2004 WindSport Rehab

[Squerly]

The front air conditioner stopped working a few weeks ago. Given the temps were mild, even cold at night, I hadn't given it the attention it deserved. But lately, it's been hot enough to move itself right on up to the top of the ol priority list.

Until a few hours ago, I knew nothing about these air conditioners. I don't know all that much about them now either, except that working on them doesn't appear to require the magical knowledge that I had originally thought would be necessary.

In my case, the fan had stopped running. I could hear noise coming from the unit, but when I turned the controls to "Fan" only, there was nothing. When I pulled off the plastic top I found an old hornets nest and evidence that they had moved into the wiring of the fan motor, eventually passing away and moving on to that big hornets nest in the sky.

After cleaning out the mud nest and spraying some electrical cleaner on the motor, I lubed the shaft with some WD-40 Lithium Grease and spun it around by hand until it was moving smoothly.

Then I climbed down and fired it up. And YES, it ran like a top. I left it running for the rest of the day and the coach is nice and cool. I went back up and cleaned all the areas that were accessible and tightened down the plastic top. At this point, I'm considering this to be a successful repair.

Turned out much simpler than I had originally thought. Money spent = $0.00! So there you go, should you experience a similar problem, take a look inside before you drive over to the RV repair shop. Might turn out to be as simple as mine was!

[Squerly]

Painted the outdoor steps today. They were not bad but they were a little tired and in need of some freshening up. Sorry, no before pic for comparison.

[2015axis]

Originally Posted by Squerly

I ordered and paid for new furniture back on February 21st and was told to expect 6 weeks before it shipped. Around the 5th week I took the squeaky wheel approach and started to email the company about a shipping date.

Long story short, the manufacture was running a week (to 10 days) behind schedule. It finally shipped and after another week of traversing the country in the back of a Freightliner, it arrived in Asheville. But apparently, it’s going to take another 8 days before they can bring it the additional 50 miles from Asheville over to where I’m at. Seriously?

So, this morning, I’m dragging a trailer over to Asheville to pick up the furniture I paid to have delivered. I understand that delays will happen, and that’s why I built in a buffer between my shakedown trip. But it’s the complete lack of professionalism that the shipping company is displaying that really gripes me.

I hunted down some reviews and they are rated 2.5 out of 5. And after talking to them it’s clear how they got such lousy reviews. Sucks that the mindset of providing good service has fallen so far.

Anyway, life goes on, and this morning I’ll hitch up a trailer to go fetch my new coach furniture. I’ve got the address, but I doubt I’ll need it. I’ll just look for the sign that says “Rude and Unprofessional Service Provided Here”.

Furniture looks great, may I ask what company you went through to purchase. Thanks

[Squerly]

Originally Posted by 2015axis

Furniture looks great, may I ask what company you went through to purchase. Thanks

Hi 2015axis!

We ordered this from Shop4Seats. Aside from the shipping issue, I really don't have any (serious) issues with the furniture. I also want to say that I didn't buy the best quality that they had. After installing it, I'd give it a 3 out of 5. But this is an older motor home, and like buying an old house in an aging area, I didn't want to overbuild.

As I recall, we paid $3,690 for 2 captain chairs, 1 dinette, and 1 sofa bed. This price also included shipping, which was about $400.00.

Hope this helps!

[Long & Winding road]

I just got done reading this entire writeup.

Your doing an outstanding job. It looks like a new coach! Im sure you will enjoy it for year and get top dollar if you ever decide to sell her later.

Keep the updates coming! Thanks for the link on the TPMS. I didnt want to spend big money for one so this might be the ticket for me. I dont mind checking the tires before each trip..... but this should tell me if I have a slow leak or pinpoint which rear tire is flat before it becomes a bigger issue.

Your makeover skills are amazing ..... I only hope to be this good some day.

[Squerly]

Originally Posted by Long & Winding road

Your doing an outstanding job. It looks like a new coach!

Thank you L&WR!

