Rolef Screens

Our 2018 Revel came equipped with the Winnebago screens that didn't function well. We finally bit the bullet and bought a set of Rolef screens for $1600, and installed them ourselves.  The installation was not particularly difficult, but it requires patience, accuracy, and watching the Rolef videos on YouTube over & over (no instructions come with the screens).

Here's a picture of one of the original screens.

And here are the new ones. Very flexible and functional, well worth the time & money.

October 2019

Daytripping vs. Roadtripping

The Covid pandemic has us using our van a bit differently for the past four months, and it's caused us to make some changes to how we organize our van. Rather than taking long road trips, overnighting with a lot of gear, we're mostly doing day trips, not taking much gear at all, and using the garage differently.

This is our normal roadtripping mode, with all the gear that we need for weeks at a time, organized and labeled in totes.

We don't need most of that gear (water replenishment, tools, many changes of footwear, campfire materials) when we're on a day trip to the beach or mountains, so I pulled almost all of that gear out of the van. Taking a cue from the fabulous Canyon Adventure Vans' GLSS, I replaced it with a couple of comfortable folding chairs and a camping table, giving us the daytripping configuration shown below. This gives us another 'room' to dine in, watch the whales out the back, whatever. 

However, if you're in a place where you need to use the insect screens, and you have the excellent Rolef screens on your van, then your view is blocked because the lower panel of the screen is opaque. Bummer, dude.

So I used one of the old-school Revel screens from model years 2018-19 to give us floor-to-ceiling views. This works great, and we love the screened-in porch vibe.

It was a little tricky to attach the Winnebago screen to the Rolef screen, and I had to make some stuff. Here's what I did...

I wasn't going to uninstall the Rolef screen just for day trips, so I needed a way to attach the Winnebago screen to it. Since the Winnebago screen only offered snaps for attachment, I made 'velcro snaps' to solve the problem.  I cut 1" x 1" squares of plastic by cannibalizing a Flexible Cutting Mat, then attached snaps to them. Then I attached some self-adhesive velcro squares, yielding what you see below.

Then I attached velcro squares to the Rolef screen, shown below. Works great, no bugs, floor-to-ceiling screened-in porch for the pandemic.

May-2020

Repositioning the Grey Water Hose

I occasionally use the grey water hose, but found that its factory-mounted location (to the right of the bumper hitch) impeded the installation of Mercedes' original exhaust system. I'm considering moving the exhaust to this spot, so I decided to move the grey water hose to the other side of the van.

The key insight is that the hangers for the hose are completely reversible, so it's easy to swap it to the left side.  

Hanger 2 is the one that has to be flipped around. This picture shows it in its original position, attached to one of the frame rails on the passenger side. There is an identical rail on the driver's side, so just flip the hanger and attach it to that rail.

The hangers are attached with self-drilling screws, so it takes some pretty good arm power to drive them into the rails, but it's doable.

28-July-2020

Ladder Replacement

So I got distracted at a gas station in Yellowstone, and I caught the ladder on a low roof and ripped it off the van, wrecking the door along with it.  Dammit.  In this picture, you can see that it crumpled the top of the door, and destroyed the hanger that the ladder sits on.  Good thing we don't have an air conditioner, or it would've been much worse.  (The tape around the seam was makeshift weatherproofing, since I was 1200 miles from home.)  

This was the culprit right here, at the Old Faithful gas station. 

So I had to get the door replaced ($2500) and get a new ladder. I wanted a minimal, low-profile ladder that wouldn't impede a hitch-mounted bike carrier, and liked the ones that I saw at vannon.com. Since they're a local shop, I had them install it, too.

June 2019

Galley Leaf Warning

I've had some terrific, head-splitting crashes into the galley leaf when entering the van, so I was pleased to see the idea for this mod from Ralph Hill in the Revel Facebook group.

I simply attached a bright ribbon to the corner of the leaf so that it hangs in front of the door as a reminder that the leaf is extended.  I should have done this years ago, it would have saved some me from some terrible experiences.

