Battery disconnect

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by bobj73

Thanks, guess that's kind of what I suspected.
Been like that since we bought it new, like I said, I can hear the solenoid click when I operate the switch.
I appreciate the responses, but I guess I've gotten along this far without out. Plus when I look under the bed at the tangle of loose wiring, I put the access panel back and hope nothing ever shorts out under there. Lol.
Another fine example of Thor quality control. Thanks again.

To be clear, to check the operation of the battery disconnect relay, all power should be off the coach (no generator or shore power). If the coach has no interior lights with the interior light switch on (selected), then the relay is latched into off position. If the lights are on, the relay is latched in the on position. The position of the relay is controlled by battery power. If the batteries are dead (less than 10.5 volts), the relay will not change position. Since the relay connects the house batteries to the power center, the relay must be in the on position for the converter to charge the house batteries.
By the way, the latching relay is not manufactured by Thor Industries. It is only installed by Thor MC just as the microwave and water pump are. You wouldn't blame Thor's QC or Ford if a tire went flat on your first trip, would you? Thor Industries is a holding company with 17 major divisions. Thor Motor Coach is just one of those divisions. Actually, your coach was built by plant 750 just one of five Thor MC plants. Each operates as a separate entity. If you feel it necessary to blame someone other than yourself for buying an entry level coach, blame the relay's manufacturer, plant 750 purchasing department for purchaser a cheap relay or maybe the poor guy making $15 and hour assembling your coach.

I relinquish my soap box and back to your regular postings.

[bobj73]

Wow.

[OldWEB]

Originally Posted by bobj73

Wondering just exactly what the battery disconnect switch does?

Maybe just rephrase the question....

[bobj73]

Think I've had enough, lol.

[Jimbo56]

Originally Posted by Beau388

To be clear, to check the operation of the battery disconnect relay, all power should be off the coach (no generator or shore power). If the coach has no interior lights with the interior light switch on (selected), then the relay is latched into off position. If the lights are on, the relay is latched in the on position. The position of the relay is controlled by battery power. If the batteries are dead (less than 10.5 volts), the relay will not change position. Since the relay connects the house batteries to the power center, the relay must be in the on position for the converter to charge the house batteries.
By the way, the latching relay is not manufactured by Thor Industries. It is only installed by Thor MC just as the microwave and water pump are. You wouldn't blame Thor's QC or Ford if a tire went flat on your first trip, would you? Thor Industries is a holding company with 17 major divisions. Thor Motor Coach is just one of those divisions. Actually, your coach was built by plant 750 just one of five Thor MC plants. Each operates as a separate entity. If you feel it necessary to blame someone other than yourself for buying an entry level coach, blame the relay's manufacturer, plant 750 purchasing department for purchaser a cheap relay or maybe the poor guy making $15 and hour assembling your coach.

I relinquish my soap box and back to your regular postings.

Well I’m going to get on it. Entry level or not, if Thor had any kind of quality control at plant 750, a coach with drain pipes not glued, windows not sealed, antennas on the roof not sealed, awnings left loose, binds not adjusted to stay up, wires hanging out under the dash not connected would never had made it this way to a dealers lot. Entry level does not mean this. Entry level means less insulation. No full body paint. Vinyl floor instead of wood. Rubber roof instead of fiberglass. Cheap microwave instead of convection. Axxera instead of Samsung. Entry level should still be built solid and without shortcuts.Touring a plant doesn’t mean you can belittle someone on this forum. Period. Now you can have your soapbox back.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by bobj73

Think I've had enough, lol.

Hang in there; you doing good Some of these posters are actually your best friends ( they have been there, done that so to speak , we all get some tough love at times, but it is how we learn.

My two cents from what I have read. Your Use / Store switch is not working properly. Not a big deal for you now and you may way until the Spring, but what you don't say, is whether or not you are still under warranty? I would make certain the issue is reported with a Dealer and Thor now; so your warranty is not expired if the issue requires them to fix. Send Thor a Letter describing the problem based on info you learned here. Don't try to tell them what to fix, but be clear on problem definition; so you are covered later.