As a follow up to a couple of things, one of them being the TPMS. It worked as advertised on the current trip I'm on. We left Franklin, NC and drove to Shoal Creek Campground, just West of Atlanta. It's about 100 miles (+-) and that was more than enough to warm the tires up. I started with 100 lbs per tire and they heated up to about 112-115. I had the warning set at 110, which was less than it should have been, so I got an over-inflation alarm when the pressure crossed the threshold.

I had expected to get a warning from it as I suspected I had the settings a bit low, but I had wanted the alarm to activate so that I knew what to expect. And now I do.

As for mounting the display, I had put it far enough out on the dash so that the solar collector would get plenty of sun, but at that distance and with the glare of the sun, it's hard for my old(er) eyes to read it. And of course, that far away and with all the other noise in the coach, I could barely hear the alarm going off. (OK, truth be known, I couldn't hear it at all. )

The monitor is wireless, so when we got to the campsite, I moved it to a closer location which should remedy any of the earlier problems.


The other thing I want to comment on is the CHF that I (and so many others) have taken the time to make. The results were fantastic! Driving this beast has always been was a white knuckle event, and I had often felt that my previous experience on the racetrack was a large factor in keeping it on the road. But since the CHF, this 22,000 lb baby just purrs down the road. It even handles well when hit broadside by a nasty side wind, and I saw a lot of that between Franklin and Atlanta the other day.

I want to give the CHF mod a 5 out of 5 review and recommend it to anyone with an F-53 chassis looking for improved handling.

I am happy!

[Long & Winding road]

Yeah the CHF is a proven winner.

So are you finding your new TPMS is fairly accurate?. Lets say you put in 100 PSI and you check with your hand operated tire gauge......Does the TPMS show 100 as well? Or at least like 98 or 102 PSI on every tire so its at least consistent??

I just put this TPMS on my short list. Been holding off because I really didnt want to spend big buck on a system. To many other things I wanted (Needed) more.

[Squerly]

Yeah, that part can be frustrating as you don’t know which one of the tire meters is correct, right? In my case, there was only 1lb difference between them so I figured that was probably close enough, or as good as it was going to get anyway.

I didn’t get a chance to check for continued accuracy when I got to the campground because the monitor was in alarm mode, shortly followed by a problem with the leveling jacks. Throw in a dose of 100 degree heat and me being irritated over having choosing the obsolete worst site in the park, dogs raising heck, a cranky wife, and somehow checking for accuracy fell by the wayside. (Come on, you’ve been there, lol.).

Anyhow, hopefully things will be less chaotic on the return trip and I can check it when I get home.

[Squerly]

Deigned for that water connoisseur in your family, I am selling a limited quantity of crystal-clear sprig water from the aquifers here at Deer Springs.

Bring your own bottles or we can provide you with ours. First come, first served. Supplies are limited and expected to dry up when the rain stops.

[Squerly]

I mounted an iPad to the left of the drivers station and made that my command center. The iPad was the logical choice as it's easy to load and play music, the display is large, and it can control anything in the coach that has Bluetooth technology.

The first thing I added was “CoPilot GPS”. I didn’t want to buy yet another standalone Garmin, and CoPilot runs nicely on the iPad. We took a short trip to Georgia and CoPilot GPS worked wonderfully! The only issue I had was the volume of the turn-by-turn instructions was limited to what the speaker in the iPad could reproduce, and sometimes it was difficult to understand. So, I added an external Bluetooth speaker and problem solved!

Next up was an improved backup camera! The OEM camera and monitor was old and an upgrade was in order. I checked Amazon and found this wireless unit for $110.00 It had good reviews and a 4 out of 5 rating, so I bought it and installed it today. I haven’t taken the coach out to where I can back up and play with the monitor, but at first glance I think it’s going to be OK. No communication issues, the display is in color, and the resolution is much clearer than the OEM camera. Note: the pictures below don’t show much detail because the MH is backed up into a group of pine trees, but you should get the idea.

