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Old 07-17-2017, 04:23 AM   #1
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Model: Axis 24.2
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5 days on factory batteries with power to spare

We just spent 5 days at about 7000' elevation and discovered the generator wouldn't start/run with error code 36 (runs fine at lower elevation). The good news is that the batteries took care of all our typical needs like running the heater in the morning and some fan time in the afternoon etc... my installing a digital battery gauge the day we left was perfect timing! Voltage read 12.4 at the lowest observation on the last day running the heater however it was 12.5 a little later. We didn't conserve power and just did our normal thing figuring we'd take off early if batteries ever dropped to 12.2V (~50%). The key note here is that the Harris or whatever batteries are now well into their 3rd season of use and still provide what I'd consider very good usable power.

Imagine an Axis as the largest rig in the area (many miles) ... mostly tents and a few teardrop types or scamp/casita small trailers. Got a nice creekside spot where the trail system was by walking on the down trees.

I've never experienced an elevation issue with a previous generator. Has me wondering what the issue might be? Oh ... and of course I messed with the generator for most of the first day, so the batteries started off the week with a lot of cranking duty!

Anyway ... the Axis 24.2 is still our favorite cabin on wheels to date.
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Old 07-17-2017, 05:25 AM   #2
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Very pretty country in the pics! Fellow PNW'erner here. Good to hear the batteries held up for you. Does your Axis have a residential fridge? My wife is paranoid about trying out our batteries to power our fridge. The factory twin 12v batteries were toast, so I had 2- 6v units installed. We shall find out soon how they hold up.
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Old 07-17-2017, 06:04 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TyCreek View Post
.....cut....

Imagine an Axis as the largest rig in the area (many miles) ... mostly tents and a few teardrop types or scamp/casita small trailers. Got a nice creekside spot where the trail system was by walking on the down trees.

.....cut.....
Seems more common out west, which I happen to like a lot. I enjoy roughing it a little, just not to the extent of a tent like when we were very young. Still, I like campgrounds that allow or encourage tent camping; except when wildlife makes it too dangerous.

Great pictures.
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Old 07-17-2017, 11:33 AM   #4
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Here is a long posting about code 36 but it appears that there is an altitude adjustment you can do (mess with the jet):
Onan Code 36 -Solved! - General - RVAmerica.com
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Old 07-17-2017, 11:51 AM   #5
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Ty where were you ? Looks like a great area !
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Old 07-17-2017, 12:09 PM   #6
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I don't know which generator you have but you may have an altitude adjustment to compensate for the higher elevation. Pull the cover off the generator and look at the carburetor for a yellow sticker and black knob. If it's there is an adjustment try moving it, replace the cover, hold the stop button for about 30 seconds and then try starting the generator again. Here is a picture of what the adjustment looks like.

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Old 07-17-2017, 12:35 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 99dart View Post
Very pretty country in the pics! Fellow PNW'erner here. Good to hear the batteries held up for you. Does your Axis have a residential fridge? My wife is paranoid about trying out our batteries to power our fridge. The factory twin 12v batteries were toast, so I had 2- 6v units installed. We shall find out soon how they hold up.
Our Axis has propane fridge so the power needs are greatly reduced and I'd expect a couple GC batteries to need a daily recharge to handle res fridge cooling requirement.

I'm guessing most factory batteries are degraded in the sales part of their life. Our batteries only went through a build -> delivery process and had a few cells quite low upon arrival. Once filled they've had minimal water use since then and our rig stays plugged in except when we're using it.
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Old 07-17-2017, 12:52 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JamieGeek View Post
Here is a long posting about code 36 but it appears that there is an altitude adjustment you can do (mess with the jet):
Onan Code 36 -Solved! - General - RVAmerica.com
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperD View Post
I don't know which generator you have but you may have an altitude adjustment to compensate for the higher elevation. Pull the cover off the generator and look at the carburetor for a yellow sticker and black knob. If it's there is an adjustment try moving it, replace the cover, hold the stop button for about 30 seconds and then try starting the generator again. Here is a picture of what the adjustment looks like.

