Everything Is Dead

[Skip 500]

Originally Posted by motofabio

The battery check on the panel goes 4/4 because I’m plugged in. When I unplug, literally the entire coach dies. No LED readings on the panel, no interior lights, nothing.

Attachment 15177

Is the red light on at the main power switch after you unplug?

[mountainsam]

Originally Posted by Coveman2

The batteries in my new 2018 Thor Compass 23 TB area already toast. I checked the water level and topped up , took them out and put them on a professional charger and will not hold a charge, the voltage was also showing under 10, so will replace with Costco batteries in the spring and see if Thor will compensate me for the new ones. The batteries have no label on them so cannot determine who make them other than Thor says they are made by World Wide Batteries and their warranty is 13 months from date of manufacture but cannot find anything on the batteries to show that. Anyone else out there with the same problem. The units sit on a dealers lot not being charged and run down so the batteries fail.

My batteries lasted 1 year. But they were weak from the beginning. I opted for new Interstate Deep Cycle and haven't regretted it.

As far as Thor compensating you for the batteries, Good luck.

[motofabio]

Well shucks. My post from this morning got deleted for language. I shall rebuild, to my best recollection.

First off, a huge thanks to this community. Some foreknowledge would have been great, but you guys are a fine replacement!

I’ve got things squared away. The problem was that with shore power, I had no way to know the MAIN POWER was off, because the indicator light stays on. Without shore power and the batteries down to 3v or so, there was not enough juice to engage the latching relay. For future sufferers, here’s what I did...

1. Disconnect shore power.
2. Connect a good car battery with jumper cables.
3. Get the MAIN POWER to the on position (now the light is meaningful).
4. Disconnect the car battery.
5. Plug back into shore power.
6. Check with a multimeter that there’s 13v coming to the house batteries.

(Here’s where I got a little cussy)
Way to go Thor. How does someone mess up an on/off switch?! Given about 15 seconds of thought, a child would know that that momentary rocker switch with a meaningless light would be a problem.

So now I’ll wait a day to see if the house batteries will take a charge. If not, off to Costco for a set. I am under no illusion that Thor will compensate for anything. Ever. Even with an extended warranty, I expect to fix everything myself.

Someone had mentioned this should have been checked during the PDI. Well, it was checked. Everything does work. I didn’t think to check to see if the house batteries were charging while plugged in and the main was off, because it looks like it’s never off. Go figure. Bad, bad design.

Thanks everyone!

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by motofabio

Well shucks. My post from this morning got deleted for language. I shall rebuild, to my best recollection.

First off, a huge thanks to this community. Some foreknowledge would have been great, but you guys are a fine replacement!

I’ve got things squared away. The problem was that with shore power, I had no way to know the MAIN POWER was off, because the indicator light stays on. Without shore power and the batteries down to 3v or so, there was not enough juice to engage the latching relay. For future sufferers, here’s what I did...

1. Disconnect shore power.
2. Connect a good car battery with jumper cables.
3. Get the MAIN POWER to the on position (now the light is meaningful).
4. Disconnect the car battery.
5. Plug back into shore power.
6. Check with a multimeter that there’s 13v coming to the house batteries.

(Here’s where I got a little cussy)
Way to go Thor. How does someone mess up an on/off switch?! Given about 15 seconds of thought, a child would know that that momentary rocker switch with a meaningless light would be a problem.

So now I’ll wait a day to see if the house batteries will take a charge. If not, off to Costco for a set. I am under no illusion that Thor will compensate for anything. Ever. Even with an extended warranty, I expect to fix everything myself.

Someone had mentioned this should have been checked during the PDI. Well, it was checked. Everything does work. I didn’t think to check to see if the house batteries were charging while plugged in and the main was off, because it looks like it’s never off. Go figure. Bad, bad design.

Thanks everyone!

Batteries are not warrantied by Thor the battery manufacturer does. To get them to pay for new batteries there are several steps needed with photos of the steps to back up that they are bad.

If your batteries do not hold the charge and are indeed bad call Thor customer service and they will email you the steps for the warranty.

It maybe a bad design having the light come on with gen or shore power but Ill bet you will never forget to check that the switch is in use position for now on.

I never turn my switch to store its always in the use position. I installed a battery disconnect switch in the battery compartment. It kills all power to the coach. Some say there are phantom electrical draws even with the use store in store mode. With the disconnect I know everything is off.

THe disconnect is the first thing turned on before going inside the coach and the last thing turned off when locking it up. Sometimes its a little inconvenient to get to the disconnect because the bay door is locked but this inconvenience will never let me forget to do it.

