Gemini and Compass

[paulwadley]

It is set up that way to increase the amount of water in the black tank to help move the solids out when you drain it.


Paul

[yukongrant]

Originally Posted by ccarrier

I found out, at the beginning of this year, that the bathroom sink drains in the black water tank. Is this the normal behavior ?
Any Idea ?

I have a Compass 23TR. The bathroom sink drains into the black tank. Kitchen sink into one of the grey tanks and shower into the other. (Getting old and can't remember what goes where.)

[RVjon]

2018 Gemini 23TR. Back slider makes loud squeeking noises when extending or retracting. I think I am lubricating the tracks incorrectly. Any help on exactly how to lube the slider is appreciated.

[ccarrier]

Thank you both! That explains a lot of "mysteries"

[Gemini Cruiser]

Originally Posted by ccarrier

Hi everyone, I have a 2017 Thor Gemini TB. I found out, at the beginning of this year, that the bathroom sink drains in the black water tank. Is this the normal behavior ? It seems to me that it was draining in the gray water tank before but never really paid attention.
Any Idea ?

My bathroom sink drains into black tank

[Nowlinak]

Has anybody upgraded their Gemini / Compass with roof solar panels and lithium batteries. We are looking at a 2023 Gemini 23TE that comes with 100 watt solar panel on the roof and only a single house battery. I want more for boondocking.

[PDX247]

Originally Posted by Nowlinak

Has anybody upgraded their Gemini / Compass with roof solar panels and lithium batteries. We are looking at a 2023 Gemini 23TE that comes with 100 watt solar panel on the roof and only a single house battery. I want more for boondocking.

I have a 23TW and put in 200ah of Battle born lithium and added 2 more 100w panels and a big inverter. I added another switcher box so it automatically switches between shore, generator and battery power. I can run the refrigerator, microwave and most importantly my wife's hair dryer. Can even run the AC for like an hour.

[3DTwo]

Hi. First time using heater in 2022 Compass 23TW on trip north into Canada after very hot summer. Never used in 6 months we have owned unit. Started to heat well but was giving off an burning type or gas odor and after a few minutes it triggered the smoke alarm… at 7AM. 😳 Needless to say did not ingratiate us with neighbors 😉.
ANY THOUGHTS? Is that normal or am I doing something wrong? Thanks!

[yukongrant]

Originally Posted by 3DTwo

Hi. First time using heater in 2022 Compass 23TW on trip north into Canada after very hot summer. Never used in 6 months we have owned unit. Started to heat well but was giving off an burning type or gas odor and after a few minutes it triggered the smoke alarm… at 7AM. 😳 Needless to say did not ingratiate us with neighbors 😉.
ANY THOUGHTS? Is that normal or am I doing something wrong? Thanks!

That's not normal. We've had to use our furnace a lot this summer and never had a smoke alarm go off. My first thought is it may be dust on the furnace that is being burned off. I would give it another try (during the day.) Watch it carefully. If it sets off the alarm again, get it checked professionally.

[mbbrumm]

I have a 2022 Gemini 23tw that I took delivery of in May. I had a very similar experience with the heater the first time we fired it up. This was about 3 weeks after delivery when it got cold enough at night to need to heat up the coach in the morning. The odor was of oil and saw dust. The smoke alarm went off and my wife's asthma kicked in. It reminded me of the first use of a space heater in the fall. We refrained from using it till we could open all vents and windows and run the furnace for about 30 minutes with us out of the coach. We have not had a problem after this with odor. However, distribution of heat is not very good. Gets very warm in the back but takes a long time to get up to the front of the coach.

[mbbrumm]

Originally Posted by Nowlinak

Has anybody upgraded their Gemini / Compass with roof solar panels and lithium batteries. We are looking at a 2023 Gemini 23TE that comes with 100 watt solar panel on the roof and only a single house battery. I want more for boondocking.

I have replaced my lead battery with 100ah lithium. I have decided not to add another solar panel at this point since I do have the generator and the ford alternator that can recharge the battery. On my 2000 class a rig I could run down my two 6v golf cart batteries by running the furnace all night boondocking in the fall in the mountains. I had to get two more for that rig. I anticipated I would deplete the standard battery in the new coach when it gets cold at night.

[3DTwo]

Hi! We are thinking of beginning to pull a toad for our next longer trip as we plan on visiting many national and state parks with limited access by RV even though the Compass is rather small. Wanted to get more experienced RVers view on the right way to pull with the Compass/Gemini size RV. We have a 2016 Honda Civic at 2900 lbs that I wanted to pull. Wondering about the Forum views on that vehicle/weight, which hitch is best and what does a load like that due to gas mileage (I am currently getting 12 mph)? Thanks!

[mbbrumm]

I have a 2022 Gemini 23tw and want to install a showermizer water saver. These are available on 2023 units so I know it can be done but I need to know the easiest way of getting to the plumbing in back of the shower.

Does anyone have some pointers before I tear into things?

[Geminator]

We've had a 2023 Gemini 23TW for a little over a month. Most of that time it's been back at the dealer trying to solve battery/solar power issues which now seem to be taken care of. However ... a couple times we have looked out the window at the RV parked in our driveway and noticed the taillight and running lights have mysteriously come on. And just as quickly they go out again. Any ideas what this could be about?

