new Gemini and questions

[AJMike]

We just completed the purchase of a new Gemini 24KB and went out on a shakedown cruise. I wanted to share some comments and ask some questions of other Gemini or Compass users (or anyone else who might know the answer) because some things puzzle me.

This Gemini, maybe all of them, is on a Ford Transit chassis (2024 in this case) with a 6 cylinder gas engine. It behaved very well during the drive to one of our favorite boon docking locations and we have just been enjoying our stop. This is our second Thor. The first was a Four Winds model which was the first RV that we bought, perhaps 22 or 23 years ago, and this is much, much nicer than that one was.

So far I really like this Gemini. The generator is remarkably quiet when running, the inside cabinets are pretty and plentiful, the ride is nice even though the gas mileage seems to be terrible. I have yet to fit it up but the info display is showing me about 10 mpg which seems pretty low for a B+ RV. Perhaps the display is wrong or perhaps it will improve with use.

The Transit has the large info display on the dash and the guy who took us through the orientation could not explain how to turn off the display. There is no power-off button that I can find and the manual says to press the "calm" button, but when I did this the screen did not shut down and only eventually timed out after perhaps 10 minutes. Is there a way to actually shut down the display?

Qw live in southern Arizona so air conditioning is essential from June through September (and sometimes October) and the dash air on the Transit worked just fine, but I have been unable to find any way to adjust the AC fan speed. I guess I should download the manual from Ford but perhaps someone can tell me how to adjust that until I can get to a place to do the download.

Thor Customer Support told me that the generator in the Gemini uses gasoline rather than propane, which is a shame as it drains fuel and effectively lowers our gas mileage, but I am puzzled by Thor's decision to install a large LP tank in an RV that apparently only uses propane for the 2 stovetop burners. I would think that a tank of propane might last several years if that is its only use. The generator is a 2 fuel version which can be set up to use either gasoline or propane and I do wonder if it can be changed over from gasoline to use propane by some competent repair shop.

Thanks for listening.

 

[16ACE27]

I assume the display you are talking about is the infotainment system display? Is it Ford OEM or aftermarket?
Propane is also used for hot water. If you have the iFlex dual fuel generator it is setup to use either propane or gasoline.

A/C fan speed is not adjustable in AUTO mode. Read the Ford Owners Manual on how to operate it - you should have been given a copy along with the warranty statements and your state's Lemon Law information.

Get your VIN and go to the Thor Owners Resource Website where you can create an account and have access to videos, Quick Start Guides, and documentation specifically for your RV (except the Ford Owners Manual which you can get from Ford).

Thor Customer Support is a crap shoot as to whether you'll get real info or just what the phone answerer pulls out of their behind.

Get your manuals and have a nice sit down reading spell.

 

[AJMike]

I assume the display you are talking about is the infotainment system display? Is it Ford OEM or aftermarket?
Propane is also used for hot water. If you have the iFlex dual fuel generator it is setup to use either propane or gasoline.

A/C fan speed is not adjustable in AUTO mode. Read the Ford Owners Manual on how to operate it - you should have been given a copy along with the warranty statements and your state's Lemon Law information.

Get your VIN and go to the Thor Owners Resource Website where you can create an account and have access to videos, Quick Start Guides, and documentation specifically for your RV (except the Ford Owners Manual which you can get from Ford).

Thor Customer Support is a crap shoot as to whether you'll get real info or just what the phone answerer pulls out of their behind.

Get your manuals and have a nice sit down reading spell.

Yes. I am referring to the info system display, and it is the Transit version. I browsed the Ford Owners Support webpage and all I could find out is to press the "calm" button, but that does not turn off the display. It puts it into a mode where it displays the date and time and then, after perhaps 10 or 15 minutes, it times out, but I assumed there would be a better way to turn off the display than wait for it to time out due to inactivity.

I know the generator is dual use. I just don't know if it is feasible to convert it from gasoline to propane. Our use of propane is limited to minor stovetop cooking and, when possible, generator use so if I can not use the generator with propane that tank is going to last us a long, long, long time. Our hot water usage is limited to an electric tea kettle for coffee or tea and our hot water usage is limited to campground showers and bathrooms.

