Show off your Mods

[Mike]

After spending a lot of cash on the Camco water filters at Walmart I decided it was time to find a better route. After an initial investment of about 40 bucks I get five times the filter performance with twice the flow at less than half the cost per filter change. I picked up the Whirlpool WHKF-DWH filter housing at Lowes along with a couple of brass fittings and an extra brass elbow from Walmart.

A 2 pack of filters for this housing is $9.97 and they filter down to 20 microns. The Camco filter 2 pack is $21.34 and they are good for filtering water down do 100 microns. This mod will pay off every time I change a filter and it will do a better job at protecting the hot water heater as well.

[lcv800]

I have almost identical system, but have a double. First is a sediment filter and second is a charcoal. Charcoal filter is $9 but last twice as long as the sediment. Both good for a week or two in really bad water areas. A month or longer with good water. $88 for the double filter casing on Amazon. Got tired of the $36 Camco that was good for only 750 gallons, especially with two showers a day and laundry. Very happy camper now. No iron deposits on white clothes, no water smell or taste. All good.
Rusty

[donzinger]

Originally Posted by Mike

After spending a lot of cash on the Camco water filters at Walmart I decided it was time to find a better route. After an initial investment of about 40 bucks I get five times the filter performance with twice the flow at less than half the cost per filter change. I picked up the Whirlpool WHKF-DWH filter housing at Lowes along with a couple of brass fittings and an extra brass elbow from Walmart.

A 2 pack of filters for this housing is $9.97 and they filter down to 20 microns. The Camco filter 2 pack is $21.34 and they are good for filtering water down do 100 microns. This mod will pay off every time I change a filter and it will do a better job at protecting the hot water heater as well.

I have a GE smart Water filter on mine as it performs very well on my home, but it reduces the flow too much to make it practical for filling my tanks before boondocking. Does this one flow well?

[Mike]

The Whirlpool housing has little to no effect on flow rates. I run a 20 micron filter which gets rid of the sediment in the water, and keeps the water flowing at a good rate. A more restrictive filter may reduce flow rates but I'm not sure.

[mcpaul]

Here's something I'm surprised i haven't seen on here yet. It's a tank monitoring system that has been around for a few years. I've done it on my past RV's. I get so tired of the stupid red lights at 1/3-2/3-full & half the time not being accurate. It reads the tank levels through the plastic tank & reads out exactly how much in percentages it is filled & it works great. It also has a battery readout. I have one monitor mounted in the wet bay so you can watch as you dump & one inside mounted on the wall. The last picture is of one of the sensors on the side of the tank. It is just a plastic piece that you peel & stick to the tank. There are several models depending on how many holding tanks you have & also including propane levels, water heater & water pump switches.

[donzinger]

mcpaul - looks great. How is the install? I looked at this setup for my last rv and never got around to it before trading in. Am considering for this one...

[07dmax360]

Originally Posted by MrGoat

Great Mod 07dmax360!!

I have a 2016 3605 and have been toying with the exact same idea for the bedroom. I already have a 1500W inverter in the garage. How hard was it to get the fish the 2 wire through and did you have any trouble finding the location to cut in the garage for the wire run?

Because the paneling is so thin an flexible, I was able to find the wall studs, and pulled the panel in the bathroom cupboard under the sink in the bathroom to find the hole where the heat duct comes up from the basement. I was able to locate the fishtape when I shoved it down the hole. After that, it was a snap.

When I cut the paneling, I used a carpenter's knife. It makes a very clean cut and no sawdust to clean up.

For the living room, I piggybacked off the wiring for the subwoofer amplifier. That way, I did not have to run any new power wires for the inverter.

[bwwilliams]

I added some blue LED strips to the underside of our TH. Makes is nice when setting up or rigging down in the dark, and also adds some light for sitting out enjoying the moon and stars. I just used two 5 meter rolls off of ebay, the 3M tape does not stick real well, but had some military 200 mph tape that makes sure it stays stuck. Also added some commercial carpet to the back, light enough to roll up and store when hauling our RZR, and our girls love it over the rubber mat. Snapped this pic this last weekend at the sand dunes, still getting the sand out of my ears!

[mcpaul]

Originally Posted by donzinger

mcpaul - looks great. How is the install? I looked at this setup for my last rv and never got around to it before trading in. Am considering for this one...

Install was relativity simple. The hardest part is just getting to the tanks through the plastic covering on the bottom. You can use the existing wires that are run to the tanks already but I chose to run new wires. That way the old gauges still work if needed.

It's pretty easy to fish wires down the wall from the cabinet where I mounted the inside monitor to the storage area & then underneath. Even easier from the wet bay for the second monitor. (I love having a monitor there when dumping)

Two wires are on each sensor. All the grounds from all the sensors are tied together & grounded. The second wire from each sensor are also all tied together & connected to the monitor. You make a cut on each sensor to distinguish the different tanks & the monitor figures out which tank it is. Find a 12v supply (very low consumption) to the monitor & that's it. There are literally only three wires coming out of the back of the monitor; 12v, ground & the sensors wire.

There are two different size sensors to choose from. One for tanks over 6" tall & one for less than 6" & you cut them to size. Clean the area, peel & stick it to the side. They will read accurately even when the tank is dirty.

It is so nice to be able to tell "relativity" exactly how full your tanks are. No more guessing if you're at 66% ? or 96% ? - 2/3 full or Full ?
I did this on my previous RV & they worked great for years until I got this one.

[donzinger]

Installed fridge fan today. Didn't really have any cooling issues but figured since I had it

While running power thru the drain,

Figured I would put a digital temperature gage in as well. I find myself opening the door too often to monitor temperature. This will cure that.

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[07dmax360]

Hey Don, where did you get the temp gauge? It looks like it should have come factory with it. Looks good!

[donzinger]

Thanks. Actually got it last year on either Amazon or eBay. Just never got around to installing it. Once fridge is loaded, no sense emptying it. Will try to get you a link for it

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[07dmax360]

Cool. Looking forward to it, it seems like the beer is a little too warm sometimes, so some sort of monitor would help to determine if in fact it is, or its just me.

[donzinger]

Long trips, I run a Norcold in the garage. Keeps ice crystals in the beer!

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[donzinger]

Originally Posted by 07dmax360

Hey Don, where did you get the temp gauge? It looks like it should have come factory with it. Looks good!

Jump on eBay - search for WH5001 - you'll see plenty of them and cheap!

[07dmax360]

Thanks. I'll do that

[07dmax360]

Ohhhh. That's a computer case thermometer. How slick is that. Thanks Don. Got 1 coming from Amazon with free shipping for $6

[calewjohnson]

Don,

Are those 12v computer cooling fans?

Did you tap into the main power on the fridge?

Cale

[donzinger]

They are, just mounted on an aluminum plate with an alligator clip on the back to clamp to the fins and provide the ground. Wired both the fan and temp gage together thru the drain line. Couldn't use the light like on my last rig for power.



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[hddecker]

Originally Posted by donzinger

Figured I would put a digital temperature gage in as well.

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Don,

Did you use the vacuum trick to run the wire?

OK, I want one, the digital monitor that is. Is it OEM or aftermarket?