The equipment that we are referring to may include your water heater, slide control units, Water heater bypass, etc. Manufacturers almost always hide this type of equipment behind cabinet panels secured with screws. This requires you to not only unscrew the panels to access your equipment, but it also requires you to try to get those screws back without stripping the holes.

Here’s an easy solution, just add a few access panels. This way you just need to open the access panel door to get to your equipment. No screwdriver needed and no removing and reinstalling cabinet panels.

The process is very simple. Remove the cabinet panel and cut an opening to fit the access door you plan on adding. The panels are thin, so I used a razor blade knife to cut the openings. As with all projects measure everything twice and cut once.

The next step is optional. I chose to paint my access doors black to blend in with the existing cabinet panels.

Next, use construction adhesive to attach the access door to the cabinet panel.

Once the adhesive is dry it’s time to reinstall the cabinet panels. The following pictures show how I now have access to my slide controllers and water heater.

This is a really easy and inexpensive modification that can save you a lot of time and frustration when you need to get to hidden equipment.  

I started with this modification in my storage area because removing the access panel there was particularly hard.   This is the area that holds the water pump and bypass hose for winterization.  You must remove roughly 20 screws to take off this panel. This area is not easy to access.  Once I realized just how easy this modification was to complete, I decided to make sure that every removable panel in the trailer was modified.  In retrospect the panel for my water heater should have been one size larger, but it still works.

I really don’t understand why a modification that is this inexpensive (under $20.00 USD) is not done at the factory!

If you would like to see the storage access panel modification click here.

The post Make Your Equipment Easily Accessible appeared first on .