peek at the laptop next to you on a plane can verify the oblique image on an LCD screen can be pretty crummy! 3) The factory mounting method was to plop the TV into the cubby & drive a couple of screws down through the plastic base of the TV. While I applaud their intent the execution could be improved upon!

So I started looking around for TV mounts that might work & found one at Costco made by Peerless that seemed to fit the bill. I actually mounted it sideways to the bottom of the opening & use the articulating arms to lower the TV down to a reasonable viewing height. The cabinet bottom is double-walled & sturdy enough to carry the weight; but because the plywood was pretty thin I bolted the mount to a 12'' x 12'' aluminum plate and attached that to the plywood with some 10-24 thumbscrews into jack nuts.

It works pretty slick - you can tilt down the screen easily to allow for casual viewing or pull the whole TV out & down for some serious tube-time! Plus the swivel head allows it to pivot about 15 deg to either side so someone laying on the dinette bed can have a private showing!

Like many front-bedroom trailers our Tango has wardrobes on either side of the bed, fronted by a small table surface for a nightstand. I really like the storage, but when you're lounging on the bed it's a long reach to place a drink or coffee cup on the nightstand. I'll be the first to admit I could use some toning in the abdominal area, but doing a dozen crunches in the morning while stretching for my coffee is a bit much!

We had some fold-down drink holders that I removed from the Chalet which I could mount on the side of the wardrobe that would solve the problem; but I was concerned about always bumping into it & frankly didn't want to start drilling a bunch of holes in our new trailer! After noodling on it a bit I decided to fabricate a swing-out arm to mount them on that stores inside the wardrobe out of sight, and flips out when you need it.

Just took a couple pieces of 3/4" Alder, matching stain & some hinges. The only downside is you have to leave the wardrobe door open when using these, but that's not been a problem.

I've seen a number of trailers with these bright anodized aluminum bumper covers & they really dress up the rear view! Our black painted bumper was already starting to show scratches & rust spots and even though I touched up the paint it didn't look "pristine" like a complete paint job.

The Patrick Metals aluminum bumper cover was notched to fit around the receiver adapter & the tube straps that holds the sewer hose tube and attached with some more SS screws & locknuts.

I wanted a better system to store the sewer hoses than inside the rusty bumper since I've read a number of posts describing how most hoses don't last more than a few seasons before the abrasive rust chews holes in them! Not to mention the hose quickly begins to look like a dirty...well...sewer hose and we all know how important a clean poop hose is! I tried one of those E-Z Hose storage tubes from CW, but the only place I could find to mount it (my trailer has an enclosed underbelly) was inside along the top of my front storage compartment. At first glance that seemed to work pretty well until I realized it leaks any trapped black water all over my stuff below…not a pretty picture and certainly not a pleasant smelling one!

So I picked up a length of 4" Sched. 40 black ABS pipe, cut it to the same length as my bumper & drilled a series of ¼" holes across the "bottom" for drainage. For ventilation I opened up one of the four sides of the square knob on both of the screw-in caps to form "air scoops"; and took care to properly orient the openings when bonding the threaded adapters to the pipe - one facing forward & the other rear - to create cross ventilation while motoring down the road!. The pipe was suspended from the bumper with a couple 1" wide strips of .065" 304 stainless steel I picked up from work and attached with SS flat head screws & Nylon lock nuts.

I picked up some black rubberized paint to coat the pipe, but frankly it's not too obtrusive bare so we'll see. Once potential problem I noted was the overall diameter of the Valterra EZ Coupler fittings I use was 4-1/16", whereas the inside diameter of the pipe is 3-15/16". A quick touch with the belt sander on the bayonet ears & all fits fine.

UPDATE! I was worried about the now thinned-down bayonet ears breaking off so last time I was at Camping World I picked up a Blueline hose set. This style uses slip-on connectors so the overall diameter is about 3/8" smaller - fits perfectly inside the ABS pipe! As an added bonus it's also 25' long and included a slick support tray.

UPDATE! After using every inch of that 25' hose at Edgewater Resort I picked up a 5' extension "just in case". I recently had a sewer connection right next to my dump valves so just used that - sweet!

