33 - Five Years of Ownership & A Few Problems
October 2021 is the fifth anniversary of owning our Orion. Problems happen. We are fortunate in not having had any significant or costly problems in those five years. But I will list four that have occurred, one of which I fixed, one that is ongoing, one which is pending a dealer repair, and one that is disappointing but does not affect performance.
The fixed problem: On last year's migration to Yuma, we stopped for a night in Las Cruces, NM. I happened to look at the rear door frosted window and noticed that I could see out clearly through the upper 2 or 3 inches of it. In fact, I could put my hand through the space because the glass had slipped down into the bottom of the window frame.
I disassembled the window by removing the screws in the frame and separating the inner and outer halves. Two issues were apparent. The caulking that served to seal the window on the outside as well as be an adhesive had dried and failed. There are also plastic tabs on one frame half that locate and hold the glass on four sides, but the tabs at the bottom were broken. This allowed the glass to slide down to the bottom of the frame. My fix was to invert the tabbed frame so that there were good tabs on the bottom. I applied new caulk in the frame caulk channel and then applied poly adhesive on the perimeter of the glass and reassembled the works. Some of the glue seeped out and shows a little (OK, I'm not a perfectionist), but it's holding together now.
The ongoing problem: The plastic drawer latches (left, below) are breaking one-by-one. The little plastic spring catch in the square part eventually fails to stay snapped open when the drawer is opened. Then when we shut the door, the hook part hits and breaks the catch piece off. I bought a package of four replacement latches like the originals, and now I have used them all.
I ordered a set of the simple U-shape spring clamps with nylon catch plates as shown on the right. I'm thinking simple ought to be better, so these will be installed when the next OEM plastic ones fail.
Need dealer help problem: I have had problems with the side/rear view camera and monitor system as noted before (Post #21 & 29 ). The left camera view has not worked for at least three years. Then the monitor would sometimes stick on the right side view instead of turning off or reverting to the rear view. On this last trip, the monitor either did not work at all either by shifting into reverse or trying to power it on manually. Maybe one time in five, it would work. I tried to trace the wiring and locate the control module, but Coachmen has it buried somewhere I haven't discovered. This could be a costly problem, but I really need the rear view working at least. I can do without the side views as I find them too hard and distracting to focus in on safely in the heat of traffic.
The disappointing problem: As I mentioned in Post #30 , the rear cap surround of the coach has discolored and faded. I'm assuming that this is made of fiberglass, and either the finish coat failed or the base color was not sun/UV resistant. It is noticeably lighter in color than the wall panels now and has a somewhat dull flat patina. Like I say, it does not affect anything otherwise, and it has mostly faded to a consistent shade overall with only a couple of patches of the original color remaining around the right tail light and lower area.
I have no option but to store the coach in the strong sun of Colorado and Arizona. However, the front cap and other trim pieces seem to be holding up so far. I can probably live with the two-tone look.
32 - Lithium Battery Installation
I replaced the two group 24 lead-acid coach batteries (see Post #17) weighing 90 lbs. with one 28 lb. lithium battery. I almost bought a 130 lb. 200 amp-hour AGM battery before deciding that lithium made more sense for the same price. I doubt I was getting more than 60 amp-hours from the former before the voltage dropped below 12. The LiFePo4 battery is rated at 80% of 100 amp-hours and is supposed to maintain less voltage drop over a longer discharge cycle.
My battery requirements are pretty constant; support the coach systems I use for one night between sunset and dawn without draining the battery excessively which would shorten the life. These include ...
- maintain refrigerator operation even though it is on propane
- using lights as desired
- operating water pump as needed
- operating furnace as needed
- capacity to start generator
- intermittent or occasional use of other 12V items (e.g., bed operation, using or charging electronic devices)
Installation and modifications: The single battery fit easily and left room for storing an auxiliary charger and small compressor. The battery has built-in management system and low-temperature protection. It is a generic Chinese-made battery from Amazon (brand name "Lisuateli") that has good reviews. The Victron solar charge controller (Post #19) has a lithium charge profile option which I set via the phone app. I have not changed the coach charger/convertor unit, nor the Transit's battery charge system from the standard lead-acid setup for now. From what I have read, regular chargers may not fully charge a lithium battery or take too long. But in limited use so far, the combination of the solar and regular systems is getting the full 14.6V recommended into it according to the Victron app, and I assume the battery's control system protects the unit from overcharge. Time will tell.
Lithium batteries must not be charged at below-freezing temperatures. I am not inclined to trust the battery's supposed low temp protection, so I installed a primary cut-off switch at the entry step (red key-switch in picture). This totally disconnects the battery from getting any charge (from either alternator, house convertor, or solar controller). The coach battery disconnect switch on the wall by the entry only disconnects current to house circuits (lights, fridge, etc.) but still permits charging. So I will switch off the battery totally during below-freezing temps.
I have only had one night of dry camping experience so far. The voltage before retiring was 13.2, and it was 13.1 the next morning. The old batteries went from 12.6V to 12 or less overnight. (Digital voltage reading at a coach power outlet--usually reads 0.2V less than at battery terminals. I don't have the equipment to measure actual SoC or capacity.) My solar system has proved to be adequate in fully recharging the batteries after a night of dry camping. It is keeping the lithium battery at full charge now during coach storage. I believe this one 100 amp-hour rated lithium battery will outperform the two deep-cycle batteries it replaced.
As of August, 2021, the Orion has accumulated 26,600 miles. We have had no issues to deal with other that the continued fading of the rear cap as previously reported. I had a full 30k mile interval service performed at my Ford truck service center. This one proved the most costly so far at $325, but was comprehensive. I opted to upgrade to full-synthetic engine oil for which they charged me triple the cost of the synthetic-blend used before. And they ripped me more by charging $9 to top off the windshield washer fluid. I will be more selective about what services I get if I have to go to Ford again; otherwise, I will have a local shop do oil changes as I have done before.
I decided to change cabin air filters on my three vehicles this summer. As usual, I looked for a You Tube video to get an idea of what to do. The guy in the video for the Transit filter showed that his Transit did not have an air filter installed at all even though there is a slot for one. I checked mine and, sure enough, there was no OEM filter. Begs the question why Ford doesn't provide a cabin air filter to begin with? At any rate, the procedure is very simple; just drop the glove box and remove the filter slot cover and insert the filter. Shown below is the new filter I got from Amazon, and the filter slot.
We have a couple of trips planned soon. I have ordered a new AGM battery to replace the two 12V house batteries under the entry steps. They are questionable for holding a charge now. I will post the installation of the new battery when the job is done.
