Thor Challenger Owners Unite!

[bigdaddy5120]

Here is a night shot. I plan doing the steps outside and inside . I will tap the power from the step light for the outside and plan on tapping power for the inside from the living room switch. These lights do allot of colors, fades and flashes .

[ctpres]

#65 After seven months on the road DW made a MAJOR decision. She was willing to give up half the pantry space in return for a combo washer dryer. As we all know nothing will go away, she will just relocate stuff to other cabinets and relegate some to the basement. More mods on that later. This is not a hard project but it did take me a couple days. Hopefully this information will help someone get it done in hours. Materials:four inch hole saw, hand truck, vented Splendide 2100XC combo washer/dryer, drain pan (optional) and Westland paintable vent kit vid403A. Notes: Chrome vent cover is available. I opted for vented version of dryer as it got best drying reviews and costs less..

Remove pantry doors, drawers, drawer slide rails, shelf, shelf rails and service panel on rear wall. Measure up 34" plus or minus from washer platform and cut off and remove bottom of panel trim. Objective of this step is to allow washer to slide back more allowing doors to close. I verified washer dryer breaker labels and relocated dryer outlet to pantry wall aft side bottom right corner. Now we have a dedicated 15 amp circuit for a space heater. Follow directions for drain pan installation and screw it to washer platform, but do not install the front piece at this time - wait till machine is in place and a couple of test cycles have been run. I ran the pan drain hose almost straight down and thru rotocatst basement floor right next to washer hot/cold drain lines. Next is the scary part. Line up a spot on outside and inside wall that is in line with center of dryer vent. If using the chrome vent cover that can be about where the vent will be. I opted for the paintable cover and the spot ended up in two colors meaning the cover would need two colors and I would be faced with problem of making the color junction look right. I just dropped down a couple inches so the cover can be one color.
Use a very small and short drill bit and drill test holes in space two inches around the inside wall spot. I found a steel plate on the left side and needed to move my spots a inch aft. Once you have measured spot inside and outside several times. Drill a small pilot hole from inside spot thru wall to outside. On outside confirm hole is centered on where you want the cover. Put painters tape over outside area where four inch hole will be and drill hole from outside. Due to heat generated by hole saw, it took three or four passes to finish the hole.
Washer drain standpipe had NO support so I added a couple ty-wraps. Install washer hoses on faucets and run water from both down drain standpipe to: confirm hot and cold faucets, clear any sediment from lines and test drain pipe for leaks. The drain trap threaded connection did have a very small drip leak. Removed added some plumbers grease to threads and reinstalled. Install vent pipe without screws and attach flex pipe. Cut service panel to fit space between top of faucets, ceiling and install.

Bring washer in: retract slide if necessary so door will open fully, use hand truck and two people, weighs around 150 pounds so not a big deal. Once inside remove four shipping bolts and and tubes. Put up on platform and just about 2/3's of the way in. Connect other end of vent pipe, water hoses and plug it in. Space behind washer is very limited so I ran hoses and power cord up above washer and secured with ty-wraps. Slide washer in far enough to be sure: doors will close and there will be room to install front edge of the drain pan. Run test cycle and a couple of loads to be sure nothing vibrates or leaks and everything works. If using the drain pan, install front ledge per instructions.
There is an optional anchor bracket to keep washer from moving around but I decided not to use it. I had trimmed the drain pan so the front joint and rear edge would almost touch front and back of washer. I cut three 1x2's to fit top sides and rear, covered with thin carpet and screwed them to the walls with carpet just at top edges of washer. Carpeted strips are to help keep some of the sounds contained and will keep washer from tipping forward. Do not push against washer top so machine vibrations are not transmitted to the walls. Reinstall drawers and doors. I put first drawer about one inch above top of washer so thin things - like place mats would have a home. I kept four inch wall plug from hole for color match sample when ready to paint the cover. Level vent pipe flange on outside and screw to wall. Screw holes in fiberglass should be just a little bit smaller than screw. Back screws out and put thin bead of silicone caulk behind top edge only and finish setting screws. Caulk sides and bottom. Reason for not caulking top is it is almost impossible to do it without interfering with the way cover hooks to the top. Once cover is painted I will caulk it.
Will post a couple more pics and details on drain tomorrow.
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[sbleiweiss]

On the road and two questions have come up.

Where is the reservoir for the jacks hydraulic fluid? Do people really check the fluid level monthly like the manual suggests? If you do, do you find you have to add any fluid? The reason I am asking is ours are making a funny noise when retracting, especially from fully (or nearly so) extended.

Second issue is with fireplace heater. I never did move it forward like some have suggested, but we really didn't have much of a problem with it overheating. Now it kicks off after about 5 seconds. Couldn't possible overheat in such a short time, could it? It is effectively worthless like this. Any ideas?

Thanks as always.

