Magnitude Four Battery Upgrade

[Judge]

The 2020 Magnitude and Omni comes with two 6V batteries and they designed the tray to hold four batteries so I decided to install two additional batteries.

I purchased two Duracell SLIGC115 6V Golf Cart Batteries at Batteries + Bulbs for $117. This is a better Ultra series with a 230Ah rating. They are also manufactured in PA and not China. When I purchased the coach last October one of the first upgrades I did was installing the much better Progressive Dynamics Converter / Charger. It can charge battery banks of different capacities so I was not too worried about the stock batteries being 215AH.

I purchased a Blue Sea Systems 300 Amp m-Series Battery Switches from Amazon so I could disconnect the batteries, use one bank or use both banks.

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

I also purchased a 3/8" 4 Stud Power Distribution Block BusBar because Thor used a single post right in the middle of the battery tray to connect several positive cables. I wanted to use this to relocate to the side wall of the battery tray.

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

I also purchased Spring Hatch Holder to hold open the step when working in the battery compartment. I always found it a pain trying to keep the step open all the way when trying to work with both hands in the battery compartment.

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

During this process I also fixed what I think was the problem with my Battery Isolator (BIM160) working properly. I have had issues with the alternator charging the house batteries when driving and having the Inverter on for the fridge.

According to the manufacturer of the BIM160 it doesn't matter whether the BATT A post has the chassis or house batteries connected to it. Thor connects the house batteries to the BATT A post and the chassis battery is connected to the BATT B post on the BIM160. After doing some research I found that other RV manufacturers use the BATT A post for the chassis battery and the BATT B post for the house batteries.

After I switched the cables I found my Battery Isolator to be working much better. The alternator would start charging the house batteries when they dropped below 12.6V and when I am on shore power I can now hear the relay switch so the chassis battery chargers when it drops below 12.6V. Besides the house batteries not charging off the alternator the way I thought they should I never heard the relay engage to charge the coach batteries when we were on shore power for several days.

After moving some wiring around and replacing the single post with the 4-post BusBar and relocating it to the wall of the battery tray, I got the two new batteries installed. There is plenty of room length-wise in the tray but just enough room width-wise for the four batteries. It also took a few attempts and a little maneuvering to get the fourth battery through the step opening and into the tray. I had to spread the batteries apart as far as I could to finally get the last battery into place.

I was going to try to mount the Battery Switch on the tray side wall but it was just a little tight and with the 2/0 AWG cables attached it is not going to bounce around or go anywhere.

Here are some picture of the finished product:

[EA37TS]

Nice work. Been out lately?

[99dart]

GOOD JOB! On my ws31 I found it made the job easier to remove the flip-up step. The battery slipped in much easier. I too relocated my "Flag" breaker so that I could reset it without crawling under the MH. I also installed the low profile quick fill system for easy battery filling. P.S. It doesn't come with the pump bulb. Just buy an outboard motor pump. There is plenty of tubing in the kit.
https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Rite-RV2.../dp/B001FCAXT0

https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-le...omotive&sr=1-2

[MTcamper]

Very timely! I am waiting for it to quit snowing here in Montana so I can get my SV34 off the mountain to a battery shop (not sure I want to try out the 4x4 in that manner!) I was planning on replacing my 2 stock 6 volts with 4 better quality 6 volts (my son wants the old 6v's to replace the 12v batteries in his RV). I didn't realize there was so much to it-guess I better do some more research-thanks Judge!

[Judge]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

Nice work. Been out lately?

Thanks!

We are heading to South Carolina on Friday for 8 or 9 days. We booked the KOA at Travelers Rest / Greenville, SC. We are taking the Spyder and going to ride around the Smokies and maybe do a couple short hikes. Weather looks decent.

The only restriction other than the usual COVID stuff is no camp fires. Apparently the government feels that the smoke could make someone cough and think they have COVID or make the symptoms worse for someone who has it.

That makes about as much sense as everything else going on these days.


Heading anywhere yourself?

