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2023 Dutchman Astoria Platinum 3173RLP upgrades
Hello all,
I wanted to share my story about my camper. So far so good. I cant leave well enough alone. So im in Texas, its hot. So I upgrades my ac units with the RV airflow systems kit on both units. Worth every penny. You do lose the dump feature on the ac unit but i tell you what, it flows at least double out of the vents after the system is installed. Once you realize how it is supposed to work from the factory and how it works after, its a no brainer. Its also much more quiet. The next upgrade was the toilet. The stock Thetford is not even close to the Dometic 320 in my book. The elongated bowl is fantastic. Plus the internals are much better. I was running my water pressure at 60 and it quickly ruined the Thetfords seals. So while reading up on the seal kit for the Thetford, everyone raved about the 320. I see why now. While we are in the bathroom, i also upgraded the fan. The Hengs Vortex 2 was a bolt in upgrade. The fan is much bigger and adjustable. It clears the steamy bathroom much quicker. On hot days flows much more air than the original stock small fan. Like the toilet, a fairly easy upgrade. Still in the bathroom, i took out the stupid sliding doors in favor of a simple shower curtain. The sliding door were a pain to keep clean, and they always had some wierd soap scum material flowing out of the tracks. Plus i would always bump my head on the upper track. Once I removed them, there was more of that scum material under the slides. Its much cleaner, simpler setup. Its actually more roomier also. I think it was a great idea to remove the sliding doors. Also i plumbed in a 12 rainfall syle shower head in the shower. I positioned it in the skylight as not to lose any headroom. In the bedroom, i took out the factory mattress and put my queen in there. I moved from a house into this camper. So my queen was similar in height to the factory mattress. For me, the mattress on top of the storage compartment was too tall. I didnt need the storage, so i deleted it. I modified it so it was level with the slide and still retained the rollers for the proper slide movement. I moved the headboard downt to the mattress height and it has plenty of head room. Before you had to be careful if you sat up too fast. YOu would almost hit your head on the slide ceiling. Much better in my opinion. I put a Splendid washer/dryer in there. So far so good. I also took the tv out of the bedroom. I dont need a tv in there. It in the storage area in case i want to use it outside. i put the Max air vent covers over both vents. It required a small one for the bathroom vent and the big one for the main kitchen vent. These wont let rain get in. I upgraded my TV with a different mount and TV. The factory tvs are not very sharp. I dont believe they are even smart TVs. I put longer stainless steel screws in the 50 amp receptacle. It wiggled around a bit as i tried to get my upgraded, angled 50 amp cord to plug in. I didnt like the way the 50 amp cord that was included with its straigh plug added extra stress on the receptacle. So to be technical, i think mine is an Anniversary Edition. It includes the slide toppers, solar panels and a tankless hot water heater. So I added two harbor freight solar panels to charge the two upgraded batteries i put in it. The batteries are a 12 volt, 185 bci 220 amp hour. Probably over kill, and or the solar cant charge them fast enough possibly. Im not sure. I know that i went 3 mostly sunny days boondocking off the batteries with all three solar panels connected running the inverter (included in the solar package) watching tv, running the internet hotspot, fridge and occasionally the 12 volt fireplace and it never dropped below half charge. So that should hold me if we lose power for a few days. I took out the crappy recliners and put my powered recliner in there. Dont get me started on the water supply. So i got a Camco water hose off the spigot. It runs into a ball valve. I turn it off every time i leave. Like i said earlier, i run my pressure at 60 which is probably too much so i dont want to be gone and have the pressure bust on me. These things are cheap pressed wood. I bet water will ruin it. So the quick quarter turn valve is right by the door so i can easily turn it off and on. So after the valve it has a quick disconnect that runs into a camco style 20 micron filter, pre filter in my case. Its a pre filter for the culligan big filter that i have a 1 micron filter in. Then another quick disconnetor. After that is my adjustable pressure regulator. So the quick disconnects are there so i can back flush my filters and i can bypass them for max water pressure, unfiltered for when im flushing my black water tank. I also have another quarter turn valve before the quick disconnect before the 90 that goes into the city water supply. I can cut it off, quick disconnect it, and then plug it into the black tank flush and turn it on. I took the stupid window valances off. It sounds dumb but i swear it makes it seem roomier inside. I also took my bedroom door off and put in a beaded curtain. I also took off all the spring loaded door/drawer mechanisms and magnets. I got one of those tripod things under the fifth wheel. When the washer is running, this whole thing shakes. So it helps with that. I moved the coat hanger rod in the bedroom closet back about two inches. Clothes dont hit the door as bad when opening and closing it. I took down the stupid backsplash board from the bar area and installed some of those stupid sticky tiles. Oh back to the ac, so it gets hot here in Texas. I bought a big roll of 1/4 reflectix. I doubled it up and made panels for each window to reflect heat and to help insulate. With that and the rv airflow systems, it stays cool in here on 110 degree days. i also use those camco insulated vent covers on the inside when its hot. I also have a piece of that reflectix in the shower skylight. Once i installed the rv airflow systems diverters, it blew so much harder than before, it actually blew sawdust and debris out of the vents. I also changed the screens in the 4 windows i use and the screen door. Once i changed the bathroom vent, when it was on and the kitchen vent was on, they would draw so much air through the windows i use, i could see small bugs and pollen being pulled through those window and the screen door. So i changed those screens to some high density screens that act sort of like a filter. When the weather is mild, I use those fans a lot. Of course i have a surge protector. Just the other day i had to take off loose lap sealant at both rear corners and apply more lap sealant. For heat i run a couple of Dreo brand space heaters as needed. Electricity is free, propane isnt. For security i have a nice set of the tire chock locking stabilizers. For wastewater i have two camco rhinoflex hoses that run into a Y to a single to the drain. I have a set of tire covers to keep the sun off of them. im sure im forgetting something. Sorry about the spelling and punctuation.
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