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Old 08-11-2015, 06:54 PM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
State: North Carolina
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THOR #2039
Coach battery not charging on shore power

I have a 1999 hurricane class A and the coach battery is not charging on shore power. the Thor people do not have a electrical diagram for me. Any help.??

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Old 08-11-2015, 07:23 PM   #2
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Palazzo
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THOR #2248
There should be a charger on-board that may need attention or replacement. if there are some smaller wires connected to your neg & pos battery terminals see if you can follow them to a charger, but they might not be there as they could connect thru the solenoid. If you can find the converter (converts 120 vac to 12vdc) the charger could be included with it or separate and located nearby. I would expect it might be one unit, but maybe not.
Also, when you say coach batteries I assume you mean the batteries that power your 12vdc lights and accessories, not the chassis battery that starts your main engine. The chassis battery is not charged from shore power.
Hope that helps.
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Old 08-12-2015, 01:34 AM   #3
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Model: 2011 Four Winds 28Z
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THOR #531
With your older coach it might be different, but typically the battery charger is integrated into the converter/fuse panel.
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Old 08-13-2015, 02:00 PM   #4
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THOR #2039
Typo in tittle

I did mess up on my terminology. I am referring to the coach battery; not the starting battery. There is only one lead going to each post on this battery and it is not receiving any input when on shore power. The owners manual says it should be charging along with the "starting battery". thanks Hank
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Old 08-13-2015, 04:21 PM   #5
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THOR #2248
Well my advice still stands for what it might be worth and FW28z makes a valid point, also. There is a charger somewhere on board and it may have a blown fuse or it may be defective. You need to search it out and test it. Near the fuse panel is a good place to start looking.
Good luck.
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Old 08-16-2015, 07:28 PM   #6
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THOR #2039
Thank you guys for your input. Problem solved. When shore power is turned on the indicating light above the battery disconnect switch, goes on. However the rocker switch must be physically turned on for the battery to "see the charger". Yes I feel a little stupid, but problem is solved. I would still like to have a working electrical diagram of the entire system. The owners manual is useless. Thanks again. Hank
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Old 08-29-2015, 01:21 AM   #7
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Model: 2013 ACE 30.1
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THOR #2631
Hi, I am not sure which specific BCC (Battery Control Centre/Cabinet) you have on your Hurricane so this may not be useful for you, but try doing a Google search on “FW221 BCC” which is made by RV Custom Products and the free PDF document operating description and schematic you can obtain on line might be close to what your coach uses (it may not of course too). It is exactly what is in my 2013 ACE 30.1 and I have seen other forums where it is used in many other coaches and years as well. Note that the REV B schematic includes a lockout relay which prevents the accidental disconnection of the chassis relay (i.e.; child operating the chassis switch by the door) while the engine is running. Also note that Thor has a recall out on this BCC because the chassis latching relay can fail open while driving, which stops the engine and could result in a serious accident. The recall describes a simple rewire on the external terminals of the BCC. If nothing else the description of this BCC operation and its various relays is very useful for owners to understand how the coach, chassis and interconnect relays all operate. Hope this is helpful.
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Old 08-29-2015, 02:39 PM   #8
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Javelin; the schematic is outstanding. This gives me a lot of info I did not have before. Also to check the chassis disconnect switch, with engine running. Thank you very much for the time you took to help me out. Thanks Hank
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Old 08-30-2015, 04:17 AM   #9
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Hi; glad the BCC schematic and info helped you out.

I suspect that the latching relays used in this BCC may not be as robust as we all would like but they are available on line if they do fail I think. They unfortunately sit behind the circuit board in the BCC cabinet at the front of my 2013 ACE 30.1 ..... so probably it would require a complete removal of the BCC cabinet for the repair. I hope I never find out how much fun that would be.
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Old 09-01-2015, 04:28 AM   #10
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Model: Axis 24.1
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THOR #2787
Angry Issues with house batteries and carriage battery

I have a 2015 Thor Axis 24.1 that the batteries constantly needed charging to get started. If the unit stands still for 2 weeks the unit needs charging to get running. After using the Unit, I switch the isolation switch to storage and leave. In this case I didn't see the unit for 2 - 3 weeks. When I went to start the Unit it wouldn't start. I had to use a Battery Jump device to get started. I even tried to use the house batteries to jump the unit but no dice the carriage device would not even click. I have to use separate jump device on the camper batteries and it work. Just confused on what is happening...
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Old 09-01-2015, 04:59 AM   #11
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Model: Windsport 27K
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THOR #1455
We have been having a similar issue with our 2014 Thor Windsport 27K. We bought the unit new from the dealer in Feb. 2015. The unit had been on the dealer lot for sale for the better part of a year. We have been dry camping several times this year and have a problem with the house batteries holding a charge. We are very frugal with the use of the batteries. We use flashlights only, never the r.v. lights. The only thing we have going is the refrigerator on propane and we turn on the water pump for a few minutes at a time a few times a day. We run the generator 2-3 times a day for an hour or so but the batteries always show "e" in the morning. Is it possible the batteries were damaged on the dealer lot or is something draining them that we don't know about? Thanks!
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Old 09-01-2015, 04:47 PM   #12
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THOR #2631
Hi, I am not a battery expert so I am attaching a word document that I “copied” from somewhere in my travels (Not sure how accurate it is and sorry to the original author/source for not giving them named credit). The document may provide some good general information about battery charging and determining the true state of charge of your batteries. It is important to make sure you are fully charged and that the batteries will actually take a full charge as a starting point (not damaged). (The document provides info on terminal voltage and specific gravity measurements; also make sure, if you are using wet cell batteries, that the water/acid levels are slightly above the top of the battery plates. It is possible that chargers fail to charge properly or they can also overcharge and boil batteries dry.

