autolevelers

[rick kirby]

here we go again ! went to move the MH because the weather is calling for snow and i may need to plow.
started the MH up and the autoleveler panel lit up.. i noticed that when i brought it home the 2nd time and just shut it off.
this time it wouldn't shut off. oh great, and then it says "error return for service"... shut the engine off, applied the parking brake and tried again..nope.
so i called the dealer, let's see how long this take to get a return call this time.

i told my wife, i'd love to see that thing burn to the ground because i don't trust that rolling turd any further than i can throw it.

haven't been this mad about a new product in a long time, this one takes the first place trophy.

i don't see this thing in my future for very long because i have very little tolerance for poor workmanship and i told my wife we could always add some money and buy a place on a beach...
i called and complained about the bathroom folding door not fitting inside the jam and the MH entry door jamming in the mornings(weird huh?) about 2 weeks ago, no return call.
the dealer said when i picked it up last time that whirlpool will come to my house to replace the refer doors and that they would send a technician to fix some other things..

why am i thinking the tech will have to spend a couple of nights staying in the MH before he gets done ?..

hate to take it back, by the time they get done the warranty will be expired.....


rant over...

give a beer and some drugs....i"m going to need them.

[EA37TS]

Had a similar error on my 37ND as I was departing for my annual trip to the dealer for service. The dealer found nothing wrong with the levelers and reset the control panel. All has been well since. Try resetting the system by pressing Retract and Enter simultaneously and see if it clears your error. You may need to press both buttons for a few seconds.

[Miramar Owner]

I had this same problem with my Miramar. All I did was start it up and let it run for a few minutes then did the reset as you mentioned. That message displays as result of low battery. It's not a big problem if you know what to do about it.

[rick kirby]

Originally Posted by dstankov

Had a similar error on my 37ND as I was departing for my annual trip to the dealer for service. The dealer found nothing wrong with the levelers and reset the control panel. All has been well since. Try resetting the system by pressing Retract and Enter simultaneously and see if it clears your error. You may need to press both buttons for a few seconds.

thank you !
it worked....now hopefully it stays good.

it appears this particular Motor Home is only good for one reset a day, the radio froze up, been doing it since day one...called the dealer and he told me how to reset it...no go.

as i was typing this i got a call from Thor customer service, he happened to be a past employee of the company that makes the levelers.. he said it was most likely low voltage that locked the pad up... he explained the way it works while i sat here wondering why i was born this stupid..
as it is, i didn't have the refrigerator off a couple of weeks ago and the batteries went dead...so i plugged it in and turned the cooling off the right way.. THAT'S what messed the autoleveler up...case closed ! lesson learned, etc... but you guys are on it...

[mccharliejr]

Great education on the low voltage and resetting the leveler system. Thanks, Rick and team!

Reading the thread made me think of something I observed with the leveling panel upon engine start-up. Sometimes the leveler panel comes on and sometimes it does not. I only want to fire it up when I am planning to use it... any thoughts on why it appears to turn on when it feels like it and other times it does not? Or do I need to be Fonzie and hit the steering wheel first or something to make it stay off until I turn it on?

Charlie

[rick kirby]

Originally Posted by mccharliejr

Great education on the low voltage and resetting the leveler system. Thanks, Rick and team!

Reading the thread made me think of something I observed with the leveling panel upon engine start-up. Sometimes the leveler panel comes on and sometimes it does not. I only want to fire it up when I am planning to use it... any thoughts on why it appears to turn on when it feels like it and other times it does not? Or do I need to be Fonzie and hit the steering wheel first or something to make it stay off until I turn it on?

Charlie

from what i understood from our discussion,when you turn the key to the ON position, it activates the panel...after a short system check it shuts off. maybe if it doesn't come on it's because it's already did the check ? don't try the Fonzie thing, i did and i left feeling like Pottzie.
strange how the chassis battery activates the panel but it runs off the house batteries.

[rick kirby]

the Thor fella also said if the house batteries run below 11 volts, it locks the panel.

going to name the panel Shirley, because she is a fickle biotch !

[mccharliejr]

Thanks! So you are saying just be patient and let it shut off on its own after the pretty light party when it starts up.

[rick kirby]

yup !

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by rick kirby

thank you !
it worked....now hopefully it stays good.

it appears this particular Motor Home is only good for one reset a day, the radio froze up, been doing it since day one...called the dealer and he told me how to reset it...no go.

...

I am now on my fourth radio. Three AV614s and now an AV615. The prior three would loose power while travelling down the road. The 2 replacement 614s were under warranty and the 615 was installed under the extended warranty along with a new harness. My last trip was approx 400 miles without incident.

[rick kirby]

Originally Posted by dstankov

I am now on my fourth radio. Three AV614s and now an AV615. The prior three would loose power while travelling down the road. The 2 replacement 614s were under warranty and the 615 was installed under the extended warranty along with a new harness. My last trip was approx 400 miles without incident.

oh well geez i didn't want to hear that !

[rick kirby]

well, the good news......whirlpool showed up at my house and replaced both refer doors on the motor home.

the bad news.....roof leaks.
also found some water on the floor under the big slide when i extended it.

why am i thinking that being a motor home owner isn't as glamorous as i thought it would be ?

going back to the dealer on the 13th...
they even get to replace the radio that hasn't worked since i got it 2 months ago.
and fix the jamming entry door...again.
and fix the bi fold bathroom door so it actually fits inside the doorjamb.
and fix the sofa extension so it locks in place.
and turn the awning switch upside down so that when i push out, it goes OUT.

what scares me is that all these things are bad before i've taken it on a trip..
glad i bought a safety net, it's called a jeep ! lol

Forrest Gump had it right about the chocolates, you never know what you get until you bite into them...
why am i chipping teeth on every bite ???

lordy lordy lordy, and i thought this michigan weather was depressing...

