Community Forums

z3406 · 10-06-2017, 08:12 AM

We're into our new Venetian T42 for about a week now and like our last coach we're going to start a chronicle of our experience with it with the hope that we can share our experience with other Venetian owners. This is our first DP after 3 Ford gassers. The experience going down the road is dramatically different from a driving perspective it's like having an electric motor thrusting you down the road. Wind noise is about all you hear, much less jarring from the suspension and buffeting and rocking from passing trucks is well virtually non existent. The roads coming here to West Virginia are the steepest we have ever climbed in an RV. Speed dropped down to 45 once and I was concerned until I saw that all the semis were going about 10 mph slower. My first experience with a Jake brake and it easily controlled speed going down the same mountains.
The coach , a few teething problems so far, The rear view camera monitor went south the first night as we pulled into our camp site. A phone call to the Thor 24/7 customer service number had a replacement monitor headed our way UPS next day air. Problem solved.

The designer of the entertainment system should be taken behind a wall and shot. There is no HDMI between the location of the front satellite receiver and the bedroom satellite receiver. To watch TV in the main room and bedroom requires two satellite receivers. The JBL sound bar is jammed so tightly into it's cubicle that the remote barely is able to control it. It is impossible to remove it to program the unit to operate off the TV remote as all the controls and indicator light are on the upper surface and inaccessible. No the factory did not preset it to run off the Sony TV remotes. The main room has a Matrix HDMI controller box that loses its settings daily. To get a satellite signal you have to turn the HDMI controller box off first then let it reset then turn on the TV and receiver. The TV's all have IR repeaters on them it would be nice if the HDMI controller boxes were connected to them or if we had extra emitters to add to the system with.
Firefly integration
This system is becoming almost universal among coach builders today here is my feedback so far. An a non same room control such as the water pump or an exterior light there is no way to know from a remote panel if the system is off or on, you get a flash that the signal has been sent but the only way you can tell something is off or on is to go to the main panel which will show an off/on indication. The panels themselves have no tactile feedback. It's difficult to find the right spot to touch to turn a light on in a dark room. Some kind of manual for the Firefly would be nice to have, for instance how do you remove a remote panel and replace the batteries.
I've sent a private message to the Firefly people and they are responsive I may try to start a thread on just Firefly integration. On the Venetian the climate control which runs thru the Firefly is set up differently than coaches in my past experience. The heat pumps will revert to furnace if the temperature doesn't change after 20 minutes of operating, The furnace and heat pump will run until they reach the desired temperature. In the auto climate setting the units will either heat or cool as required to maintain the set temperature there is a one or two degree offset so they don't fight each other.

The door awning would not retract using the remote panel, it did retract when we tried it from the main panel, If an awning stops functioning at a remote try using the main panel before you go into panic mode. On this coach the door awning lighting is not on a Firefly remote panel and it stopped working the same time the awning jammed I suspect the issues are related. The awning remote panel did start working after the main control panel brought the awning back in. By remote panel I mean one of the battery powered Firefly panels in the coach, the main panel is the one that has the settings function on it and is hard wired in.
FWIW
We're currently at the FMCA GEAR rally in Lewisburg WV.

tcopeland · 10-08-2017, 08:14 PM

We have a friend with a '18 Thor 38SQ. They are in the same learning pains.
Come to the Thor OBX NC rally and you can learn together!

revflyer · 10-10-2017, 11:07 AM

We are starting our 2nd year in our T42 and have put on 14,000 miles so far with only a few issues that Thor took care of the first couple of months that we had the coach. They actually sent a Thor tech to where we where staying last winter. First time we have ever had that type of service. We are very happy overall with the coach. The one negative I have is there are no rain cutters, will be installing something this winter. Congratulations on your new coach, and please feel free to contact me if you have questions.

Richard revflyer@outlook.com

z3406 · 10-10-2017, 08:17 PM

Past experience with other coaches certainly can bias your opinion. Prior coach was a Bounder 35K. The price difference between this coach and the Bounder is substantial. Some of the design elements of the Bounder are better than the Venetians. Most obvious is the utility compartment. The Venetians looks like an afterthought in comparison. Not saying that there is anything wrong with the Venetian's operation but it just looks cobbed together in comparison.
The Venetian's shower looks pretty good but living with it is a step backward. The single handle shower control looks pretty good. It is also overly sensitive to adjustment and the way the hose is laid out requires paying attention that it doesn't hit the handle and freeze or scould you. RV hot water systems are set to 140 dgrs and it is really really easy to hit the lever while showering and get your attention.
I've noticed that this forum is sponsored by Thor and I'm hoping that they monitor this for owner input. If you do go look at a Bounders shower and faucet the layout is much more practical than the Venetians layout. The shower door in the Venetian has a one inch gap at the top front and bottom rear, looks like the shower housing is not installed squarely. Again we like the three panel door from the Bounder better, more room to get in and out and it actually had a door handle on the inside of the shower you can use to open the door from inside.
We really really like the increase in interior space and the layout of this coach. Driving it has been a dream so far. The drive here from West Virginia was in the rain and there is water leakage in all the basement compartments around the door seals.
One of the reasons we purchased a Thor product is the relative proximity of the factory service center. On our last two coaches after living with the coach awhile and finding hidden flaws we scheduled a trip to the factory service center to have then addressed, that is our plan with this coach too,

z3406 · 10-17-2017, 09:53 AM

I did some looking online and found a adjustable shower head bar and a two handled 1/4 turn faucet . Thor was smart enough to put an access panel behind the shower faucet so it only took about an hour and about 30.00 to swap out the faucet and mount the shower head bar. We're both looking forward to taking a shower and not knocking the water temp adjustment out of kilter during the process. The wife wanted an electrical outlet on the buffet countertop, I purchased one of the pop up type and mounted it to the right of the dining table close to the window. The was an unused 110 plug in the lower cabinet there on the subwoofer electrical receptacle so all I needed to do was plug it in. This gives me three 110 and 2 USB power receptacles on the buffet counter now.