Attachment 5874
thanks ...
Yes, there's an altitude trim on my generator and setting it to max didn't help.
Code 36 seems to be indicative of a fuel problem however the plug had fuel on it when I pulled it and tried a new plug, also opened that drain screw below the trim knob to see fuel pour out (shortened story). Seemed like it wasn't getting spark because the sound was no different with plug connected or disconnected.

The odd thing is that it started and ran fine loaded and unloaded once we got back to the house. All seems normal and 7000' isn't too crazy high elevation however I noticed it's above the value printed on the trim knob.
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Old 07-17-2017, 01:36 PM   #9
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Ty where were you ? Looks like a great area !
See red arrow, a best guess as to where we were in the Sawtooth range ...

I don't remember what FS road number it was where we finally found a spot. Stanley's big event for the year (Mountain Mamma's) had every normally known place already stacked deep with campers well past overflow areas. It'll probably be worse up there for the eclipse.
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Old 07-17-2017, 01:52 PM   #10
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did you run the chassis engine at all during the stay?

Since we don't have a toad, we'll drive the RV to the store, or to the park's visitor center or whatever if it's far, and find that the occasional charge from the chassis helps a lot!

I've gotta say I sure am jealous of the great dispersed and even not dispersed places to go for you folks out West
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Old 07-17-2017, 03:20 PM   #11
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Didn't have a need to run the engine and the trek in/out of many places we get ourselves is quite the adventure with the RV. We disconnect the Jeep and run up roads before venturing in with the RV. When we get to conditions that would prevent even creative RV traversal we just try a different fork or road/trail A 30min drive in the Jeep can take several hours to negotiate in the Axis!

When we find a spot I drop off a pop up tent and stuff to reserve it until we can finally make it in with the cabin on wheels.
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Old 07-17-2017, 04:09 PM   #12
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I would hazard a guess that your Axis has been the most "off-roaded" unit of any Thor has produced (at least we know it is here in this forum)!
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Old 07-17-2017, 05:59 PM   #13
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Still, I like campgrounds that allow or encourage tent camping; except when wildlife makes it too dangerous.
Funny ... we were talking about how ultra safe we were with the bears in the area and all the tent campers! We keep a tidy camp to minimize risk for damage critters can cause. Sort of like all you have to do is run a little faster than the other guy ... keep your sight cleaner than the next camp so it's less inviting. Very simple, food and trash should never be left outside. It is always those folk next to us with food and trash out that we see experience wildlife in or as a dangerous setting.

That fox was big and the others around us thought they saw a wolf or coyote because of size. I was snoozing in a chair when I opened an eye to see him trotting down the road and into a next camp site. I got the camera and took off after him to get that picture as he avoided me. Didn't get to see a bear though some reported one up a hiking trail not far away. The forest service had many signs warning about bears in the area.
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Old 07-17-2017, 08:53 PM   #14
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Didn't have a need to run the engine and the trek in/out of many places we get ourselves is quite the adventure with the RV. We disconnect the Jeep and run up roads before venturing in with the RV. When we get to conditions that would prevent even creative RV traversal we just try a different fork or road/trail A 30min drive in the Jeep can take several hours to negotiate in the Axis!

When we find a spot I drop off a pop up tent and stuff to reserve it until we can finally make it in with the cabin on wheels.
Glad to see someone enjoying the wilderness in their MH! The people we purchased our new unit from said "we don't go anywhere that doesn't have full hook-ups, including wifi & cable TV! "Whats the point then? Right? Oh, ya, and a place to eat close enough to walk to!
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Old 07-17-2017, 09:01 PM   #15
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agreed. Glad to see it.

I got a wee taste of that on our recent trip out to the Grand Canyon. Dispersed camped a couple nights in the national forest, since we had a date change that forced us to give up our reservations at the campground.