[mbbrumm]

I think it could be a short in the automatic headlight (and so taillight circuit) on the ford side of things. Other than that, I'd call ghostbusters. Halloween is coming.

[bhiker]

Originally Posted by Coveman2

Nancy: Thanks for replying. My 23 TB only has one gas strut and will look into the Strong Arm. Would you know the pound rating for the Strong arm? I do know the bed weighs about 60 pounds and the wood probably 30 or so.
Thanks again and Merry Christmas and stay safe
Coveman2

Hi Coveman2, Just in case you're still looking for a gas strut replacement for Thor Compass 23TB, I just replaced mine that is a single strut that holds up the folding bed. It's 26" long with 30 lbs rating. I found it online at Lift Supports Depot, and their SKU is SE263P30-W. It took me a while to figure out the length and weight rating, until I noticed "2630" on the original strut. The new strut looks a bit skinnier than the original one, but it works just perfectly.

[Geminator]

So we took our first short camping trip in our new Gemini TW at Peaks Kenney State Park in Maine. When we filled up with water at the park, we kept the hose in until water started gushing out back at us, just like we have always done with our old RV. The tank said full and we were getting ready to go back to our campsite. However, we noticed that water started flowing (not dripping) out from a tube under the sewer bay. This continued for a good ten minutes and when it finally stopped, the tank was down to 2/3. After our 2-minute drive back to the campsite, I pulled up the wooden platform covering the freshwater tank and it was only half full, meaning after filling up we still only had about 15 usable gallons of water, not 31 as we had expected. I've since found out the draining tube is an overflow tube and there is no valve to shut it off. Given it's location on the side of the tank, it is always going to dump the first five gallons on the ground after we fill up, not to mention the additional water lost to sloshing whenever we want to go somewhere. Cutting our water supply in half is a serious problem that we didn't anticipate since we go boondocking quite a lot.

Is this happening to everyone or is there something wrong with our unit? And why is there a need for a second overflow tube in addition to the one that runs up alongside the input tube? What would happen if we just clamped it off?

[Idaho_snowman]

Originally Posted by 3DTwo

Hi! We are thinking of beginning to pull a toad for our next longer trip as we plan on visiting many national and state parks with limited access by RV even though the Compass is rather small. Wanted to get more experienced RVers view on the right way to pull with the Compass/Gemini size RV. We have a 2016 Honda Civic at 2900 lbs that I wanted to pull. Wondering about the Forum views on that vehicle/weight, which hitch is best and what does a load like that due to gas mileage (I am currently getting 12 mph)? Thanks!

We tow a Subaru Impreza behind our 2022 Compass 23TW. Roadmaster Sterling tow bar and Demco stay in play braking system from etrailer. Drops the fuel mileage down to about 9 or 10.

[Idaho_snowman]

Originally Posted by Geminator

So we took our first short camping trip in our new Gemini TW at Peaks Kenney State Park in Maine. When we filled up with water at the park, we kept the hose in until water started gushing out back at us, just like we have always done with our old RV. The tank said full and we were getting ready to go back to our campsite. However, we noticed that water started flowing (not dripping) out from a tube under the sewer bay. This continued for a good ten minutes and when it finally stopped, the tank was down to 2/3. After our 2-minute drive back to the campsite, I pulled up the wooden platform covering the freshwater tank and it was only half full, meaning after filling up we still only had about 15 usable gallons of water, not 31 as we had expected. I've since found out the draining tube is an overflow tube and there is no valve to shut it off. Given it's location on the side of the tank, it is always going to dump the first five gallons on the ground after we fill up, not to mention the additional water lost to sloshing whenever we want to go somewhere. Cutting our water supply in half is a serious problem that we didn't anticipate since we go boondocking quite a lot.

Is this happening to everyone or is there something wrong with our unit? And why is there a need for a second overflow tube in addition to the one that runs up alongside the input tube? What would happen if we just clamped it off?

I just went out and looked at mine. The only overflow I see is the clear tube alongside the inlet tube. Comes in about an inch below the top of the tank. Do you have a picture?

[Bobboots99]

Originally Posted by RVjon

OK all, you have to pull the fridge out about a foot (about half way out).
First order a replacement ac heater element (mine was 630804 for norcold 512.3).
Remove 10 screws, 2 in back of fridge at base. four large screws in bottom and top front (there are two access holes at bottom of control pane, and four smaller screws on the sides (two are part of door hinges). I'm not certain these last four hold the fridge in.
Unplug ac, pull two main dc power wires (yellow and white), and last disconnect the propane line. Now you can pull the fridge out to get to the control board cover and the boiler area. Two screws top left and bottom right hold the cover on. work the cover free (not easy) and then pull the two gray wires leading to the heater element. open the flimsy tin chimney and remove the heater element. reverse the process to finish.
Once removed you can check for 60 ohms on ac heater element, if good the control board is the problem.
Doing this myself probably kept me from having my rv held hostage by some
inefficient shop for 5 to 6 weeks. Glad I did it.

Thanks for sharing the details. I have a 2021 compass and want to connect fridge to an inverter. Is fridge AC cord accessible without unscrewing and pulling fridge from cabinet? My inverter is under sink.

Thanks