I picked up a Swagman bolt-on 2" square receiver adapter that will accept our hitch-mounted Yakima bike rack. I'm not too worried about the bumper falling off from the weight as it's continuously welded to the frame down both sides; and given the fact it was factory-equipped with a spare tire & rack (which probably weighs as much as a couple of bikes) obviously they weren't worried about it either! I'll toss the spare in the back of the truck for now until I figure out an alternate location. (I ran across an under mounted pull-out storage drawer/spare tire carrier system the other day & if I can find the link will look into it)

The Swagman receiver adapter was clamped onto the bumper tube upside-down to clear the hose tube & raise the bike rack, which on my previous trailer frequently scraped the ground when navigating steep departure angles. To ensure I got a good grip on the bumper tube I notched the aluminum bumper cover to fit around the receiver adapter rather than clamp over it.

Even though the drawer slides have built-in detents to keep them closed, we've been having increasing instances where the Kitchen drawers have slid open during travel. I think they use some type of friction method for the detent & are just starting to wear out with use (or possibly they can't handle the weight of the drawer contents). The final straw was our last trip to the Oregon coast: on arrival we were horrified to discover three out of four drawers in the Kitchen had slid open! Unfortunately a pair of metal tongs inside one had popped open, and apparently spent most of the 90-min. trip gouging off the porcelain on one side of the oven door as it slid back & forth!

I removed one of the drawers for inspection and noted there was a 4" space between the back of the drawers & the cabinet framing to allow for plumbing. It didn't seem like it would be too difficult to fab some spacers to span that gap & position a catch that would keep the drawer closed. There was ample framing to fasten to & they wouldn't interfere with the piping which was down low near the floor.

To get started I picked up some ten-packs of 3/4" rare-earth magnets, cups, & washers from Rockler - my first inclination was to go with 1/2" magnets but the cups in that size were out of stock. The salesman at the store thought 3/4" would be too strong, but as it turns out they work beautifully. I fabbed some spacer brackets out of 3/4" plywood and attached them to the framing with 2" drywall screws & finish washers (to avoid splitting the wood). The cups & magnets were attached to back of the drawer boxes so as to align with the washers attached to the spacers.

I intentionally allowed 1/2" for the cups & magnet washers and used a few flat washers as shims behind the latter to fine-tune the gap so the inside of the drawer front was 1/16" proud of the face frame to ensure good contact. When I slipped the drawers back into their slides they bottomed out with a resounding "click", and the now open with a firm but manageable pull. I'd estimate the breakaway force is about ten lbs., about 10x harder than the original slide detents. Since I still have six sets of magnets I'll probably do the other drawers as time permits; but for some reason only the drawers under the Kitchen counter have been problematic! I guess they get used more?

I was collecting quite a few long, skinny objects in the front storage compartment (e.g. hitch bar handle, back-up mirror, awning rod, etc.) plus had a similar problem in the bathroom closet with the broom, stick vac, hiking poles, & other such things so I decided to get organized. I've used these broom clip rails before to capture similar items in my shop so I pick up three sets & set to work.

The closet was dead simple: I located the rack about 3 ft up from the bottom on one end & ran a couple 3/4" screws into the paneling. Seemed to hold well enough as-is, but I can always use some plastic expansion sleeves if it works loose. Didn't even have to trim it to length - 17'' was perfect! Really keeps the long stuff from flying around parked or traveling.

The front storage compartment was a little more complicated as I wanted the rails mounted vertically so the items would be stored horizontally (most are longer than the compartment is tall). Because the rear wall of the compartment was just the backside of the thin bedroom paneling I mounted a couple strips of 1/2" MDO to the exposed framing top & bottom. This provided a good foundation to attach the rails about 22" apart (length of my shortest tubular object). Works slick!

We use a folding metal rack to hold our dishes while drying & have struggled with the wine glasses for years. With their top-heavy large globe they don't fit into the rack very well & often slip out when adding more dishes. The carnage so far is rack 3 vs. us 1 (lucky catch) so I decided something needs to be done!

