Little Projects: RV Shakedown

These bits are amazingly cheap! Guess folks just don't bother but it makes a big difference when you swap out old worn out parts.

Managed to steal some time and do some Amazon shopping for the RV. Some of the projects involve fixing some of the small stuff that's just old and worn out. Cracked roof vents, plumbing vents, swap out energy hog bulbs for LED's. That sort of stuff.

The new, new replacement alternator. These are like transmissions for me.....

Well the new alternator the PO installed isn't working. No charging at all from it so it kills the battery after about 5-6 starts of the BIG 454. Tested it and verified the gauge does work on the dash. The YouTube is great for finding out how to figure this stuff out, as my Dad would say! So, $50 later and I have a new 95 amp alternator sitting on my desk waiting to go in.

I also started up and ran the Onan generator for a while this weekend and managed to bust the starter solenoid. Yea. Found one at Jack's Small Engine Parts site and ordered that and I should be good to go for that part. When running the Onan did provide charging and power for the RV. Really cool that it was still in the RV and in working shape!

The doohickey-thingamabob with all the wires is the starter solenoid. Yeah, crazy what they name things.

All in all, the LH2 is in pretty good shape. Richard spent yesterday stripping off the rest of the crispy vinyl trim inserts in preparation for the new orange striping I painted (see the video on my YouTube channel, lots of fun!).

We need more gauges. There is still some space on the dash.

As part of the "disaster prevention" approach and because of my aeronautical engineering past, I like lots of gauges. I've bought a tach gauge and transmission oil temp gauge (just a generic Bosch temp gauge) to install on the dash. I'd like to find a working turn-and-bank indicator to swap out for the existing bubble gauges.... thought that would be a cool touch. The original P30 panel has gauges for alternator, water temp, oil pressure, and fuel. With the bad experiences in LH1 (the Tioga) with the bad wiring/alternator I do not want a repeat of losing gauges, turn signals, brake lights and such like we did going to Staten Island!!!

I'll be posting how-to vid's of the install on the YouTube channel, time permitting. Have a garage addition to finish and other stuff in the house to do.

Thanks for reading!