Thor Challenger Owners Unite!

[daverubino]

I have a 5 Star Tune and love it. It minimizes downshifting on slight rises. I've done a lot of great mods, some I found here, some I did on my own. I'll post some stuff when I have more time. Our house sold a month ago and we're transitioning to full time so we're a little crazed right now.

[handyman1943]

Originally Posted by handyman1943

We have a 2013 37KT and have three separate day/night shades on the dining windows. Lots of work to move them down and up. Am considering replacing with one wide unit. Anyone else have suggestions?

After talking the situation over with my wife, she MUCH PREFERS the three individual shades.

[ctpres]

Two or three times since new when emptying the kitchen sink water backed up in the shower. Only happened when removing the stopper. This time BIG difference - it stunk really bad. Tried plunger bathroom kitchen sinks and shower drain. Small food particles and sand showed up at shower drain. Removed shower trap to clean and not much there. In the end I found kitchen sink drain pipe and shower piping all flat under shower. Can't fix without removing shower! My temp fix Stopper in shower drain when not in use and train ALL kitchen users not to remove stoppers to drain sink. If still under wty you need to check. Fill one side of kitchen sink - remove stopper and watch shower. If you have problem -trust whoever does the work.

[Harry B]

Had the same backup of the shower problem on my Tuscany. Finally figured out that Thor had neglected to put a vent pipe on my gray tank. After adding a vent pipe, I have not had any problems for 3 months now. You might check if there is one on your coach,

[tedgard01]

Originally Posted by ctpres

Two or three times since new when emptying the kitchen sink water backed up in the shower. Only happened when removing the stopper. This time BIG difference - it stunk really bad. Tried plunger bathroom kitchen sinks and shower drain. Small food particles and sand showed up at shower drain. Removed shower trap to clean and not much there. In the end I found kitchen sink drain pipe and shower piping all flat under shower. Can't fix without removing shower! My temp fix Stopper in shower drain when not in use and train ALL kitchen users not to remove stoppers to drain sink. If still under wty you need to check. Fill one side of kitchen sink - remove stopper and watch shower. If you have problem -trust whoever does the work.

Did you look under the wheel well? There should be an access under the shower drain. It may be a piece of plywood that covers that access hole. You should not need to remove the shower.

[ctpres]

Originally Posted by tedgard01

Did you look under the wheel well? There should be an access under the shower drain. It may be a piece of plywood that covers that access hole. You should not need to remove the shower.

Yup - it's there but did not help much in removing trap. Ended up removing trap thru access plate at front of shower'
BTW: that access is a plastic sheet that has warped and sagged over time allowing water and bugs to get into area. Replacing it is on my list of things to do.

[ctpres]

Originally Posted by tedgard01

Did you look under the wheel well? There should be an access under the shower drain. It may be a piece of plywood that covers that access hole. You should not need to remove the shower.

Sorry I did not say enough.
My comment about need to remove shower was what is necessary to properly fix the drain problem. From kitchen sink to bathroom sink the drain is flat - no slope at all so stuff accumulates in the drain line. The drain pipe needs to be raised on fwd end and lowered on aft end and a special bladder trap installed in place of shower trap. It is a MAJOR project I am not willing to attempt.

[tedgard01]

Got it..

[sbleiweiss]

Chuck: Have you explored the grey tank venting comment? Just wondering.

[ctpres]

Originally Posted by sbleiweiss

Chuck: Have you explored the grey tank venting comment? Just wondering.

No! Early on I found a Y roof vent pipe connection under the bathroom sink and assumed it works. Guess one day I will go one roof - seal roof vent and see what happens when I dump.

[Harry B]

The problem I had presented it self as the shower base backing up when any sink, dishwasher or washing machine emptied. Tracing the drains I realized that the drain from the shower base had it's own pipe going into the gray tank as well as the kitchen sink. Opening up the intake vent (or what ever they are called) of the shower base which is located behind the toilet stopped the problem but I noticed air coming out when running the washing machine. That gave me the clue that the gray tank was building up pressure when water was entering the tank.
I have since plumped the vent in back of the toilet into the pipe of the black tank that goes to the roof.
The pressure in the gray tank pushed the content of the P trap and pipes into the shower basin which is at the lowest point. The other sinks and washing machine drains bubbled at times but nothing ever came out of them.

[ctpres]

Techno posted idea on rvillage that some source of training would be good for new Challenger owners. That got me thinking. We have a lot of long time Challenger owners here. Often RV shoppers find decision making info right here and end up buying a Challenger. What if the current owners make themselves available to new buyers during the PDI or shortly after purchase. According to rvvillage COC map we have owners all over the US. And many full time always on the move.

[daverubino]

Being pretty new to the RV thing, I wouldn't even mind getting together with a seasoned owner to talk about things. We can sure use it. I joined RV Village awhile ago. It seems like a cool concept.

[sbleiweiss]

Nice idea Chuck. I would be more than happy to help out a new Challenger owner if he or she was near me and wanted the help.