Outdoor Kitchen Upgrades

Here”s a Graphical Guide To The Enhancements We Made

Just rollover the arrows to see the descriptions.We mounted an Amazon Alexa Dot to the sidewall to replace the tinny outdoor speakers.We added a baby-proofing latch to the fridge.We moved the small inside fire extinguisher to the outside kitchen.We replaced the Coleman grill with a two burner stove.We added a really great ratcheting paper towel holder under the cabinet.We put a tabletop ice maker right next to the fridge when we camp.We put a magnetic wall bottle opener on the fridge panel.We store the stove hoses under the stove.

Upgrading The Music

The outdoor speakers on the trailer are ok but barely. As long as the volume is low you don”t hear how tinny sounding they are. I have an Amazon Echo 2nd Generation in my entertainment unit so I”ve been using it on loud to cover indoors and outdoors. But that stops working once you turn the AC on and shut the door.I happened to have a spare Dot with me on a trip and stuck it in the kitchen. I plugged it into the outlet next to the fridge. I was really surprised with how good it sounded – probably because the kitchen “box” gives it a good bass boost. It doesn”t sound great loud, but when I”m at a campground, loud seems like a jerk move anyway.Make sure its a 3rd gen. Gen 1 and 2 are worse than the Apex speakers!So, for the next trip I bought a wall mount and positioned it towards the top on the back wall above the fridge. It sounds pretty good – certainly a lot better than the factory speakers.

Amazon Echo Dot (3rd Gen)

Lightweight Wall Mount For Dot

Powering The Echo

You probably should just plug it in to the outlet. But I decided to go for the gusto and still have music when I”m dry camping. So I cut the cord and patched it in to the power line going to the overhead light. Works great plugged in (13.6v) but I”m not sure if that”s overstressing the on-board power supply. And I”m definitely not sure what will happen when the battery starts dropping below 12v. I was going to add a voltage regulator, but I”m going to run it like this for a bit and see what happens.I ran the cord across the surface of the kitchen “box” using white duct tape. At some point I”ll fish it through the overhead space. There”s almost 2″ up there before you get to the bathroom closet.

Just in case you”re looking for them, here”s an amazon link for the lights in the 215RBK.

For More Information

For information about the stove changes see this article.For information about the fire extinguisher see this article.For the paper towel holder see this article.For the ice maker see this article.For the bottle opener see this article.