New 30 FE Owner

[awalk57]

We just took delivery of a new Thor Freedom Elite 30FE. This is our first motor home and so far we love it. We have camped for many years in trailers and love the ease of traveling in a motor home. I have a question for other new owners of this or similar models. We had a problem with water draining out of the fresh water tank (rightfully suspected an open drain valve). But finding the drain valve was a challenge. I found it hiding under a screwed down access panel under the mattress in the main bedroom. It makes sense from a design standpoint for the location but why should it be screwed down. The Thor owners manual does not reference it other than to say "Open Drain Valve" for fresh water tank. The compartment has a label on it clearly stating "No Storage". My question is why hide it and why secure it with screws. All of the shutoff and drain valves are located in this compartment which will make it nice for winterizing. Is the screwing down an attempt by CampingWorld to get more service business?. Just curious.

[JamieGeek]

First of all: Congratulations.

Screwing the panel down was Thor, not Camping World. Its like that in pretty much all the Thor coaches.

In our case all the plumbing and valving for winterizing is behind two different panels each is secured with only two screws. I believe the thought is: With screws its removable and replaceable. At least they didn't staple it!!

[petefoss]

Ours was screwed down and hinged. Possibly for initial transport? But I got it replaced since someone at the camper show REALLY needed to look inside without removing the screws!

[Bob Denman]

Welcome to our side of the Playground!
How about some pictures of your new rig?
Have you got any trips planned yet?

[Elite Washington]

Unless they changed the set up from 2017 there are also some valves under the front sink above the water heater that need to be adjusted for winterizing. A quick suggestion would be to take pictures of them in either the summarized or winterized position since the manuals are basically worthless. Happy camping

[awalk57]

To those who responded my sincerest thanks. I thought some more about it and figured that Thor screws them down as you normally don't access the valves frequently (only for winterizing/post-winterizing) and it is one less thing to go bump on the road.
Just got back from CW with my first repair. Although the TV's worked fine at the demo with local service nothing worked when I tried connecting at the campground. The tech had to due some fancy footwork to gain access to the cable inlet (you can't reach it from inside the rig) by removing the power cord inlet which is right below. The cable was cut (probably when they mounted something in the rig but he replaced the ends and hopefully we are good to go. We are scheduled to go out again on Memorial Day weekend. So far (keeping fingers crossed) everything else works and we love the RV. I am really impressed with how much nicer it is to drive then the old pulling the trailer behind a tow vehicle which was rough in bad weather. Came home on Sunday through some intense squalls with a lot of wind and it was almost like driving a car.
Thanks for the tip about more valves under the sink. Oh and here is a pic of my new baby.

[Bob Denman]

http://www.thorforums.com/forums/att...1&d=1526598169