2009 Carri-Lite 36Max1 upgrades partial list LONG

Sorry I have not had any time to document any of the forward progress on the 2009, but work gets in the way of my “fun” stuff.

Got the ABS gray tank fracture around the 3in drain fitting “welded”. Had to do it myself with an amazon Massca Plastic Welding Kit, acetone, ABS shavings, and some metal screen. 

Got the old Drainmaster wiring and PO installed manual valves removed, new drainmaster wiring, switches, and cam-loc fitting installed. The new drain hose assembly polled right into the existing holder but could NOT get it out once in the storage housing. Learned the trick of pulling up on the “snout” and it pulled out with ease.Will use some filing and bondo to build a small ramp inside the housing.

Installed the Peplink BR2pro router in the rear couch area overhead cabinets and drilled a 2in hole through the roof to mount a box for the Parsec Great Pyrenees 11-in-1 Antenna. https://mobilemusthave.com/

Did this timing wise, so I could have the RVroofing pros guy (Luis Mendes) come by and seal it along with the 2 390w QCells solar panel roof attachments. They use an acrylic coating infused with kevlar fibers, painted over layers kevlar along the curved portions of the roof. This was the FIRST thing I did when I bought the coach in 2022 and if I touch the roof, I call Luis to do his magic. Keeps my lifetime warranty active and 100% happy to pay him for the work. Nice to not worry. https://rvroofingpros.com/

Also ran 12V using #4 wire from the front of the coach battery connection to the entertainment lower cabinet in the FWS and a 50 amp fusebox panel,  Kohree 6 Way Boat Fuse Block 12V. Mostly because I needed a larger wire to mitigate voltage losses to the JC Refrigeration 12v retrofit for the Norcold N1095. It has run flawlessly for the last 5 months.

Then ran 12v from the slide  entertainment via #6 wire to the overhead cabinet Peplink router area to run the Peplink and the Starlink. I got Dishy Dualie power supply https://boondocker.io/products/dishy-rv-power-supply to allow offgrid and not have to run AC 120v up to that area, plus cut down on the heat radiated by the stock Starlink router. Was going to get rid of the router anyway for I installed 2 inside Peplink AP One AX Lite WiFi 6 Access Point to have strong signal both in the rear of the rig and in the bedroom. A bear to run the RJ45’s  from the rear entertainment area to the front entertainment area. The 36Max1 (FWS) appears to be a straight run, BUT the washing machine drain pipe takes an abrupt 2-3 in up (2 90’s) in the area right behind the pull out bin storage area next to the refrigerator. 

 Three reasons for the front bedroom AP, did not want to run another cat 5 to the Victron Cerbo (famously poor wifi connectivity), AP in the front of the coach should allow wireless reach into the cab of the Ford F450 tow vehicle, and of course wifi in the bedroom.

Our Carri-lite has the extra 2 layer Reflectix radiant barrier, which really helps with both heat intrusion and insulation, but one of the side effects is it is a really good wifi barrier. Really good wifi barrier (yes worth repeating).

Finished the replacement of the radiant electric stovetop with a Suburban 3309A dual induction element cooktop. Had to cut the Corian a little wider and ordered a 2in stainless steel trim piece for the back, cut it so it would not overhang and glued it down with the fancy GE clear silicone in an “S” to allow expansion and contraction at different rates.

Then pulled the blinds to have them ultrasonically cleaned https://blindbathers.com/ and they took 15 yrs of grime and dust away and miraculously all are functional, just 1 missing from the dining room slide, and the metal 26×20 in the kitchen needs replacement. BUT then noticed (and only then) that every single window is a dual pane and ALL were fogged. 

Bad fogged. 

Called all over the nation and locally, with a lot of “nope don’t do that” Fast forward a few days and discovered Jesus at RV Dual Pane Soutions https://rvdualpanesolutions.com/index.html Really reasonable and in Mesa Arizona, so only an 8hr drive. Turns out they had a job on the west site of AZ the following week and could come to California for a reasonable price. They were here for 2 full days and took each window apart (25 individual panes, 50 pieces of glass) clean and re-sealed them. About ¼ the price of new windows and the difference is breathtaking. 

The coach now has a Victron MultiPlus II 3K, 780w of solar panels, 3 each 300AH Enjoybot (LiTime, Enjoybot and a few others are pretty much all the same, these “supposedly” have the low tem protection), Victron Lynx busbar system, Cerbo, MPPT 150-70 Smart Solar charge controller, I can run both AC’s off the batteries, but not for long and do require running the genset to start the second AC. The ACs (2021 manufacture dates)  have soft starts, the run caps replaced and a new fan motor in the 13.5K nonducted bedroom AC. RV Airflow was installed in the ducted 15K. Not difficult but Everything on this Coach is a little custom. 

Bought a used Onan 5500 (Gas) and the Faithful Journey http://www.faithfuljourneyrv.com genstart. Have not installed it yet but most certainly one of  the next projects. Removal of the faded and cracked decals will be rugby in there. Would have been easier in the summer, but needed to get the technical stuff done first.

Whew. Probably not everything, but at least part of the process is documented. 

Will post a few pics. Mostly the glass before and after. They are impressive in my opinion.