[mccharliejr]

I feel ya, Rick. Our awning switch is also wired backwards, the step light was carpeted over but I fortunately noticed that at pick-up so they cut that free to expose it, and we have two under cabinet light switches that are wired incorrectly so they need to be corrected. Fortunately, our issues don't ground the ship but they do make me wonder about the overall quality of the wiring and attention to detail behind it.

TGIF!!!
Charlie

[schreinertms]

I have experienced the "low voltage" issue on my leveler display since the coach was brand new. On some occasions, giving it more gas (spinning the alternator faster) fixes the issue and I can lower the jacks. This last time, the system went to low voltage after it was almost done leveling the coach. Turns out it tripped the breaker at the pump. I called Lippert and they said that most likely the reason I am having this issue is because the two house batteries are not supplying enough AMP's to control the jack system. He recommended adding two more (total of 4) 6 volt batteries to the house. Which could mean buying 4 new batteries as I have heard that adding new to old is not the way to go.

[Joe D]

We shouldn't have to be clairvoyant to operate our rigs. Poor quality, poor design, poor engineering, poor documentation, and overwhelmed dealerships have ruined our dreams of seeing our country. Has anyone thought of a class action lawsuit.

[Miramar Owner]

Originally Posted by schreinertms

I have experienced the "low voltage" issue on my leveler display since the coach was brand new. On some occasions, giving it more gas (spinning the alternator faster) fixes the issue and I can lower the jacks. This last time, the system went to low voltage after it was almost done leveling the coach. Turns out it tripped the breaker at the pump. I called Lippert and they said that most likely the reason I am having this issue is because the two house batteries are not supplying enough AMP's to control the jack system. He recommended adding two more (total of 4) 6 volt batteries to the house. Which could mean buying 4 new batteries as I have heard that adding new to old is not the way to go.

Going from 2-6 volt to 4-6 volt batteries is something you will never regret. It solves a lot of low voltage problems as well as allowing me to park in Walmart all night with out running the generator to recharge the batteries. With only 2 batteries, after about 7 hours, I would be awaken by a constant beeping. It was the alarm informing me of the inverter voltage dropping to low to run the fridge.

Replace the 2 Harris batteries with 4 Duracell 230 Amp Deep Cycle golf cart batteries from Batteries Plus...you'll be glad you did!

[Joe D]

Owners shouldn't have to reengineer the coach by adding more batteries - again bad design , engineering. We are being ripped off by an industry that just doesn't care

[Miramar Owner]

Originally Posted by Joe D

Owners shouldn't have to reengineer the coach by adding more batteries - again bad design , engineering. We are being ripped off by an industry that just doesn't care

If you own a home you realize ownership brings all the privileges associated with it. My son, first time home buyer, is discovering that. Dish washer failure, toilet leaking, furnace quits, water shut off leaking, and the list goes on, but he still loves owning his own home. Home ownership is not for everyone. I believe that is why some people rent.

RV ownership is much the same. Buying new you are guaranteed to have problems because they are made by people. Buying used...maybe the previous owner has addressed the issues. Either way, fight the fight...deal with the issues...but above all, don't let the frustrations of ownership over shadow the joy of the RV lifestyle. If you are too frustrated to enjoy it, then sell it and rent.

[Oneilkeys]

Originally Posted by Joe D

Owners shouldn't have to reengineer the coach by adding more batteries - again bad design , engineering. We are being ripped off by an industry that just doesn't care

When I look at what I paid for my Axis and what I got, I have to be happy with the overall result, even if I have had to add, reengineer and fix multiple things in the coach. In the Axis/Vegas, Thor attempted to build an RV that they could sell for under $70k and make a profit. Overall, I think they have done an amazing job. That is not to say that I was happy with the quality control in my first 2014 Vegas, which was one of the early ones produced when Thor was putting them out as fast as they could to meet the demand. That was still no excuse for the shoddy work. Even with that, with a lot of my time and a little money I ended up with an RV that was just about perfect for us and drove it 24,000 miles in two years including to Alaska and back with no major issues that I could not fix myself. I must have really liked the Vegas because when I tried to upgrade to a little larger and more expensive model, we could not find anything that we liked, even when we were willing to pay $10-20k more. I ended up buying a new Axis because of the many improvements Thor had made and the fact that it was on an E-450 chassis with the 6 sp transmission. I was much happier with the overall quality of the Axis over the previous Vegas. I've owned multiple boats (Sea Rays to Beneteaus) and four RVs and even buying quality products I have found that I still had to modify and fix things on them. I think we have all been spoiled by the car industry. I remember when buying a new Ford or Chevy was like buying an RV. You just expected to take it back to the car dealer and get multiple things fixed in the first weeks and to repair things that broke after the year warrantee ran out. The Japanese changed all that for Americans. Now we expect a car to run perfectly out the showroom door and not have any repairs except for oil changes for 50k miles. The RV world is not there yet. If you read other forums, even the much more expensive models seem to have their problems, much like Thor.

[schreinertms]

Originally Posted by Miramar Owner

Going from 2-6 volt to 4-6 volt batteries is something you will never regret. It solves a lot of low voltage problems as well as allowing me to park in Walmart all night with out running the generator to recharge the batteries. With only 2 batteries, after about 7 hours, I would be awaken by a constant beeping. It was the alarm informing me of the inverter voltage dropping to low to run the fridge.

Replace the 2 Harris batteries with 4 Duracell 230 Amp Deep Cycle golf cart batteries from Batteries Plus...you'll be glad you did!

Thanks for the tip. I will certainly look into converting to a (4) 6 volt battery setup.