Our New THOR Keeps Letting Us Down


Bari and I went ‘Buddy Camping’ last weekend with Allison and David Cranmer. We went to Cedar Key. We had several “FIRSTS” on this trip.

This is the first time we’ve towed a car behind our RV using a tow dolly. It was an uneventful drive, and the little KIA Soul went on and off the dolly easily. I had greased the wheel bearings and inflated the tires to the proper pressure before leaving. All in all, it worked great.

The next “FIRST” was a buzzing sound, like an electrical hum coming from under the starboard bunk in the rear of the RV. I disassembled the bed and found the Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) humming like a kazoo player on amphetamines. I tapped the box and the humming subsided.
We had dinner and then made ready for bed. The buzzing came back and I figured it needed a bit more ‘tapping’, so I opened up the compartment under the bed and hit it again. The sound didn’t change, so I grabbed one of the input wires and gave it a shake. The AC immediately shut off and I knew we were now on battery power.

If you don’t already know, the ATS is supposed to figure out whether you are plugged into shore power or using your generator, and then cuts out whatever power is not in use in favor of that which is. It’s not complicated but there are three sets of 120v wires in the box and two sets of lower voltage wires in use by the circuit board which is the “brains” of the unit.

So, there we were in beautiful Cedar Key with no AC, no microwave, and a brain-dead ATS. We got back to nature in a hurry, whether we wanted to or not!

The third “FIRST” was I got to feeling sick with a horrible sore throat and a bunch of aches and pains during the night. I figured I’d probably contracted Covid, so we headed home early the next morning.
Fast forward five days and after three Covid tests (the latest this morning) I have tested negative three times and feel pretty good today.

Today Bari and I decided to figure out what was wrong with the ATS. We went to the OTOW storage lot; opened the compartment under the bed; and opened the ATS box. It was immediately apparent that one of the 120v input wires had come loose from one of the connection bus bars inside the box. Upon closer inspection, it appears the Allen screw holding that wire into the bus bar had not been sufficiently tightened at the factory (this is a new 2022 class C) and the buzzing should have been our first clue.

After a bit of wrestling with the ATS box (it is in a VERY inconvenient location), we got the wire back where it belongs and cranked that Allen screw down tighter than a lug nut on a NASCAR racer.
We fired up the generator and the ATS did exactly what it is supposed to do and we had power!
Little by little, we are rebuilding our brand-new RV, and I expect in a few more months we will have dealt with many more problems, but it is all worth the trouble. We enjoy RVing, and we never expected much build quality from the manufacturer. So far they have lived up to our expectations.

We can’t wait to see what will happen on our next trip, which is the rally in Savannah. Whatever it is, we’ll let you know!

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