Wall Mounted Shoe Storage Rack for Roadtrek Agile

Finding a place to keep our shoes inside the Agile has always been a problem, it's either we keep them on the door mat by the sliding door entrance or in the rear storage compartment. Our shoes are always on the way and taking valuable storage space plus it looks untidy and unorganized.

The shower wall facing the cab is the perfect and convenient place to store our shoes. If shoes are placed vertically against the wall it would only take very little space and should not be on your way getting in and out the RV. The shoe storage rack is fabricated from 1/4 inch thick acrylic plastic sheet and tarp bungee cords to hold the shoes in place. The posts that holds the bungee cords are made from 1/2 inch thick acrylic plastic. The shoe rack was painted black to match the appliances trim colors. I use 3M VHB tape to attach the shoe rack on the wall. Make sure the shoe rack is resting against the floor when using double sided tape as fastener to prevent unnecessary vertical shear tension on the wall plastic veneer finish.

The shoe rack size dimensions are specifically made for our shoe sizes.  If you have wider shoes, you might not be able to fit 2 pairs side by side as the shower wall width is limited. To save you the trouble, carefully measure everything before you start. Have fun building!

If DIY is not for you, Amazon has variety of "Wall Mounted Shoe Racks" products that might interest you.

Simple Showerhead Mod

Problem #1: During shower, Agile's showerhead spray pattern automatically reverts back to normal center aerated spray when the water is turned off. Most people including myself will turn the water off and on when showering to save water. An easy fix to prevent it from reverting to normal spray is to remove the spring  from the spray selector button inside the showerhead as pictured below.

 

DIY Soda Can Organizer/ Dispenser

To save space in our tiny refrigerator, I made an acrylic soda can organizer/ dispenser. It holds 7 soda cans and is gravity feed. The dispenser base has a small channel that securely rest on the fridge divider railing to prevent it from sliding out during travel. Here's how it looks like.

Adding a Wireless Remote Control to the Macerator

Dumping the holding tanks with Roadtrek macerator system is pretty easy and quick, although the switch location which activates the macerator pump is not very ideal. The switch is located on the frame of the driver seat facing the driver side door. To operate the macerator you have to open the driver side door and reach for the red switch, and since it is momentary switch you have to hold the switch the entire dumping process. It is a minor inconvenience, but leaving the driver side door open while dumping the holding tanks is an open invitation for flies/ bugs to get in the RV not to mention when it is raining...I thought, there could be a better solution.

At first I thought of replacing the momentary switch with an on/off rocker switch, but someone could accidentally flip the switch on and run the macerator dry causing early macerator failure. RT used a momentary switch there for a reason.

My solution is a wireless on/off momentary switch. Again I decided to go with a momentary switch on the wireless controller as for the above reason.  The wireless controller and remote transmit/receives analog signals which is prone to radio wave interferences that could inadvertently activate the controller. Although I am using a separate switch to power the wireless controller, there is always a chance of forgetting to turn it off.

Adding a Bathroom Medicine/Storage Cabinet

Our Agile did not come with a medicine cabinet in the bathroom; rather it has a small odd shaped mirror installed above the pull out sink. The stock bathroom mirror looks terrible with rough/ chipped edges and several small cracks around it. Roadtrek did a terrible job cutting the acrylic mirror. To make it look decent, I temporarily installed a decorative trim around the mirror using a chrome automotive door edge molding (pictured below). The original plan was to replace the mirror with a surface mount medicine cabinet with mirrored door for extra storage, but because of its odd shape it needs to be a custom built.

I had few days off from work last week and had the chance to start the project. The medicine cabinet was fabricated using acrylic plastic. I thought plastic would be a better choice as it will be installed inside the shower area. The first step was to remove the old mirror and to make a paper template by tracing the shape of the stock mirror.

Here's what it looks like when done.

Simple Auto Deploy TV Antenna Reminder

You can buy a TV antenna reminder clip like this "Clip-on Antenna Saver" or make your own. The problem with the clip-on antenna reminder tags is if someone forgets (ohhh... the irony) to hang them after raising the TV antenna. If you have kids like I do, believe me, they will "intentionally" forget.


So, I designed and patented (jk) this self-deploying antenna reminder. All you need is a line ( a fishing line, pull chain, etc.), fishing swivel (optional), instant glue, a small magnet, and a small item to hang preferably with striking colors or maybe a glow in the dark item; the choice is yours. The hanged item will serve as your reminder that the antenna mast is up.

