2023 Imagine 2500RL outside TV mounting location

[CardOneConcepts]

Hello,

I am a new owner of a 2023 GD Imagine 2500RL and during the dealer walk through I was going to have the service department install a TV mount in the bedroom and a TV mount on the exterior. In teh bedroom there is a sticker on the wall to indicate where to install a TV mount.

However, on the outside there is an outlet and cable hook up but no sticker or indication as to where to install a TV mounting bracket. Several service techs kept knocking on the fiberglass wall to try and locate something solid behind the wall to install the TV mount to. They ended up not being confident that a TV mount could be installed and we all then questioned if that is why there is no install mounting location marker on the exterior like there is in the interior bedroom. I then questioned if it might void the warranty to drill into the exterior wall and they kind of did not know, which was a bit surprising to me.

Has anyone installed a TV mount on the exterior near the power outlet and cable outlet for the same year, make and model as mine? Or is this somethiong I should be reachong out t Grand Design Coustomer Service to ask?

Thank you for your time.

[howson]

CardOneConcepts -- if I'm reading the wall plan correctly (sorry, not allowed to post it per GD) there is external EGS added in the area where the external cable connection is located. That external EGS should allow the installation of a TV.

What is EGS and how can you find it? See https://gdrvowners.com/forum/exterio...-it-in-your-rv

I could not find any information in the owner's manual regarding weight limitations. For interior televisions prepped with EGS GD typically installs 14lb TVs and there's a documented caution about not exceeding 50lbs in this thread here: https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...tvs-tv-prepped

Please come back and document what you find and what ultimately you do with this issue. (Pictures would be great, too!)

Howard

[CardOneConcepts]

CardOneConcepts -- if I'm reading the wall plan correctly (sorry, not allowed to post it per GD) there is external EGS added in the area where the external cable connection is located. That external EGS should allow the installation of a TV.

What is EGS and how can you find it? See https://gdrvowners.com/forum/exterio...-it-in-your-rv

I could not find any information in the owner's manual regarding weight limitations. For interior televisions prepped with EGS GD typically installs 14lb TVs and there's a documented caution about not exceeding 50lbs in this thread here: https://gdrvowners.com/forum/operati...tvs-tv-prepped

Please come back and document what you find and what ultimately you do with this issue. (Pictures would be great, too!)

Howard

Thank you Howard. I will get out thrre and check for the EGS when it stops snowing here in Upstate NY.

Will drilling into the outside wall of my camper void any warranties? Also, I remember watching a GD factory tour on YouTube and they were pointing out a thin membrane that is place between anything mounted to the side wall like the ladder for example to create a good watertight seal. What material is that and should I be using it during my tv mount install?

Thank you for your time.

[howson]

I will get out thrre and check for the EGS when it stops snowing here in Upstate NY.

My first assignment was Griffiss AFB in Rome, NY, so well acquainted with the weather upstate.

Will drilling into the outside wall of my camper void any warranties?

GD typically avoids categorically stating that x will result in a voided warranty. What they will state is if a customer modification results in unintended consequences that it's on the owner, not GD. Hope that makes sense. Since the area is meant to hook up a TV outside, a consult with GD Customer Service would be wise IMO.

Also, I remember watching a GD factory tour on YouTube and they were pointing out a thin membrane that is place between anything mounted to the side wall like the ladder for example to create a good watertight seal. What material is that and should I be using it during my tv mount install?

Starting at about the 14:28 mark (in the Changing Lanes Factory Tour video linked below) a GD rep talks about Mylar PVC tape and the advantages of it over butyl. I use butyl, though, on most items I personally have installed (or reinstalled) on my GDRV. For an external TV mount the assumption is it's meant to be outside, thus consulting the owner's manual for what they suggest is the first step. (I know...obvious, huh?)

Howard

[CardOneConcepts]

GD typically avoids categorically stating that x will result in a voided warranty. What they will state is if a customer modification results in unintended consequences that it's on the owner, not GD. Hope that makes sense. Since the area is meant to hook up a TV outside, a consult with GD Customer Service would be wise IMO.

Understood.... The old "we can not confirm or deny the existence of UFO's!' LOL! ... I get it. However, I am not sure the area is meant to have a TV mount attached to the wall? You mentioned you looked at the wall plan and that there should be EGS in the area around the external cable connection. However, it finally got up to 40 degrees today and stopped snowing so I was able to go out with a magnet and try and locate the EGS but I can not find it anywhere around it or any where in the area I pointed out in the photo attached.

I went over the entire area with a strong magnet and got nothing, yet, when I test around where the awning or even the ladder on the back of the RV there is for sure EGS there as the magnet sticks strongly to the wall in these areas and I can clearly find the edges where each EGS plate stops. Perhaps the EGS in the "TV mount area" is harder to detect and the magnet will not stick? But I could not feel any thing at all when dragging a magnet over the entire area, not even a little tug on the magnet.

Any suggestions or am I on a wild goose chase here? I mean it seems like if a TV mount was supposed to go there and it had the EGS in that area that there would have been a label or stickler indicating so like there is in the bedroom to avoid someone like me reaching out here to ask if it can be done on the outside.

For an external TV mount the assumption is it's meant to be outside, thus consulting the owner's manual for what they suggest is the first step. (I know...obvious, huh?)

Yes, the first place I looked was the owners manual, which could use a little updating BTW. Especially with the new solar packages that I will be posting questions about in a separate post eventually. Hence me reaching out in this forum considering the dealer seemed clueless.

