Soon to be new owner of Magnitude RS36

[Judge]

I can’t blame the OP for his initial reaction. It’s a fair amount of money….. then to open and close the slide 3 times during the PDI only to have a problem the 4th time…. its understandable. At least it happened at home and not on the road.

[Chance]

Originally Posted by Judge

I can’t blame the OP for his initial reaction. It’s a fair amount of money….. then to open and close the slide 3 times during the PDI only to have a problem the 4th time…. its understandable. At least it happened at home and not on the road.

Agree, but his reaction to Dave was a little harsh considering it was prior to the failure. We can remain civil even when people express opinions different than what we want to hear.

Having said that, discussing potential slide failures per million units was the funniest thing I have read on this forum; saying plenty about unrealistic “risk” expectations.

That he’s angry and disappointed now is indeed understandable. I would be too, which is why I refuse to put myself in that position.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by elbenson

Well, I think I should have listened closer to the folks on this form. I am now the proud owner of a piece of crap Thor. Did my PDI. Found lots of little stuff wrong that I had them fix before I left. Overall general cosmetics and alignment.

But, the best part is now that I got it home, levelers down, my stupid slide is now partially extended throwing a motor short code (8 flashes). And to top it off, for some reason I am also getting a shore power error and I cannot plug in to charge my batteries. Will spend some time tomorrow to continue to troubleshoot and reset the controller and hopefully get my slide back in.

I know I know. Should have went with a quality motor home. Sorry, but what a frustrating way to start. I even had them extend and retract the slide 3 times during the PDI.

Eric

Contact Thor tomorrow and request authorization for a mobile tech. The rig is unsafe to drive if the slide is stuck out and cannot be driven to the dealer for troubleshooting and repair. You will have to pay for the. tech up front and then submit the invoice to Thor for reimbursement. Thor will then cut you a check about 6 weeks later.

Enjoy the rig.

[elbenson]

Yeah, I know that I will expect lots of issues and I generally take them in stride. It was just extremity frustrating is the first thing that happened when I brought it home is the slide did not work.

As for shore power, I think I have figured that one out. I have a Hughes Autoformer Watchdog and it showed errors when plugged into my garage. What I found out is my 15A circuit in my 1960's house is not wired correctly (or missing ground). When I ran an extension cord to my kitchen which has been remodeled ~8 years ago and it up to code, it cleared any errors and now the coach powers up on AC. I am sure my travel trailer that did work on those plugs had a much less sophisticated transfer box and worked fine.

No I just need to go out and do the reset and manual override to see if I can get the slide to reset and determine if it repeated the errors.

Eric

[williamprunty]

Well just picked up my unit Saturday to head back to Montana. I sold my 2020.5 North Point 383FKWS. Now back to a drivable. We switched up from our past class A experience to try a class C. Hoping it’s going to be easier to drive than the 40’ we had before plus this is a class c with washer/dryer multiple bunks, out door kitchen and 4x4. Hoping this one will be less stressful. I will keep you posted. I would also like additional input on this unit.

[elbenson]

Judge,

I searched through several of your old posts and tomorrow morning I will look into my BIM. I saw your explanation about your charging and voltages and I was confused last night as I was seeing something strange in the regard of my alternator was charging the house batteries perfect, but I could not get the voltage in the Chassis battery up until I started the generator. It was late at night and I was frustrated so I did not think to much of it, but now looking back, I will find the BIM and make sure I switch the Chassis battery to the Left Side.


I tried the reset and manual override and I could not get it to work, but I did not kick on the generator as I was only running the truck motor. We will see. either way I have a call in to Thor and the place I purchased to get someone out as soon as possible if this fix does not work.

From a previous post from Judge:

"My proof is that after driving 6 hours, my slide would not extend because the house battery voltage was too..... even with the engine running to extend the slides. The BIM should have been providing more than enough voltage from the alternator to extend the slide! The first time it happened I thought I had a slide controller failure.

I had to start my generator so the Converter kicked into provide voltage to the house batteries to allow the slide to extend. Thats when I knew the problem had nothing to do with the slide itself."

