RV Great Gadgets | RV Mods
Spot GPS Transmitter / Messenger
We consider this product an added measure of insurance. This little GPS transmitter allows global connection with recipients of your choice, and connection to first responders in the event of an emergency when off the beaten path. It does not rely on cell signals; instead it uses satellite communication.
After the acquisition cost, there is a yearly subscription fee to enable monitoring of your position, rudimentary communication, and signaling to emergency first responders. We turn on the tracking feature of the device to allow family to keep an eye on Mom and Dad as they wander here and there across the continent. Family, friends, or colleagues can either check in on the position map as you travel, or check the position emails that the device can send out at your prompting. Serious adventurers use the Spot for its emergency contact capability, but luckily we have not had to use it for that purpose. For many years it has sat on the dash of our motorhomes to give all involved peace of mind. Our particular Spot product has been upgraded to this current version:
WiFi Signal Booster
PepWave Surf On – The – Go
No cell signal out here, but a visitor centre 1200’ away…
This compact travel router has been a communication staple in our motorhomes since it was first recommended to us many years ago. Similarly to your router at home, it allows you to create a local area network using a wired internet signal – but here is where it really pays for itself in an RV – and also allows you to capture a weak wireless WiFi signal and boost it to useable signal strength. Its capture range is really quite remarkable when looking for a weak campground or coffee shop WiFi signal. We’ve seen this thing capture a signal from hundreds and hundreds of yards away, when no signal of any kind is displayed on our devices, and then provide a streaming quality signal for use in the motorhome. If you have been in a campground where the check-in staff tell you that you will need to come to the office to get on the internet, give this type of device some consideration. This router / WiFi booster, or one similar, can be a connectivity lifesaver.
I see that our particular travel router is no longer in production, but this old link might give you some ideas as to the type of device to research for your RV:
Google Chromecast
I was a bit dubious when it was suggested that a Google Chromecast would be a worthy addition to our View. We had been using an Apple TV to stream content from the internet, but, admittedly, it has always been a bit of a pain to keep getting it hooked up as we moved around, and its lack of streaming options was cumbersome. So, we gave the Chromecast a try… good thing, too. It is easy to install, easy to use, inexpensive, and pretty operationally bullet proof. If you’ve got something you want to watch, I believe its streaming and casting options make this a good fit for RVers on the go.
Google Chromecast Internet Streamer
Dumping Accessories
Are these gadgets? Well, not sure… maybe exterior use gadgets, I guess.
Twist on gate valve
I was surprised to find out the hard way that even brand new gate valves leaked a bit, so this product caught my attention. It does not get any easier to install, yet provides a line of defence for leaky, or malfunctioning, gate valves. I have heard lots of stories about really unpleasant surprises at the dump station when that dust cap is removed in preparation for hooking up the dump hose. This twist on gate valve eliminates those potential surprises.
NOTE: I do not use this gate valve in the winter, as it cannot be heated by our winter mods and will freeze up if any leakage occurs from the black or grey tank.
Grey tank quick drain
There have been times when, after a morning of long showers for everyone, I’ve wanted to drain only the grey tank prior to hitting the road. Instead of hooking up the macerator system and going through that exercise, hooking up the garden hose to the dump port and gravity dumping the grey has been a simple and quick way to get the job done. The garden hose I use doubles as the black tank flush hose I keep with the dump kit. Again, easy to install but adds some great functionality to the View.
120 Volt AC Outlet Timers
When we are winter dry camping - we rely on power from our Xantrex 2000 inverter, via our coach batteries, to supply 120 volt AC electricity to some of our winter mods. The two mods in particular are the wet bay heat and the coach battery heat. These 120 volt AC mods draw a very small amount of AC current, but because the ultimate source of the 120 volt alternating current is from the inverter via our coach batteries - the DC current draw from our two coach batteries is significant. Each of these mods draws about 5 DC amps each.
Because we don’t need our wet bay and coach battery heat on full time - only about 20 out of 60 minutes is all that is really required - we came up with the idea to put timers on these circuits. We found these timers at our national “get what ever you need” store:
These timers are easily programmed, and can be left to cycle automatically or be manually switched on. This particular brand of timers has two identically looking products - a 5 amp timer and a 15 amp timer. I’d recommend getting the 15 amp timer to give you flexibility down the road for other projects.
Here is the timer we have on the wet bay heat …
and here is the timer we put on the lithium coach battery heat:
These work really well, and cut down on our overnight coach battery drain when shore, solar, Onan, or chassis alternator power is not available to charge the coach batteries.