Jul-7-2020

Table Leg Replacement

Following several others in the Revel Facebook group, I decided to replace the aluminum table leg with an adjustable strap for supporting the outdoor table. This allows adjustability when the Revel isn't parked on a level spot, doesn't require someone to retrieve the leg from inside, and doesn't require installation & removal.

• Materials: 2" footman loop, 1.5" nylon strap about 5 feet long
• Tools: Power drill, screwdriver
• Time: 15 minutes
• Cost: $15

I planned to buy a nylon strap for this project, but I had an unused 1.5" nylon strap from an REI duffel bag, so I used that. A better alternative may be this one (https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07DVLX6MD/) which has a D-ring installed on the end.

To accommodate the 1.5" nylon strap I bought a 2" footman loop. (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B8BZ97R/).

I simply installed the footman loop just below the screen.

I kept the mounting plate from the original table and hooked around it with the other end of my nylon strap. A simple nylon strap with a D-ring attached would be a more elegant solution here.

I thought about adding some snaps or velcro spots to store it in place, but found that simply pinching the strap between the cabinet & table works just fine. I also store the loop end of the strap by wedging it to the left, where it won't bang around or rattle.

Jul-7-2020

Alpine Stereo & Parking Brake Bypass

UPDATE:

Ryan Vickerman provides the access code for the diagnostic menu in the Alpine unit, allowing this annoying parking brake feature to be turned off. Here are the steps to access the hidden menu:

1. Select FM;
2. Press and hold Direct Tune for 5 seconds;
3. Press the Menu button (looks like a mosaic);
4. Press the Star button;
5. Press the Voice button;
6. Scroll down to Other;
7. Toggle Parking to 'On'

Thanks Ryan!

______________________________________

I've found it annoying that I was unable to access the 'Setup' menu or stream HDMI content on my Alpine Stereo (ILX-F309 'Halo') without having the parking brake engaged, so I got one of these 'Bypass Overrides' for $15.  It required 3 simple connections (Remote lead, Parking Brake lead, and Ground), and took about 90 minutes to pull the head unit, identify leads, connect, and reassemble.

The unit itself is about the size of a quarter, shown here in my hand.

Installing this allows you to access the Setup menu and stream HDMI content to your Alpine head unit WITHOUT having to engage the parking brake.

Jul-5-2020

Stabilizing the Window on the Sliding Door

Many Revel owners have noticed that there is excessive rattling and instability in the large window in the sliding door.  This is primarily because the stabilization ribs for the door have been removed by Winnebago to make room for the window, leaving the window attached ONLY to the thin metal skin on the door. The red lines, below, show where the support ribs were.

In order to improve this, I followed examples from Facebook Revel members Ralph Hill and Jason Vigil to create structural ribs that connect the window to the structural supports in the door.  This is an illustrated guide for doing that.

• Time: 3 hours
• Cost: $25
• Tools: Philips screwdriver, hacksaw, drill
• Materials: Angle aluminum (see below), silicone glue, 10 wood screws

Remove the plastic end caps from the window blind frame and remove screws behind them.

You may need to use an offset screwdriver to access the lower right corner.

Remove the screws from the four inner corners of the window blind.

Remove the 4 screws holding the grey plastic panel to the door frame.

I bought 2 pieces of angle aluminum shown below.

I measured approximate lengths of 26.5" and 25.5" for the front and rear ribs, and cut the aluminum to fit. After repeated placements and adjustments, I was able to cut each of the grooves shown here with a simple hacksaw.

The angular cut shown below is to accommodate the grey plastic panel when it is reinstalled.

Repeatedly making small cuts and testing the fitment resulted in a tight, solid fit.

I used a black marker to determine where the screws would attach to the window, and drilled them out with a hand drill. I used 5 screws per window.

Yielding this as the final product. Time for installation.

Following others' suggestions, I applied a bead of silicone glue between the window frame and the aluminum support.

After mating the aluminum support to the window frame, I put 5 screws in each support, giving the final result here.

Note that the tolerances are fairly small. There was some concern about mating steel and aluminum, resulting in Galvanic corrosion. However, my neighbor happens to be a metallurgist, and he told me, "If you're dealing with mild steel (not stainless steel), then it's no problem. Aluminum and mild steel are very close on the Galvanic scale."

Jul-1-2020