[Judge]

Originally Posted by elbenson

Judge,

I searched through several of your old posts and tomorrow morning I will look into my BIM. I saw your explanation about your charging and voltages and I was confused last night as I was seeing something strange in the regard of my alternator was charging the house batteries perfect, but I could not get the voltage in the Chassis battery up until I started the generator. It was late at night and I was frustrated so I did not think to much of it, but now looking back, I will find the BIM and make sure I switch the Chassis battery to the Left Side.


I tried the reset and manual override and I could not get it to work, but I did not kick on the generator as I was only running the truck motor. We will see. either way I have a call in to Thor and the place I purchased to get someone out as soon as possible if this fix does not work.

From a previous post from Judge:

"My proof is that after driving 6 hours, my slide would not extend because the house battery voltage was too..... even with the engine running to extend the slides. The BIM should have been providing more than enough voltage from the alternator to extend the slide! The first time it happened I thought I had a slide controller failure.

I had to start my generator so the Converter kicked into provide voltage to the house batteries to allow the slide to extend. Thats when I knew the problem had nothing to do with the slide itself."

There is a simple test you can do to verify the BIM is wired and working properly:

1) With shore power unplugged and the engine not running, note the voltage readings on your FireFly / RapidCamp display panel for the chassis and house batteries.

2) Plug in shore power and turn on the headlights without the engine running.

3) When the chassis battery voltage drops to 12.5 volts, you should hear the relay kick-in and the chassis battery voltage should climb over 13 volts. The house batteries should also be over 13 volts as the Converter / Charger as it sends more voltage to charge all of the batteries.

4) Turn off the headlights and unplug shore power and note the battery voltage of the house and chassis batteries.

5) Now start to drain the house batteries by turning on all the house lights, running the fridge and TV off the inverter, running the furnace, etc.

6) Start the engine.

7) After a minute or two, you should hear the BIM relay again and the house batteries should jump to over 13V (as well as the chassis battery) as the BIM now allows the alternator to charge the house batteries.

If the voltages do not behave as I have outlined, then it is likely you need to switch the chassis and house battery cables at the BIM. Almost every Magnitude / Omni owner I have spoke with as had 12V electrical issues that were traced to the way Thor is wiring the BIM by having the house batteries wired to the BATT-A post and the chassis batteries wired to the BATT-B post.

While you are at it, I would check all of the connections in the house battery bay to make sure they are tight, including the chassis grounds. I found the chassis ground was loose and I added some star washers to provide a better bite between the cables and the chassis ground. The wires to the BIM were not that tight as well.

I added two more batteries and a battery disconnect switch in my 2020 SV34 and I cleaned up the rats nest Thor created. I also purchased a busbar and mounted it to back wall of the battery bay and moved many of the (+) cables to it to clean up the wiring.

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by Judge

There is a simple test you can do to verify the BIM is wired and working properly:

1) With shore power unplugged and the engine not running, note the voltage readings on your FireFly / RapidCamp display panel for the chassis and house batteries.

2) Plug in shore power and turn on the headlights without the engine running.

3) When the chassis battery voltage drops to 12.5 volts, you should hear the relay kick-in and the chassis battery voltage should climb over 13 volts. The house batteries should also be over 13 volts as the Converter / Charger as it sends more voltage to charge all of the batteries.

4) Turn off the headlights and unplug shore power and note the battery voltage of the house and chassis batteries.

5) Now start to drain the house batteries by turning on all the house lights, running the fridge and TV off the inverter, running the furnace, etc.

6) Start the engine.

7) After a minute or two, you should hear the BIM relay again and the house batteries should jump to over 13V (as well as the chassis battery) as the BIM now allows the alternator to charge the house batteries.

If the voltages do not behave as I have outlined, then it is likely you need to switch the chassis and house battery cables at the BIM. Almost every Magnitude / Omni owner I have spoke with as had 12V electrical issues that were traced to the way Thor is wiring the BIM by having the house batteries wired to the BATT-A post and the chassis batteries wired to the BATT-B post.

