Thor Technician gives misleading information - twice!

[Slink59]

Recent trip up and down the west coast found us without power to microwave and power plugs unless connected to shore power. Called Thor and was told by a technician that the Sanctuary 19P, et al, are not designed for boondocking because the draw is too much for the solar panels. I mentioned we had the lithium batteries. He suggested getting a generator. Of course we HAD boondocked in the past so I didn't give up. Very long story short, the Inverter had been turned off at the MasterVolt screen. Not sure when or how that happened and it should have been the first thing I checked! Now all is back to normal but unsure why the technician claimed what he did....Thanks to RV Country in Mount Vernon, WA for their support as well.

Part of the same conversation, they asked if I had an outdoor surge protector attached. Yes, of course! They do not recommend it and say it might be the issue with the power problems, which of course it wasn't. They added that since 2021, all Thor RVs have their own built in surge protector. Thor doesn't sell after market protectors, which may explain that comment. Upon further research, their protector is likely a basic model not capable of protecting against severe issues. I'll keep my Power Watchdog attached, thank you very much!

Since I don't want to spend the entire conversation slamming Thor for misinformation, I do want to thank Thor MotorCoach Garage on YouTube, specifically this episode which helped me discover my inverter issue (

).

Finally, thanks to this forum, which encourages everyone to become a "student of their RV" and use the information shared by the RV wizards found all over!

 

[Mark54]

Recent trip up and down the west coast found us without power to microwave and power plugs unless connected to shore power. Called Thor and was told by a technician that the Sanctuary 19P, et al, are not designed for boondocking because the draw is too much for the solar panels. I mentioned we had the lithium batteries. He suggested getting a generator. Of course we HAD boondocked in the past so I didn't give up. Very long story short, the Inverter had been turned off at the MasterVolt screen. Not sure when or how that happened and it should have been the first thing I checked! Now all is back to normal but unsure why the technician claimed what he did....Thanks to RV Country in Mount Vernon, WA for their support as well.

Part of the same conversation, they asked if I had an outdoor surge protector attached. Yes, of course! They do not recommend it and say it might be the issue with the power problems, which of course it wasn't. They added that since 2021, all Thor RVs have their own built in surge protector. Thor doesn't sell after market protectors, which may explain that comment. Upon further research, their protector is likely a basic model not capable of protecting against severe issues. I'll keep my Power Watchdog attached, thank you very much!

Since I don't want to spend the entire conversation slamming Thor for misinformation, I do want to thank Thor MotorCoach Garage on YouTube, specifically this episode which helped me discover my inverter issue (

).

Finally, thanks to this forum, which encourages everyone to become a "student of their RV" and use the information shared by the RV wizards found all over!

I contend that the dealers and techs at the dealerships probably never camped a day in their life.
Get a generator? Even when I had just 200A lithium, I could use microwave w/o problems.
DON'T use a surge protector??? My 2022 Thor Tellaro most certainly does NOT have a built in one.
The UHG is far better as long as it was connected properly- a stretch for Thor, but they did get mine right, or dealer tech caught it in my page long pre-pdi requests.

I once plugged into a bad outlet, forgetting to use my surge protector and lost all power in 2 hours- had I used the protector, I would have known immediately that I was plugged into a dead outlet. My inverter must have been on accidentally.

Took a few hours to recharge once I plugged into a live outlet. From then on- i always use a surge protector.
If you have a combimaster, I suggest adding the remote switch for the inverter as I did- much easier to use, and use a switch that cannot be accidentally switched on or off.
I used a small round rocker- hard to accidentally turn on/off.
I find the mastervolt display unintuitive to use anways.
Glad you figured it out!!

 

[GrandRover]

Called Thor and was told by a technician

Was it an actual technician or a front line customer service rep? My experience calling Thor with service questions about my 2023 Thor Axis 24.1 is that I have never been able to talk with an actual technician and that their front line service reps have minimal knowledge.

 

[Beau388]

Thor MC CS is in a room in the old Four Winds headquarter building. It is staffed by shift workers who have done factory floor work. The problem is most Thor MC CS have worked only one plant of the 7. The CS who answers the phone probable has no clue what you are asking about, but uses the computer to give the best answer as they understand your question.
If you send an e-mail, it goes to the CS who has the most experience in the factory that assembled your RV.

I have found CS to be very responsive to e-mails where a picture and detailed description of the problem. They have even recommend mobile techs in my area when I came across a problem I couldn't not correct myself.

 

[GrandRover]

I have found CS to be very responsive to e-mails where a picture and detailed description of the problem.

Over the last nearly 18 months since we bought our 2023 Thor Axis 24.1, I have had varied experience with Thor MC CS. Some really bad info, some "no idea" responses and some helpful responses. I eventually got connected with a person there named Jeannine who is a supervisor over certain CS teams. She was able to get things moving and to get answers that made sense. I agree that the average Thor CS rep has no specific info and has to rely on what documentation they have. Asking them to connect with a service person for better answers did not get good results until I connected with Jeannine. But Thor CS reps do try.
It is sad and disheartening that the OP got bad information. I would suggest kindly asking them if they can escalate questions to a higher level when you are given bad info. That is how I eventually got to Jeannine.
But, like with any company, there are CS reps who will tell you that there is no one to escalate to. Just keep pressing because that answer is incorrect.

Mike

 

[dkoldman]

Well, I hate to ask, but is the Sanctuary 19P really designed for Boondocking?

I mean you can boondock in any RV, but was it designed specifically for boondocking? I would think that any RV designed today that is SPECIFICALLY for boondocking would have both generator and a hefty AH setup of Lithium batteries with Solar. If I expected to boondock a lot, I sure would want to have a generator available.

 

[Mark54]

Over the last nearly 18 months since we bought our 2023 Thor Axis 24.1, I have had varied experience with Thor MC CS. Some really bad info, some "no idea" responses and some helpful responses. I eventually got connected with a person there named Jeannine who is a supervisor over certain CS teams. She was able to get things moving and to get answers that made sense. I agree that the average Thor CS rep has no specific info and has to rely on what documentation they have. Asking them to connect with a service person for better answers did not get good results until I connected with Jeannine. But Thor CS reps do try.
It is sad and disheartening that the OP got bad information. I would suggest kindly asking them if they can escalate questions to a higher level when you are given bad info. That is how I eventually got to Jeannine.
But, like with any company, there are CS reps who will tell you that there is no one to escalate to. Just keep pressing because that answer is incorrect.

Mike

Jeannine's name has come up often- she has quite a reputation!