New 2015 Thor Axis 24.1

[Firehawk]

My wife I just bought a new 2015 Thor Axis 24.1 with 6k miles on it. The person we were told by the dealer where we bought it said that the original owner had down sized from a large Unit and after few months his wife told him to get a larger unit again so they traded this Unit in and I happened to be there the day he brought it in, I fell in love with it right away.

Now for the issue that has rear it's ugly head, the first time we left the Unit to sit around 2 weeks, the Unit wouldn't start. When I left the Unit I pressed switch that said Storage on it Thinking this was isolating the Camper from the chassis. This Unit has a emergency switch to be able to start the Unit from the Camper batteries, No Deal... With much Luck, I had a small charger unit with ne and I was able to jump start the Unit. I took it as a one time event I was having, wrong... Three weeks later the same this happened again, any suggestions? Getting a little run around from Dealer where I got the unit...


Sorry, got side tracked, I'm 60 years old from Colorado and spent my whole telling my wife I wanted a camper and when she finally broke down I bought this Unit. Overall we are very happy with this Unit, it was just the type of camper I was looking for... We use it this past W/E and we really had a great time. I'm a 5 year survivor of stage 4 Cancer and really wanted this Unit before any thing happed, the have been several sides effects from the Chemo that has cause me some serious issues. I was released from my job because I couldn't handle customers any longer, so I retired and trying to enjoy it with this vehicle. I'm trying to get my wife to retire from the Post Office so we can enjoy our new grandson who turned 1 last week. so that's about it... Glad I found this Thor Forum...

 

[JamieGeek]

Put a battery disconnect on the chassis battery (the one in the engine compartment used to start the engine). I used a simple knife switch disconnect: http://www.amazon.com/WirthCo-20108-Battery-Doctor-Batteries/dp/B002OWFLC4
Whenever I put ours into storage I disconnect the chassis battery.

To be extra sure you can also put a disconnect on the house battery (the one, or two, under the step). Even though you put the unit in "store" there still is some parasitic drain.

In my case, though, the house battery seems to keep its charge better than the chassis one.

 

[blw2]

I put disconnects on mine as well.... but I used the thumb screw type

 

[Mr Sunshine-THOR]

Welcome to the forum! Bring your questions here, lots of good information shared.

Isn't there a switch on the dash, to connect all the batteries together? You might hit that to start if the house batteries hold a charge but the coach battery is dead. My last coach had that, and I thought our Vegas did, too. It's in storage, so I can't access ours.

 

[Chance-THOR]

....cut....

In my case, though, the house battery seems to keep its charge better than the chassis one.

Jamie, any idea why chassis battery runs down? Shouldn't it stay charged like any other vehicle?

 

[JamieGeek]

From what I could tell, either the keep-alive wire for the radio is wired to the chassis battery (the radio main power is wired to the coach battery) or some other module isn't powering down with the key off (e.g. Some parasitic drain remains when the key is off).

Instead of taking a bunch of time chasing down the drain I chose instead to just disconnect the battery.

In addition, when I upgraded the Jensen radio I wired the keep-alive power to the switched coach power so when the unit is in "Store" the radio is completely powered off (the new radio has a GPS so once it syncs back up with the satellites it gets the time so I'm not constantly setting the time).

 

[Chance-THOR]

From what I could tell, either the keep-alive wire for the radio is wired to the chassis battery (the radio main power is wired to the coach battery) or some other module isn't powering down with the key off (e.g. Some parasitic drain remains when the key is off).

Instead of taking a bunch of time chasing down the drain I chose instead to just disconnect the battery.

In addition, when I upgraded the Jensen radio I wired the keep-alive power to the switched coach power so when the unit is in "Store" the radio is completely powered off (the new radio has a GPS so once it syncs back up with the satellites it gets the time so I'm not constantly setting the time).

Since you have a switch installed on battery, it would be easy to put a current meter across the open switch to see how much current is being drawn while in storage. It would drive me nuts not knowing the source or amount of drain.

 

[JamieGeek]

Since you have a switch installed on battery, it would be easy to put a current meter across the open switch to see how much current is being drawn while in storage. It would drive me nuts not knowing the source or amount of drain.

Putting the meter across only tells how much, not the source. Then it would be a long trail tracing down stuff to find the source (pulling fuse after fuse looking for the current draw to drop--what if you pull all the fuses and still have the draw).

Putting the switch in = problem solved for me, on to the next camper issue or better yet on to camping.

This really isn't a problem for us as we never boondock; the closest thing we come to doing that is staying overnight at a rest stop.

 

[JamieGeek]

Since I just brought the Axis home to get ready for the weekend I figured I'd take 5 minutes and measure the current. When the coach switch is in "Store mode" and engine off measuring the current through the chassis battery yields 200ma!