While you are at it, I would check all of the connections in the house battery bay to make sure they are tight, including the chassis grounds. I found the chassis ground was loose and I added some star washers to provide a better bite between the cables and the chassis ground. The wires to the BIM were not that tight as well.

I added two more batteries and a battery disconnect switch in my 2020 SV34 and I cleaned up the rats nest Thor created. I also purchased a busbar and mounted it to back wall of the battery bay and moved many of the (+) cables to it to clean up the wiring.

Judge,
In regards to the BIM, I think I remember about it charging in one hour increments. It senses the low voltage battery, house or chassis, and will charge it for one hour then switch to the other battery. It will keep switching between house and chassis until all are charged


I am remembering this correctly??? If correct would your above test need to be done over a couple hour period to work properly???

Jerry

[Judge]

Originally Posted by halfprice

Judge,
In regards to the BIM, I think I remember about it charging in one hour increments. It senses the low voltage battery, house or chassis, and will charge it for one hour then switch to the other battery. It will keep switching between house and chassis until all are charged


I am remembering this correctly??? If correct would your above test need to be done over a couple hour period to work properly???

Jerry

Jerry.... that is essentially correct. However, anytime I turn on my headlights I can get the BIM to engage under shore power. If the engine has not been running, I can get the BIM to engage everytime I start to discharge the house batteries when I do start the engine.

I believe it is tiggered by battery voltage measurements in the BIM. If the BIM held the battery Voltage over 13V for an hour, it will disconnect. However, if battery voltages drop to 12.5V, the BIM will always engage. That is what makes my test valid.

This is what Precision Industry says about the BIM 160 / 225. It performs differently than the LI-BIM 225.


BIM 160 /225 Operation

The BIM monitors the battery voltage of both the chassis and coach batteries over long periods of time. If it senses a charging voltage, it connects the two batteries together. If the charging system is drastically overburdened, the batteries will be isolated, however, if the BIM sees a long term charging of both batteries it will allow the batteries to remain connected and allow the charging system to do its job. Once the batteries have charged for one hour, the BIM will isolate the batteries to prevent overcharging, and will only reconnect the batteries for charging if one of the batteries drops to approximately 80% charge, and the other is being charged. This long term monitoring of the batteries prevents the annoying relay clicking that exists in simpler isolation modules today. The BIM does not guarantee 100% battery charge, but prevents harmful battery charge levels.


LI-BIM 225 Operation

Senario 1: Engine is "on" with a Chassis battery voltage greater than 13.4V and a Coach battery voltage less than 13.3V

Response: The LI-BIM 225 will connect the batteries for 15 minutes, then disconnect the batteries for a wait time of 20 minutes. After this wait time, a new voltage reading will be taken of each battery. If the voltages remain within the scenario's parameters, the response repeats.

Senario 2: The Chassis battery voltage is below 12.5V and a Coach battery voltage greater than 13.5V

Response: The LI-BIM 225 will connect the batteries for 1 hour, then disconnect the batteries for a wait time of 2 minutes. After this wait time, a new voltage reading will be taken of each battery. If the voltages remain within the scenario's parameters, the response repeats.


Senario 3: The Normally Open Momentary Switch is pressed
Response: The LI-BIM 225 will connect the batteries for as long as the switch is pressed.

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by Judge

Jerry.... that is essentially correct. However, anytime I turn on my headlights I can get the BIM to engage under shore power. If the engine has not been running, I can get the BIM to engage everytime I start to discharge the house batteries when I do start the engine.

I believe it is tiggered by battery voltage measurements in the BIM. If the BIM held the battery Voltage over 13V for an hour, it will disconnect. However, if battery voltages drop to 12.5V, the BIM will always engage. That is what makes my test valid.

This is what Precision Industry says about the BIM 160 / 225. It performs differently than the LI-BIM 225.


