2016 Thor Chateau 31E intro and questions

[Ragegame]

Yeah, sorry I just started getting email notices again out of the blue and assumed that there weren’t updates since I looked last a little while ago!

[macgyvr]

Happy Flag day (yesterday). We are enjoying the weekend and enjoying the two a/c’s!!!

mac ‘no nap time sweating!’ gyvr

[funmoneypit]

I am guessing you already have as I didn't read all 9 pages but if you haven't, sign up on the Thor factory site. It will give you a ton of info on your unit after you enter your VIN.

https://www.thormotorcoach.com/owner-resource/

[macgyvr]

The factory door lock broke on a recent trip. I have to take it apart and dig the latch out to get the door open. Thankfully, Class C has doors up front or we would've been screwed.

Decided to replace it with this key less lock. I wish it would lock the handle wirelessly, but it only does the deadbolt. Still we are happy with it.

mac 'secure thyself' gyvr

[macgyvr]

I've hated the small bathroom fan since we bought the RV. So after a bunch of research, reviews, and comments on amazon, I finally pulled the trigger on a replacement fan that hopefully wouldn't require the replacement of the roof vent. I had pulled the rear roof vent off when I did the second a/c and didn't want to open up that can of worms again.

I settled on this: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I pulled the old inside assembly down, realized that I was going to have to drill the rivets out that held the old fan, and then spliced the new one in with butt connectors with heat shrink. The new fan installed nicely and moves a ton of air. It's pretty inexpensive, so we will see how long it lasts. I want to do another one in the kitchen area over the stove. I did pull that cover off and it looks like there is 12 volts running through there.

mac 'blown away' gyvr

[99dart]

SWEET on both mods/repairs!

[MarylandMatt]

What AC unit did you end up using? I am looking at the "Dometic Polar White 13,500 BTU Conditioners B57915.XX1C0 Brisk Air Ii 13.5 Pw Upper Unit" on amazon, i am guessing that is what you used and then an inside ductless control?

Am I correct, that the whole in the roof for the vent was sufficient, you did not need to increase or change that at all, just bolt the new AC on top of that hole and then do the interior work and cable routing?

This has inspired me to look to doing the same change, the one AC unit just does not work with that size camper well. I have not had to od too much after I got my inverter installed.

Thanks for any information.

Matt

[macgyvr]

I did the Coleman Mach3 13.5K BTU Non-Ducted Black Air Conditioner - Roof&Ceiling Units from my12voltstore.com

In February it was the best deal.

The bedroom vent looked braced up enough to be able to handle the air-conditioner, so I didn’t do any further bracing of the roof structure. I also looked at a brochure for my specific RV, and found that it actually mentioned an optional rear air conditioner in the bedroom. So I figured that the roof was braced enough to be able to put the air-conditioner back there.

It works amazing. The bedroom can be chilled into an ice box. We put fans blowing from the back of the coach to the front and it helps the front ac keep up. On a recent trip the warmest it got was 72 degrees and it was 92 outside.

As mentioned in previous posts, I ran 12 gauge romex down the ceil brace to the cabinets and then down under the bed. There I brought in a 12 gauge extension cord that I cut the end off and tied to the romex in a junction box. For now I just plug into the 110 volt plug at the campground.

mac ‘anything over 25 ft needs a second a/c imho’ gyvr

[macgyvr]

Went camping for a week last week up in Traverse City, as usual, I piled up a list of projects that I wanted to do before we left, but ended up doing them on the first day we were camping. Oh well, they got done and it was still a great week.



First thing was to get the stand for the DirectV set up. I've been putting this expensive dish on the ground for two years now and I wanted to get it up and protected a little more.





mac 'stand by your dish' gyvr

[macgyvr]

We had this old two piece foam art work that I did two years ago to put in our shower sky light to keep the heat and the sun out.



Recently we replaced the mattress in the RV, so I cut up the old one, we will eventually make some dog beds out of the rest of it, but I cut a piece up for the sky light. I traced the old piece that I made as a template.



Then I had some of the rolled up insulation stuff (I have that in alll my windows in the back half of the RV. So I put it on the top of the foam.



Now it fits nicely into the shower. Blocks more light and will help keep the RV cooler in the summer heat. I may eventually have a friend make some material to go around it for a nicer look, but for now, it works.

mac 'no more shower tans' gyvr

[macgyvr]

Not a great pic, but, it looks good in person.



My old flag pole was too short and the bottom flag was getting into the newly installed rear a/c. So I got a longer pole and while I was at it, I bought a light for the flag pole so you can see it all at night. And to keep ol' glory lit up.



It looks even better during the day. Takes better pics too. My buddy that we camped with last week was trying to have fun and bought a Braves flag for his pop up tent since they were playing my beloved Reds last week.

mac 'Go Reds!' gyvr

[macgyvr]

I've always been annoyed by the outside tv mount. It doesn't move or swivel. So you had to sit right in front of it to see the tv. So I tried two different mounts from amazon. Both were too deep to make the factory tv work. So I went to Best buy looking for a thinner TV. I came up with this one. It's also smart, so when there's internet, we can watch stuff on it just like you have a firestick installed.