Here is mine.

200 Watt Solar Panel Installation on Roadtrek Agile

I’ve been eyeing on AMSolar Sunrunner Signature System kit for a while and when they had a holiday sale last year, I grabbed that opportunity and ordered (2 )GS-100 solar panel kit, a SunRunner Signature 25 MPPT/6/ Pro Core kit, and a combiner box. Other needed items were purchased on Amazon, like the hydraulic crimper, a Sikaflex 221 sealant, etc. The AM solar kits were pretty much a complete set; you just need appropriate tools to complete the install. If you have questions, give Dave at AM solar a call, they are very nice people.

Protecting the Fresh Water Tank/ Water Drain Fitting and the Gray Tank from Road Debris.

The location of the fresh water tank and the drain fitting at the front passenger side wheel well is highly vulnerable to damage from road debris the tire spews at it. The front facing wall of the gray tank is no different; it gets pitted and sandblasted from road exposure. I covered the exposed areas of the tanks with an anti-fatigue mat few years ago using plain silicone adhesive sealant and it held up and protected the tanks well for thousands of miles.

The fresh water drain although now protected by the mat, it is unsightly and needed an update and extra protection. I got the idea from a sprinter-source forum member (credit goes to Mein Sprinter). I bought an inexpensive plastic splash guard cover (pictured below) from a local auto supply chain. Pre fitted into the wheel well, I marked the area of the splash guard that needed to be bent inward to prevent it from rubbing against the wheel.  Using a heat gun, I slowly and evenly heated the marked area and while it is still warm, I slowly bent it inward by hand and then let it cooled down under running water. The splash guard retained it shape and was a perfect fit with no trimming needed. I slathered a good amount of silicone sealant along the top J-shaped edge of the splash guard for extra hold then secured it in place using 3 screws.

Splash guard with inner corner bent inward.

Upgrading Dometic Penguin Duo-Therm AC Analog Thermostat to Digital Single Zone Wall Mounted Thermostat.

While cleaning the AC air filters, I noticed 6 unused color coded wires inside the air distribution box. I'm pretty sure I noticed these wires before but really never paid attention to it. I tested the red and black wire for power and was surprised that it has live 12 volt power. I contacted RT but they never gave me a straight answer, so I traced the wires and 5 of the wires terminates into the rear of AV overhead compartment close to where the furnace thermostat is. Obviously it is pre-wiring for the electronic AC thermostat control.

I called Dometic and asked if I can upgrade my current AC (Dometic Penguin Duo-Therm with heat strip option model) to a single zone digital thermostat wall mounted control. I was given the part numbers needed for the upgrade. I was told that I needed the electronic control box (Part # 3313270.000 with Heat Strip option) and I also needed to change the air distribution box in order to mount the electronic control box inside. The air distribution box that came with the RT is a low profile model and does not have enough space for the new electronic control box, but I do like it because of its low profile design.

I bought the Dometic Single Control Kit (Part # 33313270.000) from Ebay. The kit came with the electronic control box, single zone LCD digital thermostat, a manual, and 4 mounting bolts.

The new single zone digital thermostat.

Accessing Rear-View Camera Wiring Harness for Troubleshooting or Camera Replacement

My 2011 Agile came with an Eclipse GPS Navigation and Audio System; it is also equipped with a rear-view camera. RT has installed a generic camera in lieu of the more expensive Eclipse brand camera. I have read somewhere that the original Eclipse camera is powered by the head unit at 5-volts. In order for a 12-volt aftermarket rear-view camera to work, RT used an adapter and spliced a 12-volt power from the Sprinter reverse lights. One drawback of using an aftermarket rear-view camera is that you loss the manual "always on" camera feature of the unit.

Recently, my rear-view camera intermittently stops working at night, especially when it gets cold. The camera would start working again when it gets warmer during the day. I thought there must be some loose wiring connections to the camera that possibly exacerbated by moisture or condensation build up. I pulled out the head unit and replaced the loose push-in Coax-to-RCA connector for the camera with a better compression type, but that did not solve the problem. I called RT on how to access the rear-view camera wiring harness and was told to remove some panels just after where the camera is mounted, but Agile has a rear overhead cabinet on that area and that would be a pain to remove.

