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Old 08-11-2017, 12:46 AM   #1
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Vegas 24.1 - Sold it!
State: Tennessee
Posts: 282
THOR #6513
2017 Vegas 24.1 Chassis Battery maintainance and charging

1. Is the chassis battery from Ford maintenance free? IE adding water not required. As most of you know getting to that battery is not a casual matter. PS: My Dodge Ram maintenance free batteries lasted 11 years without a drop of water added!!!!

2. Ive noticed many are using aftermarket battery trickle chargers. Why not just leave the Vegas plugged in? It keeps both the coach and chassis battery charged. Ive monitored the voltage and it varied the charge voltage as required. Steading out usually at about 13.2 volts. Ive never seen it over charge.

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Old 08-11-2017, 01:52 AM   #2
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Brand: Still Looking
Model: Travato
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THOR #1765
Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeDS View Post
1. Is the chassis battery from Ford maintenance free? IE adding water not required. As most of you know getting to that battery is not a casual matter. PS: My Dodge Ram maintenance free batteries lasted 11 years without a drop of water added!!!!

2. Ive noticed many are using aftermarket battery trickle chargers. Why not just leave the Vegas plugged in? It keeps both the coach and chassis battery charged. Ive monitored the voltage and it varied the charge voltage as required. Steading out usually at about 13.2 volts. Ive never seen it over charge.
Up to the 2016 Axis, none of the batteries are maintenance free. I added one of the watering systems to all three batteries because it is so hard to add water to them. As far as trickle chargers, you can leave the coach plugged in if your converter charger actually does drop down to a float charge of 13.1-13.2v. However, that is actually a lot more charge than is necessary to keep your batteries topped off. I use solar panels for my Axis and they keep the batteries charged over two month periods that I am gone. That way I do not have to worry about power outages, power spikes or electrical issues in the coach. The complex wiring of the transfer switch, converter charger, BIRD, Trombetta, etc. and all the problems people have had with one or more of these systems (including me) does not give me confidence that I want to leave the Coach plugged in for long periods when I am not around- if I do not have to.
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Old 08-12-2017, 01:00 AM   #3
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Model: Axis 25.5
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THOR #4802
Had our new Axis 25.5 for 3 days, after driving it home from dealer. Left it plugged in and noticed an acid smell coming from it on the 3rd day. Checked coach batteries and both were bone dry and stinking. Added distlled water and one battery cell almost immediately began go boil. Batteries were stone cold dead, of course. Took it back to dealer in Ocala. They diagnosed that the charging circuit was charging at around 14.8 volts and 50 amps. No wonder batteries were fried. Now waiting for it to be repaired so we can get on with our maiden voyage. Also to be repaired is broken wire to tag light and coax to TV over door. Apparently raising the bed over cab seats snagged the coax wire and pulled it lose. So much for Thor's quality control.
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Old 08-12-2017, 01:39 PM   #4
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THOR #6513
Thanks for that info. Guess I'm going to have to remove that cover and take care of the battery. Its got to need some attention by now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oneilkeys View Post
Up to the 2016 Axis, none of the batteries are maintenance free. I added one of the watering systems to all three batteries because it is so hard to add water to them. As far as trickle chargers, you can leave the coach plugged in if your converter charger actually does drop down to a float charge of 13.1-13.2v. However, that is actually a lot more charge than is necessary to keep your batteries topped off. I use solar panels for my Axis and they keep the batteries charged over two month periods that I am gone. That way I do not have to worry about power outages, power spikes or electrical issues in the coach. The complex wiring of the transfer switch, converter charger, BIRD, Trombetta, etc. and all the problems people have had with one or more of these systems (including me) does not give me confidence that I want to leave the Coach plugged in for long periods when I am not around- if I do not have to.
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Old 08-12-2017, 02:36 PM   #5
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THOR #6513
I wonder how they measured the 50 amps. A DC clamp-on amp meter is quite expensive. Also I would be surprised that the charging circuit could put out that much current. A quality inverter would have a separate module for intelligent battery charging and would probably max out at 10 to 15 amps. So many questions so few answers
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldchief View Post
Had our new Axis 25.5 for 3 days, after driving it home from dealer. Left it plugged in and noticed an acid smell coming from it on the 3rd day. Checked coach batteries and both were bone dry and stinking. Added distlled water and one battery cell almost immediately began go boil. Batteries were stone cold dead, of course. Took it back to dealer in Ocala. They diagnosed that the charging circuit was charging at around 14.8 volts and 50 amps. No wonder batteries were fried. Now waiting for it to be repaired so we can get on with our maiden voyage. Also to be repaired is broken wire to tag light and coax to TV over door. Apparently raising the bed over cab seats snagged the coax wire and pulled it lose. So much for Thor's quality control.
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Old 08-13-2017, 04:02 PM   #6
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Just posted what dealer's service advisor told me. I do know that after I added water to the 2 coach batteries, one cell in one of the batteries was boiling almost immediately, so it had to be getting a lot of power from the charging circuit.
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Old 08-13-2017, 04:55 PM   #7
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THOR #3186
The stock charger converters are 50 amps. They have the 4 stage sensing system. They are not top of the line but .... 10 to 15 amp converters exist by are usually the portable type. Modern converters are in the 50 to 100 amp range.
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Old 08-13-2017, 08:55 PM   #8
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THOR #6513
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldchief View Post
Just posted what dealer's service advisor told me. I do know that after I added water to the 2 coach batteries, one cell in one of the batteries was boiling almost immediately, so it had to be getting a lot of power from the charging circuit.
.

You obviously had a problem and they fixed it. That's the important part Thanks for the feedback.
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Old 08-14-2017, 12:53 AM   #9
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THOR #6513
2017 Vegas Chasses Battery

After getting to the battery I found it is a Ford BXT 65-650. It is Fords top of the line heavy duty battery. They no longer use the term "Maintenance Free" but it is of that series. It has a 3 year replacement warranty, as well as a 100 month (8+ years) prorated warranty. My battery is now 18 months old and has required no water.

Here is an interesting link on Ford batteries:
machenry.com/documents/batteryspecs.pdf

I looked in our Ford manual. No mention of battery Maintenance or warranty.
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Old 08-14-2017, 01:16 AM   #10
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THOR #6513
The WFCO WF-8955 converter in my 2017 Vegas 24.1

Quote:
Originally Posted by Forest Grump View Post
The stock charger converters are 50 amps. They have the 4 stage sensing system. They are not top of the line but .... 10 to 15 amp converters exist by are usually the portable type. Modern converters are in the 50 to 100 amp range.
Forest, thanks for that input. I went online and did a little digging. thanks for peaking my interest!

Here is what I found out about the unit on my Vegas. It is a WFCO
WF-8955 PEC. Total output 55 amps, 3 stage system. By total that is split between all 12volt devices. Battery charging, lights, frig, fans etc. It has 3 modes of operation:
Absorption Mode: (nominal voltage) 13.6 volts
Bulk Mode Quick Charging voltage (load dependent) 14.4 volts (it noted this might be hard to see if other loads are present apparently it drops back to a lower reading)
Float mode Trickle Charge Voltage 13.2 volts (after 44 hours of no significant load variation it drops from 13.6 volts to 13.2)

That is in line with the voltages I've encountered the last few months of observation.

Some links:

http://wfcoelectronics.com/wp-conten...eration-v2.pdf

WF-8955 | wfcoelectronics.com
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