I did create a login on the Owners Resource Website so I could get the manual for the microwave. It is an Invision 300-4300 and there was no manual for it in the combined paper manuals that they gave me. There is a link for the manual on the Owners Resource website but when I try to open or download it from that site I get some animation showing the manual being loaded, but it stops in the middle and then displays an empty page. I tried this repeatedly with multiple devices but all acted the same way. I then tried to do the same on the Invision webpage but that does not even list the microwave as one of their products. A Google search for the Invision microwave manual gives me a response that it has no information about any such manual which I find puzzling. How can a company sell a product to RV manufacturers that has no manual?

So the combined paper manual bag I was given has only been of limited help. I do need to go to the Ford website and check out how to change the dash AC speeds since I can not find a control for it on the dash or on the display.

 

[16ACE27]

I assumed there would be a better way to turn off the display than wait for it to time out due to inactivity.

Did you try opening the driver's door?

 

[John & Diane]

In our 24KB the screens goes off as soon as I shut the engine off and close the door after exiting the cab.

 

[Gus52]

I think you might need to calculate gas milage and not look at the chassis display estimate. I would think something around 13-15 mpg would be in the range depending on your speed, hills, and total weight.

As to dual use, unless the propane side is included I think it would be big bucks to redo the unit. I may be wrong but other Geminis were build with propane only at least friends with a 2019 was built that way. Given you have the largest Gemini storage model wouldn't a portable fuel can solve this issue for you?

The generator is remarkably quiet when running, the inside cabinets are pretty and plentiful, the ride is nice even though the gas mileage seems to be terrible. I have yet to fit it up but the info display is showing me about 10 mpg which seems pretty low for a B+ RV. Perhaps the display is wrong or perhaps it will improve with use.

 

[AJMike]

In our 24KB the screens goes off as soon as I shut the engine off and close the door after exiting the cab.

Ah. Exiting the cab apparently is the answer.

I had not seen this because when we arrive at our destination I get up and go directly into the living room area to check to see if we are level. I then go out through the coach door to do whatever I need to do so I never open the cab door after arrival. The display just stayed on until it eventually timed out.

After seeing your post I opened and closed the cab door and, sure enough, the display shut down. Thank you for the answer.

 

[AJMike]

I think you might need to calculate gas milage and not look at the chassis display estimate. I would think something around 13-15 mpg would be in the range depending on your speed, hills, and total weight.

We took our first trip in the Gemini and it involved going from the southern Arizona valley area to the mountains, a climb of about 6000 feet (from about 1800 ft to 7700 ft) and got a little over 12 mpg round trip (calculated at 12.2 mpg) and the calculated value was almost exactly what the display said. I had hoped for better, but perhaps when we are not constantly climbing and dropping I may get better mileage. And, of course this being summer, the AC was constantly on.

Our previous RV had a diesel and on that same trip it typically got about 16 mpg overall so this was not too bad for a 6 cylinder gasoline engine.

As to dual use, unless the propane side is included I think it would be big bucks to redo the unit. I may be wrong but other Geminis were build with propane only at least friends with a 2019 was built that way. Given you have the largest Gemini storage model wouldn't a portable fuel can solve this issue for you?

In fact our rear storage area is so large that after adding what we normally take it is nearly empty and I worry about stuff shifting around during the drive. I probably could easily put 20-30 gallons of gas back there but I don't like the idea of having gasoline stored in containers inside the RV. Yes, I know. That is what the gas tank essentially is, but I worry about the odor and the effect it might have on breathing as well as the fire danger.

The range given the current figures seems small after the diesel. If I don't want to drop below 1/3 tank I only have 16 x 12 =192 192 miles before filling while I am used to traveling perhaps 250-300 miles before a refill. But level travel may give me better figures. I will just have to see.

My main concern is our normal trip through western Texas (El Paso to San Antonio) where distances are long between gas stops with reasonable prices but that is the trade in I made when I decided to change back to gasoline.

 

[AlaskanJohn]

I am getting about 11.8 MPG in Alaska in my 2025 24KB with about 4K miles experience. I hope for a little better when I travel south this fall.

 

[AJMike]

I am getting about 11.8 MPG in Alaska in my 2025 24KB with about 4K miles experience. I hope for a little better when I travel south this fall.

My initial expectation was for a minimum of 12 mpg and I did see that, if only barely. I had hoped for a bit more on level ground but I will see when we go to the Texas Gulf Coast as the road through western Texas is pretty flat. Unfortunately I don't really expect much better.

