Thor 34j House Batteries

[Mwild]

I’m new to RV and have a thornhurricane 34j. When not connected the house batteries will lose power within 5 or 6 hours. I can’t make it throughout the night and have to turn inverter off. I think the res fridge is a big strain. Dealer said there is no room for additional batteries but there has to be another solution,. Thoughts?

[JamieGeek]

Originally Posted by Mwild

I’m new to RV and have a thornhurricane 34j. When not connected the house batteries will lose power within 5 or 6 hours. I can’t make it throughout the night and have to turn inverter off. I think the res fridge is a big strain. Dealer said there is no room for additional batteries but there has to be another solution,. Thoughts?

Is this the stock battery(ies)? It is possible that the batteries are bad. Many have had units delivered with bad batteries.

[Mike in AZ]

I’ve read a lot on this topic in this and other forums. I decided to replace the two 6 volt generic batteries that Thor equipped our ‘17 Challenger 37LX with. I bought four 6 volt Crown golf cart batteries. I understand you’re saying you can’t fit four, but maybe two higher capacity batteries would help you.

I also bought a Renogy 200 watt portable Solar Suitcase, which helps keep us charged during daylight, and ensure I run the gennie before going to bed, to have the batteries full as possible.

With that setup, I get through the night fine, with about 2/3rds showing on the display when I wake up.

I’m sorry I can’t offer anything more than that. Good luck!

[wenzOmatic]

MWild our MH has the 2 batteries in the center of the rack, looks like they could be repositioned and 2 more installed. Take a look under your rig and measure you may be surprised.

[jfreitas]

Originally Posted by Mwild

I’m new to RV and have a thornhurricane 34j. When not connected the house batteries will lose power within 5 or 6 hours. I can’t make it throughout the night and have to turn inverter off. I think the res fridge is a big strain. Dealer said there is no room for additional batteries but there has to be another solution,. Thoughts?

We have a 2017 34J and have the same issue. We were boon docking just last weekend and about 3AM the inverter started beeping due to low voltage.

The next night we turned the inverter off before going to bed and the fridge was still cold in the AM. Not the ideal solution but it works unit i replace the original batteries with something with better capacity and add solar.

[Mwild]

If I add solar will that matter. I still need either better batteries or more of them to store the energy

[jfreitas]

Originally Posted by Mwild

If I add solar will that matter. I still need either better batteries or more of them to store the energy

Probably right. If you run your generator up to the point you go to bed, solar will not help. I will be replacing my batteries even though they are new. If they are similar quality as the rest of the parts Thor uses to build their coaches, replacement is probably a good idea.

[Woofwoof]

Your first step is to replace the batteries the ones Thor installs are junk. Especially if they are the all black Harris batteries. In the case of batteries name brand really means something. And Interstate are some of the best, that’s what I got and they are 1000% better than the factory ones. I don’t boondock much, and I have an older 34J without the residential fridge, but my Harris batteries would die overnight too, and they could barely run my slide. Go with some Interstates. Did they move the batteries in newer models? My batteries are to the left of the door with the pump for the jacks. I could easily fit another battery in the compartment, and it would be tight, but I might even be able to squeeze in a 4th battery.

[Mike in AZ]

Originally Posted by Mwild

If I add solar will that matter. I still need either better batteries or more of them to store the energy

The only reason I mentioned solar is if you’re boondocking, it reduces the amount of time you’ll need to run your generator to charge the batteries. That saves gas, and that extends your time boondocking.

[jpmihalk]

Solar will help on sunny days, not so much on overcast or rainy days as you won't really gain that much energy unless you invest in a lot of panels and a controller that knows what to do with them.

Getting as many good batteries (we have 4 Interstate AGM group 31 batteries) as you can and figuring out your energy budget will help. We boondock a lot, and on overcast days we run the genny for a couple of hours when needed and we also have the auto generator start set for when the batteries get to 50% (11.7V) as well as 400W of solar panels. We make it through the night easily and generally make it through most of the day as well with a lot of phone/laptop charging and Xbox/TV/Sat TV through the daytime. The residential fridge is generally pretty efficient.

The original Harris batteries we had replaced as we purchased a unit that had been on the lot a while and the batteries had a reputation for being bad already. We had the dealer install the new batteries as part of the deal. Lesson learned from our previous MH.

[Mwild]

Many thanks. Great advise. Will look into interstate batteries after winter.

[Mike in AZ]

I just remembered something. I am not sure this is true, but was told the ice maker on the residential fridge is a big battery drainer. So at least at night, we keep the ice maker off.

[Knautie]

We have a 2016 Hurricane 34J, and within a a few days after delivery we learned of the “Harris Battery” issue. Within 2 to 3 hrs of being disconnected, our inverter started alarming with low voltage. After trouble shooting and research, we settled on 4 each 6 volt 235 AH Duracell batteries from Batteries Plus. It is a tight fit with 3 of the batteries placed in the slots available, and the 4th battery placed fore-n-aft behind the other 3. The Duracell batteries are fairly tall making installation of the Flow-Rite battery filling system a must. We are not big into boondocking, but we have yet to get the low battery alarm and we have gone up to 20 hrs without a recharge.