Unusual TV mounting idea in 5.0 - how feasible?

[AuthorSP]

Hi folks, I have been puzzling this out for a bit. We are not "watch tv in bed" types (just occasionally on the bad weather days or to catch local news in the morning), and it seems the standard ETI approach is for their tv setups to go in the bed areas. Our preference is to lounge on the dinette and watch the small screen there, but that raises a couple of issues.

First- will ETI put the cable and power hookups for the tv in a non-standard location? We're not thrilled by the thought of sitting in the dinette and squinting across to see the TV mounted up by the bed. (We don't intend to use the cable for cable tv, but may decide to set up an external antenna and use the cable for that).

Second- Where to mount it in the dinette area? On the 5.0, if we had a 24" TV (the smallest commonly available these days), and the mount was on the wall with the fridge, would it be possible to tuck it all the way behind the wall so that nothing sticks out beyond the corner when not in use?

So this is the other idea I had that could work with the standard dinette. Assuming we sat facing the rear on the dinette benches. The table slides forward a bit and the tv is mounted on a riser that allows us to lift it up to just above table level, then you can push the table back under it and watch with the tv at the back end of the camper. When down, it goes into a sort of cabinet with no top, or a lid. All the power and cables are in the cabinet, below. The face of the cabinet protects the tv when not in use and acts as a mounting point for the Lagun table.

Does this sound reasonable and not terribly hard to work out? It would require ETI to agree to put the cable outlet at the rear of the 5.0 instead of the front, or run cable the length.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by AuthorSP

Does this sound reasonable and not terribly hard to work out? It would require ETI to agree to put the cable outlet at the rear of the 5.0 instead of the front, or run cable the length.

Things change, but I have power and a cable outlet in the passenger side upper rear cabinet. I prefer to sit with my back on the drivers side so I can see out through the passenger side windows and look at my patio, not the neighbors trailer. This was an option in 2014...

[cpaharley2008]

A little bit of advice, switch the tv to a 12v power model. like these I have used successfully in the pasthttps://www.amazon.com/12-volt-tv-rv/s?k=12+volt+tv+for+rv

[AuthorSP]

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

A little bit of advice, switch the tv to a 12v power model. like these I have used successfully in the pasthttps://www.amazon.com/12-volt-tv-rv/s?k=12+volt+tv+for+rv

Thanks, I will take a look at that. Do they use less power than a regular small LCD tv? Is that the only reason? It would require an extra 12v outlet installed, correct?

[Ronn]

Originally Posted by AuthorSP

Thanks, I will take a look at that. Do they use less power than a regular small LCD tv? Is that the only reason? It would require an extra 12v outlet installed, correct?

We have the TV/Cable ready, we don't use it, we place the television on the counter when we watch it and use a MIFI / Roku for connecting

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by AuthorSP

Thanks, I will take a look at that. Do they use less power than a regular small LCD tv? Is that the only reason? It would require an extra 12v outlet installed, correct?

Yes you need a nearby 12v outlet but it allows use while not hooked up. Many truckers have them in the rear cabs Here is a website with all 12v accessories
https://www.12volt-travel.com

[Ooshkaboo]

Originally Posted by AuthorSP

Hi folks, I have been puzzling this out for a bit. We are not "watch tv in bed" types (just occasionally on the bad weather days or to catch local news in the morning), and it seems the standard ETI approach is for their tv setups to go in the bed areas. Our preference is to lounge on the dinette and watch the small screen there, but that raises a couple of issues.

First- will ETI put the cable and power hookups for the tv in a non-standard location? We're not thrilled by the thought of sitting in the dinette and squinting across to see the TV mounted up by the bed. (We don't intend to use the cable for cable tv, but may decide to set up an external antenna and use the cable for that).

Second- Where to mount it in the dinette area? On the 5.0, if we had a 24" TV (the smallest commonly available these days), and the mount was on the wall with the fridge, would it be possible to tuck it all the way behind the wall so that nothing sticks out beyond the corner when not in use?

So this is the other idea I had that could work with the standard dinette. Assuming we sat facing the rear on the dinette benches. The table slides forward a bit and the tv is mounted on a riser that allows us to lift it up to just above table level, then you can push the table back under it and watch with the tv at the back end of the camper. When down, it goes into a sort of cabinet with no top, or a lid. All the power and cables are in the cabinet, below. The face of the cabinet protects the tv when not in use and acts as a mounting point for the Lagun table.

Does this sound reasonable and not terribly hard to work out? It would require ETI to agree to put the cable outlet at the rear of the 5.0 instead of the front, or run cable the length.

I just finished my build sheet a few weeks ago and they put in a couple of extra outlets, but they are pretty much sticking with the option locations already offered on the build page.

I did have them leave the coaxial off the tv outlet as I stream anyway.