BIM 160 /225 Operation

The BIM monitors the battery voltage of both the chassis and coach batteries over long periods of time. If it senses a charging voltage, it connects the two batteries together. If the charging system is drastically overburdened, the batteries will be isolated, however, if the BIM sees a long term charging of both batteries it will allow the batteries to remain connected and allow the charging system to do its job. Once the batteries have charged for one hour, the BIM will isolate the batteries to prevent overcharging, and will only reconnect the batteries for charging if one of the batteries drops to approximately 80% charge, and the other is being charged. This long term monitoring of the batteries prevents the annoying relay clicking that exists in simpler isolation modules today. The BIM does not guarantee 100% battery charge, but prevents harmful battery charge levels.


LI-BIM 225 Operation

Senario 1: Engine is "on" with a Chassis battery voltage greater than 13.4V and a Coach battery voltage less than 13.3V

Response: The LI-BIM 225 will connect the batteries for 15 minutes, then disconnect the batteries for a wait time of 20 minutes. After this wait time, a new voltage reading will be taken of each battery. If the voltages remain within the scenario's parameters, the response repeats.

Senario 2: The Chassis battery voltage is below 12.5V and a Coach battery voltage greater than 13.5V

Response: The LI-BIM 225 will connect the batteries for 1 hour, then disconnect the batteries for a wait time of 2 minutes. After this wait time, a new voltage reading will be taken of each battery. If the voltages remain within the scenario's parameters, the response repeats.


Senario 3: The Normally Open Momentary Switch is pressed
Response: The LI-BIM 225 will connect the batteries for as long as the switch is pressed.

I knew it was something like that. It's been a while since thinking about the bim. I only had to deal with the bim for an added battery disconnect

Jerry

[williamprunty]

Originally Posted by Judge

I just got back from my third trip of the season. I have one more in two weeks before we head out on our 7-week trip.

Here is what I can report with my 2020 Magnitude SV34.....

1) Front Cap Structural Attachment Issue - Since the Thor Service Center in Wakarusa did the repairs at the end of last year, I have not seen any signs of the issue recurring. The cab over seems to be a little more stable when driving as well.

I can say I know at least two people with the 2021 Omni / Magnitudes that have had this same issue.... dating back to the earlier Super C models. The issue seems to be Thor is using screws that are too small and not enough where the front cap attaches to the house.

Whether Thor finally changed the front cap attachment on the 2022's remains to be seen.

2) Slide - Since I replaced my rear slide motor and fixed the screw in the slide box that was damaging the motor, my slide has been working well.


I still have concerns with the front cap and slide as only time will tell.
A guy I know just sold his 2021 SV34 back to a dealer at a significant loss because of slide and front cap issues.

As I've said in other posts, I never use AutoLevel. For the sake of the newbie on the block, I will again mention what I find works best.

I am very "gentle" when it comes to leveling the coach in order to protect the front cap / cab-over and the slide.

I have three small levels that I place on the floor of the coach at the front center, kitchen and bedroom entrace. Based on the levels I will manually level the coach... very gently. If the front is signficantly low, I drive onto one or two wood planks and place a wood plank under the front levelers and then gently raise the front of the coach if / as needed.

There are two major challenges with the full wall slide.... weight and house box structural integrity. Having the kitchen w/ fridge, theater seats and wardrobe on the slide is a lot of weight. Also the full wall slide means there are no studs supporting the drivers side of the house box.

AutoLevel causes more jack movements than are usually needed and it also tends to extend the jacks more than is needed. This all results in stress on the front cap and slide from excessive torque.

I also use slide locks on the slide. While the slide motors have electric locks, the weight of the slide creates some serious centrifugal force and can put a lot of strain on the motors and the slide meachanism when making right-hand turns or using right-hand exit ramps. By placing a slide lock at the front and the rear of the slide it removes some of the force on the motors and slide mechanism.

I will say that I just love the coach and the floorplan of the SV34 when everything is working and I am very pleased with the F-550. I have had the coach for 21 months now and while it has required me to do dozens of my own repairs and many upgrades and it has taken two trips to the Thor Service Center in Wakarusa and one to the dealer, I still do like the coach. I have had people come up to me at every single campground and tell me it is the sharpest coach they have seen.

