Television mount

[Carol H]

Pat I did not but the tv I have is pretty light.

[Pat C]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Pat I did not but the tv I have is pretty light.

Hi Carol.Mine is really light too but because my cabinets are fiberglass(I notice yours are wood)I will probably add a wood suport inside the cabinet.Something more sturdy to screw into and a little more support than provided by the fiberglass.Did your add an electrical outlet inside the cabinet?I was thinking this would not be to complicated.However it is not something I will attempt myself as I know next to nothing about electrical anything.Pat.

[Raya]

Hi Pat,

Just one note if you are going to attach the TV to the overhead fiberglass cabinet: I see you are going to reinforce the mount area, but keep in mind that -- if your overhead cabinet is like mine in the Boler -- it is only attached to the trailer body with six little rivets. I don't know how heavy your TV is, and if you are not traveling with it in place there may not be a problem; but I just wanted to mention it so that you were beefing up one weak link in the chain only to find another one.

I just finished tabbing my overhead cabinet in with fiberglass (for different reasons), so I'm extra-aware of how it was mounted.

Mounting to a closet wall is a little bit different because the closet typically has more attachment points to the shell, and plus it somewhat rests on the trailer floor/frame.

Raya

[Pat C]

Originally Posted by Raya L.

Hi Pat,

Just one note if you are going to attach the TV to the overhead fiberglass cabinet: I see you are going to reinforce the mount area, but keep in mind that -- if your overhead cabinet is like mine in the Boler -- it is only attached to the trailer body with six little rivets. I don't know how heavy your TV is, and if you are not traveling with it in place there may not be a problem; but I just wanted to mention it so that you were beefing up one link in the chain only to find another one.

I just finished tabbing my overhead cabinet in with fiberglass (for different reasons), so I'm extra-aware of how it was mounted.

Mounting to a closet wall is a little bit different because the closet typically has more attachment points to the shell, and plus it somewhat rests on the trailer floor/frame.

Raya

Hi Raya.Thanks...We certainly will not be travelling with the TV in place.Thats one reason I like this mount.The TV can be taken down very eaisly for traveling.Our TV is a 19" flat screen and weighs 12 pounds.I only intend to use a thin piece of wood to make it eaiser to screw the plate of the mount to the fiberglass.Pat.

[Carol H]

In your case it sure would not hurt to add a small wood plate inside the cabinet to screw into.

I wanted to add an electrical outlet to the overhead but in the end decided I did not know enough to be playing with the electrical system. I ended up just using a small power bar in the overhead and putting a hole into the side/end of the overhead cabinet (on the kitchen side) and finished it off with the same type of cap you see on the underside. I ran the electrical cord down from the back over head cabinet to an electrical outlet that was already on the lower kitchen cabinet. Got lucky as the outlet is on the side of the lower cabinet that faces the table/bed area. The curtains and the back seat cushion hide the power cord going up the wall so you really only see about 4" of the electrical cord above the curtains going into the overhead bin. At the other end you only see where it plugs into the cabinet below if you are sitting at the table/bed.

In the photo you will see there is a second white cable going into the back overhead as well. I ran the TV cable to the DVD player through that hole as well, as my trailer already had a TV cable connection box installed (with power to it) on the end of the upper kitchen cabinet - right across from the back overhead. The trailer only had cable running to the roof for an antenna connection (no city cable connection) so I had to attached another cable to the TV box inside the kitchen overhead and run it behind the rat fur to the storage area under the back bench and installed a new cable connection box on the outside of the trailer.

I understand that some electrical experts may suggest its not a good idea to have a power bar in an enclosed area so I keep the door to the overhead bin open when the TV is plugged in - need to in order to use the dvd remote anyway.

Not perfect but not to messy.

[Pat C]

Originally Posted by Carol H

In your case it sure would not hurt to add a small wood plate inside the cabinet to screw into.

I wanted to add an electrical outlet to the overhead but in the end decided I did not know enough to be playing with the electrical system. I ended up just using a small power bar in the overhead and putting a hole into the side/end of the overhead cabinet (on the kitchen side) and finished it off with the same type of cap you see on the underside. I ran the electrical cord down from the back over head cabinet to an electrical outlet that was already on the lower kitchen cabinet. Got lucky as the outlet is on the side of the lower cabinet that faces the table/bed area. The curtains and the back seat cushion hide the power cord going up the wall so you really only see about 4" of the electrical cord above the curtains going into the overhead bin. At the other end you only see where it plugs into the cabinet below if you are sitting at the table/bed.

