Factory Modifications?

[JCZ]

Originally Posted by gbaglo

Just read the label before you apply it.

I have something that I think is similar called NuFinish and I've never actually used it because the label said not to apply it over previously waxed surfaces. So, I gathered that you had to remove any wax first and then apply it. Too much like work to me.

baglo

A very fast and very easy way to remove wax or polish (as well as grease or oil) is Dawn dishsoap. It has an immulsifier that other dishsoaps do not have and it's safe for paint, chrome, matte finishes, rubber, etc.

[JCZ]

Originally Posted by Harold Kroeker

Your build sheet looks good but I think that you should consider adding the "Two-way Hot Water Tank". The stock unit is propane only but the 2-way is propane or 120v electric (or both at the same time if you're really in a hurry).

I ran the AC on my Escape 19 at the EAA Airventure Fly-in last week when the outside temperature was 104F using my Honda EU2000 generator. It worked great but only if I did not use Eco mode. I have modified my AC by adding a SmartStart http://escapeforum.org/index.php?topic=1282.0 so I can't say if a stock unit would work with the same generator.

Well this is certainly good news. And I will ask Tammy about the two way water heater. It could be a savings on propane if we're work camping/volunteering/camp hosting and getting power as a condition of that program. In that case, we'd certainly want to use AC for the water heater.

[barry]

Originally Posted by JCZ

On another note.....does your 5.0 have an oven? Was that standard or an option?

JCZ

I don't believe the oven is an available option on the 5.0; the reason being that the heater is right below the cooktop. If you had an oven put in the 5.0 you would have to have the heater relocated. I know someone had the fridge moved up and the heater put below on a 17B (which is exactly the same layout as the 5.0 on the back) but if you have the new larger fridge installed then this would not be an option.

I installed a permanent electric heater in my trailer and only use the propane one if I'm not hooked up. The electric one is a lot quieter and I don't have to pay for the electricity.

Barry

[JCZ]

Thank you Barry. Another example of the difference between models.

As I learn about the 5.0, I'm slowly learning about other models to.

[cpaharley2008]

I do not think you will need double solar panels, my battery is fully charged by 9 am, so unless you want it by 7 am, I'd skip it. It would be like having a 500 h/p vehicle to drive to the store and back, overkill. Now if you are putting in 4 batteries maybe. Not sure if the digital thermostat is available, Reace had trouble with my install with the furnace, electric heat and a/c on one thermostat. I settled for the furnace digital.

[JCZ]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 (jim)

I do not think you will need double solar panels, my battery is fully charged by 9 am, so unless you want it by 7 am, I'd skip it. It would be like having a 500 h/p vehicle to drive to the store and back, overkill. Now if you are putting in 4 batteries maybe. Not sure if the digital thermostat is available, Reace had trouble with my install with the furnace, electric heat and a/c on one thermostat. I settled for the furnace digital.

Thanks a bunch Jim. That's an expense that I'll not mind passing on.

[LeonW]

I agree that a two way hot water heater is a nice thing -- saves propane when you are hooked up to electricity. Also, we chose to have two captain's lights at the head of the bed for reading. We really like them, but had the fantasy that they would provide a narrow focused beam so that one of us could sleep while the other reads. The beam is a bit too wide and bright for that. But like I said, we are very happy to have them.

Am I reading it correctly that you are going to have two TV antennas, one for each location? Would it be possible to have a coax splitter that takes the signal from one antenna and sends it to each location.

We got the 19" Jensen Digital LED TV, (JE1912LEDWM), and while we have only had it a month, we have been very pleased with it. We also got a Jensen AM/FM/WB Stereo with a DVD player (AWM975). At first, we were disappointed with the FM reception until we realized that the antenna was running right by the captain's lights, and if we turned them off, the reception was fine. One of these days I will get around to re-routing the antenna, but for now, we just turn the lights off while listening to FM radio. Reace ran an HDMI cable from the DVD player to the TV, and the TV remote controls them both. We were able to get the tv and stereo less expensively by shopping around on the web, and then had them shipped directly to Escape for installation. I wanted to make sure everything was nicely installed, and Escape lived up to my expectations.

