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.
After sitting for about 6 weeks I went to start the truck and was greeted with that click-click-click-click sound as I turned the key. ^@)%<:@&&#$%#*(#@%^
I held in the “EMER START” switch and tried again, the truck started right up.
Its nice to have the EMER START feature, it energizes the Isolator Solenoid and ties the truck and coach batteries together and can save the day when one of the batteries is low or dead Continue reading “Keeping the truck battery charged while on shore power”
I spent all weekend cleaning up some wiring and adding a few features to make our MH more personal to us.
I added five switches to the instrument panel
BLINK – On those rare occurrences when I actually pass a truck on the freeway, they will generally blink their headlights to let me know its OK to pull back in to the lane. a “Thanks” is generally acknowledged by blinking my tail lights.This is a momentary switch that blinks the tail lights. Continue reading “Instrument panel switches added”
Our Coachman Mirada came with factory installed water heater bypass valves. I was not able to fully test the water systems before we bought it as it was in the winter and the water systems had been winterized by the seller.
When we drove south into warmer weather we discovered one of the valves was physically broke and was leaking water faster than we could pump it in. The temporary fix was to just cut the line to the water heater and put a valve in the line. Continue reading “Water heater bypass valves”
Phantom loads are those things that really don’t turn off when you turn them off, or things that are always turned on and draw a small amount of power, continuously. i.e. TVs, Radios, monitor systems, etc.
These loads may not seem like a lot when you are plugged into shore power, but when you are running on battery, these loads can quickly drain your coach battery. With my old Dolphin, I’ve identified these loads, then added a special switch and circuit for these types of loads, so I could turn them off if we were going to be without shore power for an extended period of time (storing for the winter). Continue reading “Phantom 12 volt Loads”