Leveling Your RV using Andersen 3604 Camper Leveler

I’ve used “Lego" blocks levelers for years and they work fine for leveling the RV. The last sets I had started cracking and splitting in the middle, so I started looking for a better replacement. I was searching the net when I stumbled upon the Andersen 3604 Camper leveler (Amazon Link: Click here ). Although I did not find any user reviews for a Sprinter based RV's, trailer campers swear by them as easy and simplest leveler to use, so I took the plunge and bought a pair. It is fairly expensive at about $45 a set ($90 for a pair). Another set and all 3 wheels should be cover, but for now, I'll keep using the few remaining "Lego" blocks I have for the 3rd wheel, just in case.
   

Per manufacturer, it can level anywhere from 1/2-inch all the way to 4-inches and anything in-between. The lift measures 4-inches at the very end of the leveler. It is made of tough plastic and definitely looks heavy duty.

Repurposing Your Old Smartphone for RV Use.

If you have an extra smartphone lying around and doesn't know what to do with it, this might give you an idea. I mounted one on my dashboard, loaded with some free apps, like dashcam, inclinometer for leveling the camper, etc. It can also stream music through Bluetooth connection to my dash radio.

I modified an old windshield mount for dashboard mounting as pictured below. The old windshield mount sits low and the phone camera does not clear the top of dashboard on its intended placement. The mount came with a circular plastic dashboard mounting disk with adhesive backing.

This is how it looks like mounted on dashboard.

DIY: Replacing the Reading Light Halogen Bulb with LED

Agile's reading lights (Amazon link: Arcon Swivel Halogen Light) uses a halogen bulb, to save energy, I replaced them with an LED bulb. You need a G4 LED bulb replacement with extended back pins for proper fitment.

SailorSam has the G4 LED's with the extended back pins, link here: SailorSam G4 LED with Extended back pins. They run for about $14 to $26 a pop, they are good quality LED's with voltage regulation and transient suppressors to protect from current overload and voltage spike. It can be a little expensive if you needed to change all 4 reading lights to LED.

I found G4 LED's on EBay (G4 LED bulb 12-5050 SMD) which is a lot cheaper for about $2.60 a piece with free shipping. Although, the EBay LED's does not have the fancy voltage regulation and such, and not to mention it has shorter back pins. I just changed the shorter back pins to longer pins, saving me some money for a little work, not bad in my opinion.

Replacing the Standard Remote Switches for Patio Lights, Water Heater, and Inverter to Illuminated Switches

Roadtrek remote switches for the water heater, inverter/charger, and the patio lights has no light illumination visually reminding the user that it is on, one could easily forget to turn them off and waste valuable resources.

Rather than installing an indicator light next to the switches, I opted for illuminated switches which should be easier to install. The hard part is finding a correct size switch replacement. The original switches dimensions are as follows: 12 mm (W) x 29 mm (L). Actual switch plate opening: 13.5 mm x 29 mm.

I got my replacement switches off EBay but the link is now dead. I searched Amazon but could not find an exact size switch, maybe you'll get better luck, look for 12-13mm wide and 28-29 mm long switch> 12-volt SPST illuminated rocker switch.

Picture below shows the newly installed illuminated switches.

Replacing the Propane Regulator in Agile

This article is not intended to qualify anyone to work on a propane system. Propane when improperly handled can be very dangerous and should always be treated with the utmost respect. If there is ever a concern about a propane system, a qualified technician should check it out as soon as possible.

The propane regulator is the heart of the propane system, if it fails, appliances that uses propane as fuel will no longer work and that can be a major headache for anyone dry camping. Leaking at the propane regulator is one of the major regulator failures. If you noticed a propane leak in the system, it is highly advised to shut the propane flow at the service valve to prevent further leaking that can/ may result in disastrous situations.

Agile has a two-stage horizontal mount propane regulator and a single high pressure regulator feeding the outdoor pig tail that is located on the passenger side rear wheel well area. The propane regulator is mounted on the propane tank towards the rear end and can only be accessed under the RV.

I highly recommend that a qualified propane technician do the propane regulator replacement. If you are out camping and needed to change the propane regulator, you are doing so at your own risk. This article is only intended to familiarize you with the propane regulator in RT Agile and not intended to qualify anyone to work on propane system.

Before you start, make sure to close the propane service valve.

1. Disconnect the propane pigtail hose from the propane service port. The thread on the pigtail (P.O.L end) is reversed as marked with the indentation on the P.O.L nut; turn clockwise to loosen from the service valve outlet port.