I left the OEM camera in place and installed the new camera just above it. It was easy to get power for the new camera as I bootlegged off the OEM camera. So the end result is I can turn on the OEM camera and it will activate the Wireless at the same time. I doubt I’ll reference the OEM display much, unless the iPad is low on power, or some other catastrophe befalls it. But it’s nice to have it there and the install haven’t disrupted the original dash layout.

The last upgrade for today was a Sony Streaming Smart Blu-ray Media Player with Wireless Internet. Among other things, we can connect our Firestick when there is Internet available and when there isn't, we can watch our huge selection of Blu-ray videos. (OK, it's not that huge. It consists of The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas and Airplane.)

Buy hey, I got the important stuff, right?

[Squerly]

Mine is an older MH (2004) so the electronics are old as well. I mean, they work great, they’re just old and therefor lack Bluetooth technology. And as I’m using my iPad for the backup camera, GPS, music, etc., I wanted to use the coaches built in speakers instead of syncing with another external Bluetooth speaker.

So, I purchased a little device made by “Proxelle” which brings Bluetooth technology to old non-Bluetooth components. I plugged it into the auxiliary jack on the coaches 5.1 surround sound component and synked my iPad to the Bluetooth adapter. Now my audio books, music and turn-by-turn directions all play over the coach surround sound system.

Note: For anyone wishing to apply this same solution, I believe Proxelle has stopped making this device. But there are other companies that have picked up the slack. Google “Bluetooth transmitter and receiver” and you’ll find a bunch. Look for one with “low latency” and you’ll get the best results. After doing some research and reading reviews, here is a link to the one I'll probably buy if/when the Proxelle dies.

[knucklehead]

[QUOTE=Squerly;185438]Thank you L&WR!

As a follow up to a couple of things, one of them being the TPMS. It worked as advertised on the current trip I'm on. We left Franklin, NC and drove to Shoal Creek Campground, just West of Atlanta. It's about 100 miles (+-) and that was more than enough to warm the tires up. I started with 100 lbs per tire and they heated up to about 112-115. I had the warning set at 110, which was less than it should have been, so I got an over-inflation alarm when the pressure crossed the threshold.

I had expected to get a warning from it as I suspected I had the settings a bit low, but I had wanted the alarm to activate so that I knew what to expect. And now I do.

As for mounting the display, I had put it far enough out on the dash so that the solar collector would get plenty of sun, but at that distance and with the glare of the sun, it's hard for my old(er) eyes to read it. And of course, that far away and with all the other noise in the coach, I could barely hear the alarm going off. (OK, truth be known, I couldn't hear it at all. )

The monitor is wireless, so when we got to the campsite, I moved it to a closer location which should remedy any of the earlier problems.


The other thing I want to comment on is the CHF that I (and so many others) have taken the time to make. The results were fantastic! Driving this beast has always been was a white knuckle event, and I had often felt that my previous experience on the racetrack was a large factor in keeping it on the road. But since the CHF, this 22,000 lb baby just purrs down the road. It even handles well when hit broadside by a nasty side wind, and I saw a lot of that between Franklin and Atlanta the other day.

I want to give the CHF mod a 5 out of 5 review and recommend it to anyone with an F-53 chassis looking for improved handling.

We have a 2018 Windsport 29m. Really like it and I saw you live in N.C. We live in Rockwell. I'd love to see your coach if you don't mind. If you want to tell me what city your in, we can see if that is possible? Bob Trice You can message me on my FaceBook page under Robert Trice Jr.

[Squerly]

Originally Posted by knucklehead

We live in Rockwell. I'd love to see your coach if you don't mind.

Do I have to mow the lawn before you get here? And will you be bringing beer?

[knucklehead]

Originally Posted by Squerly

Do I have to mow the lawn before you get here? And will you be bringing beer?

Definitely no lawn mowing needed for us. How far do you live from Rockwell?

