Chinook RV

Blue~Go wrote:

caconcourse wrote:
My latest project was adding an indoor/outdoor thermometer with a clock and battery voltage readout left of the TV where the old sound control panel used to be. The outdoor temperature uses the old telephone wire to the outside compartment for the outdoor sensor.

Well this just goes to show that there is often a "nugget" even in a thread that you'd think wouldn't apply. I was reading along just because I find it interesting to see how people do things; but since I don't watch TV figured I'd just be a bystander of sorts. But now you've piqued my interest. You used the old telephone wire for an outdoor sensor? I want to know more!

(I do use a wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer, but wouldn't mind also having a wired one. Plus it just sounds interestingly clever!)

Here is the part:

Innovic EC30 Multifunctional 4 in 1 Car Digital Clock, In/Out Thermometer, Voltage Monitor

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005F ... UTF8&psc=1

It looks like it is now out of stock at Amazon, but I paid about $17 for it. It comes with a wired outside temperature sensor with the wire about 6 feet long. I took an old phone cord with RJ11 connectors, and cut off a few inches on each end. I cut off the temperature sensor wire about a foot from the sensor (so I would have a short pigtail in the external compartment). Then I soldered the bare ends of the sensor cable to a pair in the phone cord stubs. It is very small wire, but can be soldered with care and some shrink tube. I now had the sensor cable separated into two segments with regular phone jacks spliced on. I actually cut the phone cord in the cabin and moved the jack to the corner of the overhead behind the TV. The original location for the jack was under the VHS player. Then I plugged the thermometer cable into the phone jack in the cabinet, and plugged the short sensor cable into the phone jack in the external compartment (next to the outdoor shower). The sensor had adhesive tape to hold it to the inside wall of the compartment.

Finally I cut off the 12v power plug from the main unit and crimped on some terminals, which I spliced to the 12V TV power supply wires (in parallel with the TV feed). This provides the battery voltage readout supply as well as power to the LCD display backlight. This is potentially a parasite load, but it only draws a fraction of a milliamp. I made it so I could unplug it from the power cord if I didn't want it connected. I actually leave it on all the time anyway. The backlight is selectable between blue or orange, and I found you can position the switch in the middle so that the backlight turns off, which is a good unadvertised feature. I made a nice little oak frame, with a downslope angle for a proper viewing angle. It is mounted cock-eyed in the frame so you can see it from across the coach and access the switch on the left side.
Clay

pdemarest wrote:Nice installation, SMan. You mentioned "the brick" in your description of the wiring. What is that?

Thanks! I believe that was A Rooney that mentioned the brick however. Maybe he will see this.

Well I do have a 110 Samsung that runs off of 14volts (as I already said)and it comes with a transformer,often referred to as a brick,The sound,picture quality,price,and power draw in amps is excellent,I investigated 12volts units but they seemed very pricey,and limited feature wise.For example if I am sitting in the dinette,or move to the couch or set up the bed.I use the "Magic Angle" adjustment on the remote and the picture goes from washed out to rich color ! It's green energy star which means it sips power.Yes it does not come with a built in DVD (I could hook up a laptop)but it does come with a USB slot for downloaded movies.Samsung makes a great tv and since its 110 and not rv 12v oriented,the obligatory arm and leg,is not required.Rooney

Thanks Rooney - we're headed on the road in about a week so I probably won't have a tv by then but I've gotten a lot of great ideas from this thread.