Chinook RV

1998chinook wrote: The stereo head replacement was surprisingly simple except for one thing. The back of the stereo was connected by a metal strap to the ceiling of the front storage compartment. I ended up using my wife's hand mirror and propping it up so that I had a clear view of the back of the stereo so I could see how the strap was mounted.

I feel your pain - went through some of the same contorting to re-wire the power from cab to coach (the 'ol digital camera plus mirror came in handy). Nice to know about the speaker wires, thanks.

1998chinook wrote:Regarding the power. I see your point about the power being drawn from the start battery. I hadn't considered that unit was being powered from the start battery... I assumed it was powered from the house batteries (as you point out, a much better alternative).

It took me a while to understand this. I had a similar confusion/weird radio wiring in my previous RV. It has to do with the fact that there is a a sense wire and a power wire to the stereo. I did finally figure it out and I believe I wrote it all down. I will add the information to this thread, so that other folks can have the info and then decide which wiring option would work best for them. Right now I'm on the road just making a quick stop, but I'll dig the info up later on.

Here are some pictures showing the 22" TV and the mount.

The TV is secured when traveling by re-using the velcro straps that were around the original TV. It also show how the 22" fits in relation to the original hole.


The TV is mounted using a typical articulating arm wall mount and can be rotated to a desired viewing location and angle.


The TV mount secured to a 2x4 re-enforced location.

The Pioneer stereo head with the AUX and USB replaced the old Sony.

The VCR was replaced with an Xbox. The opening had to be widened which was accomplished using a rounded router bit.

Your upgrades look great. Almost makes me wish I watched TV

Nice touch routing the XBox opening to make it look like it belongs there.

Blue~Go wrote:Your upgrades look great. Almost makes me wish I watched TV

Nice touch routing the XBox opening to make it look like it belongs there.

Thanks Blue. The TV and Xbox are mostly for my son who is often time stuck out at the ball fields from 7am - 10pm. It lets him pass the time with some options to play his gaming station, watch TV or a DVD.

Here is a picture of the back of the new Pioneer stereo attached with the same strap in the same manner as the original Sony.

1998chinook wrote: The TV and Xbox are mostly for my son who is often time stuck out at the ball fields from 7am - 10pm. It lets him pass the time with some options to play his gaming station, watch TV or a DVD.

Fair enough. And it's not like I don't spend plenty of time gazing at screens for entertainment. It's just that in my case it's either Internet (mostly) or a DVD (from time to time) on my laptop.

That strap arrangement is just the same on my '99. I haven't changed the head unit yet, but was "in there" when I re-wired such that the power now comes from the house battery and not the start battery.

1998chinook wrote:Here are some pictures showing the 22" TV and the mount.
The TV is secured when traveling by re-using the velcro straps that were around the original TV. It also show how the 22" fits in relation to the original hole.

I'm new here so please forgive me for resurrecting an old thread. I'm interested in getting rid of the original tv too. Is the tv removed by taking out the frame and pulling it forward? Also, since I want a 12volt tv, what would I need to do to accommodate that since I'm assuming the current tv is not 12v?

Unscrew the wood "casing" around the opening. Unstrap the TV and disconnect cables.. I think that's all there was to it. It is a 12 DC TV already. I bought a Samsung 22" led flat screw with the thought that is have to hook it up to an inverter. I had a pleasant surprise when I read the details and found the TV wanted 14V DC (used a power brick to convert AC to DC). I read on some other forums that this was close enough so I gave it a try. Been about a month and no problems. Just finished playing playstation on it actually (the PS3 I do have on an inverter.. Gmai wonder if it does a similar thing .. I should look closer sometime)

The small " insignia" brand TVs , which are the house brand from Best Buy, operate on 12volt DC as well.

The power supply they come with just converts the regular household 120ac down to 12 volt dc.

These models have a small round removable power input jack on the rear which makes it real easy to hookup from different sources.


The 19" model usually sells for $99.00 and occasionally goes on sale for Much less. i paid $79.00 for one last labor day .

I know extremely little about electricity so correct me if I'm wrong. Wouldn't I want a 12volt tv because the amps are a lot less to run it than converting it from 120v? I don't mind if I have to pay more, just looking for numerous ways to save amps. Switching over to LED lights inside is another project I'm looking to do.