I have several of these stemware racks in my bar at home & thought it might be the perfect solution; so I picked up one during our last shopping trip. As luck would have it there's just enough room to mount it under the overhead cabinet so it clears the light & will drip straight down onto the drying rack!

Last trip we tried this out & it worked perfectly! The only hitch was constantly having to explain to vistors we only use the rack for drying glasses - not storage - as they were convinced (rightly so) the glassware would be shattered by the time we reached our destination.

I store our trailer off-site (too long for our space on the side of the house) and often bring it home a few days prior to a trip to pre-cool the refrig. & charge the batts. It's also nice to have A/C or heat when I'm working on a project for an extended time. When parked down in the street I need at least 90' of power cord to reach the 30-amp. outlet I installed for our previous trailer. Since we have a Marinco cordset & twist-lock bulkhead fitting I thought I'd stay with that brand & obtained a quote from a nearby marine delaer for a custom cord. I had no idea these were made from gold-plated wire: $375 + shipping! Yikes!

Since I'm basically a cheapskate at heart I looked at alternatives & picked up a 100' spool of yellow type SOOW 10/3 cable from Home Depot for about $110. A little research online & I found a Marinco twist-lock receptacle kit on Amazon for about $45, and finally bought one of those nifty Power Grip plugs with a handle from Camping World for another $18.

An hour or so to attach the female connector & plug and I was in business! Works great & at half the price I was quoted is all the better. The only problem so far is the shady guy my neighbor caught eying the cable when I left it coiled up at the top of the driveway during a trip. Aparently he was calculating the scrap copper value of such a find - fortunately my friend tossed it over our locked gate out of sight & sticky fingers after that lowlife made a few slow passes back & forth. Scumbag!

With no big trips planned for this winter I decided to replace the stock stabilizing jacks with some more robust versions. BAL introduced their "C" jacks a few years ago which combines the best features of a leveling jack (high weight capacity) with a stabilizing jack (triangulated rigidity, rapid extension; low profile). I picked up a set of four Model 23222 with footpads from Adventure RV Center in Sevierville, TN for about $200 incl. shipping. The 22” length may be overkill for my 15” frame-to-ground height, but think they work better when only partially extended, plus I may be flipping the axles at some point in the future!

A little pre-project investigation revealed the stock jacks were welded onto the frame (probably by Lippert who makes both) and I suspect delivered as part of the complete chassis to PCW. It looked like I could remove a couple of bolts at each jack and leave just the U-shaped bracket that’s actually welded to the frame which could then be used to attach the new jacks. I decided a steel channel could be formed to fit between the ears and span from side-to-side to create a solid mounting surface; so after settling on 10 ga. mild steel as a good compromise between strength and weight I whipped up a sketch and placed the order with my local fab shop.

A week later I was the proud owner of a pair of 6’ cross members that would slip into place like they were…well…made for it! I next picked up some 3/16” x 2” flat bar at the Borg & fabbed four mounting plates which were welded to each end of the channels to attach the jacks to. To make sure I got the channel holes in the right places I used a piece of 2x2 lumber as a story pole (which was a lot easier to move around BTW) and then transferred the marks to the steel before drilling the holes.

After a couple coats of gloss black Rust-Oleum had cured, I bolted on the new C-jacks and slid the subassemblies under the trailer. It was snap to use the new jacks to raise the channel into postion - four bolts on each pair and I was done!

To provide some extra juice when dry camping I moved the quad battery array, charger, battery switches, & inverter over from my previous trailer. Fortunately the forward dinette seat on my Tango is directly over the axles & had sufficient space to house most of these components. At this point I'm not worried about any outgassing from the batts as they charge (AGM's are not supposed to do this), but if I see any signs of corrosion I'll make up a some kind of sealed & exterior-vented box. The charger fits nicely over the wheel well & the inverter goes in the electrical wiring compartment under the refrig. close to the switches as those all require heavy-gauge wiring.

