Under Voltage

[Chuck M]

Hi, I'm a newbie and have a question about the "use/storage" switch on my 2016 Thor Vegas. I must have switched it to storage after the last trip, a few months ago. It's been on shore power. I went to start the generator and nothing happened from all 3 start locations. Checked house batteries and have only 2 volts. The question is when i go to switch from storage to use i don't hear the solenoid pull in. I believe I need 12 volts to do this. Am I correct? And I know I will need new Batteries also.

[Tom N3EQF]

Hi Chuck,

If your coach is like mine, when the switch is in "STORE" the batteries will not charge when connected to shore power. Use the STORE switch position only when NOT connected to shore power, to reduce how much drain there is on the batteries.

Yes, once you get 12 volts again your solenoid will engage with that comforting "clunk" again.

[rnbsides]

I am also new to RVing. We have a '16 Thor Chateau 31L. We just came back from a weekend camp trip only to discover we had no battery and no generator. We had been plugged into shore power and eveything had worked great until we left. Realization hit upon arrival back home. So, after contacting Camping World, we were told to use the emergency start on the dash; to hold the button in then to try and start the generator. Did that. Any idea on how long to hold the blasted button in or if you have to hit the generator button while holding the button in? Camping World not generous with their knowledge. And does this sound like we did not have our battery button engaged properly while on shore power?

Thanks,
Bennie

[Oneilkeys]

Originally Posted by rnbsides

I am also new to RVing. We have a '16 Thor Chateau 31L. We just came back from a weekend camp trip only to discover we had no battery and no generator. We had been plugged into shore power and eveything had worked great until we left. Realization hit upon arrival back home. So, after contacting Camping World, we were told to use the emergency start on the dash; to hold the button in then to try and start the generator. Did that. Any idea on how long to hold the blasted button in or if you have to hit the generator button while holding the button in? Camping World not generous with their knowledge. And does this sound like we did not have our battery button engaged properly while on shore power?

Thanks,
Bennie

Depending on how far down your coach battery is, you will probably have to hold the button and try to start the generator at the same time. However, you may drain the coach battery so that you will not be able to start your engine. If you are home, I would make sure your store switch is in the Use mode and plug into shore power to recharge your batteries. Then you should be able to start your generator. As the previous post said, the Store switch must be in the Use mode for the batteries to charge.

[EA37TS]

Bennie,

To the best of my knowledge the Emer Start switch only allows starting the engine using the house batteries and it does not provide the same for starting the generator.

Hold the Emer start switch while turning your ignition key.

[SuperD]

Like Tom said, to keep the batteries charged the use/store switch has to be in the use position with the coach plugged in. The emergency start switch only sends power to the engine. If you flip your switch to use, plug in the coach, and let sit for a couple of hours you should be able to start the generator. If your batteries are completely dead you may not be able to recover them, but it won't hurt to try, sorry.

[Oneilkeys]

Originally Posted by dstankov

Bennie,

To the best of my knowledge the Emer Start switch only allows starting the engine using the house batteries and it does not provide the same for starting the generator.

Hold the Emer start switch while turning your ignition key.

I thought that the emergency start switch just connects the two battery systems the same as if you had connected them with jumper cables. If so, it should work both ways. When using jumper cables in starting a car, I always have the engine running providing electrical power from the alternator thru the car battery to the dead battery. I have never done that in my RVs, preferring to run the engine and charge up the house batteries and then start the generator, so I did not suggest it. However, I don't see why it would not work or how it would hurt the 12v systems.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Oneilkeys

I thought that the emergency start switch just connects the two battery systems the same as if you had connected them with jumper cables. If so, it should work both ways. When using jumper cables in starting a car, I always have the engine running providing electrical power from the alternator thru the car battery to the dead battery. I have never done that in my RVs, preferring to run the engine and charge up the house batteries and then start the generator, so I did not suggest it. However, I don't see why it would not work or how it would hurt the 12v systems.

The one time I had dead batteries the Emer Start would not connect the house and chassis batteries to start the genny. I had to start the engine and allow it to charge the house batteries to the point where I could start the generator. Now this was on my prior coach which was not a Thor product.

[JamieGeek]

I've used the Emer Start switch on my Axis to start the genny when the house battery was dead but the chassis battery wasn't. Granted the newer units now use the BIRD & Trombetta instead of the RV Custom products circuit so who knows! LOL

[Oneilkeys]

The BIRD and Trombetta should work the same way. However, if your house batteries are way down, hooking the one chassis battery and two discharged house batteries very well may take the combination below the voltage necessary to start the generator. Running the engine for while to partially charge the house batteries and charge the chassis battery will give you a better chance to start the generator as well as a better chance to start the engine if the generator fails to start.