New here and to Rvs

[Brianc43]

picked up a new to me 2004e450/2005 chateau sport 24T as my first Rv for the fam. Doesn't seem to be a ton of info out there on the internet. Struggling to find details/specs on most things. Only a few threads from 10 years ago come up here for this model.

Looking forward to learning and sharing with you all.

 

[ghnl]

Hello & welcome.

Thor has an Owners Resource Page with lots of info but I don't know if they have the info for older RVs. Jot down your motorhome's VIN - you'll need that to log in.

Thor doesn't make any of the things in your RV. They buy them and install them. Your best bet is to make a list of all the appliances (make & model numbers, etc) and search the Googles for info about each of them. You should be able to find things like owners manuals, part descriptions and trouble shooting info. You Tube is also a good source for that kind of stuff. Just do your due diligence and make sure the info you get is reliable and useful.

 

[Brianc43]

Thanks! I tried to log in. It won't take my vin. I emailed them yesterday on it, and as expected, 0 response.

What i'm really looking for are things like dimensions of my battery tray. and spare size, can it be used on any of the 6 wheels, or just the front, etc.

the previous owner left me most of the manuals for the generator, dometic appliances (fridge/range/etc).

He also did a lot of custom stuff which doesn't come with a manual. He added a pure sine invertor that only works while driving or on generator/shore. Not sure i fully understand what he did.

What I really want to do is upgrade my battery bank to have more power and support the microwave and a few other electronics that simply don't turn on at all unless on shore power or generator. Sounds like re-wriring is in my future and i have nothing to refer to... Scary stuff!

 

[ghnl]

E450 chassis uses the same wheel in all positions. Unless the Previous Owner put on a non-original size wheel. The chrome part is just a wheel cover. Note how they are attached and check the attachments before every trip. I gave up after losing a couple off our Class C (since sold) and left them off.

Battery tray dimensions should only require a tape measure. Unless there is something I don't understand.

Speaking of not understanding, I can't help with 'pure sine inverter'. I'm guessing that is something electrical but my understanding of electricity is based on the Smoke Theory of Electricity. The Smoke Theory posits that electricity travels through the wires as smoke. The proof is that when the smoke escapes things stop working...

 

[Brianc43]

Thanks,

yeah, I know there's some things that are easy to find out the hard way. But, it's put away and covered for winter which makes it much easier in these next few month to get some digital info, do some shopping and buying parts for an april install for may trips we have planned.

One other big one i need to understand better is that it has heated holding tanks (grey/black) which is super useful, but i don't know if it is only on with the battery, or while driving, or generator only.

We were going to take a trip south in Jan but i chickened out. Told the wife i'm not sure how to re-winterize all this stuff (we bought it winterized already) and when we get back and its cold, it has to be dumped and winterized like immediately. Not sure if i could plug it in to my house (20 to 30amp adapter seems to power just about everything - i even run my vaccum cleaner off the rv outlets without issue.) and keep the tank heaters on overnight so they don't freeze, but that doesn't help the lines, so it's like we have to get home at whatever oclock and immediately winterize. too much pressure for a first timer.

That's if i can even figure out how to 'un' winterize it without screwing up the fresh water tank. lol

lots to learn in the next few months.