If batteries are in fact fully charged and are not damaged and they continue to lose charge for no apparent reason, you likely have loads still attached even when you think you are disconnecting the batteries. It is possible for the coach and chassis battery disconnect latching relays in the BCC to fail “always on”. Of course you should see signs of this with devices in the coach still on (like gas detectors etc), if the batteries have enough charge and are in fact capable of powering anything at that point.

If your coach has a BCC similar to the one I have, the interconnect relay will typically operate to connect the coach and chassis batteries together if either the coach or chassis batteries are adequately charged and the appropriate coach or chassis latching relay is operated to “on” position. I believe that using the coach battery to start the vehicle, because the chassis battery charge is too low, would require that the coach disconnect latching relay is “on” and that the coach batteries are adequately charged to operate both the interconnect relay in the BCC and to also start the vehicle.

Last comment in case it is helpful; for my refrigerator, even when it is operating on propane only, there must be 12volts provided by the coach battery/converter to allow the fridge thermostat and its basic electronics to work. Verify with your refrigerator manual as this is another source of battery discharge, although a small one compared to running on electric mode only with gas off.
Attached Files
File Type: doc Battery Charging Information.doc (24.5 KB, 173 views)
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Old 09-01-2015, 07:01 PM   #13
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THOR #1490
Yes, we all learn the hard way. I wonder if they are the original batteries?
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Old 09-01-2015, 07:51 PM   #14
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THOR #2039
clamp on ammeter

A good tool to have is a clamp-on ammeter. Read the positive lead on your battery. You can see the current going in, as it is charging and what is being used when it is not on shore power. Hank
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Old 09-12-2015, 04:12 PM   #15
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Model: Hurricane 27K
State: Nevada
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THOR #970
For those with battery probelms: you have dead batteries. I had issues for almost a year, after talking with Harris, the OE provider, I was told Thor uses inadequate battery system charger and most rigs leave the dealer lots in bad shape. Now, it could be Harris had an issue with a production of batteries, but they would not warranty mine because of this so called problem with Thor. I had bought and extra coach battery after 6 months because when we dry camped the battery overnight would barely start the generator. After having 2 batteries it still sucked almost 60% power out of them daily. Bottom line the OE battery was bad and had killed my new extra one. The extra one was warranty but the OE no, Harris would not warranty and the dealer, Camping World certainly was not getting involved and charged me $85 for testing the system, which I thought was under warranty. anyway now have 2 fresh grp 27 Walmart deep cycle and no more battery problems. 12.7 v is 100% charged, overnight dry camping with 2 battery it goes down to 12.45 -12.5 which is 85-90%. I also got a 100w solar panel to use when camping. You should note to turn off the TV cable switch as it uses 12v power when camping. You can kind of add up the Amp hrs used and figure it out from there what normal discharge is. Most coach batteries are about 100 Amp hrs. The fridge, radio( even not in use) smoke alarm, Co2 Alarm all have a constant drain on it. Then lights, water pump, charging your cell phone, etc. It all adds up. I never had trouble with the chassis battery.
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Old 09-13-2015, 02:41 PM   #16
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Model: Travato
State: Florida
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THOR #1765
I did about he same things that petef did on my Vegas half way to Alaska this summer and had zero battery problems with my Walmart 29's and a small solar panel. On the discharge while parked issue, I have had the problem with my last two RVs and the only way to solve it is to install an on/off switch between the batteries and the coach. You are effectively disconnecting the batteries from the coach just as if you had disconnected the wires. The disconnect switch inside the door does not totally disconnect the house batteries and they will discharge. This is not just a Thor problem. With the disconnect switch, I can leave the RV with not solar panel and return three months later and still have enough battery to start the generator or emergency start the coach, if the starting battery is low. All my boats have had an on/off switch that completely shuts off the batteries from the coach. I do not know why RVs are not set up the same way, but they are not.
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Old 09-13-2015, 10:02 PM   #17
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Model: Axis 24.1
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THOR #2787
Problem resolved

After speaking to several service mgrs. I was told that Harris had an issue with the batteries that were installed in the Thor campers. Once I replaced the batteries and have not had any furthe issues to this point. I want to thank everyone who responded to my initial posting.
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