[Judge]

Originally Posted by 99dart

GOOD JOB! On my ws31 I found it made the job easier to remove the flip-up step. The battery slipped in much easier. I too relocated my "Flag" breaker so that I could reset it without crawling under the MH. I also installed the low profile quick fill system for easy battery filling. P.S. It doesn't come with the pump bulb. Just buy an outboard motor pump. There is plenty of tubing in the kit.
https://www.amazon.com/Flow-Rite-RV2.../dp/B001FCAXT0

https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-le...omotive&sr=1-2

I don't think the quick fill system will work for me. The cells for the second set of batteries is just visible. The Duracell's have a quick removal cap system and I can just get them off but I think the replacement caps for this kit will hit the step wall and not insert squarely.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by MTcamper

Very timely! I am waiting for it to quit snowing here in Montana so I can get my SV34 off the mountain to a battery shop (not sure I want to try out the 4x4 in that manner!) I was planning on replacing my 2 stock 6 volts with 4 better quality 6 volts (my son wants the old 6v's to replace the 12v batteries in his RV). I didn't realize there was so much to it-guess I better do some more research-thanks Judge!

One thing to watch......

The stock batteries and the new Duracell's were the same dimensions but my stock batteries had a very short standard post in addition to the threaded post. The Duracell batteries has a standard size post in addition to the threaded post.

I put the new Duracell's to the front of the battery tray and they partially slide slightly under the middle step. I figured the stock batteries would need replaced sooner so I made them more easily accessible.

The taller post of the Duracell makes one of the positive posts very close to hitting the underside of the step. I decided to insulate that positive post to protect it from accidentally touching the metal step frame and causing an arc or short if I hit a bump and the battery was jolted upwards.

You should be able to get by re-using the single post for all of the positive cables to connect to a single point but I think you will still need to relocate it to the center of the back wall of the battery tray. It would be much more difficult to try and fit 4 batteries in there with all of the positive cables all terminating in the center of the battery tray.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Judge

Thanks!

We are heading to South Carolina on Friday for 8 or 9 days. We booked the KOA at Travelers Rest / Greenville, SC. We are taking the Spyder and going to ride around the Smokies and maybe do a couple short hikes. Weather looks decent.

The only restriction other than the usual COVID stuff is no camp fires. Apparently the government feels that the smoke could make someone cough and think they have COVID or make the symptoms worse for someone who has it.

That makes about as much sense as everything else going on these days.


Heading anywhere yourself?

Nothing planned. In fact our appointment at Jayco Factory Service has been rescheduled from April 27 to Aug 10 - 21. August is the first 2 week appointment they have open and 2 weeks is required for the paint work involved after adjusting the slide.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by EA37TS

Nothing planned. In fact our appointment at Jayco Factory Service has been rescheduled from April 27 to Aug 10 - 21. August is the first 2 week appointment they have open and 2 weeks is required for the paint work involved after adjusting the slide.

General RV in Canton, OH opened back up on Monday as an essential business. I am waiting to hear back from them on rescheduling my appointment that was cancelled. My customer service rep's e-mail said she was still out when I e-mailed her about rescheduling.

[MTcamper]

I am curious if you had any issues with swapping out your sofa for theatre seats? We made that part of our deal, our dealer said it would be approx. 6 weeks to get seat here but the Covid-19 thing has put that into flux

[ducksface]

Oh, I'm ordering that spring.
I had forgot they even existed.
No one should hear the words the spousal uses unit about that battery door/step.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by ducksface

Oh, I'm ordering that spring.
I had forgot they even existed.
No one should hear the words the spousal uses unit about that battery door/step.

The one I purchased actually can rotate at the mount. I decided to mount to to the housing but not the step itself. I just fold the spring down and close the step. Then I open the step and I move the spring up. It's like the rod used to hold a car hood open.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by MTcamper

I am curious if you had any issues with swapping out your sofa for theatre seats? We made that part of our deal, our dealer said it would be approx. 6 weeks to get seat here but the Covid-19 thing has put that into flux

I was up at the Thor Service Center in Wakarusa last November and they offered to install the Theater Seats versus taking it to the dealer (the dealer still supplied the seats).

They said it was tight getting the sofa out. They thought they were going to need to remove the window at the Dinette and take it out that way but they were able to get it through the door.

They said they remove those windows and reinstall them often to get things in and out of the coach easier.

They did need to take the furnace vents from the sofa and install them in the center console of the Theater Seats. That didn't seem to be to much of an issue and they were able to run the existing duct work over to the center console and connect it to the vents.