To make it more convenient when using the inverter I added a manual transfer switch to route 120 VAC to the trailer from either shore power or the inverter. This way I could use all my existing 120 VAC outlets when boondocking and not have to run extra wiring to dedicated inverter outlets. They have automatic switches available that sense the presence of a power supply & switch to whatever is available, but I thought I'd stay with the K.I.S.S. theme for now. I'm using a heavy-duty switch from Grainger that handles the load along with a switch to turn off the auxiliary battery charger so it won't try to charge the batteries when running on inverter power and another switch to control the Parallax charger to prevent the same thing with the house battery.

To control the battery outputs I'm using Blue Sea components: a pair of 4-way's to route power either to the inverter or trailer from either battery bank, and a simple on-off switch to control the house battery. These plus other controls are mounted on an aluminum panel that doubles as an access hatch to the wiring compartment.

Here's the specs:

• Optima D34M deep-cycle marine AGM batteries (4 total. Two purchased 7/2003 & two 6/2006)
• Blue Sea 9001e 4-position battery switches
• Blue Sea 6006 "mini" on-off battery switch
• Ancor #4 marine-grade cable
• Blue Sea ANL fuse blocks
• Blue Sea 125-amp ANL fuses
• TrueCharge 20+ 3-stage battery charger w/ optional remote panel & temperature sensor
• Tripp-Lite PV1000F inverter, 1.0 Kw continuous output power, 2.0 Kw peak
• Hubbell HBL1388I 3-position toggle switch, 120/277 volt, 30-amp

UPDATE 8/2009: I finally got around to wiring up some of those auxiliary switches on the control panel! The one adjacent to the transfer switch controls the 120VAC feed to the Parallax converter - no sense having it generate 12 VDC when running on battery power! Next switch over controls the 120VAC feed to the TrueCharge battery charger - again, no point charging the batts using inverter power (if that was possible I'd be a retired gazillionaire by now!). The last two will be used to control the inverter & a spare.

I've never liked stowing the weight distribution bars & massive hitch head in the storage compartment. They're greasy & heavy & unstable which beats up the fragile stuff and gets everything else dirty! Plus I'm sure one of these days I'm gonna blow out the remaining vertebrae in my back shoving in that damn 50-lb. hitch at arm's length! So I cobbled up a couple of gizmo's to make life easier: a set of bar hangers that mount up at the top the storage compartment and a storage receiver that bolts to the A-frame to hold the hitch head.

The bar hangers are a couple pieces of ½” MDO that bolt to the framing supporting the top of the compartment (I had to add a crossmemeber at the front as none existed in the right place). I made a couple of holes that were supposed to hold sections of 2” ABS pipe, but the bars…uh…well...didn’t fit. Clearly someone altered their dimensions after I bought the pipe! So I pulled out the pipes & realized the plywood brackets would hold the bars just fine, and in fact are superior because it lets you vary the angle when you slip them in!

The receiver socket was a Brophy piece I picked up a few years ago. Not sure what it was intended for as it’s just a short piece of 2” square tube cross-drilled for the pin; but at the time this was actually what I planned to use it for. I cut a rectangle of 1/8” plate to suit, drilled four holes for the U-bolts, and welded it to the tube. A few slaps of gloss black Rust-Oleum and we’re in business…works pretty slick!

As many others have mentioned, the water pumps in most RV's rival the furnace for the "Annoying Noise of the Year" award. In our Tango it pulsed & rattled like a bucket of rocks whenever you turned on a tap! Since most of our trips lately have been to full-hookup campgrounds this hasn't been a high priority; but we have a few dry-camping trips planned for this summer and didn't relish the thought of listening to that racket while doing the dishes! I've been watching the postings lately and noted a few brave souls have attempted this feat using a variety of methods; so I shamelessly stole the best of them for the steps I took:

1. Isolation Mount for Pump: I had some 3" foam rubber left over from a previous project so I cut a block 6" x 8" & drilled several 1½" holes with a holesaw in an even pattern to weaken it even more. Then I glued this to a couple pieces of ½ MDO (one slightly longer to allow for attachment screws) with some 3M spray adhesive. Fortunately, I was able to relocate the pump slightly to the dead space under the drawer stack which freed up quite a bit of storage space - sweet!