Jerry

[motofabio]

Originally Posted by halfprice

Batteries are not warrantied by Thor the battery manufacturer does. To get them to pay for new batteries there are several steps needed with photos of the steps to back up that they are bad.



If your batteries do not hold the charge and are indeed bad call Thor customer service and they will email you the steps for the warranty.



It maybe a bad design having the light come on with gen or shore power but Ill bet you will never forget to check that the switch is in use position for now on.



I never turn my switch to store its always in the use position. I installed a battery disconnect switch in the battery compartment. It kills all power to the coach. Some say there are phantom electrical draws even with the use store in store mode. With the disconnect I know everything is off.



THe disconnect is the first thing turned on before going inside the coach and the last thing turned off when locking it up. Sometimes its a little inconvenient to get to the disconnect because the bay door is locked but this inconvenience will never let me forget to do it.



Jerry

I’m not going to bother with Thor on the batteries. Not worth the hassle.

The problem with the switch is that if someone bumps into it while it’s plugged in, or if one of the kids messes with it (kids don’t play with switches, right?), no one would ever know. The light being on while in the off position (relay disconnected) is beyond stupid. Even with your disconnect, that switch could still turn off the relay, unless you disabled the switch.

Anyway, I have this gizmo (linked below) on the way from Amazon thanks to another board member Mo_Mike’s suggestion. It shows engine and house batteries, so you can see when things are separated, joined, charging, or not charging. Definitive readings.

Now I need one of those keyed plastic boxes for the main power switch, like they put on AC controls in public buildings!

MICTUNING LED Digital Double Voltmeter, Round Panel Voltage Monitor Blue for Car Pickup RV Truck Dual Battery Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0721PQCKD..._6YuqCb44G4G8K

[Buttonguy52]

My house battery wiring was loose on the posts. However after two years I just bought a new battery. Ones from Thor looked like refurbished battery.

[petefoss]

I use the inverter display of input voltage to verify that the Use/store is actually ON when plugged in. On my coach it's right there with the switch so very convient.

[TurnerFam]

while I'll not agree on whether the lighted Use/Store switch is a 'stupid' design, as it actually gives you a light indication, which is more than most of the rest of us have, I will say that having it in a position that can have someone accidentally 'touch' it is not the best placement.
The switch would be better positioned in a place where it can't easily be accidentally touched, or confused for some other use. Mine is right next to the entry, with two other switches - the awning, and the step.
Now, since the Use/Store switch and the Awning switch are both 'momentary' switches, you can see how one could easily 'think' they are touching the awning switch, when they are actually pushing the Use/Store switch, like I have several times.

Having said that, the main Lights switch, which seems to be what most folks would want to hit when they first enter the coach, is actually mounted 'hidden', on the underside of the cabinet above the jackknife sofa. It's much to 'high' to see or touch when you first enter. Switch this switch with the Use/Store switch, and you have a much more 'user friendly' logistical placement of basic switches that everyone should have access to, but some 'easier' than others.

I'm actually also glad my coach has a basic momentary Use/Store switch, as I would probably be aggravated at a blaring RED light indicator always being on - as I hardly EVER turn 'OFF' the Use/Store switch for storage.

but, a basic 'tag' or attached label on the Use/Store switch would go a long way for manufacturers to simplify the usage of this important switch for owners - a quick explanation, if nothing else.

Do you hear us, Thor?

(also, add to the list: a basic House battery 'cut off', IN the battery compartment, to shut down ALL draws on the batteries, just like the one for the coach batteries - let the Use/Store switch satisfy temporary shut down of the 12v systems, and the House battery 'cut off' for true long-term storage)

[jabrabu]

My battery disconnect relay seems to not be working well. When I push the use/store switch I can hear it clicking, but it doesn't latch on. After some "mechanical agitation", i.e. hitting it with a hammer, I finally got it to latch, but after cycling it a couple of times it now won't unlatch.


Initially I thought it wouldn't turn on because my batteries were dead, but even after running the engine, generator, and being plugged into shore power, it wouldn't latch. I also checked battery voltage with a multimeter, and it was good, so that wasn't the issue.



I just got a new battery disconnect relay, and hopefully replacing it will fix the problem.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[TurnerFam]

it's quite possible that you have the 12v power to operate your disconnect, but the relay's 'magnet' is not latching the connection to one side - either giving you 'power' all the time, or not giving you 'power' anytime.

[Cason61]

Originally Posted by TurnerFam

it's quite possible that you have the 12v power to operate your disconnect, but the relay's 'magnet' is not latching the connection to one side - either giving you 'power' all the time, or not giving you 'power' anytime.

