All Activity
- Past hour
-
We are about to leave on a long adventure where we will be visiting many state and national parks. A friend of mine uses GuideAlong. It has GPS-driven guides for all over the US, including national parks. I know the NPS app also has some self-guided tours with narration for areas of the park. Just wondering if anyone out there has used these much and has experience. My sampling so far has been that GuideAlong has richer narration than the NPS app. We visited Ellis Island a year ago and used the audio tour and found it a much richer experience. So having it for this adventure is very appealing.
- Today
-
DC-DC Charger Installation - Oliver LE2 and RAM 1500
jd1923 replied to Grizz000's topic in Ollie Modifications
You're welcome! Your work and supporting documentation is a positive addition! With the DC-DC charger, and an increase in Ah storage, you can make running your TV sitting at a campsite or running a generator quite unnecessary. Nobody likes hearing a generator anyway, so just give it away to some poor soul still running lead acid batteries! 🤣 Rooftop solar; it's nice having them up there. When parked outside the rooftop solar runs our day-to-day needs. Perhaps a good addition for the future to-do list. When you do so, please do not drill mounting holes! You only need 1-2 holes for the wiring with a dab of Dicor to seal them. The standard 1x3” Renogy solar panel mounting brackets can be mounted to fiberglass using only a 3” strip of 3M VHB tape (2x stronger than screws in fiberglass). Smart to replace your A/C ASAP if you've been listening to that ROCK CONCERT known as the Dometic Penguin II A/C! 🤣 If you're camping in the hot & humid SE, even in the shoulder seasons, you will need to up your 400 Ah storage to run an efficient inverter or variable speed A/C unplugged. Yesterday was 98F up here at 5400 ft and was 116F in the desert valley below. I have a Ruuvi sensor on the roof of our Oliver, under the solar panels, which reported 115F with 16% RH at 1PM. It’s a “dry heat” but only in the shade, LOL! You could cook eggs on top of the solar panels! We don't go to The Valley in the summer months! Up here after dinner it will be in the 70s, high of 98F, low of 68F. Of course at low altitude where it's humid it doesn't cool down as much at night. The Chill Cube cooled our cabin down to 76F all day long, got to its set temp of 74F once the sun set, and for 24 hours we used only 220 Ah in battery storage. Extremely bright sun supplied another +/- 160 Ah by solar charger all day long. Think that the Orion XS 50A can add equal Ahs in 4 hours towing vs. all day long with 320W rooftop solar. I could not imagine all this 2 years ago when I started working our mods! Now that you have a proper DC-DC charger, my suggestion is more Ah storage capacity. You should have room to add more of the same batteries and if you need to, remove the tray. 😎 -
Yes, it is kind of expensive for nonresidents for what is offered. Hope you enjoy it though. The view of the Wisconsin River meeting the Mississippi River is a highlight. Plan on just sitting there for an hour or two to contemplate life. A bag of fresh cheese curds paired with a glass of wine or beer will enhance the experience.
- Yesterday
-
We booked three nights at Wyalusing State Park. WI is kinda expensive. The price I pay for your excellent cheese!
-
Thanks, I spoke with Oliver and Xantrex this morning. Oliver walked me through a reset procedure but that didn't work. Xantrex thinks its probably the two reverse polarity fuses inside the inverter that could be replaced and might work, but a board could be fried. The only Xantrex service places near me (Minnepolis) are camping world and since the reverse polarity error negates the warranty (pun intended), I'm responsible for costs. So I'm checking into a solar place near me. Maybe upgrade to Li batteries too with a turn off switch so I don't do the same thing again. Thanks again for all the suggestions.
-
DC-DC Charger Installation - Oliver LE2 and RAM 1500
Ronbrink replied to Grizz000's topic in Ollie Modifications
Thanks for sharing, vital information for owners considering such an install. Here’s a couple of pics on cable management: -
Try calling Xantrec tech support rather than Oliver.
-
DC-DC Charger Installation - Oliver LE2 and RAM 1500
Grizz000 replied to Grizz000's topic in Ollie Modifications
Thanks for your kind words. Your comments about the DC-DC charger are great and my thinking as well. The 40A just keeps coming as long as you are hooked up and running. We boondock multiple days at a time quite often and I'm thinking I could even hook up in camp and charge via DC-DC if solar is inadequate and if for some reason I don't want to (or can't) run my generator to recharge. I still haven't totally ruled out adding roof solar at some point, but I'm on the fence about it since the vast majority of our camping is in areas with lots of shade. Our hull is prewired for it and has the embedded mounting plates. So far, our suitcase panels are good for accessing the sunny spots. Thanks for the link. I love reading the AC posts and your data is impressive. I figure our AC will need to be replaced at some point (already 7 years old) and I'd love to have a high efficiency AC that could run from the battery bank for an extended time. We are in the humid south, so this can be a taller order at peak summer temps, but we could expand our current 400Ah battery bank as well. -
Mike Robin Thorne joined the community
-
Flora Reviewed the Teslong website and found what seems to be a qauitly wifi scope for $50 (WF150D39L3 Wi-Fi Inspection Camera with 3.9 mm Camera). It uses your phone or computer's screen vs purchasing a more expensive scope with an integrated screen. Looks like good quality and compact solution for traveling. https://teslong.com/collections/inspection-borescopes
-
Flora https://teslong.com/collections/inspection-borescopes Teslong makes a variety of quality scopes ranging from $100 to $150. The heads on these scopes are general smaller, larger screen, better images, cables are generally more supple/ easier handling, can record video and snap pictures vs low cost scopes. You can get scopes at amazon and home depot starting at $29.
