Born Free Leap'n Lions RV Club Info & Discussion Forum

Hey guys, brand new to RVs and so glad to be a part of this community. We had been planning And budgeting to get a travel trailer in 3 years but stumbled on a great deal on a 2001 BF 24RB Diesel and after reading reviews and your posts we jumped right in. Our family includes a 10 year old and 2 year old with another on the way and mother in law likes to travel with us. Kind of a squeeze to get us all in here, but part of the adventure. I’ve read the manuals on here and tried to search every little question I could think of and couldn’t come up with the following. Any help you guys have would be great. Again, so glad to be a Born Free owner!

1. Part name or number for the sliding lock handles on manual awning. Both rubber handles are broken off.
2. Best product for smoke smell. Going to wash the window covers, replace mattress and shampoo the carpets and walls and ceiling. I’ve got a “bug bomb” type spray for after fires I’ll try and shoot it into the ac vents. Other recommendations?
3. My only RV guy in town isn’t familiar with Born Free. Anything specific I should have him look for other than front window seal? Got new tires and batteries with the buy so I’m good there.
4. I’ve got 2 included canvas covers. One with buttons for windshield and one large rectangular one with grommets. What’s the big rectangular one for?
5. Previous owner has a piece of styrofoam insulation tucked into cabover window. Worth keeping it there for temperature? Or is it just there for privacy?
6. Excited about being able to launch a boat with my RV. Issues with traction? Rear end getting into the water?

I’ve got tons more questions, but I’ll start there. Looking forward to getting going and documenting my journey. Looks like Born Free is the best kept secret in motorhomes. Can’t wait to get it out on the road.

Concerning your awning handle, I believe your Born Free probably has an A & E Awning, a Dometic product. Klick on the following amazon.com link for a source of many A & E awning spare parts: https://www.amazon.com/slp/A-and-E-Awni ... 7zda5nxfgd

Those look like the ones. Thanks so much! Piper Arrow in the profile photo? A Saratoga is our 10-50 year/win the lottery plan....

Actually it is a Piper Dakota, PA-28-236. I am a 1/5 member of a flying club with that aircraft. Previously owned a S35 Bonanza for 35 years but sold it and joined the flying club 2 years ago.

If you have the original converter you may want to change it out to a 3 stage model. Bill Hemme can tell you the details. Bill?

Thanks for the advice. I looked up the old posts about the converter topic and I’ll be honest, I still don’t understand. Can you dumb it down to the Millennial level for me? Main thing I’m not getting is how much benefit I will really gain for the cost as well as what the cost might be to replace the converter.

I was hopeful that Bill Hemme would respond. I’ve moved past the 3 stage converter and now have an inverter/converter. The converter charges your house batteries. When you are hooked to shore power or operating your generator 120 volt power enters your converter and is “converted to 12 volts and passed on to your house batteries to power your lights, water pump for sink(s) and toilet, furnace fan (heat is from your propane tank) and things I am not thinking of at the moment. The converter also charges your house batteries. If, for example, you deplete some of your batteries‘ charge when not hooked to shore power, or using your generator, then when shore power or the generator is active the batteries are recharged. A two stage converter can overcharge and damage your battery unless carefully monitored. A three stage converter somehow (I really don’t understand it!) monitors and maintains your house batteries at the correct charge without you having to monitor. One less thing to remember and one less thing to worry about.

I may have made an error in my explanation, but the basic idea is correct. I think a three stage converter is well worth the cost. An inverter is a whole nother issue and has its own pros and cons. I await those who know more about this correcting or amplifying my treatise.

I should add that I ordered and installed the three stage converter myself. Not difficult at all. And I also should add that the model I installed then (some years ago) may no longer be manufactured. Plus I imagine most new RV’s have inverters/converters.

Felders,

Sorry for responding so late. Your Born Free most likely came equipped with a Parallax Model 7345 Converter/Charger. This is a single single stage battery charger that has two problems. The first problem is that it is really slow at recharging your house batteries if they are depleted. You would need to be connected to shore line power or run your generator for 3 days to bring your house batteries back up to 90% charge level. Then the second problem if left on to charge for extended periods of time after being fully charged, now your batteries will start to be over-charged causing damage and shortened life to your batteries. A modern 3-stage charger/converter solves both problems.

Please read my post in the Coach Modifications section on this forum titled Converting Parallax 7345 Charger/Converter to PD4655V System or click on the direct link below.

https://www.bornfreervclub.org/bulletin ... =14&t=2482

The PD4655V unit is quite simple to install in the place of the 7345 unit and the current cost is only $197.50.

Thanks so much! Will definitely do that.

Next question on topic of power. Might need to quarantine myself from family for a bit and thinking what better than in the RV. Is there an easy way to hook up to the power at my house or will I need to pay electrician for an RV hookup install? Probably will only need to run AC during the day (current highs are ~110 degrees) but if it’s easy enough and safe enough, would like to be able to run fridge, microwave, and a power outlet or 2.

You can get a 30-amp to 20-amp adapter plug to put on the end of your shore line power cable so that you could plug into a standard 20-amp household AC socket. This will allow you to run your A/C in your Born Free but not much else besides your fridge and some lights. If you try to run your microwave you will blow a 20-amp breaker in you house. So you would need to shut off your A/C before running the microwave. You could also hire an electrician to install 30- amp RV service outside your house if you want to spend the money to do that.

I do as Bill suggested and can run my coach fine on 20 amp. You may want to switch your fridge to propane since it will consume about 3 amps when on 120 volt.

Finally got word back from the RV repair guy. Quoted me $750 for new custom mattress. Too high or about right? Also saying I need front wheel bearing repack, fridge burner replacement And flew(so?) cleaned, heater thermostat, and to replace the entire TV antenna because “the gears are messed up and it will leak”. Plus oil change and transmission service. Trying to save a buck for now and just hit the necessities, but do these repairs sound plausible? Afraid he’s working me over since he knows I’m new to this whole RV thing. Also, he’s the only guy in town...

Eric Felder
2001 24RB Diesel

Is this the awning piece you are looking for? If so, it installs with pop rivets and you will need a pop rivet gun to install. I just installed one on my awning.

You can replace the tv antenna yourself. It isn’t difficult. There are several utube videos on repair or replacement.

There are businesses that build mattress’. I had mine replaced a couple or years ago here in Mobile. That price is way out of line. I know I paid less than $400.

Here is an online store you could check out.

https://wildernessrvmattress.com/collections/mattresses