2. Flexible Pump Hoses: Next, I used some 1/2" ID x 5/8" OD Nylon-braided PVC hose to connect the pump to the PEX trailer plumbing after fabbing some plywood cradles to hold those connections rigid to the floor. The hoses were pretty stiff, but a 5-minute soak in a bucket of very hot water softened them up nicely so I was able to route them around the space without touching any hard surfaces.

3. Padding: For good measure I inserted strips of 1" foam between any potential touch points & zip-tied them to the hoses. Looks pretty goofy but seems to help reduce the clatter a lot!

4. Accumulator Tank: I picked up a 5 gal. accumulator from Lowes to reduce the pulsations (although it will steal back some of my new-found storage space). The tank sits in a pair of MDO plywood cradles cut to fit the diameter & screwed to floor, and a couple really long nylon zip ties keeps it in place.

5. Water Filter: While I was at it I decided to install a GE filter with a bored-out carbon filter cartridge to reduce that "plasticky" taste. (I used a similar setup on my previous trailer & it worked great!) I was able to attach a piece of plywood to the drawer framing & mount the filter just around the corner from the adjacent cabinet so I could easily reach it for cartridge changes. FYI - I buy the "taste & odor" cartridges which are intended for a single faucet, so they have a tiny hole in each end to restrict the water flow. I bore these out to 5/8" so I can get good flow throughout the trailer - I realize they won't work as well but are still better than the wimpy carbon carts available for this filter!

After filling up the fresh water tank I held my breath when flipping on the pump switch: Wow...it was about 1/8th as noisy as before! You can barely hear it even with the drawer out & it's even quieter when everything was buttoned up! Plus the sound is now sort of a whir rather than the hammering as before - much more tolerable! It ran for 2-3 min. while it filled up the hoses, filter, & accumulator.

And speaking of the accumulator – adding this made a world of difference – so much it really should be a mod all by itself! The water flow is steady now with no sign of pulsation, plus it runs quite a while before the pump kicks on to maintain pressure. I also think it contributes to quieting down the pump itself as well as eliminating the rattle in all the piping. FYI: I lowered the preload pressure to 10 PSI (factory was 25) to lessen the work on the pump…seems to be just right.

One of my best mods so far!

We had a FF in our last trailer & really liked the way it cooled things down in a hurry if you left the windows closed up all day...and you can do this when dry-camping! I've been considering replacing the crank-up vent over the bed with one of these but couldn't really justify it until recently when CW had all the Fan-Tastic fans on sale & there was just one deluxe model 6600 left! Kris actually was the one who pushed me to get it, no doubt thinking of our trip to central Oregon planned for July where it gets pretty warm & there's nary a drop of 110-v. power in sight!

This model is Fan-Tastic's top-of-the line packed with every gadget they offer: Power dome lift, Reversible airflow, Variable speed (14 settings) motor, Thermostatic control, Rain sensor for automatic close, RF remote control, 920 SCFM – pretty much the works! Our current thinking is to leave the vent/fan in a bath alone as it does an adequate job of removing steam & odors and instead replace the vent over the bed with the FF. This offers a number of advantages:

1. It would allow us to suck the heat out of the trailer quickly & have a nice breeze at night
2. It solves the problem of reaching the vent - quite a stretch for me over the bed & impossible for Kris
3. The dark smoked cover would reduce the light that streams in each morning, awakening us whether we want it or not!

To begin the install process I removed the inner trim ring & noted the proximity of a light within 12" of the opening so 12VDC shouldn't be a problem. Next I climbed up on the roof & laid down some scrap plywood to protect the rubber roof. Then I removed the vent cover - FF says not to use these so I guess my recently installed MaxxAir is now redundant, but since the FF will close automatically if it rains the cover is probably unnecessary.

It was a sunny day so the caulking was pretty soft & yielded easily to my putty knife as I exposed the screws. Note: I used a knife with the edges rounded off so an errant slip wouldn't cut my roof! I backed out the screws & was able to work a thinner, more flexible putty knife under the flange & around the vent - after loosening three sides I just peeled off the vent! I scraped off & leveled the old caulking as best I could, not too concerned about leaving some which will help seal the foam gasket FF supplied.