They did move the outside coaxial connector to the rear, then run the coaxial line to the front driver side, so when skynet gets it worked out this’ll possibly come in handy.

Also they will run 12v lines inside the cabinets for you so as you can do as you wish.

[AuthorSP]

Good information, thanks!

Now to find the cabinet engineer to puzzle out the other idea...

[brroberts]

It took some doing, but ETI will be putting the antenna / cable in the upper DS cabinet in my E19. Power will be in the bench below. I will mount the tv on a reinforced bathroom wall. We don’t watch much tv, but I do watch some football and hockey. We also watch the occasional movie. On a typical 8-12 week trip we will turn the tv on about 5 times. It’s not much, but we enjoy it when we do.

[UncleTim]

Hey!

Our TV mount is in the dinette. We have 120 v below the table and a 12 v female receptacle outside the refer and next to the storage cabinet. The 12 v has a cellular booster in it in this pic.

We mounted the TV mount ourselves and at the direction of ETI. It works great, but the mount itself sucks.

Our problem is we never use it and don't even keep the TV in the cabin anymore. We use MacBooks and iPads so we don't really need a TV. The MacBooks are either 16" or 17" so we have enough screen.

We really only use them for work and to read the news. I love to read the news in the morning with a cup of coffee.

But you can easily have your TV in the dinette.

[Ronn]

Originally Posted by Ronn

We have the TV/Cable ready, we don't use it, we place the television on the counter when we watch it and use a MIFI / Roku for connecting

Adding Pictures

[AuthorSP]

Thanks!

[Mswan]

Attachment 57031

Attachment 57032

Attachment 57033

Attachment 57034

We have two locations in our 5.0. A mount in the dinette and one by the bed. The television is a nearly new 19” RCA I picked up for $15. We have been using the dinette location. It is a little small when mounted at the bed and watched from the dinette. No rainy days so we haven’t watched it while in bed. We have the inverter so it can be used on or off grid. Bluetooth speaker gives better sound. The television is removed from the mount and stowed on the mattress when travelling.

[AuthorSP]

Thanks!
Does it use much power running off the inverter?

[Mswan]

Haven’t used it enough with the inverter to know. I think it’s unlikely to use much.

[TKscape]

Originally Posted by AuthorSP

Hi folks, I have been puzzling this out for a bit. We are not "watch tv in bed" types (just occasionally on the bad weather days or to catch local news in the morning), and it seems the standard ETI approach is for their tv setups to go in the bed areas. Our preference is to lounge on the dinette and watch the small screen there, but that raises a couple of issues.

First- will ETI put the cable and power hookups for the tv in a non-standard location? We're not thrilled by the thought of sitting in the dinette and squinting across to see the TV mounted up by the bed. (We don't intend to use the cable for cable tv, but may decide to set up an external antenna and use the cable for that).

Second- Where to mount it in the dinette area? On the 5.0, if we had a 24" TV (the smallest commonly available these days), and the mount was on the wall with the fridge, would it be possible to tuck it all the way behind the wall so that nothing sticks out beyond the corner when not in use?

So this is the other idea I had that could work with the standard dinette. Assuming we sat facing the rear on the dinette benches. The table slides forward a bit and the tv is mounted on a riser that allows us to lift it up to just above table level, then you can push the table back under it and watch with the tv at the back end of the camper. When down, it goes into a sort of cabinet with no top, or a lid. All the power and cables are in the cabinet, below. The face of the cabinet protects the tv when not in use and acts as a mounting point for the Lagun table.

Does this sound reasonable and not terribly hard to work out? It would require ETI to agree to put the cable outlet at the rear of the 5.0 instead of the front, or run cable the length.

Basically I really like your idea and it's doable but fairly complicated IMO as a retrofit. We actually were thinking of a powered lift behind the table similar to what the Little Guy Maxx uses but cost and complexity changed my mind since we are only occasional TV watchers.

Our 5.0 was delivered with the standard bedroom TV mount which we really disliked due to the protrusion of the TV and mount.

So we moved the TV ( a 19" LG Smart TV) to the dinette area but mounted it with a custom approach to minimize the protrusion and awkwardness of the ETI mount. See the following attached photos. This is still a work in progress since I haven't solved the cable attachment yet nor added a dedicated power outlet. Any ideas to do a cable connection and power retrofit would be greatly appreciated. My solution to get the audio to my receiver/sound system/speakers, located in the entry cabinet, was to use an optical-bluetooth wireless converter which works great. For now we'll be restricted to streaming TV or use an attached HD antenna until I can solve the cable connection issue.

Good luck on your dinette TV decision. Looking forward to your solution.

[AuthorSP]

Hi TKscape, that looks pretty good, thanks!
I'll have to look up Little Guy Maxx to see what he did.