-
I read two issues here, the vent cover does not stay closed, and the hose comes loose? The vent cover has louvers that do not tightly close, I'm surprised that mine have not broken as many times as they have been kicked. I don't have a fix for that. However, if the hose is coming loose, you can add new screws. It was originally fastened with screws that went through the hose and into the plastic vent. Then taped. I was able to get the screws out, but it was near impossible to put new ones back in the tight space. Rather I put screws in from the inside of the vent and was able to get tape on using little pieces. See the picture:
-
jd, I learned a lot today. I was looking for a red wire because the center wire at other end (courtesy light toggle switch by the door) was red and not labeled. Using a scope, I started by looking up from the basement. I had pulled out all three toggle switches just below the Pantery (hot water, water pump, courtesy lights) to pull on the various wires to identify and exclude them. Accessing and scoping from the basement was unsuccessful and difficult at best. I had success pulling the plate with the tank monitors next to the toggle switch plate. Removing this place gave me a nice size cut-out enabling a good angle to maneuver the scope. I was still looking for a red wire when I came across a loose gray wire (same color as the other two wires going to the courtesy light toggle). The loose wire was labeled T46 and did the trick.
- Last week
-
Hey Chris, Looks like you have plenty of good advice and help available, but I'm happy to help out if still needed. There is not much room behind that pantry switch, but it should be fairly easy to find that disconnected wire and pull it back through. My trailer has just a single switch for the courtesy light, not a 3-way. But regardless, it's a simple circuit. Drop me a message if you need extra help and I can stop by. Geoff
-
I should have realized earlier it was the other 3-way switch by the pantry. You may get lucky if the wire is close. If not, I believe you can reach up there, or see up there and below, from the basement opening under the bed. Another Idea is if you have the SeeLevel monitor like ours pictured, remove the 4 Phillips screws and there may be a larger opening to grab the wire.
-
I tested the DC in line fuse for continuity (which was ok) and verified that there is 12 V at the terminals in the inverter. The Xantrex manual doesn't indicate the presence of an internal DC fuse and that an external fuse is necessary. I did replace a blown fuse in Victron MPPT 100I20 charge controller and the batteries now appear to be charging from solar power. Without shore power, there is no display (or alarm) on the inverter display and the inverter will not turn on with the power button. With shore power, there is the following display without an error message. Is there some reset procedure for the inverter or it is toast? What does it mean that there's Shore power display but none on DC, even though I've confirmed 12 V at the inverter? I will call Oliver in the morning but I appreciate the input and suggestions> Tim
-
Absolutely not. And they never will because of the safety issues. IF you are towing with a real truck (not a 1/2 ton or, most likely, even a 3/4 ton) then the front of your truck is the place for your motorcycle.
-
DC-DC Charger Installation - Oliver LE2 and RAM 1500
jd1923 replied to Grizz000's topic in Ollie Modifications
Excellent work, Jeff! And happy to see a new Forum Member share such a great project providing such detail. I installed ours March 2025 and we love this mod more than most! The Orion XS 50A DC-DC charger is the best possible upgrade for charging LI batteries. You need a whole lot of solar capacity and a lot of time sitting around the campsite, fussing with panels, and you won't get anywhere near the average 40 Ah per hour towing this installation will provide. If interested, read my comment re running our A/C all day, towing just 2 hours, using only 20 Ah because the Orion provided most of the power needed. If I towed another 30 minutes SOC would have been 100%! We do have 320W rooftop solar but it was a cloudy/rainy day. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/11177-furrion-chill-cube-–-product-review-and-installation/page/3/#comment-126555 Those of us who boondock 1-3 nights at a time, moving often, don't need much else. Add an efficient A/C and Orion DC-DC charging will allow you to stay cool anywhere/anytime! We added 400W suitcase solar and wish I had saved the money since we rarely use it. We connect our Orion DC-DC charger every time we hitch the Oliver! You love your Orion installation now. You'll love it even more after you benefit from it on the road! 😎 -
As others have done, I recently completed a Victron Orion XS DC-DC charger installation between my 2023 Ram 1500 and 2019 Oliver Legacy Elite II, Hull 514. The attached write-up covers the truck and trailer wiring, Anderson SB120 connection, cable routing, fuse locations, Victron settings, parts list, photos, and lessons learned. I thought I'd share in case it helps anyone considering a similar project. Happy camping! Oliver and RAM DC-DC Charger Installation FB pdf.pdf
- 4 replies
-
- 10
-
-
-
-
BluegrassRetiredChick joined the community
