Heat and our upper cabinets

[creativepart]

As an aside, I sent this info to my service advisor at Winnebago, Mike Wigern. He replied that he’s passing the info to others in the relevant departments.

Macnut, go for it. Unlike some others that have posted this fix I didn’t fully remove the “walls” inside the cabinet. Nor did I remove the large metal box where the core unit resides. The “walls” are just heavy cardboard covered in flocked fabric (mouse fur). And, the back wall is connected to the ceiling as one piece by the fabric - kind of like a fabric hinge.

I could unscrew about a dozen screws holding the bottom of the main wall, remove all of the end wall at the driver’s side and then I cut the cardboard where it was behind the metal core unit box. Then I could fold the back wall up to the ceiling of the cabinet.

You can see this in my photos. I used a plastic bin to hold the wall up out of the way. This gave me complete access to the whole area, even behind the core unit metal box.

When I put the wall back down and screwed it back in place and reinstalled all the electronics including the metal rack that holds the HDMI Matrix and Blu-Ray player it looks just as it did before. The cut in the wall at the big metal core unit box doesn’t show.

The metal box could be unscrewed and removed to avoid cutting anything. But that appeared to be a bigger task than I was prepared to take. There were only 9 screws holding that box in, but 4.3 million bundles of wiring between me and 6 of the screws. The back wall and ceiling of the cabinet are terminated at the box by having about 1/2” of material behind the box and screwed through the back wall. I used an exacto knife to cut the back wall free at the edge where it intersects at the box. Not an elegant solution but a practical one.

[McCharlie]

creativepart....Thanks for the inspiration and info on adding the insulation. I am wondering though if you added insulation to the right of the metal box and on the drivers side. I currently have removed the walls and have tidied up the cables with some velcro cable strips. I will be finishing up tomorrow by adding the insulation and think adding it to the side areas might be beneficial.

[creativepart]

I did put insulation behind the metal box on the passenger side. But not in the sides of the cap either left or right.

Since it's the windshield that's heating everything up. I put the insulation across the front from one side to the other. And that's all.

[beamisl]

Hello,

Do you know what reflectix insulation is the double sided bubble wrap? This product cuts very easily and is stiff.

I opened our cupboard door one day and could not believe the heat that came out of there. I had some of this from work and decided to add it to the outside wall of the rig inside the cupboards. I cut it to size and it made such a difference that I added it to all cupboards and closets as well as under the sink. It's thin so doesn't take up much space but it insulates in these areas very well.

Put it inside the cupboards over the slide out too on the outside wall of the dinette seats inside the seats. I use it in the basement areas to keep items from scratching or denting the walls. It can help with insulation and sound proofing a bit here too.

When we replaced our TV we were surprised at how hot it was in that area. Found some soundproofing bat insulation at HD. This stuff can be cut around wires and metal framework to insulate any area. The sound proofing stops some of the sound when driving down the road. Husband would not put it in and now regrets that. I think we will be taking everything out again and installing it.

What has helped the most though are the UV windshield covers that we had installed. When sitting in full sunshine on the windshields we could feel a big difference in heat in the front of the rig. The dashboard (which is white) was hot to the touch. Rear of the coach was easily 10 to 15* cooler than the front. Front a/c is on longer than the bedroom one.

We had a lady come out and measure and install the UV windshield and side window covers. The day she did this it was over 85* and full sun. As she worked installing, each cover she put up made a difference. The difference in temp within 10 minutes was -10*. Convinced me we had just purchased our best $450 product for the rig.

The other thing these shades provides is a bit of privacy. During the day you can see out but no one can see in. At night with the lights on this is no longer true. It also diffuses the light a bit and tones it down so you can sit there without squinting. I just love these shades.

You are right about the windshield being so hot! It definitely heats up the rig. Thank you for sharing that. I think it is important for us to share these fixes because the industry doesn't seem to worry about it too much.

Good luck getting your fixes added, they will make you more comfortable and the initial cost is worth it in the long run.

Lynne

[creativepart]

I want to throw out an idea - one that I do not know if it is possible or if it will work, but someone may want to check this out.

I mentioned that when I took my upper cabinet's inside walls apart I found a metal base and that this base runs across the whole upper cap area. But I also saw a few inch gap between the windshield and the metal base. Obviously you can't have the metal up against the windshield as it could break it.

Since it's the black painted strip on the back of the windshield that heats up the entire upper cap section I was thinking (wondering might be a better term) if you could slide some insulation up from the dashboard area into that gap to insulate or reflect heat from the windshield. I think if you sit on the dash, lean back to the windshield you could probably see up into that gap.

My RV isn't here right now or I'd take a look up there. But if that worked it would be a whole lot easier than taking the upper cabinets apart. I doubt it would be AS effective, but it might be enough to mitigate the issue.

Just a thought. It maybe a good idea or maybe not.

[McCharlie]

Based on the excellent description of his experience by creativpart I dove into this. I decided not to cut the back piece that goes behind the black box and I think that was a mistake on my part. I also removed the left side piece by cutting through the duct tape used to hold it to the top and back piece. I don't have as many wires to contend with because the 35P has all the entertainment gear mid-ship, but the wires were just willy nilly. I decided to tidy them up using velcro wire straps and that helped when putting in the insulation.

For the bottom shelf I decided to cut three pieces because of the support arms. I think that worked well and made the installation pretty easy. For the top shelf I again cut three pieces. One just for the area behind the black box, and the other two split the width. I also added a small piece on the drivers side aft of the shelves.

Putting the back and top back together was a little challenging. Not having cut the back piece off near the black box made reinstalling that portion almost impossible because there was no way I was going to remove the plethora of screws in impossible locations. I only managed to get about half it back in behind the box and that worked okay. I did use a small pry bar to help add some leverage laterally to the back but still only managed to get half back in. After installing the mounting screws it looks as it did before I started.

And my before and after temperature in the cabinet (full sun same time of day) were 110 and 81. Well worth the effort I'd say.

[creativepart]

Glad to have helped.

As you can know now for experience, cutting the back wall at the black box (don't know what else to call these things) really does simplify. Unlike on the 35P I have a both a Blu-Ray Player/Home Theater unit there and the HDMI Matrix in that spot. And those two units are held in place by a metal rack that sits right up against the infamous "black box". So, my cut wall is completely hidden.

I also cut the insulation in pieces. I planed to try to lay it one piece across the metal shelf and the metal floor but the supports were in the way as you said. I ended up cutting 5 pieces of insulation 2' long and stuffing them in there front to back rather than side to side. I didn't mention any of that. I was confident that anyone that followed after me would see the problems associated with the installation and figure it out.

I also cut the very strong duct tape that holds the far-left side panel frame to the top and back walls. when reassembling I considered putting new tape in there but after screwing in the pieces I didn't see the need.

Glad it worked out.