After double-checking the polarity I connected the power & tested to make sure it worked & ran in the right direction, then tucked the wires out of the way. FF supplied a gazillion white-painted flat head screws, so I used about half to secure the fan to the roof & tucked the rest away as spares. The Dicor lap sealant was warm from the sun so I applied a liberal bead around the flange, then over each screw head, then around the flange again. And from the looks of the other roof penetrations I was probably being stingy!

The FF trim kit telescoped into a recess all around the fan body & seated nicely against the ceiling without trimming - a first for me - and four white-painted screws finished it off. All told it took about three easy hours - not bad at all!

UPDATE 7/6/09: This really helped on the next trip which was dry-camping in the Deschutes NF with daytime temps hovering around 92°! It cooled off at night to the low 60's, but the trailer retained quite a bit of heat so I reversed the fan at bedtime to wash us with cooler outside air. Very convenient to set it on automatic & let it turn itself off when the temperatures equalized! We did have one problem: the first night I was fumbling around with the remote when it started alternately blinking the "auto" & "manual" lights! None of the other buttons would do anything, so I had to remove the screws form the back & pull the batteries out to stop it! I figured I must have pushed the wrong combination of buttons in the dark, but a few days later it did the same thing but this time it was still light & all I did was press the on/off button. When I got home I looked up their website to send a note to the customer service dept. and found reprogramming instructions in the FAQ section for the remote. Apparently this happens often enough they felt the need to publish it, so I'll try that first before giving up on it.

UPDATE 8/21/09: Reprogramming solved the problem! Not sure if I got too far away with the remote or what, but the fan works fine now.

After our last dry-camping trip where my stock tank monitor levels would either jump around randomly or show 1/3-2/3 after dumping the tank I'd finally had enough. There's been numerous posts to the various newsgroups & forums on this topic so I won't go into why this is happening; but given the importance of knowing accurate tank levels when you're camping in the boonies it was time to ditch that crummy KIB model.

Garnet Instruments out of Alberta, Canada makes a pretty slick digital unit that reads the fluid levels through the wall of the tanks & displays the levels in percentages (+/- 10% or better). Besides the obvious advantage of eliminating problems due to sludge/debris buildup on the sensors, this is a much more granular measurement of the actual fluid levels! Best Converter seems to be one of their primary online retailers & the price seemed fair so I ordered a 709-PH which accomodates three tanks (+ LPG), displays battery voltage, and includes switches for the water pump & heater.

To get started, I had to remove the black plastic Coroplast which covered my "heated & insulated tanks". After running out all the Tek screws holding it to the bottom of the frame rails I managed to get the sheeting off. Hmmm...the insulation appears to be 1/4" foil-faced bubble wrap? And that just along the bottom of the tanks - all else uninsulated? Hmmm #2...where's the heat? Is it just supposed to migrate from the bottom of the duct running the length of the trailer? I had a very small amount of water spill out when the Coroplast came down, but I attributed that to leakage from road spray, not a plumbing problem. The zinc-plated strap that helps support the fresh water tank was pretty rusty though, so the water has been there for some time.

As I poked around I realized this method of protecting the tanks could be improved upon, so I decided to remove it entirely to let things dry out & deal with it in the Fall. No blame on Pacific Coachworks - this is the industry standard - but I think I could come up with a better system. Off the top of my head some 1-2" polyisocyanurate foam board would offer better insulation & would serve as the protective barrier also.

After all this crawling around under the trailer I was tired so I cleaned up & moved indoors. The KIB display is held on with four screws - you need to pop off the faceplate to access them - and luckily there was enough slack in the wiring to pull the unit away from the wall. I was able to fish a length of 18-2 rubber jacketed cable down the wall & through the floor by following the existing cable run. I opted not reuse the KIB wiring so I could take advantage of the way all three senders multiplex their individual signals on a common pair of wires. Since the SeeLevel manual states the max. load for the two switches is 6 amps I played it safe & added a 12VDC relay rated at 13 amps for the water pump. I don’t think the water heater draws much so I connected that circuit directly to the panel’s wiring harness.