Now I can pull the TV out and watch it from any direction.



I can see it from the campfire too as I captured this pic one evening.



mac 'the ultimate outdoor glamping tv' gyvr

[macgyvr]

Almost forgot, before we left, I did replace the vent over the stove with another fan like the one in the bathroom. Install was pretty simple and I didn't take a pic. There was a 12 volt wire already in the ceiling. I would later find out it's tied into the over head lights in the main living area of the coach. No worries as I don't anticipate using the fan with the lights off.

We had a great week, the 2 a/c's did a great job. Enjoyed the Traverse City area.

mac 'back to reality' gyvr

[Muggs]

Excellent Mr. Mgyver. I have a Vegas 24.1 and am adding 2nd a/c. Am going to setup same way. I want to have the redundancy on the road and at track. I have a Champion on trailer that will run 2nd unit when in extreme heat.

How are the Nexxen tires holding up? I got no wear issues on Michelins but they are approaching 5 years old.

[macgyvr]

Zero issues with the Nexen tires. We have 4600 miles on them so far.

mac ‘no dullie burnouts for this rig’ gyvr

[Gotta_Get_Away]

Wanted to jump in and say thanks for this great thread! Glad to finally find someone modding their 31E.

[macgyvr]

Originally Posted by Gotta_Get_Away

Wanted to jump in and say thanks for this great thread! Glad to finally find someone modding their 31E.

Looks great!

This was our biggest load of 2019.

Beater with a heater/race for fun Jeep, with golf cart along.

mac 'did not weigh it' gyvr

[Gotta_Get_Away]

Hi fellow 31E owners, this will be a long one and hope all are well.

Ran into some trouble with the battery side of my 12V system. After 3 weeks in storage this spring my freshly charged batteries appeared to be dead, and the batt relay (the one under the rear bed on a 2018 that has the red indicator light and switch by the door) was dim and the relay had a very faint click, with no 12V power. After fully charging the batteries again it seemed to work as advertised, but looking back on it I think it was intermittent and I didn't realize it. When we plug our campers into ground power, the red light comes on (and you hear the click of a relay under the bed), however it is NOT necessarily charging our battery(s). Hit the switch (with a voltmeter on the batteries) and you will see the voltage go up because now the batteries are connected to the electrical system. This behavior was confirmed with Thor Customer Service.
After talking to Thor and a dealer, a bad relay was suspected and ordered.
Just installed it this afternoon and, nothing. The red light was slightly dim, and then nothing. In fact, I had to wait several minutes or more before it would faintly click again, and still no connection to the electrical system. Sooooo frustrating.

Got under the camper (again) and eventually found the neutral/GND (at the back of the battery area) which ended up being a bolt tack welded to the frame. Lo and behold, it slightly was loose!!! Tightened it up and all works perfectly now. I probably wiggled it at the end of last year when I took my batteries out. I hope this helps someone with a similar (and super annoying) problem.

[Pete'sMH]

Originally Posted by Gotta_Get_Away

Hi fellow 31E owners, this will be a long one and hope all are well.



Ran into some trouble with the battery side of my 12V system. After 3 weeks in storage this spring my freshly charged batteries appeared to be dead, and the batt relay (the one under the rear bed on a 2018 that has the red indicator light and switch by the door) was dim and the relay had a very faint click, with no 12V power. After fully charging the batteries again it seemed to work as advertised, but looking back on it I think it was intermittent and I didn't realize it. When we plug our campers into ground power, the red light comes on (and you hear the click of a relay under the bed), however it is NOT necessarily charging our battery(s). Hit the switch (with a voltmeter on the batteries) and you will see the voltage go up because now the batteries are connected to the electrical system. This behavior was confirmed with Thor Customer Service.

After talking to Thor and a dealer, a bad relay was suspected and ordered.

Just installed it this afternoon and, nothing. The red light was slightly dim, and then nothing. In fact, I had to wait several minutes or more before it would faintly click again, and still no connection to the electrical system. Sooooo frustrating.



Got under the camper (again) and eventually found the neutral/GND (at the back of the battery area) which ended up being a bolt tack welded to the frame. Lo and behold, it slightly was loose!!! Tightened it up and all works perfectly now. I probably wiggled it at the end of last year when I took my batteries out. I hope this helps someone with a similar (and super annoying) problem.

First thing to check in most 12V electrical problems is the ground! Always check at the device that isn’t working as expected and also the system ground at the battery. Seems like that’s the problem more often than not. Glad you found it and all is well. And now you’ve got a spare relay.

[2017Chateau]

I have the exact same unit. I'm the 2nd owner, bought it 3 months ago.
I am trying to figure out how to take the TV out of the bunk, any ideas ?
I am also getting ready to have the sway bars, and shocks upgraded and and adding a steering stabilizer, I'll keep you posted on that.
Something I found out, The motor home is a 2017, but the chassis is a 2016.

Thanks.
Joe