In the photo you will see there is a second white cable going into the back overhead as well. I ran the TV cable to the DVD player through that hole as well, as my trailer already had a TV cable connection box installed (with power to it) on the end of the upper kitchen cabinet - right across from the back overhead. The trailer only had cable running to the roof for an antenna connection (no city cable connection) so I had to attached another cable to the TV box inside the kitchen overhead and run it behind the rat fur to the storage area under the back bench and installed a new cable connection box on the outside of the trailer.

I understand that some electrical experts may suggest its not a good idea to have a power bar in an enclosed area so I keep the door to the overhead bin open when the TV is plugged in - need to in order to use the dvd remote anyway.

Not perfect but not to messy.

Wow thanks so much for the detailed discription of your hookup.As there are so few campgrounds here offering a cable TV connecton (like none)we use the TV only to watch DVD,s.Its one of the units that have its own DVD player in the TV so I do not have to have a separate connection to a DVD player..Puting the power bar in the cabinet sounds like a good solution at least until I could get a electrial connection there.Thanks again for all the help.Pat.

[Wallo]

Those are good ideas, thanks!!!. My order was FedEx'd on Monday, and according to the tracking, it should be here on Wen. I hope there will be enough time to install it for my trip this upcoming weekend.

I found a 3 plug surge cord. Being tiny, I put velcro on the back and stuck it to the rat fur after plugging it in. Works great and can be moved/removed on a whim.

[Carol H]

Your welcome. I found mounting the unit to the tv before I drilled the holes helped in deciding where the best location for it was on the overhead bin.

[Pat C]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Your welcome. I found mounting the unit to the tv before I drilled the holes helped in deciding where the best location for it was on the overhead bin.

Thanks for the tip Carol.I will do that.The mount came yesterday.Looks like exactly what I want and the quality is really good.The trailer is in storage for the winter so this won't get installed until Spring.Pat.

[Wallo]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Your welcome. I found mounting the unit to the tv before I drilled the holes helped in deciding where the best location for it was on the overhead bin.

Another good idea. I hope to find it waiting for me when I get home from work tonight. Last night the television got unpacked and is laying on the bed. Am thinking of usinging a bungee to hold it down on the bed while travelling. Things tend to bounce off the bed. otherwise. Thanks again.

[Carol H]

I made a pouch for mine out of 1/2" foam and some extra nylon material I had - I just slip the tv and mount into it when not in use and stick it under the bed covers when traveling - so far so good.

[Panoz77]

I used an old soft sided suitcase and placed my TV in it with some egg crate foam wrapped around it, it's a perfect fit for my 22" and very secure for travel, just an idea if you have an old suitcase laying around.

[Wallo]

Originally Posted by Panoz77

I used an old soft sided suitcase and placed my TV in it with some egg crate foam wrapped around it, it's a perfect fit for my 22" and very secure for travel, just an idea if you have an old suitcase laying around.

Sounds like a perfect solution. A suitcase can ususally be found at a garage sale!!!

[Tom U]

We could not find a spot to mount our TV where we could watch from both the dinette and the bed. So, I came up with this system:

I found a wire shelf that would hold a 22" TV and a satellite receiver. Hung it using cup hangers (15lb load per hook), light chain and "s" hooks. There are two "s" hooks on each chain - Long for dinette, short for foot of bed.

When we are using the dinette the TV hangs over the middle of the bed and we both can watch.

When we are in bed the TV hangs over the foot of the bed.

We used this system almost every day for two months and it worked very well. It takes less than two minutes to change the position of the TV/shelf or to put it up or take it down. One person can do it alone although two make it much easier.

When traveling the shelf and TV ride on the bed. We wrap the TV in a towel and place it so it will not bounce off.

Total cost - less than $10. Found shelf in a thrift store.

[Bonnie n Claude]

We looked at the various store-bought mounts but decided the wall adjoining the closet wasn't a good placement for our lifestyle and didn't want to put holes through any exterior walls. My husband built a small two shelf unit that fits in the front of our Boler over the gaucho next to the kitchen counter. (More or less dead space unless one plans to sleep on the sofa.) In order to have access to the gaucho storage bin had to sacrifice some of the sofa cushion (unzipped it and used electric knife to cut; stored at home should we ever opt to replace it). The unit fits very tightly and has space for a small microwave on the lower shelf and an LCD TV on the top. An angle iron was attached to the lower shelf to keep the microwave from moving during transit. Made a padded cover for the TV which lies flat secured by bungee cords during travel. Aside from paint and time, it was free as we had short boards on hand.