No choice! Impossible TV connection.

Quickuc · 10-31-2021, 08:20 AM

Long story short, had to cut hole in shelf below TV in living area to gain access to back of TV to plug in HDMI for Roku. Neat thing is you don't see the hole. Thanks Winnebago for making it so difficult, what were you thinking???
2017 Vista 35LX. VERY HAPPY NOW

Morich · 10-31-2021, 09:52 AM

Kind of like the same thinking when the fools who built my house put cat 5 cables all over for lots of speakers to hang on the walls. Why were they so dumb to not know I wopuld never want all that noise and if I did I would certainly do it wireless??

Future mods are not built in until the future gets here! Who would have wanted a Roku when your RV was built?

wyocamper · 10-31-2021, 10:18 AM

I had to do the same thing on mine. The outlet below the big TV is not on the inverter even though it's supposed to be according to the diagram and Winnebago support. The TV power cord goes through a hole in the wall behind it and then out a hole in the bathroom cabinet and plugs into the outlet there, which is on the inverter.

I wasn't able to access the hole behind the TV, so I cut a new one below it and mounted an outlet strip that plugs into the same bathroom cabinet outlet, and plug the Roku and a Blu Ray player into the strip.

**creativepart** · 10-31-2021, 12:24 PM

I know it seems impossible - but in every installation I've seen there is a way to get behind the TV or to remove it from the wall. Don't get me wrong it can be a very hidden way that takes a lot of searching to locate.

It's too late now I know but posting some photos of the TV and the wall it's on and many times we've had folks here that can point you to the hidden way. Winnebago didn't build the RV around the TV, it was installed after the RV was built. That's why I say there IS a way. It's just a chore to find it.

You might still post some photos and someone here can let you know for future use. It's up to you if you want to bother with it. I know it can be frustrating. Welcome to RV life.

**creativepart** · 10-31-2021, 12:53 PM

I took a few minutes to looks at your model 2017 Vista LX 35F (I'm guessing about the "35F" because you haven't disclosed that. It's not a 35LX. The model is a Vista LX - the floor plan is either a 35F or a 35B.)

As best I can determine - you are intended to connect the Roku to the AUX input on the switcher box in the upper cabinet. The input may be labeled for a DVD input, but it will take any HDMI input.

However, I "think" you can remove that strip of wood above the TV and then lift the TV straight up and off of it's mount. That's what it looks like on the online parts list. But without seeing it in person that's difficult to be certain of.

Here's a screen shot of the TV with that wood strip above the TV. And, I've included a "3D" screen shot of behind your TV so you can see what the mount looks like and how the TV is attached.

I'm having to guess about the specifics - and as I said it may be hidden, but there almost always is a way.

WAIT - One other possibility - if you open that cabinet below the TV and look up at the "ceiling" of the interior of the cabinet are there any nuts or screws up there. I ask because the parts list image shows a couple of "feet" on the metal TV mount and they usually bolt those down through a cabinet below. Of course that, too, is a guess. But I found my bedroom TV mount bolted down that way.

Here are those images:

**creativepart** · 10-31-2021, 01:05 PM

Here's the feet of the metal base that might be bolted through to the top of the interior of the cabinet below the TV. Again, it may or may not be so.

Morich · 10-31-2021, 01:33 PM

The point to the whole posting is that there are ways to do it and there are folks who know those ways but it isn't always in the DIY guys thinking, so it can seem like there is no way!
Trying something simple like taking the taillights out of a new car is pretty much the same way. There seems to be no way until you know to look inside and find the one screw and the plastic tabs that you have to know to snap out.

It really does no good to bash the folks who design things because we don't know how they did it!

I think I remember seeing a post about how to get to the backside but you have never given the right info to sort out which year, make, and model you have so I passed on trying to sort it out.

Quickuc · 11-01-2021, 08:28 AM

Thats one opinion

Quickuc · 11-01-2021, 08:41 AM

Thanks to all who posted pros and cons. I was just sharing to help in case you may need to cross this bridge.

**creativepart** · 11-01-2021, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quickuc

Thanks to all who posted pros and cons. I was just sharing to help in case you may need to cross this bridge.

It's always great when members post their solutions and I sure hope that we didn't offend you in anyway with our further comments. Owning an RV is a continual learning process. We like to say, "you can't know what you don't know until you know it."

Would you be further amenable, the next time your at your RV, to look in the top of that cabinet under the TV and see if there are, in fact, screws or bolts that are the secret to removing the TV in that location? I'm sure we have a lot of folks that would really like to know the secret handshake on how to do this job.

Quickuc · 11-01-2021, 02:33 PM

Theres a tight fitting fireplace, so you cant see anything. Trust me we looked many times from every angle time n time again. And this is our 5th unit no newbies here.

