Replace Backup Monitor

The B&W backup monitor went out on our '08 Tour.  Of course I looked on this forum to find out what others have done.  There is an outfit out there that has a color monitor and trim kit for sale, but I didn't want to spend that much, unless I had to.  So I tore it apart to have a look.  I noticed the fuse was blown, replaced it and it blew again.   I found a burn mark on the main chassis near the power supply area, so at this point I figured it was toast.

While I was tearing things apart I noticed one of the heat ducts was disconnected behind the dash.  My theory is, since it went out during a winter drive with all the heat on, that duct contributed to over heating the monitor.  All of the ducts behind the dash were NOT secured to the dash vents.  I secured all the vents with a screw through the flex duct into the dash vent.  I don't know if this came from the factory like this or if the previous owner had some work done in there.

After several months of research, I found a similar looking monitor on ebay, brand new VOM-784CT ($250.), used in Monaco coaches.  I took the chance and it works!  So here is the scoop.


The VOM-784 is about a quarter inch smaller, no big deal.  You do have to buy a separate interface cable for camera #1.






You can get it at Kingstonsales.com, Voyager part number 31100033 (about $20.).

You have to switch two wires on the wiring harness.  The Blue and Green wires trigger the right turn camera, or the backup camera.  I just cut and spliced them.

Because I felt the monitor overheated, I mounted a fan on the back to help with the cooling.  This monitor sits right on top of the radio/GPS unit which produces heat also.  I wired the fan into the same power source as the monitor.

So, I hope this works for the long term.  The color monitor option will cost you  at least double, but then that would be a good excuse to spring for color cameras too............

Got out of Vegas alive!

We made it back to Bakersfield with our wallets!  A friend gave us tickets to Blue Man Group and that was very nice of her.  We saw them in New York about 10 years ago, and the show is very similar, but different.  A good show, but expensive if you have to pay for it.  We also saw Frank Marino's Devia show at the Imperial Palace.  This was Sandy's favorite show when he was at the Riviera many years ago.  I think we've seen it about 15 times now, and still enjoy it.

Our new favorite Casino is  the Jokers Wild, out in Henderson.  We have a nice time out there and it doesn't cost us an arm and a leg.  $1 Craps and $3 Blackjack you can play a long time.  

We stopped at the Borax mine on the way home.  Very interesting, they don't make soap there anymore.  The Twenty Mule Team has been replaced by 250 ton ore trucks and long........ trains.  Borates are found in fiberglass, ceramics, detergents, fertilizers, wood preservatives, insecticides, glass, and many more products.  There are only a few mines in the world.  This mine started in 1927 as an underground mine, and went open pit in the 1950's.  

When we pulled into camp there was this beautiful fragrance in the air!  The Orange Trees are in full bloom!  Wow what a sweet smell!  The trouble is now we can't pick the remaining oranges.  They don't want us knocking off the delicate blossoms, bummer.  I've learned a little about the life cycle of oranges, just from observations.  After picking they come right back in to prune up the trees, because once the blossoms set you don't want to mess up next years crop.  I guess the oranges turn right around and produce fruit again and take all summer to ripen, until harvest next February.  Wow, that's a long time.  All the grape yards are leafing out now, do they have blossoms too?  The nectarines were in big full bloom before we left last week.  Their orchards look like fresh snow with all the while blossoms now on the ground.  Spring has sprung in the California farm fields!  

Off to Vegas!

Sandy has a week off, so we decided to go to the adult Disneyland.  We have a time share there and just like to chill, see a few shows, and loose just a few bucks.  

We made it across the Mojave Desert!  Not much to report on that trip.  I do want to see the Borax mine some day, we passed right by it.  The airplane grave yard looked interesting at the Mojave airport and the F15's were flying at Edwards AFB.  

In the Primm Valley, NV, we noticed several large towers being built out in the desert. Of course I wanted to know what's going on, and nobody back at the resort knew what I was talking about.  Thank you Google!  It is the Hidden Hills Solar Electric Generating System.  The tall towers will be solar energy collectors, with thousands of mirrors on the ground, concentrating the suns rays at the towers and producing steam to drive turbine generators.  They are busy out there in the middle of nowhere, to be complete in 2015, and supply power to CA and NV.