The Theater Seats are more comfortable than the sofa.... but not as comfortable as the RecPro Charles recliners I installed in our last coach. The Theater seats have foot rests but they don't recline unfortunately.

One of my next projects is going to be install a typical TV wall mount that extends and swivels for the 40" TV in the cab-over bunk. I want to swing the TV away from the wall using the current mount and then be able to move the TV over the steps to make it easier to watch when sitting in the Theater seats.

I installed a swivel wall mount for the bedroom TV to make it easier for my wife to see it when we are lying in bed. It works good but the down side is the TV sticks out a little further when walking past it and it does limit how far you can open the door to get to the storage shelves behind the TV.

The one good think with all this down time is I am knocking off one upgrade project after another.

[ducksface]

In light of what you said about the sofa and the window potential:

Did you find any value to keeping the sofa instead of just whacking it into pieces inside the coach?
Is there a market for one used or did it hit the dumpster or some guest/torture room?

I think if mine gave the slightest ration I'd whack it where it sat.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by ducksface

In light of what you said about the sofa and the window potential:

Did you find any value to keeping the sofa instead of just whacking it into pieces inside the coach?
Is there a market for one used or did it hit the dumpster or some guest/torture room?

I think if mine gave the slightest ration I'd whack it where it sat.

When I removed the sofa from my Outlaw 29H I was able to take it out in two pieces. It was still like new so my wife put it on Facebook and I think we sold it or $200 in a day. I guy had a camper and wanted to add another sleeping area for his kids so he was thrilled to get one that was still like new.

I never setup with the dealer whether he or I would keep the original sofa when they installed the Theater Seats. Since it was in 2 or 3 sections and I had no easy way to take it back with me from Wakarusa, I told Thor the dealer could have it.

[MTcamper]

Originally Posted by Judge

I was up at the Thor Service Center in Wakarusa last November and they offered to install the Theater Seats versus taking it to the dealer (the dealer still supplied the seats).

They said it was tight getting the sofa out. They thought they were going to need to remove the window at the Dinette and take it out that way but they were able to get it through the door.

They said they remove those windows and reinstall them often to get things in and out of the coach easier.

They did need to take the furnace vents from the sofa and install them in the center console of the Theater Seats. That didn't seem to be to much of an issue and they were able to run the existing duct work over to the center console and connect it to the vents.

The Theater Seats are more comfortable than the sofa.... but not as comfortable as the RecPro Charles recliners I installed in our last coach. The Theater seats have foot rests but they don't recline unfortunately.

One of my next projects is going to be install a typical TV wall mount that extends and swivels for the 40" TV in the cab-over bunk. I want to swing the TV away from the wall using the current mount and then be able to move the TV over the steps to make it easier to watch when sitting in the Theater seats.

I installed a swivel wall mount for the bedroom TV to make it easier for my wife to see it when we are lying in bed. It works good but the down side is the TV sticks out a little further when walking past it and it does limit how far you can open the door to get to the storage shelves behind the TV.

The one good think with all this down time is I am knocking off one upgrade project after another.

Wow you are ambitious! My 1st project was to build a liquor cabinet in the cupboard above the entry door I am going to look into the RecPro Charles recliners-you are correct, the theatre seat upgrade in the SV34 isn't all that comfortable.

[edkjr]

Nice job, I got the 2016 chateau. I ended up moving the battery location to a side compartment. 3 12 volt GC12's 155ah each.

[Tacouser]

On your 31w what brand and model of batteries did you use to be able to fit 4 under the step

[RudDer1]

Very cool mod, this is something on my radar down the road. Yours is a bit fancy for me though, I'm not that skilled ha ha.

[Walter Brauer]

Is there a technique to actually get the second set of batteries in?
I have the two new batteries pushed outboard, partially under the steps

To get the original batteries installed inboard of the new set is a very tight fit, I haven't been able to position the 3rd battery to drop down into the battery compartment. Obviously not the 4th either.

Lots of cables in the way, I've raised them to allow clearance, but cannot find the sweet spot to get the battery to drop into the tray.

Working in 110 degrees in Phoenix doesn't help.....

Thanks
Walter