Axis/Vegas Mods...1,2,3 Go.

[FW28z]

Jamie; I think you have a bad battery. Either that or something is seriously discharging your battery as a stereo's keep alive should not discharge your battery that quickly.

Say your battery has an 80AH rating; disregarding Peukert's law for a few moments, if your battery is discharging in 24 hours (and 8v is seriously discharged), that means you have a parasitic load of nearly 4Amps! A stereo keep alive is maybe a few mA.

So if the battery is good, something else is going on.

Even when fully discharged, a wet cell should still produce about 11.8V, and when fully charged, about 12.6V. These are of course, no-load voltages (battery disconnected and resting for at least an hour), without the alternator running.

Of course, one way to determine if you have a battery or load problem is is with a clamp-ammeter like the B&K 316... but hey; you have the opportunity for a new tool.

[JamieGeek]

I'm not sure but I don't think I have a bad battery just yet. Just a severely discharged one. Your above statement assumes that my battery was fully charged on Sunday. I don't think that is the case. Sure I ran both the engine and the genny but only for about 20 minutes or so. It was long enough that the battery could start the V-10 by itself but not nearly long enough to have a full charge. Like I said before: I don't think the battery has had a full charge on it since sometime in September.

[FW28z]

OK, well not a fully charged battery could also be an issue. Either way, I think you are on the right track and will figure it out.

[JamieGeek]

Hopefully the final chapter on the battery saga: Now that its the weekend I have a bit more time to mess around with the camper.
I stopped by the auto parts store and picked up one of these:
Autocraft Top-Mount Battery Terminal Quick Disconnect Switch 20138: Order best Battery Terminals at Advance Auto Parts
Thus instead of re-wiring the radio I'll just disconnect everything from the battery. In addition, since I haven't covered it yet, I took it out for a 6 or so mile spin (felt good to be driving it around LOL) instead of just letting the engine idle.

I may have found part of the problem: When removing the neg terminal it just lifted off! The screw holding it down either vibrated loose or wasn't tight enough from the factory.

Without further ado: Here is the battery before:

Removing the two vent hoses and installing the knife switch:

A better look:

[aa9zz]

Good idea. Keep us posted on the results.

My unit is parked at a friend's for now. But, I put in a driveway yesterday and hope to keep it at the house by Christmas. I should have some time then to take care of a few things.

[fhenn]

A loose battery connection will do it every time

[Teeitup26]

Originally Posted by JamieGeek

So far I installed a home-brew sewer hose storage spot. The Axis doesn't really have a good spot for the sewer hose that drains and/or is outside and I didn't like the idea of just throwing a "freshly used hose" into one of the outside compartments.

Got the idea from a friend: Went to the home depot and got some plastic 4" fence post, sawed it down to fit under the chassis at the rear, painted it black, and screwed it to the frame a few feet in front of the hitch. Its only accessible from the passenger side as the generator blocks it on the other side.

Since you really can't see it unless you crawl underneath I just used an eyebolt with a nut it to secure the end. There is enough room under there to put two side-by-side for extra hose.



The original idea used a gutter as a shelf to slide in and out, but the drop side of the Axis was too low to allow the shelf to pull out enough so I just store the sewer pipe directly in the fence post pipe.




In addition to that I had my dealer install a brake controller for the hitch. Good thing I had them do that because the 7-wire plug at the hitch was wired all wrong from the factory.

I've also removed the TV attempting to put a 2nd HDMI cable in from the TV to the cabinet but the current HDMI wire is routed all over the place and I couldn't get my 2nd wire to follow. So instead I just plugged a spare Chromecast I had lying around into the empty HDMI 2 spot on the TV (also had to remove the microwave to look at the wiring). (I have pictures of this somewhere as well--most likely on my phone.)

We connect up my son's Play Station to the HDMI input to the TV and with the cabinet doors closed the PS heats up and shuts down after about an hour of use. A project I may tackle is how to add some ventilation there without changing the appearance of the cabinet.

Another thing I've had to do: When I've had the rear-passenger bed top apart to winterize and unwinterize I noticed that the generator crossover switch was just sitting there not really secured to anything. So I screwed that to the wall next to the water heater.

Next up: We've noticed that the key lock for the outside shower is really loose and it tends to pop open when driving down the road. I'm either going to replace that lock or find some other way of tightening it up so it doesn't open.