I trimmed each sensor to the appropriate length for each tank...in some cases it was a compromise because of the beveled edges, but I’m sure even with that anomaly the accuracy will be better than that stock unit! All three sensors were connected using solderless crimp connectors covered by heat-shrink tubing, which were then wrapped with electrical tape, and finally the entire wire was covered with some corrugated plastic loom. (I think that qualifies as "belt and suspenders" with maybe rope wrapped around your waist too!) I taped the sensors in place as recommended to make sure everything worked, and after everything checked out I roughed up the mounting area with sandpaper followed by a wipedown with solvent. Affixing these was pretty tricky as it’s lot like installing plastic laminate…you only get one shot because the adhesive grabs immediately & won’t release without damage.

Fortunately I managed to get them stuck in the right place without incident so I ran inside to marvel at my handiwork. First up was the fresh water tank which I just filled to capacity: Reading = 100%. So far, so good! Next was the gray tank: Reading = 0%. At first thought this seemed correct given I dumped both the gray & black tanks after out last trip. But I then added about 2 gal. of water mixed with Odorlos so the 45 gal. tank theoretically should be about 4% full. Maybe most of that water is lying in the P-trap & pipes or more likely is hiding in that 1” space at the bottom of the tank the sensor can’t read because of the bevel? Finally, the black tank: Reading = 19%. Same situation as the gray tank, although since it’s only 30 gal. capacity the 2 gal. Odorlos primer should have filled it to 7%. This tank in particular has a severe taper towards the drain so I’m wondering if that could be throwing the sensor off? I did use the toilet today for #1 but I can’t believe that amounted to 3.7 gallons?

Regardless of the initial readings I’m very happy with the install. The tank levels right now are way more accurate than “E-1/3-2/3-F” & this thing is supposed to self-calibrate so maybe it will settle down. First trip is coming up the end of this week…stay tuned for a field test!

UPDATE 7/6/09: On our first trip this gadget worked pretty well. The black & gray levels seemed to be right on, but the fresh still read 19% when the pump starting sucking air! I was puzzled by this at first because that tank was the only one without a bevel around the bottom so I was able to install the sensor running completely from top to bottom; which theoretically should provide the most accurate reading of all! However after inspecting the tank I noticed the bung for the outlet to the pump was located about 1-5/8" up from the bottom, which means about that much water is unusable in the bottom of the 8" deep tank. (Not coincidentally, 1½" of water in a tank this size = .1875% of total capacity)

I plan to fix this by either adding a new outlet bung on the bottom of the tank, or see if I can rig up a flexible pickup that can slip into the existing bung & drop down to the bottom of the tank.

UPDATE 8/21/09: Check out this thread on the RV.Net forum. Seems like residual water in an empty tank is a fairly common problem!

TV & MOUNTING After trying to improve our TV viewing (and prevent stiff necks) in the "main cabin" with a Rube Goldberg-like system of folding brackets, I finally threw in the towel & abandoned the factory-provided TV cavity. It's too small for anything larger than a 15" set & nearly at ceiling level is obviously too high for comfortable viewing. I picked up a nice 23" Samsung LCD HDTV form Costco & re-used the Peerless bracket in its intended manner to mount the TV on the back wall of the dinette at near eye-level when you're sitting on the sofa. (I say "near" because I tried to keep it high enough so as not to constantly whack the person sitting in front of it in the back of the head!)

I actually had planned to use a 20" Toshiba HDTV/DVD combo we bought a few years ago, but that unit is so thick it would have projected about 7" out from the wall when combined with the mounting bracket, which is way too deep for that mounting location. The new TV is much thinner (guess that DVD player comes at a price) so the whole package sticks out only 4½"! I also made a couple modifications to the Peerless mount to achieve this - most notably the ability to tilt the TV - but hopefully won't need that capability!

