There are three switches located on the wall when you first enter the Mirada. These control the steps (UP/DOWN), the outside porch light, and an inside ceiling light.
The switch location is very convenient if your standing outside, but if you need to operate any of these switches from inside the Mirada, you need to bend way over and darn near fall out the door. Continue reading “Relocating entry step and porch light switches”
The first time we slept in the Mirada, we both agreed, the reading lamps above the bed are nice and bright for reading, but needed dimmers for watching TV or whatever else.
I replaced all the interior lights with LED panels mainly to reduce electrical use and to modernize the interior. I ran a couple tests to see what the current draw was and decided to use a 500 ohm variable resistor as the dimmer. Continue reading “Adding a dimmer to LED lighting”
The bathroom was originally wired with a standard ole two bulb ceiling light fixture. OFF – ONE BULB – BOTH BULBS.
If I used the bathroom at 3am it was either take care of business in the dark, or fumble around with the ceiling light and be prepared for that blinding light when it came on. Continue reading “Adding bathroom light wall switch converts ceiling fixture to LOW-MED-HIGH”
One of the easiest and least expensive ways to make the coach battery last longer is to reduce the electrical loads placed on the battery. Every ceiling light bulb in the Mirada uses 1.4 amps when its turned on. The double fixtures (two bulbs) draw almost 3 amps when they’re turned on.
By converting to LEDs, that 3 amps can be reduced to 1/2 amp, with the same brightness, AND, a light fixture that will last forever.
I’m like the way Japanese cars allow you select the A/C system with a separate button, regardless of the heater / AC mode selector switch. (They do not allow me to turn off the AC when in defrost mode, even though I would like to be able to do that)
The Evans controller gave me no options on if I want to run the AC or not. It turned on the AC compressor for several MODEs, including the “VENT” mode. I’m not sure why they do this, as when in the AC mode, the vents are selected, so why did they want to run the AC when VENTS are selected? Continue reading “AC switch controls AC compressor regardless of MODE switch”
Our Mirada originally came with an electronic version (7345RU) of the old single stage converter / charger (6345). These units are designed to supply the coach with 12 volts and recharge the coach battery any time shore power (or generator power) is applied.
The unit worked fine as far as supplying 12 volt power to the coaches needs, but falls short of the needs to recharge the coach battery. Continue reading “Upgrading converter to 4 stage”
Having a generator is nice, but there are occasions that it doesn’t make sense to run it. i.e. When we travel down the road and need to plug in a cell phone or lap top to re-charge the battery.
I decided to install a small inverter for these situations when it just wasn’t worth it to crank up the genny.
These small inverters are inexpensive and can supply 110 volts (unfiltered square wave) to many small appliances and even tools like a drill or small compressor. Continue reading “Installing small 400 watt inverter”
Our “New to Us” Mirada came with two LCD TVs, one in the bedroom and one in the trucks center hump. Neither one had a CD player. They were both digital, but the front one was an older model that had separate Analog and Digital antenna inputs. Both TVs were powered by 110 volts ac. I prefer the TVs to run off of 12 volts, that way I don’t need shore power or run the generator or inverter to watch TV.
Time for an upgrade.
On those very, very, very rare occasions that I actually pass another vehicle on the highway, The driver of the other vehicle will blink their headlights to signal me its ok to pull back in the lane. The normal response is a “thank you”, by blinking my tail lights or brake lights.
A tap of the brake switch (unfortunately, it disengages the Cruise control) or simply flipping the lights switch to ON then back to off will do it. If its night turning the lights off also turns the headlights off.
Daytime running lights (DRL) are a good idea, they make the vehicle easier to see, especially if your blind and failed to see this oversize house coming at you down the road.
Sarcasm aside, I drive with the DRLs on, but I don’t want them on when I’m parked and the engine is idling, i.e. truck stop, road side rest, campground, driveway, etc.
Unfortunately, there is no way to turn them off, UNTIL NOW.
