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Old 07-02-2017, 02:15 AM   #1
Senior Member
 
Model: Challenger LX
State: Arkansas
Posts: 192
THOR #6651
Onan Generator Problem

My wife and I left on a four to five week trip earlier this week in our 2017 Challenger. We live in Texas, so I was running the generator while we we were underway to keep the coach cool in our Texas heat. But, after a short while driving with the generator running, one of the 30 amp breakers tripped, taking out the front A/C unit and the fridge. I reset the breaker, but the problem continued, generally within 30 minutes to an hour of resetting the breaker. At the end of our second day, we were in Hot Springs, AR and I gave Thor a call to discuss the problem. After agreeing that it was probably a bad breaker, the Thor Rep put me in touch with a Cummins/Onan service facility in Little Rock. The Cummins Rep (Zach) couldn't have been more helpful and scheduled us for a service visit the next day. We arrived around 9:30 am and Zach greeted us and got our coach into a service bay right away. The wife and I then went to breakfast and made a stop at a nearby Camping World to pick up an item we needed. By the time we got back to Cummins (around noon) they were just finishing up with replacing the breaker and testing it to ensure that the problem was fixed. We were soon underway again.

While it's not pleasant running into problems on the road, I was really surprised and pleased by the level of service by both Thor and Cummins. Hats off to them!!

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Old 07-02-2017, 02:52 AM   #2
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 30.3 Sold
State: Arkansas
Posts: 439
THOR #8012
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Originally Posted by TxTig View Post
My wife and I left on a four to five week trip earlier this week in our 2017 Challenger. We live in Texas, so I was running the generator while we we were underway to keep the coach cool in our Texas heat. But, after a short while driving with the generator running, one of the 30 amp breakers tripped, taking out the front A/C unit and the fridge. I reset the breaker, but the problem continued, generally within 30 minutes to an hour of resetting the breaker. At the end of our second day, we were in Hot Springs, AR and I gave Thor a call to discuss the problem. After agreeing that it was probably a bad breaker, the Thor Rep put me in touch with a Cummins/Onan service facility in Little Rock. The Cummins Rep (Zach) couldn't have been more helpful and scheduled us for a service visit the next day. We arrived around 9:30 am and Zach greeted us and got our coach into a service bay right away. The wife and I then went to breakfast and made a stop at a nearby Camping World to pick up an item we needed. By the time we got back to Cummins (around noon) they were just finishing up with replacing the breaker and testing it to ensure that the problem was fixed. We were soon underway again.

While it's not pleasant running into problems on the road, I was really surprised and pleased by the level of service by both Thor and Cummins. Hats off to them!!
Great to hear and glad it was taken care of:

Two questions.

1. What company did the Onan repair?
2. How was Hot Springs? Which RV park did you stay at? I'm considering making that one of my close to home (few hours) shake down cruise spots.
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Old 07-02-2017, 03:12 AM   #3
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Model: Challenger LX
State: Arkansas
Posts: 192
THOR #6651
The repair was done by Cummins, the manufacturer on the Onan generator. So, it was covered under warranty. This was a much better option than taking the coach to a Thor dealer to be repaired. I'm sure that would gave taken weeks, if not months, to get an appointment.

In Hot Springs, we stayed at Young's Lakeshore RV Resort. I wasn't too impressed. Kind of just a big parking lot with a fair amount of traffic noise. But, it seemed pretty popular, filling up for the holiday weekend. People apparently come there for lake access. We had planned to stay two nights to see some of the local attractions, but ended up leaving after one night to have the generator serviced.
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Old 07-02-2017, 03:33 AM   #4
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: ACE 30.3 Sold
State: Arkansas
Posts: 439
THOR #8012
Quote:
Originally Posted by TxTig View Post
The repair was done by Cummins, the manufacturer on the Onan generator. So, it was covered under warranty. This was a much better option than taking the coach to a Thor dealer to be repaired. I'm sure that would gave taken weeks, if not months, to get an appointment.

In Hot Springs, we stayed at Young's Lakeshore RV Resort. I wasn't too impressed. Kind of just a big parking lot with a fair amount of traffic noise. But, it seemed pretty popular, filling up for the holiday weekend. People apparently come there for lake access. We had planned to stay two nights to see some of the local attractions, but ended up leaving after one night to have the generator serviced.
I didn't realize there was an actual Cummins repair facility, I assumed they sent you to someplace like Northside Power, Clifford, or the like.

I'll definitely avoid Young's Lakeshore then.
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Old 07-02-2017, 11:22 AM   #5
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Brand: Thor Motor Coach
Model: Axis 24.4
State: Michigan
Posts: 9,837
THOR #1150
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Originally Posted by tnedator View Post
I didn't realize there was an actual Cummins repair facility, I assumed they sent you to someplace like Northside Power, Clifford, or the like.

I'll definitely avoid Young's Lakeshore then.
Yup there are Cummins shops all across the country and they will service more than just the genny. The one by us told me they will do all the service on the V-10 as well (even tried to sell me a Banks exhaust system).

It was funny seeing our little Axis parked among all the big rigs there (was the same view at the Goodyear Commercial Tire center when we got our alignment).
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