Brannon Mods & Maintenance

Friday, 1 February (Part II)
Custom RV (aka Brannon Hutcheson) — Vina, Alabama

We kicked off our multi-part plans for getting things done/checked out in Red Bay by stopping off to see Brannon Hutcheson of Custom RV, Inc. Our 7:00a appointment lasted almost 12 hours, and a lot was accomplished — including the invaluable picking of Brannon’s brain by Mui.

We came to Brannon for three major items — replacement of the existing lighting with LEDs; replacement of the house batteries; and replacement of the chassis batteries. To this, several other projects — some big, some small — were added during the course of the day.

First the mods and maintenance items for which I have photos. (We have Mui to thank for the photos; I was too busy whiling the time away in Custom RV’s lounge.)

LED lights

There were a variety of bulbs lighting the interior and exterior of the coach — fluorescent, incandescent, and halogen. We had all but the under-cabinet fluorescents in the kitchen replaced with LEDs. Some of them were simple bulb change-outs that Mui could have handled on his own, but we opted to have everything done by Brannon seeing as how he had the bulbs in stock already.

The more difficult part of this project was the ceiling lights. Because of the impression left behind by the fluorescent fixtures, we couldn’t just have pot-lights installed. There are many options for the LED ceiling fixtures. I didn’t want a cherry-trim fixture (which would have matched our cabinetry), because I didn’t want the lights to be a focal point. The fabric-covered fixtures Brannon provided blend in much better; and the fabric matches our valances.

The only downside to the LEDs is that they provide such a soft, daylight color that we forget to turn the lights off when we leave a room — we’ll get used to that in short order ;-) The upside — I can actually use the reading lights now without feeling like I’m sitting under growing lights!

The ugly fluorescent fixtures and other bulbs were replaced with small LED bulbs.

The indentation left behind by the old fluorescent fixtures and the solution.

Before and After … Really like the results!

House Batteries

With our wet cell (flooded) batteries nearing the end of their life cycle, we decided to replace them with Lifeline AGM batteries. Yeah, dropped a chunk of change on this mod, but we anticipate they will serve us better when boondocking, because they are slower to discharge and faster to recharge.

Brannon did a meticulous job, making sure all the corrosion caused by the old batteries was cleaned up and painted over, and the compartment floor was sprayed with a rubber coating before the new batteries were installed. He also reinforced the tray to carry the heavier weight of these batteries.

The old batteries … with yucky corrosion on the tray and the battery compartment floor.

The tray and compartment floor look like new when Brannon is done.

Details from the batteries Mui chose to have installed.
(If you want to read the details on the image in the bottom left, click here.)

The newly installed house batteries are ready to provide us with power!

Chassis Batteries

This one falls under the maintenance category. It was simply time to replace the chassis batteries that were installed when the motorhome was built.

The old Interstate batteries are replaced with new ones … one down, one to go.

Water Softener

The Mark 8000 water softener that Mui purchased from The Flow Pur Company is designed to be connected to the water source outside the coach, but Mui wanted a more permanent installation. He was going to install it himself, but decided to ask Brannon to do it instead.

The water bay isn’t high enough to accommodate the unit, so Brannon installed it at the front end of the big basement bay. He used a strong strap to secure it upright, and ran the hoses through the opening for the central vac system (which we removed a couple of years ago).

Strapping the water softener unit in place.

The valve on the right is the connection coming into the softener;
the valve on the left is the one going to the city water connection in the wet bay.

The hose sticking out in the center is the piece to which the incoming city water is connected.
This hose is connected to the water softener on the other end. The water coming out of the
softener goes through the hose that is attached to the city water connection (on the right).

And that’s the end of the projects for which I have photos. In addition to these, Brannon took care of the following:

• Replaced the faulty satellite LMB with the one Mui ordered from Amazon — our dish now locks into all three satellites from which it is supposed to receive a signal, and we get HD programming on most of the channels we watch.
• Replaced the power switches for the water heater — the switches never lit up, so we didn’t know they were supposed to until we asked Brannon about them.
• Replaced some of the switches that were going bad (on the entry door panel).
• Replaced a corroded part on our water pump — it finally gave out at a most opportune time while we were still in Brannon’s parking lot.
• Adjusted the door handle mechanism so we don’t have to fight to open the door — the door has always required quite a bit of effort to pull it open; turns out the mechanism needed a minor adjustment — a one-finger pull is all that is needed to flip open the handle now (yay!).

As I noted at the end of my previous post, we give Brannon Hutcheson a hearty two thumbs up. He came highly recommended and didn’t disappoint. In fact, he exceeded all of our expectations. The work was completed quickly, and efficiently, and with utmost professionalism and attention to detail.

(He doesn’t have a website at the moment, but you can reach him at 256-668-0973 should you need to avail yourself of his services.)