Starting at about the 14:28 mark (in the Changing Lanes Factory Tour video linked below) a GD rep talks about Mylar PVC tape and the advantages of it over butyl. I use butyl, though, on most items I personally have installed (or reinstalled) on my GDRV. For an external TV mount the assumption is it's meant to be outside, thus consulting the owner's manual for what they suggest is the first step. (I know...obvious, huh?)

LOL.... again the owners manual does not say anything in regards to this subject that I could remember reading. But yes, that was the video and it was the PVC tape.

Thank you for your time Howard.

[Country Campers]

I would guess that just because there is a plug and coax connection that there is not an area on the outside wall to mount a TV. This setup would be for a table top TV or similar. The only "outside" TV mounts that I have seen have been inside an outside storage area or outside kitchen, nothing on an exterior wall. I think that there have some members that have mounted a swing out TV mount on the inside wall of the front pass thru storage area, maybe this is an option.

Brian

[howson]

I agree, Brian, given the lack of EGS.

[CardOneConcepts]

Thank you for your help and advice. I never had the need for a tv outside the camper anyway. It just seemed like most campers do this and the hookups were there so I figured Id ask and if I could, I figured why not?

If we should ever want to watch something outdoors we would probably use a projector anyway.

And so at the very least I learned something about EGS technology. Maybe GD will start adding another small patch in that area for future models?

Thank you for your time.

[CardOneConcepts]

I agree, Brian, given the lack of EGS.

Hi again, I am getting ready to mount my TV mount on the inside of the camper and I grabbed my stud finder just to check the area I have in the bedroom to mount and it is a rather large area.

Anyway, I happened to run the stud finder across the front of the camper in the area it would make sense to have installed EGS ( not sure why you didn’t GD?) As I established I could not locate EGS using a magnet.

However, I did locate what appears to be a solid structure going all the way up the wall next to the furnace. It looks to be at least 2” wide and I might be able to mount a skinny TV mont slide bracket there next to the top right of the furnace.

since you have access to wall plans, is that s safe area for me to mount to with screws? I remember in the tour video they explained they fill the aluminum tubes with wood so there is something to bite into. Just wondering if that’s the case here?

Here is a photo with red lines showing where my stud finder indicates something solid.

[howson]

Hi again, I am getting ready to mount my TV mount on the inside of the camper and I grabbed my stud finder just to check the area I have in the bedroom to mount and it is a rather large area.

Anyway, I happened to run the stud finder across the front of the camper in the area it would make sense to have installed EGS ( not sure why you didn’t GD?) As I established I could not locate EGS using a magnet.

However, I did locate what appears to be a solid structure going all the way up the wall next to the furnace. It looks to be at least 2” wide and I might be able to mount a skinny TV mont slide bracket there next to the top right of the furnace.

since you have access to wall plans, is that s safe area for me to mount to with screws? I remember in the tour video they explained they fill the aluminum tubes with wood so there is something to bite into. Just wondering if that’s the case here?

Here is a photo with red lines showing where my stud finder indicates something solid.

There's a 15" x 15" square piece of EGS centered above the street side bedroom window behind the TV BACKER LOCATION sticker. This is the only GD-approved location is in the camper to mount a TV. Note there is power and cable conveniently located here, too.



Picture snipped from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mehs5t7MQuE at the 24:56 mark.

Howard

[JBill9694]

What you may have picked up with your stud finder is one of the few support studs in the composite panel. It is most likely aluminum, but would be filled with foam, not wood. As far as I know the wood filled C-channels are used for the floor construction, not the wall. But I could be wrong.

[Country Campers]

JBill9694

There are some of the wall structure that does have wood filler in it, around the openings and windows and other places.

Brian

[CardOneConcepts]

There's a 15" x 15" square piece of EGS centered above the street side bedroom window behind the TV BACKER LOCATION sticker. This is the only GD-approved location is in the camper to mount a TV. Note there is power and cable conveniently located here, too.

Howard

Thanks Howard, the bedroom EGS was super easy to locate and have no issues there.

But can you possibly confirm if that wall stud I pointed out on the exterior could be used to mount a small TV bracket to it or not and if it has foam or wood filling it?

[howson]

Thanks Howard, the bedroom EGS was super easy to locate and have no issues there.

But can you possibly confirm if that wall stud I pointed out on the exterior could be used to mount a small TV bracket to it or not and if it has foam or wood filling it?

No idea, sorry. From what I've seen at the factory and the laminate shop there at GD, they usually only "stuff" the aluminum studs with wood if there's a door, window or something else they plan to attach coincident with the framing.

I'd be very cautious about attaching anything to the aluminum framing if it isn't designed to hold weight, especially with the forces exerted upon items when towing. A call to GD Customer Service in this case is probably your best source of definitive information.

Please report back what you find out.

[CardOneConcepts]

No idea, sorry. From what I've seen at the factory and the laminate shop there at GD, they usually only "stuff" the aluminum studs with wood if there's a door, window or something else they plan to attach coincident with the framing.

I'd be very cautious about attaching anything to the aluminum framing if it isn't designed to hold weight, especially with the forces exerted upon items when towing. A call to GD Customer Service in this case is probably your best source of definitive information.

Please report back what you find out.

Thanks Howard, I don't need a TV on the outside of my camper enough to want to blindly drill holes in the side of it. Maybe I'll fork over $180 for a suction cup TV mount if I get that desperate! LOL!

I guess the best I can ask here is to perhaps toss a suggestion to those it matters at GD headquarters and ask if maybe they can consider slapping a patch of EGS in the wall for future GD owners so they are not as disappointed as I am to discover the very expensive camper they just bought has an outlet and a cable hook up on a big empty hollow exterior wall, but no definitive sure way of mounting a TV to it.

I really appreciate your help and thank you for your time.