Our trip up to the mountains campground that had so much climbing gave us 10.1 according to the display but the return, going down those same mountains, only gave us a final result of 12.2 and given that we used the same route up and back I have to assume that the return trip gave us 14.3, with that including a 6000 foot drop. If all I can get going downhill over 125 miles is 14.3 then I don't think I am going to see any great figures on level ground. Perhaps 13 mpg if I am lucky, but we will see.

What part of Alaska? I used to live in the Delta Junction area back in the day ...

 

[AlaskanJohn]

My initial expectation was for a minimum of 12 mpg and I did see that, if only barely. I had hoped for a bit more on level ground but I will see when we go to the Texas Gulf Coast as the road through western Texas is pretty flat. Unfortunately I don't really expect much better.

Our trip up to the mountains campground that had so much climbing gave us 10.1 according to the display but the return, going down those same mountains, only gave us a final result of 12.2 and given that we used the same route up and back I have to assume that the return trip gave us 14.3, with that including a 6000 foot drop. If all I can get going downhill over 125 miles is 14.3 then I don't think I am going to see any great figures on level ground. Perhaps 13 mpg if I am lucky, but we will see.

What part of Alaska? I used to live in the Delta Junction area back in the day ...

Glacier View, midway between Palmer and Glennallen. Heck, by Alaskan standards we’re were practically neighbors! I drove through Delta Junction a few weeks ago on a camping trip. Frost heaves in the same spots I am sure!

 

[AJMike]

Heck, by Alaskan standards we’re were practically neighbors!

I truly miss living there, especially during the summer. As I recall that was on a Thursday when I was there.

 

[AJMike]

3RD PARTY ADD-ONS

Our Gemini came with only a single AGM battery, a single 100 watt solar panel and no inverter and I plan to upgrade all of that. I am getting estimates for 400 watts of solar, 200AH-300AH of lithium batteries and a 2000 watt inverter but I would like all of the added stuff to show up in the control panel like it would if it were all installed by Thor.

Has anyone added any of these things to their Gemini/Compass after purchase? And, if so, was there anything special that had to be done to get the add-ons to show up in the tablet control panel? While I trust the people who will be doing this to know what they are doing that does not mean that they are knowledgeable enough about the Gemini/Compass setup to insure that all of the new stuff will show up in the control display.

What has been people's experience when doing this kind of thing? Is there anything special to be done?

 

[16ACE27]

I would like all of the added stuff to show up in the control panel like it would if it were all installed by Thor.

Rots of ruck with that

 

[rambolinman]

We just completed the purchase of a new Gemini 24KB and went out on a shakedown cruise. I wanted to share some comments and ask some questions of other Gemini or Compass users (or anyone else who might know the answer) because some things puzzle me.

This Gemini, maybe all of them, is on a Ford Transit chassis (2024 in this case) with a 6 cylinder gas engine. It behaved very well during the drive to one of our favorite boon docking locations and we have just been enjoying our stop. This is our second Thor. The first was a Four Winds model which was the first RV that we bought, perhaps 22 or 23 years ago, and this is much, much nicer than that one was.

So far I really like this Gemini. The generator is remarkably quiet when running, the inside cabinets are pretty and plentiful, the ride is nice even though the gas mileage seems to be terrible. I have yet to fit it up but the info display is showing me about 10 mpg which seems pretty low for a B+ RV. Perhaps the display is wrong or perhaps it will improve with use.

The Transit has the large info display on the dash and the guy who took us through the orientation could not explain how to turn off the display. There is no power-off button that I can find and the manual says to press the "calm" button, but when I did this the screen did not shut down and only eventually timed out after perhaps 10 minutes. Is there a way to actually shut down the display?

Qw live in southern Arizona so air conditioning is essential from June through September (and sometimes October) and the dash air on the Transit worked just fine, but I have been unable to find any way to adjust the AC fan speed. I guess I should download the manual from Ford but perhaps someone can tell me how to adjust that until I can get to a place to do the download.

Thor Customer Support told me that the generator in the Gemini uses gasoline rather than propane, which is a shame as it drains fuel and effectively lowers our gas mileage, but I am puzzled by Thor's decision to install a large LP tank in an RV that apparently only uses propane for the 2 stovetop burners. I would think that a tank of propane might last several years if that is its only use. The generator is a 2 fuel version which can be set up to use either gasoline or propane and I do wonder if it can be changed over from gasoline to use propane by some competent repair shop.