[ctpres]

Originally Posted by sbleiweiss

On the road and two questions have come up. Where is the reservoir for the jacks hydraulic fluid? funny noise when retracting, especially from fully (or nearly so) extended.

Second issue is with fireplace heater. I never did move it forward like some have suggested, but we really didn't have much of a problem with it overheating. Now it kicks off after about 5 seconds. Couldn't possible overheat in such a short time, could it? It is effectively worthless like this. Any ideas?

Thanks as always.

On KT fluid tank and motor is in basement coach battery compartment which under frig.
Noise? no idea and we never had to add with maybe 100 up and down cycles
Fireplace could overheat in seconds if blower motor failed.
I have service manual for Dimplex DF2524L and DF2524G. PM w email and I will send.

[mikensallyt]

Originally Posted by sbleiweiss

I think they are the same, although I can't see well with the lighting in your picture. We ordered the cross bar and will try it. thanks for the tip.

So a new thing on my door opening/closing operation. I can close the screen door with no problems. But now with the outer door I really have always held onto the door when opening it. But I've felt a lot of wind pulling it and pulling it away from me where it just slams open. Now lately I have to slam it to close it and with force. Something just isn't right. I've always held onto the door btw. It seems to be hanging up/jamming on the bottom left side where it meets the door frame. I've checked the locks and that is not the source. One thing I want to mention is that several months ago the door would not open after it was unlocked. I called a locksmith and he opened it in no time (I felt like a fool while paying him) and it worked fine for me for awhile. I don't see any screws causing the problems. But I don't like how you can open the door and it swings so wide open with a lot of force (hard and fast). Any suggestions. Tks/Mikey

[tedgard01]

Originally Posted by ctpres

#65 After seven months on the road DW made a MAJOR decision. She was willing to give up half the pantry space in return for a combo washer dryer....

As usual, you did a great job! Thanks for the pic's. I'd love to see how the paintable vent turned out. I assume you could switch it out for the chrome one if needed...


Ted

[ctpres]

Originally Posted by mikensallyt

So a new thing on my door opening/closing operation. I can close the screen door with no problems. But now with the outer door I really have always held onto the door when opening it. But I've felt a lot of wind pulling it and pulling it away from me where it just slams open. Now lately I have to slam it to close it and with force. Something just isn't right. I've always held onto the door btw. It seems to be hanging up/jamming on the bottom left side where it meets the door frame. I've checked the locks and that is not the source. One thing I want to mention is that several months ago the door would not open after it was unlocked. I called a locksmith and he opened it in no time (I felt like a fool while paying him) and it worked fine for me for awhile. I don't see any screws causing the problems. But I don't like how you can open the door and it swings so wide open with a lot of force (hard and fast). Any suggestions. Tks/Mikey

There are two T head bolts protruding from lock that slide into slots on door jamb receiver. Close door slowly and shine light to see if bolts drag on either top or bottom of the two slots. If they do just get big phillips head screw driver - back two receiver screws out enough to move the receiver up or down to point bolts do not touch edeges of the slots. The adjustment should be made with coach on jacks and level. Once adjusted and off jacks they will probably drag again. Coach frame flexs so I am not sure you could adjust for smooth operation on and off jacks. Hope this helps.

[sbleiweiss]

Originally Posted by ctpres

On KT fluid tank and motor is in basement coach battery compartment which under frig.
Noise? no idea and we never had to add with maybe 100 up and down cycles
Fireplace could overheat in seconds if blower motor failed.
I have service manual for Dimplex DF2524L and DF2524G. PM w email and I will send.

Thanks Chuck. We have the manual for the fireplace, although apparently we have a different model than you do (DF2500L). Blower seems to be working.

[mikensallyt]

@ctpres tks I will try this. And will let you know if it worked.

[LyonsL]

Originally Posted by sbleiweiss

Thanks Chuck. We have the manual for the fireplace, although apparently we have a different model than you do (DF2500L). Blower seems to be working.

Sounds like the thermostat has gone bad. Does the blower shut off after 5 seconds or just the heating element?

[ctpres]

Originally Posted by mikensallyt

But I don't like how you can open the door and it swings so wide open with a lot of force (hard and fast). Any suggestions. Tks/Mikey

See post 1789 it worked for us, http://www.irv2.com/forums/f121/thor...ml#post2634026

[sbleiweiss]

Originally Posted by LyonsL

Sounds like the thermostat has gone bad. Does the blower shut off after 5 seconds or just the heating element?

I believe that just the heating element shuts off. I think the blower stays on, although I haven't left it very long to test that.

[sbleiweiss]

Originally Posted by LyonsL

Sounds like the thermostat has gone bad. Does the blower shut off after 5 seconds or just the heating element?

No, I was wrong. Both the heat and blower go off after about 5 seconds.

[sbleiweiss]

Everyone has a signature line below their messages except me. How do I program a sig. block?