If I can make it through the rest of this season without any major issues ), I will be very pleased. This is RV'ing.... there will be some issues.... it is just the nature of this untamed beast known to exhibit little quality control and marginal workmanship. I carry an extensive spare parts kit and as long as I can fix issues myslef, that is acceptable.

But if I do have any further major slide or structural issues, I have already told the DW we will probably replace it with a Dynamax or Nexus.

We have a ~3 month trip planned to Alaska in 2023. We also have another 7-week trip in 2022 on top of several smaller trips. I'm not going to chance having serious issues that derail our big trips.

For now, I'm happy with the coach. And I really like how it looks now that I replaced the stock bumper with one that will provide a little more protection and a look with some attitude.

Where did you find the bumper?!

[Judge]

Originally Posted by williamprunty

Where did you find the bumper?!

Here you go.....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124333314418

Price went up $155 since I bought it 6 weeks ago.

[williamprunty]

Originally Posted by Judge

Here you go.....

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124333314418

Price went up $155 since I bought it 6 weeks ago.

Thanks one of the first things in my list.

[elbenson]

The saga continues. After a few phone calls I have a tech coming out to my house tomorrow. But, I now have a better understanding of the issue. The Controller is throwing the code for encoder error on motor 1 (front motor). When I looked closer I found the motor is out of alignment and grinding into the slide. The image shows the long sliver streak where the motor has scraped away all of the paint.

When I did extend the slide and it stopped, I measured the distance from the slide to RV, and the slide was not out of alignment (within 1/8" from my tape measure) so I don't think that was the issue.

[elbenson]

Also, one more question for those that have removed the motor. I just remove this backer plate to get access to the motor. I do know I need to extend the slide ~1' or so to get to the set screw, but at least I wanted to see if I can identify what is causing the misalignment with the motor.

[Judge]

Originally Posted by elbenson

Also, one more question for those that have removed the motor. I just remove this backer plate to get access to the motor. I do know I need to extend the slide ~1' or so to get to the set screw, but at least I wanted to see if I can identify what is causing the misalignment with the motor.

You do not need to remove the beige plate that holds the H-Column in place. YIou can replace the motor without removing it. You will need to move the bulb seal though to get access to the motor.

The bulb seal actually slides into a plastic track. You can either try to pull it back or slide the seal up and out the track. I just pulled mine back to gain access to the motor. This short video may help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdkOaLdgmfk

If you get the top of the bulb seal out of the way you may see what is going on and if any of the wires are damaged causing the error code.

You do need to have the slide out a minimum of 2 - 3" to gain access to the screw that holds the motor in the gear block. So if the slide is stuck closed, it is very diffcult to get open manually so you can remoce the screw to get the motor out. If the slide is stuck full open, then you can't access the motor and trying to push it in manually takes an act of God.

I found the set screw used is problematic. It is very short and if things are not alligned perfectly, the screw can miss the slot at the top of the motor and the motor can start to move or lift out of the gear block. The screw also only goes through the plastic wipe seal housing and not metal.... which I think is a bad design. That motor is under a lot of torque and 2 or 3 threads into plastic is not going to hold it in place very long. I replaced the stock screw with one that is slightly longer but not too long as to hit the motor windings.

Given the picture of the top of the slide box being gouged, something is rubbing for sure. It could be an improperly installed screw (which happened to me) or a piece of metal. That gouge is right at the top of the motor.

The top the slide motor has a plastic cover that contains a magnet and sensors to meaure the RPM's to keep the motore in sync. Here is a picture of my motor that was damaged by a screw that was put in at an angle and not sunk so it was flush. Based on the location of your gouge, it looks like the metal part of the motor housing could be rubbing. It would not be the gears grinding into it. The gear block is located at the bottom of the motor.

Whatever is causing the gouge could also have taken out a wire or damaged the top of the motor to cause the rotation sensors to stop working, which would cause your error code.

