The Coachman Mirada has an interesting water system valve panel that pretty much allows you to do anything. The panel has four little pictographs that show the valve positions needed to perform several functions, but the manual doesn’t describe the connections and corresponding valve settings required to perform 5 common functions. Continue reading “HOW TO – city water and water pump system operations”
Adding a dimmer to LED lighting
The first time we slept in the Mirada, we both agreed, the reading lamps above the bed are nice and bright for reading, but needed dimmers for watching TV or whatever else.
I replaced all the interior lights with LED panels mainly to reduce electrical use and to modernize the interior. I ran a couple tests to see what the current draw was and decided to use a 500 ohm variable resistor as the dimmer. Continue reading “Adding a dimmer to LED lighting”
Adding brush mud flaps
The brush style mud flaps hopefully will reduce occurrences of crap being kicked up, specifically being throw against the Civic that we flat tow. They might also help reduce some of the spray and dust, but time will tell.
Purchase was under $60, Installation took about 2 hours. Continue reading “Adding brush mud flaps”
Moving chair aft to get it away from passenger seat
While searching for our “New to Us” motor home, we noticed a lot of people had removed the “chair” that was located behind the passenger seat and in front of the door. This seemed weird, as we were welcoming this “chair”. Why would someone remove it??After we bought the Mirada and started getting some experience with it. I believe we discovered why some people opted to remove the “chair”. It was somewhat non-functional, it was to close to the passenger seat, and the passenger seat was in the way if I wanted to sit in the “chair”. Continue reading “Moving chair aft to get it away from passenger seat”
Cracked Trailer hitch mounting bracket
I was under the coach a couple weeks ago fixing a trailer light plug bracket when I noticed a potentially serious problem. There is an angle bracket welded to the frame rail (same on both sides).
Where that angle bracket is curved 90 degs, a crack has developed. Continue reading “Cracked Trailer hitch mounting bracket”
Adding bathroom light wall switch converts ceiling fixture to LOW-MED-HIGH
The bathroom was originally wired with a standard ole two bulb ceiling light fixture. OFF – ONE BULB – BOTH BULBS.
If I used the bathroom at 3am it was either take care of business in the dark, or fumble around with the ceiling light and be prepared for that blinding light when it came on. Continue reading “Adding bathroom light wall switch converts ceiling fixture to LOW-MED-HIGH”
Upgrading coach lights to LEDs
One of the easiest and least expensive ways to make the coach battery last longer is to reduce the electrical loads placed on the battery. Every ceiling light bulb in the Mirada uses 1.4 amps when its turned on. The double fixtures (two bulbs) draw almost 3 amps when they’re turned on.
By converting to LEDs, that 3 amps can be reduced to 1/2 amp, with the same brightness, AND, a light fixture that will last forever.
AC switch controls AC compressor regardless of MODE switch
I’m like the way Japanese cars allow you select the A/C system with a separate button, regardless of the heater / AC mode selector switch. (They do not allow me to turn off the AC when in defrost mode, even though I would like to be able to do that)
The Evans controller gave me no options on if I want to run the AC or not. It turned on the AC compressor for several MODEs, including the “VENT” mode. I’m not sure why they do this, as when in the AC mode, the vents are selected, so why did they want to run the AC when VENTS are selected? Continue reading “AC switch controls AC compressor regardless of MODE switch”
Mud Flap Replacement
My original mud flaps were a hard plastic, They had become brittle and were breaking apart.
I lost one of them in January some where on I-75 between Dayton and Toledo.
The I visited one of our local Auto /Truck parts stores (Advantage Auto Parts) and bought 4 new rubber flaps for $6 each. Continue reading “Mud Flap Replacement”
Upgrading converter to 4 stage
Our Mirada originally came with an electronic version (7345RU) of the old single stage converter / charger (6345). These units are designed to supply the coach with 12 volts and recharge the coach battery any time shore power (or generator power) is applied.
The unit worked fine as far as supplying 12 volt power to the coaches needs, but falls short of the needs to recharge the coach battery. Continue reading “Upgrading converter to 4 stage”