Good luck,

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by Jimbo56

Well I’m going to get on it. Entry level or not, if Thor had any kind of quality control at plant 750, a coach with drain pipes not glued, windows not sealed, antennas on the roof not sealed, awnings left loose, binds not adjusted to stay up, wires hanging out under the dash not connected would never had made it this way to a dealers lot. Entry level does not mean this. Entry level means less insulation. No full body paint. Vinyl floor instead of wood. Rubber roof instead of fiberglass. Cheap microwave instead of convection. Axxera instead of Samsung. Entry level should still be built solid and without shortcuts.Touring a plant doesn’t mean you can belittle someone on this forum. Period. Now you can have your soapbox back.

So you mean a set of entry level golf clubs are still suppose to work and not have the club head fly off if you try to use

I will say it again and is an engineering thing. Quality is defined as fitness for use. If the product cannot be used as it is intended it is poor quality. Some folks think of Kia as entry level cars, but the have some of the best quality in the industry.

[JIM SNYDER]

Originally Posted by bobj73

Thanks for the response. I can hear the solenoid click when I operate the switch.
Just need to get under the bed this spring with a multimeter and see if I can figure it out.
Certainly not urgent, since I've never used it.
Was just playing with it the other day and noticed nothing was happening.
Who knows what thor did under there, lol.
But with that said, this is really the only issue we've had with it. I consider myself lucky.
Thanks again.

The BDR is a very simple device, i.e. a solenoid (much like the starter solenoid on your car). You can hear the 'click' so that probably means the BDS is working. You might have a wiring problem of some sort. The wiring is simple. The BDS wiring (smaller) goes from the switch to the solenoid side of the BDR while the house battery wiring (larger) goes to the contact side of the BDR.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by Jimbo56

Well I’m going to get on it. Entry level or not, if Thor had any kind of quality control at plant 750, a coach with drain pipes not glued, windows not sealed, antennas on the roof not sealed, awnings left loose, binds not adjusted to stay up, wires hanging out under the dash not connected would never had made it this way to a dealers lot. Entry level does not mean this. Entry level means less insulation. No full body paint. Vinyl floor instead of wood. Rubber roof instead of fiberglass. Cheap microwave instead of convection. Axxera instead of Samsung. Entry level should still be built solid and without shortcuts.Touring a plant doesn’t mean you can belittle someone on this forum. Period. Now you can have your soapbox back.

I agree the work of plant 750 could use some improvement, but Thor MC plant 750 builds coaches to be priced to the dealers at $77,00 to $105,000 in Elkhart. Since the chassis modified by MorRyde cost the factory from $33,000 to $41,000. You get a $44,000 to $64,000 house on the chassis. On the same chassis Tiffins cost $30,000 more Jaycos $35,000 more, Newmar $55,000 more (approximately). I haven't priced the gas Winnies recently. (These are 2019 prices as that was my last visit to Elkhart, Wakarusa, Nappanee and Middlebury)

I do agree the plant 750 coach quality has decreased in the past 7 years. My current coach was delivered with no defects and only two things failed during the warranty period (LEDs in the patio awning started failing, the water-heater's electric unit failed). MHSRV gave me a copy of the dealer's acceptance checklist with the initials of the two techs beside the 206 items check and the repairs made. Plant 750 was the third Thor factory I visited before deciding on my coach. In my mind, it was a good a coach that could built for the money ($87,500). I still believe that after 7 years and 43,000 miles.

[16ACE27]

Originally Posted by JIM SNYDER

The BDR is a very simple device, i.e. a solenoid (much like the starter solenoid on your car). You can hear the 'click' so that probably means the BDS is working. You might have a wiring problem of some sort. The wiring is simple. The BDS wiring (smaller) goes from the switch to the solenoid side of the BDR while the house battery wiring (larger) goes to the contact side of the BDR.

Actually the BDR is a latching relay. It has two de-energized positions: one with the contacts connected; and one with the contacts closed. It moves between the two positions by the electrical coil which has two connections: when connected + and - one way, it moves the coil in one direction. Reverse the + and - connections and it moves in the other direction. It is the function of the spring return USE/STORE (battery disconnect/Main Power) switch to reverse the polarity applied to the latching relay coil. So although some look similar to the standard "Ford" starter solenoid (others do not), it operates completely differently.