Freshening up a 2000 3023?

We are still relatively new to TM ownership (previously tent camped) and will celebrate our 1 year anniversary in October by camping a week at the beach!

At any rate, we are wanting to clean her up a bit inside and out, so I have a few questions with maybe more to come.

Can I just wipe down the interior with 409 or is there something more appropriate?

Has anyone pulled up all the linoleum and carpet and replaced it with peel & stick vinyl tiles? The linoleum is curling up at the doorway in the entry and bathroom. Can the tiles just go straight down on the sub floor?

Curtains. Oy. I saw another thread where someone mentioned snaps and dying the curtains. I may try this to start with on the ones over the sofas since they are the worst.

She also seems to be having some leveling problems. What could be causing this? We have to rig the door with bungees to make it square enough to open close while she's set up and all my food cooks crooked. LOL.

Oh yeah, is there a lift kit or any easier way to get under the sofa bed seat? I can barely lift it so only DH stores stuff there.

Also, the refrigerator doesn't cool very well. I'm happy with storing drinks, bread, mustard, and salad in there, but DH wants it working properly.

Hubby wants to camp monthly so there isn't a lot of down time to work on her between trips! So far we've been on 7 trips and spent 16 nights.

[rvcycleguy]

Originally Posted by JamKat+Fam

1. Can I just wipe down the interior with 409 or is there something more appropriate?

2. Has anyone pulled up all the linoleum and carpet and replaced it with peel & stick vinyl tiles? The linoleum is curling up at the doorway in the entry and bathroom. Can the tiles just go straight down on the sub floor?

3. Also, the refrigerator doesn't cool very well. I'm happy with storing drinks, bread, mustard, and salad in there, but DH wants it working properly.

1. Yes you can use a 409 product. I use a soft scrub with bleach product. Don't scrub too hard, the walls are painted aluminum and can rub off over time. Same for the exterior.

2. I've pulled the linoleum floor and carpet this past spring. I replaced it with a floating, faux wood self stick laminate floor product. Looks good and is much better flooring product for an RV. Easy to clean with a sweep out method. Search here on the site for flooring options. I cleaned the bare floor with mineral spirits and then painted with a primer 1-2-3 product. Then laid down the new floor strips. Cuts with a box cutter method for angles and ends. Used 3 full boxes.

3. The refrigerators in most pop up units are not the best in chilling to what we would be familiar with at home. Is the upper compartment freezing? If so, then it's working. There is a fan switch which helps distribute the cold air throughout the entire compartments. The unit heats ammonia based system that absorbes all aspects of heat thereby leaving the chamber with cold dry air. Everytime you open the door, it starts al over again. Most of us here chill the refer overnight prior to travel and then load the compartments with cold items. If you put room temp items in, the process starts all over again. The refer works better on propane than electric. There is also a cold setting dial. 5 being coldest setting. I've had ice cream in the freezer area all week when camping. I've also had water bottles freeze if the high setting was used. Most will use the 3 setting.

[Bill]

JamKat -

Welcome back! It's been a year since we heard from you. Glad you got a TM of your own.

To add to the discussion:

First, there have been a ton of threads and posts about replacing the floor. It is worth looking them up (get familiar with the Search tool), because there have been many methods and many materials discussed. Not everyone agrees about everything, and some have worked better than others. You owe it to yourself to go through them before undertaking this rather major job.

Second, I'm not sure what kind of levelling problems you are describing. How do you level your TM? Members have reported occasional problems with the door not closing, and depending on the source of the problem, there are fixes - but no single universal fix. Again, a Search will help.

Finally, re the refrig. As cycleguy mentioned, the so-called "absorption" mechanism, which is used in almost all RVs because it can be powered by propane, is not nearly as quick as a home refrigerator. My test has always been to start with a warm refrig, turn it on and close the refrig and freezer doors, and wait two hours. After that time, the floor of the freezer should begin to feel cold to the fingertips. If it is, it is working as intended. But it will take overnight to cool the entire appliance. That is why it is so important to put only pre-chilled food in the refrig, and pre-frozen foods in the freezer.

And as another note about the refrig, the thermostat doesn't work particularly well. In fact, I think the thermostat is in the circuit only when the unit is powered by 120 VAC. This is a source of annoyance to all of us, and an ingenious (though somewhat involved) solution was posted recently in the TM Technical Library (TM Info You Won't Find Anywhere Else).

Hope this helps - and again, welcome back!

Bill

At then end of each camping season I clean the inside of the TM. I use Pine-Sol and water in a 2 gallon bucket with a rag.

Anywhere that I can get my hand and rag gets wiped. This includes removing the drawers and wiping the walls and floor in the drawer space.

It takes awhile.

We ordered our TM with vinyl flooring instead of carpet. There is no flooring to lift.

Thanks for the info (and Bill for remembering us + the warm welcome). I'm thinking some of these topics may be under registered users only so I can't see them. I plan on changing that SOON! Meantime I'll pass along the refrig info to DH.

We are at least the 3rd owners as my parents bought it used from a dealer in 2008 I believe. Trust me, if I bought new I would have picked vinyl. All our camping is done in the GA red clay or at the beach, neither of which is carpet friendly. I'll probably take up the flooring issue in late Oct or Nov and I'm hoping DH doesn't have an opinion on how to do it. Ha ha.

I guess this weekend I'll be cleaning the inside since we don't have an "end of camping season". Any tips to clean the curtains? Do they need to be hand washed? I already know not to put them in the dryer!

Kathy

[B_and_D]

Originally Posted by JamKat+Fam

I guess this weekend I'll be cleaning the inside since we don't have an "end of camping season". Any tips to clean the curtains? Do they need to be hand washed? I already know not to put them in the dryer!

Kathy

I washed ours on the delicate cycle in the washing machine and hung them out on our clothesline (we hardly ever use our dryer). I kind of "work" the delicate cycle by filling and agitating, turning it off and letting things soak for 15 minutes or so, and then agitating again. They do kind of shrink up but when you iron them they stretch back out.

Originally Posted by B_and_D

I washed ours on the delicate cycle in the washing machine and hung them out on our clothesline (we hardly ever use our dryer). I kind of "work" the delicate cycle by filling and agitating, turning it off and letting things soak for 15 minutes or so, and then agitating again. They do kind of shrink up but when you iron them they stretch back out.

Thanks! I hope to do the ones over the sofas this weekend.

Well, it's official. We joined up. DH was like "WHY are you asking me about spending $12?" Ha. We may end up having a rear wall rotting and need to replace it. All I can see are these repairs cutting into my campsite reservation money... Oh well.

I have heard a lot of stories over the years regarding washing causes shrinking.

The last time I had a rug doctor machine at home with the upholstery attachment for washing the patio cushions I tried it on the bathroom window. Water only, no soap. I watched a lot of dirt come out, but the end result did not seem to be very much different.

I tried it because it seemed like a safe thing to do and I wanted to see what the results would be.

Oh yeah, is there a lift kit or any easier way to get under the sofa bed seat? I can barely lift it so only DH stores stuff there.


I, too had trouble lifting the sofa, DH cut some rectangular holes in the front, installed cabinet doors and now there is easy access. We talked about having drawers installed, but the doors are working fine.

Nancy