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Old 03-22-2019, 03:30 AM   #21
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Chateau 31L
State: Florida
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THOR #12189
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kickstand View Post
No pics but I might be able to grab one this weekend. If you have an emergency start switch in your cab, it is connected to a solenoid that is normally off, but momentarily connects the coach and house battery banks when you throw the switch. The solenoid looks something like attached photo (details may vary)- but essentially a little can like device with screw terminals off it. One of those terminals goes to your house battery and one goes to the coach. In my class c, it’s under the hood, hidden behind the coolant reservoir, directly in front of driver. Since the trik-l-start is a diode that allows a small current (varies depending on which device you get) to go from one bank to another, you attach it to two of the terminals with the instructions provided, and you’ll have a steady trickle charge from the house to coach. It’s easy to tell which terminal is which if you have a volt meter; plug the coach in or fire up the generator, and one of those posts will have 13+ volts, that’s the house. One of the others will match the coach ~12v voltage (or you can probably just physically follow the cable directly to the coach battery). The trik-l-start itself is very hardy and can be installed right in the engine bay. The hardest part of the install was getting sheet metal screws to attach the device in the cramped quarters.
SWEET. Thank You! This helps a lot and gives me an idea.

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Old 03-22-2019, 03:44 AM   #22
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got mine fixed today...working like a champ now...
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Old 03-22-2019, 09:21 AM   #23
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vegasruv24.1, what did you do to get it fixed?
&
TheBreeze, under the hood, in front of the driver, is that where you installed it, or where Thor had put it? The solenoid.
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Old 03-22-2019, 12:05 PM   #24
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I have a plant 750 coach....AKA known as a 2019 thor Hurricane 29M... it doesn't have a BIRD... or a trombone, and like "Halfprice" mine has the BIN 225..it is located right behind the batterys between the batterys and the frame..


while on shore power, the converter charges the house batterys, and the chassis through the BIN..

on mine, while having problems symptom's...at the monitor panel voltage would show 13-13.1 volts at the coach.... and 12.0-12.1 on the chassis,... knowing that that is less than full charge, 12.o volts is about 50% of full charge....and 13.0 is maybe 65 or 70%,,,,, just guessing at those numbers
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Old 03-22-2019, 12:15 PM   #25
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I own a auto repair business, I'm not a throw parts at some thing till it's fixed, or run out of money type guy...I have to know that a part isn't working,,, so I performs tests to see......I have the firefly....I think that's what it called ??monitor system, so I see actual volts at both battery banks...
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Old 03-22-2019, 12:23 PM   #26
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Here's how my problems started...while dry camping, ambient temps at 40... I set my heat at 50 in the coach over night......by morning, 11.9 volts at the chassis....heat came on a couple times through out the night...not enough draw to cause this...battery's should have been at full, or close... but, before hitting the sack I look at the monitor...after driving for hours, as soon as the engine was shut off, few led lights had pulled the voltage down to 12.6 ..so that told me SOMETHING WAS WRONG!!
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Old 03-22-2019, 12:32 PM   #27
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So I hit the boards first, read up on my coach and how the battery charging system works on my particular coach... a plant 750..AKA 2019 thor hurricane 29m...totally confused , I figured , better start testing the system...but, what system do I have, and where are the parts...

So I talked to "Halfprice" here on the boards, as he has a some what same coach, a plant 750 aka 2017 thor 29m...he told me about the BIN and how it works...Super cool guy!!! really enjoyed having listen to me!... LOL I talk lot...
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Old 03-22-2019, 12:38 PM   #28
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So, here's how I tested the system, and found the problem... the monitor showed 13.1 at the coach , and 12.6 at the chassis,,,.. not good, as the coach was plugged in to shore power, batterys should be at full in that type power stage...knowning that the battery's where at about 50-60% charged, I would not get much used dry camping...I read here that the thor batterys are junk, and don't last..but also, ran them for 3 yrs with no problem
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Old 03-22-2019, 12:48 PM   #29
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So I got my volt meter load tester, you can get one at harbor freight if you don't have one.... pretty much a must have tool for auto electric testing, sure a multi meter and other type equipment is nice.... but you can find out a lot with just the volt/load tester...at that point you can advance to better equipment...but at least you will know the basics and check to see if you have bad battery's...

so first I checked the coach battery volts, and conformed them to same as the monitor,I have a amp meter that would tell me the amps rate it was charging, but I just wanted to verify that it was getting a charge, next I went to the chassis battery,..something wrong here...no charge
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Old 03-22-2019, 12:55 PM   #30
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while plugged into shore power, the chassis battery should be about 13volts or greater....the next test I did was two part... it was a fast battery test, and charging system test..while hooked to the chassis battery , I did a load test..though the battery was low,... it still took a pretty good load...then, clunk.. the noise came from by the chassis batterys,.. and now the volts jumped to 13 volts... Houston!! we have have power...so with that test, I found out that yes the BIN was working,... and yes the battery was good...

something else wrong!!
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Old 03-22-2019, 01:05 PM   #31
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So for my next test, I unplugged the coach from the shore power, shut off the battery switch, and proceeded to remove the coach batterys 'theory was ,the coach battery are bad, and not getting enough charge, so it wasn't letting the chassis have any charge...