During the installation I was lucky as there was a wall stud in almost the perfect location to bolt the wall bracket to; so I drilled through the center & ran some 1/4" through-bolts with locknuts & fender washers inside the closet. Seems very secure & solid - no sagging even when fully-extended. To kept it that way I used a couple brackets from a "Thumb Lock TV Grip" kit purchased from CW & some 3/4" nylon strapping to hold the TV against the wall when traveling

SATELLITE WIRING The factory ran an RG-6 coaxial cable from the outside connection near the rear left corner to the Winegard RV-7042 wall plate near the TV in the main cabin; which also connects to the Winegard Sensar® Amplified Antenna on the roof and the TV outlet in the bedroom. But because that gizmo acts as a two-way splitter for 2nd TV outlet & can supply 12-v. power to the antenna for the amplifier it will trash any satellite signal coming in on the same wire. This, combined with the need to route the satellite signal to the receiver first makes running a dedicated cable a necessity!

My original plan was to install a second exterior TV input for the satellite next to the existing CATV input and run a new RG-6 quad-shielded cable directly to the satellite receiver; but I soon abandoned that idea as too much unnecessary work and instead took advantage of a storage compartment on the opposite (same as the TV) side of the trailer. From there I was able to fish the cable up into the bathroom wardrobe above, into the roof truss area, & over to the wall plate mounted in the ceiling above the TV cavity.

To clean things up I replaced the Winegard wall plate with a Leviton 4-port model equipped with four standard F-connectors: One will connect to the satellite input I just ran & the other three will run to the existing CATV input, bedroom TV, & roof antenna. From there I can run short RG-6 patch cords to the video switchbox, which also includes a replacement 12-v. power supply for the antenna. See here for more info.

Kris & I both like to read when lounging on the sofa and soon discovered the overhead light is a poor source of illumination. It's too far forward so it shines in your face and because it's center-mounted you can't recline with any expectation of the light hitting your book! The Tango came equipped with a pair of Halogen reading lights over the bed that work perfectly, so I obtained a matching pair from PCW to mount over the sofa.

To get started, I unscrewed the existing light fixture to gain access to the 12-v. wiring that will power the new lights. The "ceiling" of the slide-out over the sofa is actually a double-faced hollow cavity that also forms the bottom of the overhead cabinets. After deciding on a good location (about 6" from each side & 12" back into the slide-out) I drilled a couple of 5/8" holes for the wiring for the new lights. Then with a holesaw I bored a couple more 1½" access holes (that will be covered by the center fixture) since I needed to fish some wires. With a small inspection mirror & flashlight I could see a wood brace in the cavity on either side at the 1/3 points of the cabinet, so I used a long flexible electrician's drill to bore an access hole through each of these. Then after a dozen or so arm-burning false starts I finally managed to slip a length of welding wire from the center to each of new holes that I used to pull a pair of wires.

With the hardest part done it was simple matter of splicing all the wires together & mounting the new lights, then reinstalling the center fixture. They work great & throw a beam over your shoulder, not in your eyes!

The factory-installed bath fan in our Tango was essentially a manual crank-up vent with the addition of an anemic 5" fan screwed to one side. It was pretty noisy, only had a single speed (exhaust only), and struggled to keep the shower steam at bay. Since the Fan-Tastic Fan retrofit I did in the bedroom went so well I decided to repeat the process in the bath.

Initially I was going to pick up one of their cheapest model 8000 "Create-a-Breeze" exhaust fans that Camping World had on sale for about $100, figuring it would be a step up from the stocker but still affordable. But after looking one over I decided it was "too cheap" so I moved up to the 4000 which offered reversible airflow & a tinted dome in addition to 3-speeds. The motor seemed more robust too - black metal & taller more like the ones on the other FF models - as compared to the noticeably smaller all-plastic version on the 8000.

Installation was pretty much the same as the 6600 I installed up front, except there was already a 12-v. power supply available. I also used some Eternabond tape to seal the penetration instead of the Dicor caulking this time. My first attempt...some wrinkles & the overlaps are clumsy...but it seems to be watertight! Time will tell...