Electric dread under the bed

GeorgePal

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 20, 2023
Messages
124
Location
Jermyn
I had my 2015 ace 30.1 for just over a year now, and am just getting to the electrical junk under the bed. Everything in my rig works (cept for the passenger side 12v recpt. And the 110 hot water ..but..)
I am an electrical fella, so I am looking forward to straightening things out in there.

I am probably going to replace some wire nuts with wagos, probably do some soldering, tying, replacing, etc.

Just throwing out a post to the fine people in the group who have been there, done that for hints and tips.

Just letting you know that I am a veteran electrical engineer who has worked in large scale heavy industry and aerospace automation, but more of a systems and computer jocky for the last 20 years. So I can appreciate some good advice.
 
So I can appreciate some good advice.
Best advice I can offer is don't expect too much from Thor or how they assembled your unit. Mine looks like a couple of college kids came in drunk during spring break and put this thing together as a joke.
 
Wago.
1:1
1:2
1:3
And ganged 1:1 in 2,3,4
are in my box.
I have a brand that the singles have slots on the side that interlock so you can gang as many as you like.

Get pin ends and the crimper.
But, they don't fit wago well over about 16.

Get a lug crimper.


While you're in there, add this and an outlet:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07M6PLJWF?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image


There's the whole
Crimp vs solder yadda yadda but I do what's handy.

Buy this
https://www.amazon.com/Tulip-100461...=1718758718&sprefix=puff+paint,aps,225&sr=8-3
For color coding.
It is identical to
Liquid electrical tape.

I also have these
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09D7DW2QC?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Use black zip ties only or you'll be called lame and weak(or at least I was called lame and weak. It's probably a me thing and not a you thing:LOL:).

Nutserts are handy.


Buy this pack
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0B3JBZNC2?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

These
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0B515754Y?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
Not the rubber split o ring kind.

A forehead lamp and at least one spot spotlight and two little flashlights. No matter what you do, it's gonna be dark and shadowed exactly where you need to be.

I love my butane soldering iron.

Install a permanent light while you're under there.

TAKE TOO MANY 'BEFORE' PICTURES.

Biggest:
Don't let your engineer schooling get in the way.
It's just wires.
 
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Best advice I can offer is don't expect too much from Thor or how they assembled your unit. Mine looks like a couple of college kids came in drunk during spring break and put this thing together as a joke.

Lol, that's what I was fearing! I already fixed 3 potential disasters under the coach, and 2 in the battery/ leveler bay.
 
Wago.
1:1
1:2
1:3
And ganged 1:1 in 2,3,4
are in my box.
I have a brand that the singles have slots on the side that interlock so you can gang as many as you like.

Get pin ends and the crimper.
But, they don't fit wago well over about 16.

Get a lug crimper.


There's the whole
Crimp vs solder yadda yadda but I do what's handy.

Buy this
https://www.amazon.com/Tulip-100461...=1718758718&sprefix=puff+paint,aps,225&sr=8-3
For color coding.
It is identical to
Liquid electrical tape.

I also have these
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B09D7DW2QC?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Use black zip ties only or you'll be called lame and weak(or at least I was called lame and weak. It's probably a me thing and not a you thing:LOL:).

Nutserts are handy.


Buy this pack
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0B3JBZNC2?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

A forehead lamp and at least one spot spotlight and two little flashlights. No matter what you do, it's gonna be dark and shadowed exactly where you need to be.

I love my butane soldering iron.

Install a permanent light while you're under there.

TAKE TOO MANY 'BEFORE' PICTURES.

Biggest:
Don't let your engineer schooling get in the way.
It's just wires.

Good advice Duck! Lol, I don't have to worry about my schooling.. 40 years and 50000 beers have suitably obstructed any lingering sophomoric tendencies..
 
Just thought I would post some pics of what's under my bed. 2015 Thor ace 30.1

All the wiring looks ok! No janky wire nuts. Cleaned it up a bit took some pics, close it back up.

I'm betting the relay in the 3rd pic is the use/store relay.

So strange the fresh water tank is on the slide!

I have no idea what is in the big wood box next to the water tank. Looks like it was built inside the bed frame, no easy way to get in there. I see some wires from the slide controller going in there..
 

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I had my 2015 ace 30.1 for just over a year now, and am just getting to the electrical junk under the bed. Everything in my rig works (cept for the passenger side 12v recpt. And the 110 hot water ..but..)
I am an electrical fella, so I am looking forward to straightening things out in there.

I am probably going to replace some wire nuts with wagos, probably do some soldering, tying, replacing, etc.

Just throwing out a post to the fine people in the group who have been there, done that for hints and tips.

Just letting you know that I am a veteran electrical engineer who has worked in large scale heavy industry and aerospace automation, but more of a systems and computer jocky for the last 20 years. So I can appreciate some good advice.
I love the WAGO lever lock connectors- too bad Thor doesn't know about code tho- found one out in the open under the chassis of my buddies 20L Tellaro...

You better get a large bucket or box for the cutoffs- I removed over 30' of romex, 2/0 and 1AWG wires from my re-wire. Enough to start another RV wiring job.