I wanna add this, I learned this way when I was young about removing batterys,... battey cables are like bad employee's , the neg is the firt to go , and the last to come back...always remove the neg cable first..


beings I had not checked the water in the battery's, it's a new coach, and you can't get to the water fills in my coach as the battery's where installed back wards...I figured I would find that the battery's where bad, or way low on water...and not to be redundant , I know about battery fill kits and such, and about battery check and maintenance, but this is about checking to see if they are good
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Old 03-22-2019, 01:12 PM   #32
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So with battery's out, and checked, here's what I found,.battery's were only about an ounce low at each cell,.. and load tested fine....battery's

but I also noted that the cables were installed wrong,... happens a lot with battery banks as installers take the quickest easiest route ..
another ol timer say'n when adding second or third battery's to a bank, "IN ONE END AND OUT THE OUTHER !... doesn't matter which end is what.. pos. neg. just make it opposite on the other end of the bank..wired the way it was , one battery was getting way more charge,.. and taking waay more amp draw...
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Old 03-22-2019, 01:19 PM   #33
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so now, verified battery's good … something still wrong... after years and years and years of being in the street rod business...I have found that 90% plus problems stem from not enough or bad grounds...powder coated frames and such not letting the battery get a good ground...fact!! even though it's getting enough ground to somewhat work... you can usually trace automotive elest. problems to not a good ground....and before parts are changed...that's the first thing to check
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Old 03-22-2019, 01:23 PM   #34
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so on with the testing, while the batterys where out,... I traced the ground cable to where it ended, right at the frame behind the battery tray... holy molly...I can't believe what I'm looking at

there is about 20 or so white wires bundled and zip tied,and the main battery cable scred to the frame with a sheet metal screw!!!
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Old 03-22-2019, 01:33 PM   #35
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has history has proved,.... there is a fine line between lazy,... and not knowing what you are doing , as you get the results... there's never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over..

so I pulled out the screw, and just as I thought...they didn't even clean the paint off the frame... just grabbed the big bundle of wires, and screwed them to the frame.. for a system to work correct... you have to have the same amp capable ground as the cable size amp draw on the positive side....do you really think Thor engineered it this way.....NOT!!!,... total laziness on thor's employee's...stuff like this is what eats up the profit margine and drive's the cost up...

who ever installed the wire harness needs a time out without pay...
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Old 03-22-2019, 01:44 PM   #36
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Here's how I know that thor did not design or engineer this install in this way...

within inches of this screw..I noticed a bolt welded to the side of the frame, a 3/8'' bolt... doesn't get much than that...the eyelets on all the cables were 3/8'', so that tells me that's where thor wanted the ground...

but hey, that means the guy had to put his phone down, get off fake book, go get a 3/8'' nut and wire brush to clean the bolt... why do that when you just use a sheet metal screw...the thor problems are so redundant that my self,also being a high rise construction and custom home builder, topped off with automotive shop owner..could take a stroll though the plant 750 and get that place in line quick...
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Old 03-22-2019, 01:52 PM   #37
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So heres the easiest test to check to see if you BIRD is flying, or you BIN is full, without testers or equipment what so ever..plug in shore power...make sure store switch is set to on.. let it set awhile...make sure lights are bright and every thing is working....with ign. off … turn on the head lights and listen...after a short period...you will hear a clunk sound... try to note which direction the noise comes from..thats where you will find your BIRD or BIN..
and that will tell you if the system is in fact working or not... quick!

and as in my case, it was working... but not good,.... next , trace and check all your ground and battery connections...this will fix the most common problems...
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Old 03-22-2019, 02:03 PM   #38
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Good write up and points made vegasruv24.1. Sometimes the problems are the basic ones you take for granted were done right, but with Thor, you can't be sure even the basics of construction are done right.
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Old 03-22-2019, 03:09 PM   #39
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Originally Posted by mcr1010 View Post
Good write up and points made vegasruv24.1. Sometimes the problems are the basic ones you take for granted were done right, but with Thor, you can't be sure even the basics of construction are done right.

thanks for the kind words but like I said, I'm not one to just keep throwing parts at something, and would rather figure it out, If I can't,.. I take it to someone that can... but first I like to make sure it's not something basic and easy for me to fix
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Old 03-22-2019, 04:43 PM   #40
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Model: 2016 Thor Outlaw 29H
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Originally Posted by vegasruv24.1 View Post
thanks for the kind words but like I said, I'm not one to just keep throwing parts at something, and would rather figure it out, If I can't,.. I take it to someone that can... but first I like to make sure it's not something basic and easy for me to fix
Thanks for your write up, I am going to copy and print it, for future references.
I, like you, like to investigate the culprit, not just parts change till fixed.
In my home garage, I too have the volt meter load tester from Harbor Freight, also a Fluke meter tester, what I don't have is a hygrometer.
Don't ask me why, I just don't.

My converter did test out for absolutely no 12 volt output.
That is why I am replacing it.

A while back, I fabricated a spare tire carrier mounted behind the rear axle, at that time I noticed different grounds to the frame.
Every one I came across, I cleaned real good, then re assembled using some de-oxidizer grease on the connection.
They were getting some corrosion started, and I know how bad grounds will do you, like you said earlier.

At my coach battery location, I cleaned that area up too.
It looked as if the battery carrier had been run aground and was shifted some.
I built a reinforcement bracket between the frame and the batteries carrier.
Re-located the three 50 amp 12vdc circuit breakers that were hard to find, into the battery area, they can now be seen, and reached, with the step open.
Re-routed the battery cables because they were looped, hanging down, it looked they could snag on something, but not now, they are secured.

That was during a Lippert hydraulic leveling troubleshooting that ended up being the directional valve sticking, $40 part.
Anyway, I didn't know about the "in one end-out the other", but makes perfect sense, I will check and correct if not.

I will do your test too, thank you much on the tip.
I am also digging in the dirt, a do-it-yourself project for a cement pad, to park the RV upon.

Have a nice day!
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