I got nowhere near that off road, but did venture a couple miles down some forest roads.... to perhaps the best campsite I have been in when not backpacking.

Even funnier....we drove to check out a commercial CG just outside the canyon park. It was a severely overpriced sandlot. No nature or even landscaping between sites....and was probably 10% at most filled with customers.... maybe a mile away from free dispersed camping in the NF.
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Old 07-17-2017, 09:50 PM   #16
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Glad to see someone enjoying the wilderness in their MH! The people we purchased our new unit from said "we don't go anywhere that doesn't have full hook-ups, including wifi & cable TV! "Whats the point then? Right? Oh, ya, and a place to eat close enough to walk to!
To each his own: Typically about 90% of the time we're in a full hook up park. We didn't pick it up to go off in the wilderness like TyCreek does here (although that does look mighty inviting).

We usually "bring our cottage with us": e.g. go vacationing/sightseeing/etc. with the RV. Or the occasional concert, baseball game, etc. Suits us just fine.

We do have one weekend a year where we go camping with only electric hookups--the horror!!--and we love it.
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Old 07-17-2017, 10:49 PM   #17
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To each his own: Typically about 90% of the time we're in a full hook up park. We didn't pick it up to go off in the wilderness like TyCreek does here (although that does look mighty inviting).

We usually "bring our cottage with us": e.g. go vacationing/sightseeing/etc. with the RV. Or the occasional concert, baseball game, etc. Suits us just fine.

We do have one weekend a year where we go camping with only electric hookups--the horror!!--and we love it.
Having power & water in a State or National park, etc, isn't a bad thing. And, your using the MH to go to games is a great idea! It really surprised us when the couple we purchased from said " I haven't even cooked in here. Just microwaved water for tea!"
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Old 07-17-2017, 11:00 PM   #18
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Modernized camping in mass is just different ... We've stayed at improved sites a whole lot more with the Axis than any previous RV and we like those travels too... still not thrilled with those dustbowl lined up fishbone type RV parks however! We do make an effort to have trees and some space between sites for our travel stops or at least good reasons to participate in fishbone camping like; Beachfront, tailgating, races and other events where being stacked into small spaces is just part of the experience.
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Old 07-17-2017, 11:23 PM   #19
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Funny ... we were talking about how ultra safe we were with the bears in the area and all the tent campers! We keep a tidy camp to minimize risk for damage critters can cause. Sort of like all you have to do is run a little faster than the other guy ... keep your sight cleaner than the next camp so it's less inviting. Very simple, food and trash should never be left outside. It is always those folk next to us with food and trash out that we see experience wildlife in or as a dangerous setting.

That fox was big and the others around us thought they saw a wolf or coyote because of size. I was snoozing in a chair when I opened an eye to see him trotting down the road and into a next camp site. I got the camera and took off after him to get that picture as he avoided me. Didn't get to see a bear though some reported one up a hiking trail not far away. The forest service had many signs warning about bears in the area.

If I recall correctly the campsite we stayed at in Yellowstone in May didn't allow any tents or soft-sided vehicles of any kind -- probably because of bears. After seeing a couple of grizzly adults from a safe distance in or near the park, I can see where it's necessary to protect campers, but also the bears. They look like they could do a lot of damage in seconds; and they would end up being put down.


By the way, what RV or camping type did you have/do before the Axis that let you pursue off-road adventures to a greater degree?
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Old 07-17-2017, 11:30 PM   #20
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... It really surprised us when the couple we purchased from said " I haven't even cooked in here. Just microwaved water for tea!"
We had RVs where the AC, microwave, stove and oven were never used while we had them. Can't say that about the Axis ... we use everything, especially the nice kitchen space in the 24.2 where we now plan more inside meals. Basically the inside space is just so comfortable and usable we do just that! Didn't want TVs in the rig but we've enjoyed them on occasion and the outside TV I was going to remove happens to be in a perfect spot for use in the garage .
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