We have a 17b, but so far I haven't seen the need for more solar power. The lights are all LEDs, and even when we were in a wooded campsite in cloudy / rainy weather, using the TV/DVD & two iPads, running the furnace at night, the batteries were back to 100% by the time I got done walking the dog in the morning.

Alf talked about the exterior lights attracting bugs. I had noticed that, so I got an amber lens and it has made a big difference in the number of bugs flying around by the door. We got the lens from Little House Casita http://www.littlehousecustoms.com/store.

We got a taller chrome faucet from American Standard http://www.homedepot.com/American-St...1#.UB9NA3ChBx4 We have found that the tall faucet contains a bit of water, even after you turn the taps off. It isn't that the valves are leaking, just that there is still water present in the long faucet. Some of that water will drip out over time, which isn't a big deal unless you have put the sink cover back on and something is sitting under the faucet. I don't know if all Tall faucets have this issue, but certainly the one from American Standard does. That said, it is only a minor inconvenience, and I like being able to stick tall pots and pans under the faucet.

I am just curious, but do you know what kind of a digital thermostat Escape will be installing? I have thought of a digital thermostat, but am afraid that it will glow in the dark in our 17b, and keep us up at night see the thread on the refrigerator lights, which is, I am sure, why Escape changed the model of the refrigerator in the larger trailers.

Have fun with your new toy!

[JCZ]

Huge help Leon!

I will take yours and others advice and go with the two way water heater.

Captains lights....would changing the bulb to a narrow beam spot help the situation?

They said they could run both TVs off of the one antenna with signal amplifier.

As far as the stereo goes, we'll most likely be listening to XM when ever we have the satellite signal. But thanks a bunch for the heads up on the antenna location. Just in case I need an alternative Leon, can you tell me if the Jensen stereo that you went with has a 3.5mm jack? I use the Gramin 2730 Street Pilot GPS w/XM and need the stereo to have that jack in order to listen to the XM through the trailer speakers. Which model of the Jensen stereo did you go with?

Can anybody tell me if the stock stereo used on the Escape has a 3.5mm jack in the face of it?
Is it AC or DC?

Is those that understand the RVs power usage/requirements better than I (that doesn't take much).....would this be a good unit for me to use?
http://www.jensenrvdirect.com/jensen...nt-stereo.html

Thanks a bunch for the heads up on the amber lens.

We're going to get a tall faucet as well (however, one with a pull out spout that has the spray/stream feature) for the same reasons.....those larger items that you have to get in the sink once in awhile. Learned that one in our boat.

I do not know what digital T-stat Escape is using. I'm hoping that the glow in the dark issues that others are having will not be an issue in the 5.0. Will probably come up with some kind of curtain across there, anyway.

What have other 5.0 owners done for a curtain across the entry to the bed area?

[cpaharley2008]

If you go with the Coleman Polar Cub 9200 btu a/c option, Reace installs an electric heater within the a/c. So you would have a heater while on hookups and your propane furnace while not on hook ups.

[Garand]

The stereo does have a 3.5mm plug, but I would recommend deleting the stereo option and getting just the speakers (or just the wiring and find your own speakers). The factory stereo/DVD player is just okay (not great) and there are probably lots better alternatives out there. [As I type this I wonder if Escape has changed their OEM player...ours is a "TouchAudio"]

We aren't light sensitive so we don't worry too much about lights at night and don't need a curtain for privacy as the dogs have learned not to look.

Dave

[LeonW]

JCZ,

I don't know if more different bulbs would help the focusing problem or not. My guess is not. The lights are nice and bright, and while I really like the brightness for reading, it makes it a bit more difficult for the non-reading bed mate to sleep. One way around that is to spend more time hiking and biking and canoeing and fishing. If you do enough of it, it will render the light a non-issue. And we have a 17b, which means that we are closer together, so maybe it won't be as much of a problem in a 5.0

The stereo I got is not the stock stereo. It is an AWM975, that I got from Camping World when it was on sale. I chose the AWM975 because I like the hdmi output, and to have a set up where one remote works for both the DVD and TV. The stereo has a 3.5mm input plug, and integrates with ipod/ipads so we can access all the music we have with us. you can find out more about it here:
http://www.jensenheavyduty.com/jense...eo-output.html There are lots of folks on the forum who point out that it makes a lot of sense to leave the built in electronics out, and just have a portable dvd player or portable speakers for your iDevice. I think they have a valid point, but I preferred to have something built in.