I'm thinking about the 25.1 here in a month or so and I was wondering if you have any thoughts about the Axis now that you've had one for a while. Quality of construction? Fit and finish inside the coach? Reliability of the Ford Chassis? Any warranty issues and how they were handled by customer service. Another Thor owner although not an Axis has made some pretty darn bad comments about the Thor and it's quality. Wonder how you feel. Thanks. Dave

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by Teeitup26

I'm thinking about the 25.1 here in a month or so and I was wondering if you have any thoughts about the Axis now that you've had one for a while. Quality of construction? Fit and finish inside the coach? Reliability of the Ford Chassis? Any warranty issues and how they were handled by customer service. Another Thor owner although not an Axis has made some pretty darn bad comments about the Thor and it's quality. Wonder how you feel. Thanks. Dave

So far we've put about 2500 miles on it give or take a hundred or so. Overall its been good. As far as Q&A it hasn't been much different from the two trailers and one 5th wheel we've owned (purchased all brand new)--in fact I'd say the Axis was a tad bit better in quality in comparison (for reference: Two Fleetwood trailers when Fleetwood made trailers and a Keystone Cougar 5th wheel).
We have not had to get Thor involved in any warranty issues. The one major issue we had at delivery (the bathroom door "pin" latch at the top was broken) was handled satisfactorily by our dealer (they ordered a new door from Thor which took about 3 weeks to arrive. When it came in they replaced it--can't tell that our door is a replacement looks like the original). Personally I think our unit was in a camper show and the door broke from people incorrectly opening the door (its stock # was 100).
Another issue that some may consider a warranty issue: The mudflap hitting the exhaust pipe I took care of myself with the mudflap weights (still haven't driven it far enough to know if they actually fixed the problem or not yet but I'm pretty confident they did).
I've been very pleasantly surprised at the chassis. I already knew that the E-350 chassis with the V-10 was pretty peppy (used to follow Ford Trucks - in the V-10 forums since my prior two F-Series pickups also had the V-10 and in that group the V-10 powered E-Series were known for being a bit more peppy than the pickups) but this thing is a hoot to drive. For an 11,400 lb camper it certainly zips around. I can only imagine how much more zippy it would be with a custom tune!
We'll probably be taking it in for its last "warranty" work in January (the step recall, the front bed skips a beat when its almost all the way down, and perhaps a new battery). I'm pretty sure that will likely be the last warranty work it will require.

[Ziggys Vegas]

Maybe I missed it, but I could not find any info on what the little switch that dangles from the left side of the front nightshade does. It looks like dome sort of an oversight on the part of Thor as it just hangs loose. It does not seem to do anything, and the dealer was a bit fuzzy about it.

[JamieGeek]

Could you post a picture? I'm not familiar with any switches dangling from the nightshade. Perhaps its a limit switch that they didn't install properly (our nightshade will stop at the top automatically, and if the engine is running only lower to about 1/2 way down).

[Larry]

Think you're correct JamieGeek. I believe it's a safety limit switch for the purpose you mention of not allowing the shade to close completely while driving.

[aa9zz]

I haven't used mine yet but that is what I was told when I picked my unit up. It is odd that the switch is just hanging, exposed, to the left and above the driver. Has anyone used it yet?

Phil

[groswald]

Phil,

The switch is attached to the end of the shade bracket on mine.

Randy

[aa9zz]

I am having withdrawal having my Axis across town. I hope to have it in the driveway next week. I'll be able to go out to check things like this after Christmas. Unfortunately temps will be low twenties to mid teens evenings for a while. We'll see how the furnace works.

Phil

[Larry]

AA9ZZ...I know about those withdrawals as well. Mine has been at a CW a little over 100 miles away 6 weeks this coming Saturday having what I thought was to be some minor in/out warranty work done. Left side camera/mirror assembly replaced, passenger side arm rest broke off and windshield washer pump bad causing blown fuses. Of those 3 items, one has been fixed according to CW...the camera. Thor (supposedly) sent the wrong chair arm and the new washer pump is blowing the 5a fuse also. I've seen on this forum that the Thor replacement washer pumps are junk and would be lucky to get a good one from Thor so I told them to get one from an auto parts supplier for about $20. if they can't any other reason why it's blowing the fuse. I'm going to have the arm rest shipped directly to my address and install it myself and will pick up my coach this Saturday. Unbelievable service on both ends.

[JamieGeek]

Things get curiouser and curiouser: I never re-wired the Jensen radio because I figured I wouldn't need to given the chassis battery disconnect. I now leave the camper in "Storage" mode on the switch with the chassis battery disconnected and the Jensen still keeps time. This would mean that the keep-alive wire on the Jensen is wired straight (hopefully fused) to the coach battery (and also means the Jensen is not responsible for the chassis battery issues).

[Larry]

Frustration update...Replacement camera now not working again as of yesterday's update from CW. Washer pump still blowing fuses when control pressed. I called tech support at Thor and got Mike involved...again. He says he will work with the CW tech and walk him thru some things today but the camera and windshield washer pump are no way related to the same problem. Thinks the washer may be a bad module. Called CW again this am and I'm now told the camera problem could be a bad cable end piece. Told them to have it ready for pick up tomorrow regardless of outcome. The go between there says this is normal wait time. What? Six weeks?!? One of 4 items repaired?! Got to be kidding!!!

[aa9zz]

This seems to be common through all threads that I have read. Not for just the Axis but for any unit; CW repair issues. This is exactly why I picked another dealer.


I buy some products from them but not something as important as my RV.

[Larry]

They are REALLY good at throwing excuses out there though.

[aa9zz]

My 15 Axis did not come with a Jensen radio, it has a Axxera AV614BH. I just noticed. I better read the manual. Anyone heard of it?