Replacement of main TV

[Jim Wasson]

We have  a 2004 Beaver Santiam and are in the process of eliminating the huge and heavy main TV that came with the coach with a LCD flat screen.  Before we start cutting wood to remove the "head knocker" issue that is chronic with the design, I am curious if anyone else has made this change and if so what advice can you provide.  The project doesn't look that difficult especially since we are replacing all of the electronic components as well with up dated devices.  One final question under the existing TV at the front is a small round white device that looks like it could be a microphone, any idea what that is?
Thanks,
Jim

[215]

Jim - on my coach the round device is an eye connected to the IR repeater that transmitts the signal from your TV remote to the electronics located behind a cabinet door.

[Richard And Babs Ames]

http://www.classiccoachworks.com/your-wish-list/electronics-and-appliances/index.php in Lakeland FL done ours and it is similar to the pictures on their website. Should get some good ideas. Also at http://www.rv.net If you do a search on the class a Forums thare are several that have posted ther experience with pictures.

[Bill Schneider]

Jim-I also have a 2004 Santiam and have done the update you describe. There is a lot more involved than you think if you want it to too look factory installed. If you do it yourself, here is what it takes.  I installed a 32" Sony flatscreen. The only wood pieces I was able to reuse were the cabinet doors and I had to redo one of them. I moved the TV forward toward the windshield to clear the entry.  I salvaged the tubing from the original mount and welded a universal wall mounting plate(like used in homes) to these tubes and then welded angle iron (perpendicular)to the top of the tubes. These tubes are then screwed to the coach steel crossmember The second one back and the higher of the two front crossmembers. You can then use all thread rod to secure the vertical downtubes to the lower front crossmember for rigidity. You must do this part first because all subsequent cabinet dimentions (to the left and right) are from this point. Because this TV is much wider, I kept the left mounting point the same and took all width gains to the right. This eliminated having to modify both doors. You have to modify the front headliner once you know your mounting point dimentions.  I removed the headliner initially to make this process easier. By using a universl plate, you can use any brand TV and the TV is easy to remove and the hangers that go with it allow you to get the 5 degree down angle. Everything from this point is woodwork. You will have to make all new cabinets. I am in the directory if you want to email  me directly for more info. Good luck with your install. I know this is wordy but I wanted you to know what you were getting into.

[Bill Schneider]

Jim-I missed answering part of your question. The round white half globe is just a cover. The wire under it is your temp sensor for zone 1. There is another one on your bedroom TV for zone 2. Right now, we are on our way to Florida, but we will be in Phoenix area in late Feb for 2 months. I see you are in Chandler. If you want to see my installation, we can get together then.

[Joel Ashley]

Hmmm.  Temperature sensor maybe, but the round white devices near our TVs are IR (infrared) pickups for the entertainment systems, so the remote controls can communicate with the components when the cabinet doors are closed.  You should see black wires inside the cabinets from the pickups routing to components.  When I added a digital-analog converter box for the recent nationwide DTV transition, I had to buy and splice into that pickup another IR unit, the other end of which just sticks to the front of the converter box over its remote receiver.  So the converter now works by remote even with the cabinet closed, just like the other components.

[Randy Perry]

I replaced my TV recently after a 1300 mile trip back from Kerrville, Texas. Within 25 miles from home and not long after the sun went down, so did the TV.......on my head ??) My wife was just getting up for something in the back and saw it coming down and according to her story was able to deflect it enough and kept it from killing me and of course, keeping her and the Beaver in one piece! When it hit me, it was like I got smacked with a bat with no warning. She asked if we should pull over, but we had left Tucson at 5am that morning and had (2) rear flats ( one in AZ with 4 hours on the side of the I-10 and the next was 90 miles latter and another 3 hours on the side) so all I wanted to do was get HOME!! Anyway, replaced with a flat screen and came out looking good!    

[Jim Wasson]

First of all I want to thank Bill Schneider who sent me some great ideas with details of his replacement project. I should have put that on a reply thread instead of an e-mail. MLM Racer I fully understand your issue with this design, but at the time I guess that was the TV  available.  One benefit that has developed since we removed the TV is that we are able to clean up some of the wiring "rats nest". Apparently, when our coach was built the tech didn't have a set of wire cutters, we were astonished at how much excess wire there was. Some of that wire had migrated, I am assuming through vibration, under the TV and was beginning to chafe. With the original TV removed we have a 30" hole was able to find a Magnavox LCD that was 29-3/4" wide, consequently the redo is going well to this point.  Any other suggestions anyone has is welcomed, I only want to do this once.

[Joe McNary]

The round thing is a temperature sensor for the front AC.  Gary Swain of Custom Coach Connection @619-300-3114 did a beautiful job on both front and back tv's.  We have the same year, engine, coach that you have.  Joe