Yeah, had an OLD Ford like that. Starter relay was on the side of the Engine compartment unlike Chevys and Plymouths, and my Engine kept running. So I thought "the Coil wire is insulated so if I pull it it can't shock me" big mistake. After that I replaced the relay switch.

[JeffsFreedomElite]

[QUOTE=motofabio;162933]This is that I have at the steps. The main power light stays on when plugged into shore power regardless of the switch.

The Main power switch confusing. I have gone through 3 batteries in an year and a half. Not sure if charging is taking place without putting a volt meter on the battery. Very bad design. I looked at the 2019 26HE Freedom Elite and they have replaced the master switch with a rotary switch. Hopefully that is an improvement.

[Thehobe1]

Keeping everything off when in store mode is a challenge. I left a sine wave AC 120V inverter on with the use/store mode in the store position only to find out that the inverter uses some but not a lot of power for it's internal relay while providing no power to the AC house sockets wired up except the TV's in the off mode.
I now leave the shore power plugged in and every month or so, turn on the use/store switch for a couple of days to keep the batteries charged. This has worked very well so far. There is a small drain on the house batteries even when everything is turned off in the store mode-a few tens of milliamps.

When I picked up the RV from the dealer, my house batteries were toast, not providing power to the furnace fan for more than an hour or two. I, too, bought avpair of 12V deep cycle storage batteries from Costco and have had no problem since.

The key way to tell that the batteries are being charged is to measure the house battery terminals. If the voltage is above 13V, the battery charger is active/charging and if the battery voltage is below 12.8V (after the batteries have been not charging for 1/2 hour) they are not being charged.

I have also noticed that in the store mode, with the shore power connected, the internal 12V house lighs come on. When the shore power is disconnected, the internal 12V house lights do not come on in the store mode. This suggest to me that the AC to 12V DC converter is always active when plugged into shore power but is not connected to the batteries for charging.

[motofabio]

Originally Posted by petefoss

I use the inverter display of input voltage to verify that the Use/store is actually ON when plugged in. On my coach it's right there with the switch so very convient.

I wish I had an inverter. That’s where it was on my previous coach.

[Beau388]

Most Xantrex and Magnum sine wave inverters can only be turned off with the monitor's menu. For Xantrex Freedom XI, it is code 1n0 that turns the inverter off when shore power is disconnected. Punching the on/off switch does not work even with shore power disconnected. Of course you can always pop the inverter's CB in the battery compartment.

[ComputerChips]

Yes the only thing the disconnect switch does, is disconnect the batteries. If the gen or shore power is on everything will work and appear normal because the converter is supplying 12v. But because the batteries are disconnected...they won't be charging.

[bry899]

Store use switch remedy
Mounted a 100 watt solar panel on roof, goes directly to charge controller then to the batteries.
Batteries are always charged (unless you keep it in a garage).

This ends the confusion, when the switch is off the light is off.
When the light is on the switch is on, batteries get charged by the solar panels either way.
No need for shore power unless I am using the motorhome, I only turn the switch on when I am going to use the Motorhome, any periods of unuse the switch gets turned off.
Even if I am using the motorhome on shore power and someone accidently turns the switch off, the batteries still get charged by the solar panels.

[petefoss]

No interference with the converter when on shore or generator power? You essentially have two independent chargers?

[jabrabu]

Originally Posted by jabrabu

My battery disconnect relay seems to not be working well. When I push the use/store switch I can hear it clicking, but it doesn't latch on. After some "mechanical agitation", i.e. hitting it with a hammer, I finally got it to latch, but after cycling it a couple of times it now won't unlatch.


Initially I thought it wouldn't turn on because my batteries were dead, but even after running the engine, generator, and being plugged into shore power, it wouldn't latch. I also checked battery voltage with a multimeter, and it was good, so that wasn't the issue.



I just got a new battery disconnect relay, and hopefully replacing it will fix the problem.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Lesson learned: This is not the correct latching relay. I assumed it was a generic part, but after I couldn't get this to work I did some more research I found that there are lots of variations of this relay. Thor's has a circuit board attached that will remove voltage to the coil after holding the switch for about 5 seconds to protect it. Jayco and some others have a similar circuit board, but they are wired differently.


This is the correct part:



https://pdxrvwholesale.com/products/...y-lr9806t1-bip

[Snickers1]

I am plugged into 110 volt on house, I have the lights in the radios (front and back) microwave clock on, tv power light on and carbon monoxide detector light on. Every couple of days when I go out to RV, All 3 batteries are dead so I have to jump RV and then run with generator going.



Have no idea what is going on but someone advised me to get an electrical schematic for it. Can anyone point me in that direction?

I know next to nothing about electricity and this is frustrating the heck out of me.