My son is a journeyman, and I have wired many homes. I would not call wiring by Thor as 'code', so be ready. My shunt and regulator were buried under a rat's nest inside my 20L electrical compartment. Pure thoughtlessness.

When helping rewire another 20L, I found about 8' of excess romex under the combimaster I/C just folded back and forth and taped into a 12" bundle. I'd call that a gimmick capacitor!
We removed it and made it more sensible and lost some weight in the process! Camper lost some too... :)

Good luck!!
 
Just thought I would post some pics of what's under my bed. 2015 Thor ace 30.1

All the wiring looks ok! No janky wire nuts. Cleaned it up a bit took some pics, close it back up.

I'm betting the relay in the 3rd pic is the use/store relay.

So strange the fresh water tank is on the slide!

I have no idea what is in the big wood box next to the water tank. Looks like it was built inside the bed frame, no easy way to get in there. I see some wires from the slide controller going in there..

It is.

Is the box just a storage compartment accessible from outside? That's what we have under our bed.
 
There didn't seem much to do besides neat things up a bit. All the connections were solid. Maybe 2015 was a good year?

That box has no access from the outside, or anywhere I can see. Maybe it's a smuggler compartment and full of cash!

Hmm I have an endoscopic camera..I could peek in there...
 
There didn't seem much to do besides neat things up a bit. All the connections were solid. Maybe 2015 was a good year?

That box has no access from the outside, or anywhere I can see. Maybe it's a smuggler compartment and full of cash!

Hmm I have an endoscopic camera..I could peek in there...

So I just realized; your bed is on a slide:
and you have all the electrical distribution in it
And the FW tank.
And an unknown box of something.
Does the base with all that stuff move with the slide or is there a mattress platform that slides over that storage area?
 
So I just realized; your bed is on a slide:
and you have all the electrical distribution in it
And the FW tank.
And an unknown box of something.
Does the base with all that stuff move with the slide or is there a mattress platform that slides over that storage area?

Bizarre to me, but YES, all that stuff, FW tank and connections, converter, ac panel, bed room slide controller and Mystery Box are ALL ON THE SLIDE. The FW tank does not go outside the exterior wall when the slide is out. So that's nice.

When you look at the pics the entire bed and all underneath is the slide, it butts up against the cabinets in the retract position.

My engineer instincts tell me that's a bit nutty .
 
We cut the panels that make the top of our bed surface so we can take them off to reach various part of the under bed area. We cut them to reduce them into a few easier to handle sizes. Also, on the bed top panels that we need to remove fairly often..such as to get to the water storage valve...we use velcro in place of the factory screws. The screws will eventually strip out.
 
I take it back...16ACE27 was right, the bed just slides over the compartment.

And if there is any janky wiring, it's in there, there are 3 cables going in that I can see. A 1.5 inch grey armored conduit, a romex, and something small from the slide controller.

I would need to take the bed frame off to get at the screws to take the top off that box.
 

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I take it back...16ACE27 was right, the bed just slides over the compartment.

And if there is any janky wiring, it's in there, there are 3 cables going in that I can see. A 1.5 inch grey armored conduit, a romex, and something small from the slide controller.

I would need to take the bed frame off to get at the screws to take the top off that box.

That makes a lot more sense.

So that means that mystery box has to be the top of the storage compartment below the slide?

667279510e4039059d5e1184.webp
 
Yup. Just the top of the pass through bay.

No mystery at all.

I was hoping it was part of the Underground railroad or something, but no such luck...
Lol!
 
With a motor coach, there are have-to-do and want-to-do projects. I keep a list of possible improvements and must have changes. One is clean up under the bed. The problem is; it is a very small space with a lot of electrical boxes. I have to take the blame of putting or replacing most of what is there. It all works well and causes no problems, so it is always at the bottom of the list. Having a DW that is a retired interior designer, means, her projects come before mine. Fortunately, she handles most of the interior mods and lets me handle the mechanical side. This is our third class A, so I have most of the mistakes on the first two. I refuse to do any unnecessary work on the coach in the June through September time frame because of the heat; in fact we seldom travel in that time period unless it is a long trip to the Canadian Northwest. The RV and my truck are my hobby projects and I really enjoy working on them. It is about the only hobbies I have these days.
 

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With a motor coach, there are have-to-do and want-to-do projects. I keep a list of possible improvements and must have changes. One is clean up under the bed. The problem is; it is a very small space with a lot of electrical boxes. I have to take the blame of putting or replacing most of what is there. It all works well and causes no problems, so it is always at the bottom of the list. Having a DW that is a retired interior designer, means, her projects come before mine. Fortunately, she handles most of the interior mods and lets me handle the mechanical side. This is our third class A, so I have most of the mistakes on the first two. I refuse to do any unnecessary work on the coach in the June through September time frame because of the heat; in fact we seldom travel in that time period unless it is a long trip to the Canadian Northwest. The RV and my truck are my hobby projects and I really enjoy working on them. It is about the only hobbies I have these days.

Wow! Good pic!
 

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