That is quite the current draw. Now it is possible that it drops down after some time (some modern cars will keep modules alive for like 10 minutes or so after key off) but given what people have been seeing (and my own experience) I think this is the key-off current draw.

Of course given time the draw will go down when the battery is dead! LOL

 

[Chance-THOR]

Since I just brought the Axis home to get ready for the weekend I figured I'd take 5 minutes and measure the current. When the coach switch is in "Store mode" and engine off measuring the current through the chassis battery yields 200ma!

That is quite the current draw. Now it is possible that it drops down after some time (some modern cars will keep modules alive for like 10 minutes or so after key off) but given what people have been seeing (and my own experience) I think this is the key-off current draw.

Of course given time the draw will go down when the battery is dead! LOL

First, thanks Jamie for taking the time. It helps me better understand the level of engineering and or complexity that goes into these motorhomes.

I agree 200 milliamperes seems high, like something is not right. It's a lot more than a radio or the like would use. In 5 hours you go through 1 amp-hour, 5 amp-hours in a day, and roughly 35 amp-hours in a week. Much beyond that you are looking at not being able to start the engine without other source.

I leave my cars/van for up to a month without running and they start, so something about the chassis electrical system is probably different. Hopefully it's not a bad wire.

 

[roadhog-THOR]

A couple of questions:

1)Where is the relay located for the "Store" switch for the coach batteries? Since we bought our 2015 Axis 24.1 the switch has done nothing. My guess would be that the relay is probably bad, but I have been unable to locate it.

2)What type of disconnect did you use Jamie for your coach batteries? I was going to put a knife switch on them but with the lack of overhead clearance that is a no-go.

Thanks

 

[JamieGeek]

1) The relay is in the black fuse box inside the drivers-side front outside storage bin
2) I don't use a disconnect for the coach battery--I use the use/store switch for that. I only have a knife switch on the chassis battery under the "hood".

 

[roadhog-THOR]

I installed a knife switch on the chassis battery so it can be completely isolated.

I haven't figured out the Store/Use cutoff issue yet. As I was looking at the switch as you enter the door, the wiring looks really strange. Looks like a common momentary DPDT switch but there are two purple wires and they are on opposite poles. It seems to me that they should "make" at the same time. Is this wired right?

Pictures show switch wiring from passenger side and then driver side. Purple on bottom on passenger side, and on top on driver side. One of the terminals has decided to leave the switch so switch will need replacing.





Thanks

 

[JamieGeek]

Read through this: RV Custom Products. This is the circuit diagram and manual for the board in the black box in the driver's front outside storage which includes the circuitry for the store/use switch.

 

[hfrye]

Hope I'm in the right place! We just purchased a 2010 Four Winds 180B travel trailer. It's our first and we are new to "trailer camping". We've always tent camped or rented cabins.

 

[roadhog-THOR]

JamieGeek, thanks for the circuit diagram. The 3 amp fuse for the disconnect is good, so it is probably the relay which probably means a circuit board replacement.

For the time being I am just going to disconnect the main breaker beside the batteries. This will disconnect everything for sure with the Chassis knife switch also disconnected.

I am a little concerned with the lifespan of that main breaker when being used this way, but it will only be tripped for storage so it shouldn't have that many cycles.

 

[dhgasman55]

Hi,
I notice you have "Firehawk" as your username. I wonder if I might ask what the significance of that is to you? The reason I ask is because we own a 2002 Pontiac Firehawk Convertible (#126) and belong to the Firehawk Association of America.
Dave

 

[dhgasman55]

What kind of radio did you upgrade to? Does it allow bluetooth connection?

 

[TyCreek]

... Now for the issue that has rear it's ugly head, the first time we left the Unit to sit around 2 weeks, the Unit wouldn't start. When I left the Unit I pressed switch that said Storage on it Thinking this was isolating the Camper from the chassis. This Unit has a emergency switch to be able to start the Unit from the Camper batteries, No Deal... With much Luck, I had a small charger unit with ne and I was able to jump start the Unit. I took it as a one time event I was having, wrong... Three weeks later the same this happened again, any suggestions? Getting a little run around from Dealer where I got the unit... ...

If you can leave it plugged in ... do so...

When I have a completely dead/drained lead acid battery, I start planning for replacement because they often loose a good amount of capacity.

 

[UX108]

A couple of questions:

1)Where is the relay located for the "Store" switch for the coach batteries? Since we bought our 2015 Axis 24.1 the switch has done nothing. My guess would be that the relay is probably bad, but I have been unable to locate it.

2)What type of disconnect did you use Jamie for your coach batteries? I was going to put a knife switch on them but with the lack of overhead clearance that is a no-go.

Thanks

On my Vegas 24.2, when I switch the "Store / Use" switch, I clearly can hear something switching in the wall below the passenger side dining area chairs.