[halfprice]

Lots of great stuff you're doing to your mh. Keep it up

Jerry

[Squerly]

Today I wired in a switch that will allow more control over how my coach’s charger/inverter works. I didn’t know when I bought it, but the inverter has to be turned on for shore power to flow through to the coach. That sucks, so I wired in a multi position switch that, among other things, provides power to the coach regardless of whether the inverter is turned on or off.

Depending on the position of the switch, I can do the following.

• Provide shore power to the coach, bypassing the inverter/charger completely. This is the normal configuration for any coach without an inverter, and as such, the coach's stock charger will need to be in the “on” position in order to keep the house batteries charged.
• Provide shore power to the coach while using the inverter’s battery charger to keep the house batteries charged. With the switch in this position the inverter does not supply power to the coach if the shore power is terminated. I favor this setting for storage as I usually have the air conditioning running and I don’t want the inverter to come on during a power failure. The inverter would terminate via overload anyway. So, with this setting, the air conditioner(s) come back on when the power comes back on.
  
• Provide shore power to the coach while using the inverter’s battery charger to keep the house batteries charged and have the inverter automatically provide power to the coach if shore power is terminated.

While there is no perfect solution for every situation, I believe that one or the other of these settings is right for just about any situation I will find myself in. And choosing a solution is now as easy as clicking a switch.

Here is the switch I used. It’s currently $29.00 on Amazon and is a very robust switch. As expected of most Chinese stuff, the directions were non-existent. Fortunately, another Amazon purchaser was nice enough to write some instruction and put them in his review. I’ll have to buy him a beer someday because this thing would have been next to impossible without his help.

[Squerly]

Last week my inexpensive air conditioning fix (from a couple of months ago) failed and I had to replace the motor. I found a direct fit replacement motor on Amazon for $116 bucks.

This is an easy enough repair. If you can get up on the roof, you can do the repair. Have your wife help with this as you'll need someone on the ground to toss up whatever tools you forgot and to watch in case you slid off the roof. Make sure she has the camera.

Remove the plastic cover from the air conditioning unit and you’ll see the motor which is held in place with 5 screws and a brace with another 2 screws. There are also 5-6 color coded wires that you will need to cut.

Remove the screws, clip the wires and the motor, squirrel fan and condenser fan will lift out. Mine had some corrosion around the shaft and the individual fans, so I soaked the areas with PB Blaster lubricating oil so they would slide off easier.

When the motor arrived, I moved the squirrel fan and condenser fan to the new motor and reinstalled it into the air conditioning unit. Not a tough job by any means and probably saved myself a bunch of cash.


Note: You'll have to wire the new motor to the wires you previously cut. Assuming you'll use wire-nuts in the process, use a zip-tie to secure the wires. I didn't, and I had to go back up as the wire-nuts were banging against the frame of the air conditioner. The noise was quite irritating, so back up I went.

[Squerly]

I know a lot of people have made this mod and afterwards said that it wasn't worth the effort of keeping up with storing it. But Rex is 9 now and worrying about him falling into the hole is becoming a concern.

So I bit the bullet yesterday and made a portable cover for the stairs. I'd like to find a way to put hinges on it but I don't know that that will be possible. I'll have to think on that awhile ...

[BandG]

Well done. Very impressed with your efforts.

I might have missed it, but how is your roof holding up?

I'm wondering how many years I can expect the TPO material to last.

Thanks for sharing this great story with the rest of us.

[Squerly]

Originally Posted by BandG

I might have missed it, but how is your roof holding up?

The seal that covers the joints where the roofing meets the sides, was shot. So the roof had several leaks from lack of maintenance in these areas. Had the PO just done some simple maintenance I'm sure the roof would have held up nicely. But the word "maintenance" was a foreign concept to this fellow.

If you take care of your roof, i.e. give it a yearly visual inspection and repair the danger areas before they become a problem, I see no reason it wouldn't last basically forever. Ignore it and you'll be looking for a delamination repair kit... ask me how I know...