Thanks for listening.

Just bought a 2026 24KB. Answers are correct re shutting off display. So far 10mpg on mostly flat roads.
Generator is dual fuel and during walk through the tech crawled underneath coach to access generator control cover. Said there is a manual lever to switch to propane if desired. Pointed to the lever and it looked easy to “flip”.
Gas is more efficient and powerful vs propane, but you have the option

 

[AJMike]

Just bought a 2026 24KB. Answers are correct re shutting off display. So far 10mpg on mostly flat roads.
Generator is dual fuel and during walk through the tech crawled underneath coach to access generator control cover. Said there is a manual lever to switch to propane if desired. Pointed to the lever and it looked easy to “flip”.
Gas is more efficient and powerful vs propane, but you have the option

10 mpg really stinks. I used to have a Winnebago Sightseer which was a V8 Class A and it gave me 9 mpg so 10 is really a letdown.

That is very good news for us regarding the generator as I would much prefer to use propane. For one thing we use very little propane since the fridge is a compressor model and we almost never use heat to warm the cabin and two, it will allow us to travel further on a tank of gasoline. The generator produces less energy on propane but it is still more than we need.

Thank you for the post. I will crawl underneath and check. Or perhaps look at the manual???

 

[AJMike]

ROOF SEPARATION?

I climbed up on to the roof today to change the SIM in the Winegard to my carrier and found that the roof covering (which feels like plastic) had separated from the metal above the top center of the windshield. So driving it is allowing wind to get under the small separated section which I assume will just cause a wider separation. I should have taken a photo to post but forgot to do so.

Is this common? And what is the best solution for it? The coach is less than 2 weeks old so this is surely covered by the warranty but the dealer's service department is 60 miles away and the drive there will just make it worse.

It seems easy to just put down a 12 inch piece of duct tape to prevent any further damage until it is fixed but I assume taking the tape off will cause further damage to the covering and I can just hear the service people talking about how I just voided the roof warranty. There are local service places nearby that could probably also fix this but I have no idea of the cost if I don't take it in for warranty work.

Any suggestions?

 

[16ACE27]

ROOF SEPARATION?

I climbed up on to the roof today to change the SIM in the Winegard to my carrier and found that the roof covering (which feels like plastic) had separated from the metal above the top center of the windshield. So driving it is allowing wind to get under the small separated section which I assume will just cause a wider separation. I should have taken a photo to post but forgot to do so.

Is this common? And what is the best solution for it? The coach is less than 2 weeks old so this is surely covered by the warranty but the dealer's service department is 60 miles away and the drive there will just make it worse.

It seems easy to just put down a 12 inch piece of duct tape to prevent any further damage until it is fixed but I assume taking the tape off will cause further damage to the covering and I can just hear the service people talking about how I just voided the roof warranty. There are local service places nearby that could probably also fix this but I have no idea of the cost if I don't take it in for warranty work.

Any suggestions?

Take pictures
Call Thor. Ask them how you should proceed.

I can't tell from your description if you are talking about the interface between the TPO roof and the front fiberglass cap;
Or the interface between the fiberglass cap and the van body.

 

[AJMike]

Take pictures
Call Thor. Ask them how you should proceed.

I can't tell from your description if you are talking about the interface between the TPO roof and the front fiberglass cap;
Or the interface between the fiberglass cap and the van body.

The interface between the TPO roof and the fiberglass cap.

 

[16ACE27]

The interface between the TPO roof and the fiberglass cap.

It is common to have cracks in the lap sealant at that interface; it is NOT common for a complete separation.

If I was going to fix it I would get an 8' piece of aluminum bar, drill holes about a foot apart down the length for some 1/2" or 5/8" #6 pan head stainless screws. Get a tube of Proflex Geocel and squeeze a bead below the TPO membrane as best you can, then put a small bead on top where you are going to screw down the aluminum bar. Screw the aluminum bar down centering if necessary (for an 8'6" roof) and let it dry. Clean up the old lap sealant at the interface as well as the exposed TPO roof and then get that 4" roll of Eternabond tape and seal the entire interface area.

In your conversation with Thor you might ask if they's reimburse you for the supplies (I doubt they'll pay for YOUR labor). If they balk, tell them you want authorization for a mobile tech to repair it. They usually go for that.