Leon

[JCZ]

Originally Posted by Leon Webster

JCZ,

I don't know if more different bulbs would help the focusing problem or not. My guess is not. The lights are nice and bright, and while I really like the brightness for reading, it makes it a bit more difficult for the non-reading bed mate to sleep. One way around that is to spend more time hiking and biking and canoeing and fishing. If you do enough of it, it will render the light a non-issue. And we have a 17b, which means that we are closer together, so maybe it won't be as much of a problem in a 5.0

The stereo I got is not the stock stereo. It is an AWM975, that I got from Camping World when it was on sale. I chose the AWM975 because I like the hdmi output, and to have a set up where one remote works for both the DVD and TV. The stereo has a 3.5mm input plug, and integrates with ipod/ipads so we can access all the music we have with us. you can find out more about it here:
http://www.jensenheavyduty.com/jense...eo-output.html There are lots of folks on the forum who point out that it makes a lot of sense to leave the built in electronics out, and just have a portable dvd player or portable speakers for your iDevice. I think they have a valid point, but I preferred to have something built in.

Leon

Thanks Leon! I looked in to the AWM975 yesterday, along with the TV #JE1912LEDWM, yesterday after reading your earlier post. Looks like a great set up however, the TV doesn't have headphone jacks. While I can fall asleep with any noise and sleep right through it (along with ambient light), my wife can not go to sleep with the slightest noise and/or light and will wake up at the slightetest hint of either. I've threatened to get her a bottle of sleeping pills.

OK, I've said it before....I am technology challenged (spell that "technology s-t-u-p-i-d"). I mean I still have a flip phone (sure don't have to worry about butt dialing anybody) and I call my wife anytime I have a problem with my computer, printer, dish receiver, etc. I have texting blocked on my phone....it's so impersonal. My wife does have the Droid and Kindle but that's it. We have XM in all of our vehicles with the Garmin 2730 Street Pilot (I understand it's also obsolete). That's it.....don't know anything about ipods or ipads or idevice.

So.....just when I thought I had it all solved with the AWM975 stereo and the JE1912LEDWM TV....looks like I'm back to the drawing board simply because it doesn't have a headphone jack. HELP.....I'm so confused!!!

Now I know some people are laughing but I'll be there's at least one other out there that can relate.

[amirie]

Wireless headphones--I am technology challenged too--so some may laugh at me for thinking of them...

[JCZ]

Originally Posted by amirie

Wireless headphones--I am technology challenged too--so some may laugh at me for thinking of them...

Great idea.....why didn't I think of that? Have to check the TV to see if there's jacks in the back to plug the transmitter in.

[Garand]

Many devices have BlueTooth connectivity. There are lots of BlueTooth headsets around and I'll bet some TVs have it as well.

[JCZ]

OK, one of you guys that's technology savy....can you take a look at the specs on this TV and tell me if there's any way to use headphones (wired or wireless)?

http://www.jensenrvdirect.com/jensen...ed-lcd-tv.html

[LeonW]

JCZ,

One thing that you could do is to mute the TV, and use the earphones from the stereo. After we had used the TV for a couple of times, we realized that the sound was coming from both the Stereo (DVD player) speakers and the TV speakers. Since then we have been muting the TV and using the stereo speakers. I have never used earphones with the stereo, but I assume that when you plug them in, you mute the speakers.

Leon

[JCZ]

Thanks Leon.

This TV doesn't show any adio out jacks, front or rear. But if they play through the stereo also, then we should also be able to plug in wireless headphones (so we don't have the cord running through the trailer). Sounds like there's a solution afterall.

For obvious reasons (even to the technically challeneged.....whoever they may be ) I want to go with the stereo and TV that you went with. I'm not much of a movie guy (that's the wife). While I have to have my dose of news and news programs, etc. I need real time TV first thing in the AM.

Even though we're still working for four more years, we want to set this trailer up now for full time traveling so that's why we're getting all the creature comforts loaded in it now.

[Garand]

Originally Posted by Rancheru

I've seen people say that these units can be modified from the factory to accommodate more outputs or even wide band inputs. My question is how much more is required is the major option and a question to the management. They must decide and give better solution.
click here

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