It may be something you can deal with yourself or it may need to go back to the dealer.

I have one theory...... if the set screw did not go through one of the slots at the top of the motor to hold it in place, the motor can start moving around and eventually lift out of the gear block as it is running. That would stop the slide from moving in the front. If the motor starts to lift it may end up hitting the slide box and cause the gouge you found.

Given the crappy design of the set screw (short and going through plastic and not metal), I could see that causing the issue. It could also be a roller issue as well that is out of alignment and not supporting the slide.

[elbenson]

Well, news keeps getting worse. I had 2 mobile techs stop by and took a closer look and they believe the entire motor was installed incorrectly. It is sitting to close to the slide and does not appear to be an easy fix like replacing the motor and reinstalling the set screw. They believe the entire slide needs to come out and the entire motor assembly needs to be re-installed.

We are supposed to be leaving for a family cross country on Sunday trip to have my son play in Cooperstown. It is the only window in my career that I can take this long of time off as I can work from the road. That was the entire reason we bought this coach (we have always talked about upgrading, and this seemed like the perfect time to do so).

Now I am trying to find anyone / anywhere then can fix the issue as 100% of the dealers and repair shops I have called are backlogged until September or October.

Crossing my fingers and hoping someone from my dealer and/or Thor can find someone available to give it a shot to fix as removing at the entire slide is little above my pay grade.

Eric

[Judge]

Originally Posted by elbenson

Well, news keeps getting worse. I had 2 mobile techs stop by and took a closer look and they believe the entire motor was installed incorrectly. It is sitting to close to the slide and does not appear to be an easy fix like replacing the motor and reinstalling the set screw. They believe the entire slide needs to come out and the entire motor assembly needs to be re-installed.

We are supposed to be leaving for a family cross country on Sunday trip to have my son play in Cooperstown. It is the only window in my career that I can take this long of time off as I can work from the road. That was the entire reason we bought this coach (we have always talked about upgrading, and this seemed like the perfect time to do so).

Now I am trying to find anyone / anywhere then can fix the issue as 100% of the dealers and repair shops I have called are backlogged until September or October.

Crossing my fingers and hoping someone from my dealer and/or Thor can find someone available to give it a shot to fix as removing at the entire slide is little above my pay grade.

Eric

I will make one suggestion......

I would contact Thor Warranty Customer Service and beg for mercy.....

Politely explain your situation, what has happened, what has been done and your frustration after dropping well over 6 figures. I would then ask if they could try to fit you in at the Thor Factory Service Center in Wakarusa, IN on your way out since you plan to travel to the eastern US.

The Thor Factory Service Center has the best chance of fixing it quickly and more importantly fixing it properly. All they do is work on Thor products and they know the coach, the strengths and the weaknesses better than any dealer. They also have access to the equipment and parts to remove the slide and fix it properly. If all goes well, they may be able to get it done in one day.

They are usually scheduled out a minimum of 8 weeks but maybe they can find a way to get you in on your way out.

Thor Customer Service also monitors this site and I have found them to be very helpful. They may also be able to get the ball rolling for you.

That all being said..... the motor gets installed on the H-Column so that is likely the source of the problem. This video goes into the components in detail...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQPIrVaSOlk

[elbenson]

Judge,

Thank you for the advice. I just got off the phone with them and their service center in IN is going to reach out and see what we can do. Like you mentioned in your posts, everyone I have talked to at Thor has been very helpful and crossing my fingers hoping we can work to figure it out.

Regards,

Eric

[macdaddy1111]

Thor Baby!! Even your Dog loves them!!

3 Thors, everyone one with major issues!!

Anyone with brand new rig with blow engine!! I think I am King! HA

Took a year to get 2020 Working right! Pages of issues!

Thor didn't give squat about me!! 100 Percent combat disable vet sitting on the side of the road! You are own your own homie!

Thank goodness Tom at Service been taking care of Thor's for 30 Years and Ford Dealer ship in PA and NC!

But it is rocking now! Well, best it has been!