**creativepart** · 11-01-2021, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quickuc

Theres a tight fitting fireplace, so you cant see anything. Trust me we looked many times from every angle time n time again. And this is our 5th unit no newbies here.

I guess the photo I posted with the TV, a cabinet below the TV and then the fireplace below that cabinet is not what you have. I don't know what floor plan you have, so I had to guess on what to look for online.

Thanks anyway.

bigb · 11-01-2021, 05:33 PM

On my Via you have to remove the bathroom mirror to access or remove the dinette TV. Took me awhile to figure that one out but I'm really glad I did because I found one of the 2 mirror mounting brackets, which are attached with double stick tape, was completely separated. You could see where they initially installed it across the back of the mirror in the wrong place and had to re-position it.

danhannah · 11-03-2021, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wyocamper

I had to do the same thing on mine. The outlet below the big TV is not on the inverter even though it's supposed to be according to the diagram and Winnebago support. The TV power cord goes through a hole in the wall behind it and then out a hole in the bathroom cabinet and plugs into the outlet there, which is on the inverter.

I wasn't able to access the hole behind the TV, so I cut a new one below it and mounted an outlet strip that plugs into the same bathroom cabinet outlet, and plug the Roku and a Blu Ray player into the strip.

The secret to your TV removal is 5 screws at the top of the TV, then lift it up and off the bottom rail. It's a bit of a two-man operation, though.

It's interesting that my outlet below the TV is on the inverter, on my build, the year before. I bet too many people plugged in an electric heater there, because it's the perfect place for one. Not too good for the inverter, though.

wyocamper · 11-03-2021, 12:17 PM

I realize that I had the option to take the TV off the wall, but I don't think my wife would have been much help and I didn't want to take a chance on breaking it and had no real idea how heavy it would be. I have larger TVs in my house that I can easily lift, but I didn't want to lift it off the wall and then discover that it was way heavier than I expected.

I called Winnebago support because the wiring diagram for mine shows that the outlet should be on the inverter, and so did his documentation and diagram. But it just isn't so. I pulled the bottom wall panel off thinking that I could maybe run some 14/2 wire from the bathroom outlet box to the TV outlet but the boxes are very shallow and it would have been difficult. I probably should have gone that route, but the location of the bathroom outlet and the hole for the TV cord made it very simple to cut a small hole to pass the outlet strip cord through to the outlet.

Upinsmoke · 11-08-2021, 01:32 PM

danhannah, I like that you replied with an affirmative way to remove the TV, but you left off the part about getting to the screws. If we remove the aforementioned piece of wood trim above the TV does that then give access. This information, once sorted, will help a lot of us.

To the OP, I'm surprised you only have one outlet in that compartment. We have 3 in ours and at least one, if not two, are on the inverter.

Good info all around.

Shedboy · 11-11-2021, 02:21 PM

1. No holes required ----- Roku makes USB/WiFi sticks starting @ $19.95 that plug into the HDMI port on the TV. Likewise for Apple TV and Sling TV. No wires!

Other approach, not for the fainthearted, takes time and patience, is

Logitech K400 Plus Wireless Living-room Keyboard with Touchpad for Home Theatre PC Connected to TV,…$40.00
3. Needs a 110vac power adapter.
4. Has capability of a personal computer, e-mail and TV. Good home-office setup.
5. Has a WiFi antenna built in, might need a WiFi extender/repeater in RV, C. Crane has some rugged products designed for RV road vibration.

The TV now is capable of FREE streaming TV if you know the WiFi password, things like hulu, popcorn, netflix, foxnews.com, mydish.com and many more. Not an easy choice.

Shedboy · 11-11-2021, 02:24 PM

Amazon also has a similar product called FireStick.

wyocamper · 11-11-2021, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shedboy

1. No holes required ----- Roku makes USB/WiFi sticks starting @ $19.95 that plug into the HDMI port on the TV. Likewise for Apple TV and Sling TV. No wires!

The Roku Streaming Stick doesn't get power from the HDMI port though. You can plug it into a USB port of the TV if one is available, or you can plug it into an AC outlet using the supplied converter.

The Roku Streaming Stick is what I am using, and my first choice for power was the USB port on the TV. It was very difficult to get the plug into the port but I eventually did, only to discover that the Insignia TV USB port doesn't provide stable and/or sufficient power for the Roku to operate reliably.

I have five Roku Sticks in my house and one in my garage. One Samsung TV seems to run the Roku from the USB. The rest, a Sony, a Toshiba, a couple Vizio's and one Emerson, don't.

Funny, but the external Insignia on the MH actually does seem to work great off the USB.