Need some help here.  I am replacing the original TV and VCR in my 96 Patriot. For the life of me I can't find any way to remove the VCR.   There is no access from under, above, behind, left or Right.  The front is not removable and the unit is clearly attached some how.   It is as if they mounted it in the cabinets before mounting them.   Any one have an idea how this thing comes out short of cutting up the cabinet.

Racer Bob

I don't know about yours, but my 98 Monterey's VCR was held in by a velcro strap. I had to slide a flat object (a ruler) on top of the VCR and catch the end of the velcro strap and wiggle it loose then pull the VCR out. It was a real bugger to get done. Hope that helps. Marty

Hi Bob
Our 98 Patriot has a vent cover on the underside of the cabinets.  I know there is access to the connections there.  Do you have one and is  there perhaps a tie down in yours?

I will look for the velcro thing which would make the only sense.   The VCG compartment is double walled off from the compartment next to it that has access through the vent.   There is absolutely no physical access to the compartment with the VCG.  I'll will report back tonight.

Racer Bob

I will look for the velcro thing which would make the only sense.   The VCG compartment is double walled off from the compartment next to it that has access through the vent.   There is absolutely no physical access to the compartment with the VCG.  I'll will report back tonight.

Racer Bob

The unit was attached by a thick piece of double sided tape on the top.  I just worked it loose with a steel ruler and out it came.   There was no other way to access the compartment, it is build like a safe with really thick  wood.

Racer Bob

Our 97 Patriot had the rubber foam tap on the front top edge of the VCR and we were able to work it out. Ours was towards the side and had some depth limitations so replaced it with a more compact DVD player than standard. We also replaced the CRT 19"TV with a LCD 24" and gained some head room.
http://www.classiccoachworks.com/ did it and their pictures are very similar to ours. We also replaced the rear TV with a DVD/LCD and mounted it on a flat panel that covered the old recess. It is removable so we can move it to the outside if we want to.

While you have it apart, you may want to remove all the partitions in the front cabinet to give you more room and improve air circulation for the electronic components.  You can also gain some slack in the wires to ease reinstalling the components.

Larry

I like the modifications by Classic .   The only item I will be retaining is the Inverter remote which can easily be moved.  I was surprised that the cabinet with the vent actually didn't have anything in it that needed venting.  If anything I would have thought the TV or VCR sections would need heat removal.   An LCD will being going in along with a DirecTV recorder unit.  

The amount of wood in the VCR cabinet was impressive, built like a tank.  

Fmracerbob,

Any chance you can post some pictures when you are done?

Thanks, Steve

Hey Bob, consider a method to cut AC power to the recorder so it's not drawing power while the coach is stored. The internal hard drive draws power even when the DVR is turned off. I'm sure you already thought of something...

Once I get it all figured out and done I will post pictures and details.  Stored, what stored, when I am done will all the mods I will be moving in full time in the fall.   TV & DVR will be on their own circuits which will be turned off when not in use.   But I have lots of power available, installed 8 Trojan 105's along with 600 watts of solar.  

Biggest issue is since I have a front door, I can't really put the TV in front of the cabinets without causing problems going in and out of the coach.  I want a good size LCD unit so I am going to have to figure out how to modify the original TV cabinet to accept part of the TV so it only overlaps the other cabinets so far and is out of the entry/exit path.   The VCR cabinet has another structure inside it of sturdy construction.  That will take some work.

Of interest was how they mounted the wall plug for the TV.  Instead of having it facing into the TV enclosure, they made it face into the closed off area behind the Control Monitor Center to the left.  I had to remove the Control panel to unplug the TV, rather strange.

Racer Bob

Hey Bob
While you will be posting some pictures, could you include one of your new solar array?  600W of solar is impressive and I sure would like a look.
Thanks