z3406 · 10-19-2017, 08:25 AM

Two new things have popped up on the venetian. While testing the gas furnaces yesterday I noticed that the heater vent under the bed had no airflow. Looking behind the drawers under the sink in the bathroom I could see the end of the flexible ducting laying on the floor. Not going to say how long or how much I had to take apart to get that connection reattached to the furnace body but I did get to sleep around 2AM.
The basement door sealing issue that is allowing the water into the baggage compartments is now much clearer. The door seals are too small. They do not touch the door when it is shut. I took a piece of paper put it between the door and the seal shut the door and there is no resistance when I pull the paper out. As an interim fix I'm going to try putting some PVC tubing inside the weather stripping to expand it so it contacts the door. I'll report back on how that works . I'm in the process of making a service center appointment for May 2018 after I get back from my annual southern winter trip.

Steve70605 · 10-23-2017, 01:10 PM

Nice evaluation. Only comment is had the same issue with IR repeater. Luckily, they are only a few bucks. The receiver is capable of handling more. They only gave a single cable (two heads) for each unit. 3 additional cables can be installed.

z3406 · 10-23-2017, 02:33 PM

Some time with the repeaters I've figured out a few more things. I had some extra repeaters laying around from my last coach and have everything connected now. The front repeater is a HDMI Matrix and the remote for that has a reset button on it. Hitting the reset will get everything talking to each other. Any time the TV's are turned off you have to hit the reset button. The bedroom has a Steren repeater and the biggest issue with that is none of my Roku's will play audio thru the repeater so to play the Roku I have to connect it directly thru one of the TV's other HDMI inputs. That wouldn't be too bad except the second HDMI input in blocked by the TV mounting bracket. I was able to connect to that input by buying a 270 degree HDMI angle bracket. I did have to unscrew the TV from the bracket to get that connected but it is now The most frustrating issue with the entertainment system in the JBL sound bar. It has the capability of having the audio controlled by the TV remote but the way It's pigeon holed into it's cabinet there is no way to get to the control panel to program it.
I really have to wonder if anyone that designed this system ever tried to use it, the word frustrating doesn't do it justice.

z3406 · 10-23-2017, 07:19 PM

JBL
I took a flashlight and a small mirror and checked to see how the soundbar was mounted. Thor did not use the JBL wall mounting bracket they used some very heavy duty double sided tape and some adhesive under the bars two legs. I was able to get the soundbar out and program it to the Sony TV remote. Instead of the legs I screwed them out and put some heavy duty Velcro in their place and reused the double sided tape. The Sony remote works much better than the small JBL remote did for controlling the sound.

z3406 · 10-27-2017, 08:26 AM

Fireplace
This coach has a Dimplex electric fireplace that kinda worked but something just wasn't right. If we put it on heat it would produce heat for awhile and then the heat would shutdown. That was the overtemp safety feature working as designed. Last nigt I found the reason why, the front glass panel was not mounted correctly, it was blocking the heat output vents about 30% of their total area. Can't blame Thor for this it's clearly Dimplex's problem. The top bracket of the panel on both sides is incorrectly located or the wrong bracket. The bracket has a slot that ends then a hole drilled just above the slot. The hole is lined up perfectly to hold the bracket in the proper position. Problem is the panel slides onto 4 studs using the slots. Sliding the panel on it would stop at the end of the slots and not align properly. My solution was to take a hacksaw and extend the slots into the predrilled holes. It now aligns perfectly and the heat function is working on the internal thermostat starting and stopping when it reaches the set temperature.
If your fireplace is acting wonky look at the front panel. it should line up exactly with the vent, not offset vertically about 1/2 inch.

OOOOOPs Big Correction
This is Thors issue. The manual for the fireplace shows that screws are installed in the top hole. Problem is the way Thor has it installed it screws into the wall from behind the glass panel. There is no way to mount the fireplace without removing the front panel and there is no way to put the front panel on correctly with the fireplace in place. Thor will be getting a call about this.

revflyer · 10-27-2017, 10:09 PM

There are 2 power modules that limit the power you can use. The fireplace and hot water heater are on one and the vacuum and washer dryer is the other. If you have the fireplace on and the hot water turns on, the system shuts the fireplace off same with the vacuum if you turn on the washer and dryer.

z3406 · 10-27-2017, 10:55 PM

That is not the issue I was having but thanks for the information. The hot water heater was not turned on. The issue was the front plate on the fireplace being improperly installed by Thor and blocking the heater air output.. I have contacted Thor and Dimplex about the issue. Depending on what I hear back a call to the Consumer Product Safety Commission may be in order. I'm hoping this is a fluke on my coach but according to Dimplex the way the fireplace is installed in my coach is unacceptable. The fireplace installed in my coach is a DF2524L.

z3406 · 10-31-2017, 04:04 PM

I have been very pleasantly surprised today by a return phone call from Thor about the fireplace issue. They are genuinely concerned and wanted to know what I had done to correct the issue and are looking into mine being an isolated case or if they need to pursue the issue further.

z3406 · 11-01-2017, 09:28 AM

Now this is kinda nitpicky on my part but I'm wondering what Thor did with the money they saved by putting a Blueray player in the frontroom and a DVD player in the bedroom? Do they really expect the owners to have a Blueray disk collection in one room and DVD's in the other room? Heaven forbid you are watching a Blueray in the front room and want to continue watching it in the bedroom later.
It was kinda late in the evening but it took me about 5 minutes to realize that the DVD player was never gonna load that Blueray disk.