Accessing Televator in 2020 Horizon 40A

[jampus]

Has anyone found an easy, or even any way to access the area under the televator in the main room of the Horizon 40a? We have dropped something down there and it is too far for anything we have to reach it. Surely there must be a way to access this area, even if it is to repair the TV

 

[creativepart]

The only way is from behind the back of the cabinet that the TV rises up from. I don’t know if that’s easy or hard.

Have you tried something like this?

https://www.amazon.com/Reacher-Foldable-Lightweight-Reaching-Extension/dp/B078RMCFWQ

 

[Morich]

Can you tell us more about the situation? Can you see the item? Is it lightweight and metal? Paper, thin, and such?
There are ways to make different tools for different situations but knowing what is involved is a first step for making better suggestions.
you can make some pretty good tools reasonably easy but what you are catching is important.
Magnets, sticky tape on a wire, loop of cord through a pvc pipe to rope it, fish hook on a dowel?
Tubing added to a vacuum hose to snag paper or cloth things?

And then how vital it is to recover will help decide how much you want it back! No need to make a $20 tool to get a ball point pen in most cases?

 

[jampus]

Can you tell us more about the situation? Can you see the item? Is it lightweight and metal? Paper, thin, and such?
There are ways to make different tools for different situations but knowing what is involved is a first step for making better suggestions.
you can make some pretty good tools reasonably easy but what you are catching is important.
Magnets, sticky tape on a wire, loop of cord through a pvc pipe to rope it, fish hook on a dowel?
Tubing added to a vacuum hose to snag paper or cloth things?

And then how vital it is to recover will help decide how much you want it back! No need to make a $20 tool to get a ball point pen in most cases?
View attachment 2407432

We do have the grabber tool but the space is too deep for that, it's not long enough, but I did use a pool noodle with tape on the bottom to pull it up enough to use the grabber to pull it out. My real question though is, is there a way to access this area without having to squeeze something in the top. Winnebago didn't really think this one through well enough. The middle cupboard under the televator should have an access panel. Has anyone made one themselves?

 

[Morich]

Good enough! Understand the question better!
Not much to suggest but I have done several things on removing panels or making them into a "safe" space to hide things when we were more active and taking things with us that were higher value!
How the cabinets are made changes the methods too much to have any value from here!
From here the best I could offer would be coming through one of the cabinets at the side can leave it easier to hide any mistakes!!!
Good luck on the idea!

 

[canucc00]

We had to replace the motor and lift bar of our televator and found the back panel behind the middle cabinet comes off, 4 screws, and you have access to the tv. Also we have used bbq tong to grad things from the top. You need to be on top of the cabinet to do this though.

 

[jampus]

so this is what our middle cabinet looks like inside under the televator. There are no screws or any visible way to remove any part of this cupboard. This looks the same, slightly different layout as the other cabinets under the televator.

 

[canucc00]

Yours looks different than mine, Winnebago Sunova 33c. We don’t have that shelf and we do have an access panel on the back of the cabinet to gain access to the tv. Did you look at the back of the cabinets on ether side of the middle cabinet? Can you take the backs off them? That is weird they would not give you access to the tv when down.

 

[jampus]

yep, no access, but to be honest, this RV is lovely but access to major fixes are not accessible. We recently had a leak that we finally narrowed down to a connection in the bathroom. To access this we had to take apart the cabinets and slide a lower panel out of the way. Nothing easily accessible

 

[Morich]

How to get access on RV is often a bit of a head scratcher but if we look really close we may find it can be done. One of the things that I first noticed is how little holds them together. Sounds bad but works in our favor at times when we need to pull a panel off.
No idea on any specific RV, but if you look really close, there may be some panels that are held on the framing with very small staples and those staples can pull out really easy if we are careful!
Getting a start at one edge corner, etc. may seem tough but if we get something small like a really small pry bar, we can get it started. I have a prybar that is only 3-4 inches long and maybe 3/4 inch wide that I can often squeeze in to get behind the panel edge to get it started as the staples are also easy to pull out! A slow job as it is more "teasing" the staples out than pulling them!
One of the ideas I use is to try to pick a panel that is inside or hard to see! Then if I do put a dent in the wrong place on the panel, I use one of the colored putty sticks that matches the panel to fill any damage I do!
One of these to match your color can be handy in RV as things always seem to get a tiny nick here and there?

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Varathane-0-51-oz-Colonial-Maple-Interior-Wood-Stain-Pencils-and-Markers-Fill-Stick-340479/305568100?MERCH=REC-_-searchViewed-_-putty%20stick-_-15-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a-_-n/a#overlay

 

[jampus]

yes, thanks, we did find the very small staples and were able to remove the panels for access. We will put the panels back with the ability to remove more easily in the future. Still stuns me as to why this wasn't incorporated into the original design, but at least it is now
thanks to all for your help, the staples were very hard to find given the carpeting covering the wood panels, we had assumed the panels were glued on and were reluctant to remove them. All is now good

 

[Morich]

Maybe for future issues of the same type?
I have a friend who does old car rebuilding and he has suggested a tool used for pulling out dents in metal body panels. A vacuum type gizmo, he suggests would work great to get the minor amount of pull needed to tease one of these thin wood panels off, rather than prying???
Sounds logical but not an idea I've tested!
He also said it is great for moving things like 4X8 sheets as it lets you put a "handle' on them!
At this price, I may have to look at the idea?

Advance Auto Parts - Down for Maintenance

 

[jampus]

we will probably put it back together with screws rather than the staples, we can make it look nice but functional.