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We have the 640A/h Lithionics batteries, and in addition to the 400W of solar on the roof, I have three 200W folding panels. While 1000W of solar sounds like a lot, you'll quickly realize that (at least here in the eastern US) the roof panels are frequently shaded, the portable panels are sometimes a nuisance to move around, and that even on a perfect sunny day and constantly moving the panels, it would take 8-10 hours to completely recharge a battery from zero. The only time I've gone this route was in the heavily wooded Adirondacks last year when we were seven days without any hookups, and I don't have DC-DC charging. I only had two panels then, and the only AC we used was the microwave occasionally and the coffee maker once a day. Mid day, there were times that with 800W of panels exposed, I was getting less than 100W into the batteries. Driving home and one rainy night in a Harvest Host, we arrived at the house with somewhere around 46% state of charge. I thought that was pretty great! We didn't try to conserve power use. We just didn't need much. The biggest power draw was out fridge/freezer in the truck, which I had plugged into an Anderson Powepole outlet on the trailer.

Do you have (share) the part numbers of the window and any additional items to order to complete the project? Thanks.

Do you have (share) the part numbers of the window and any additional items to order to complete the project? Thanks.

Do you have (share) the part numbers of the window and any additional items to order to complete the project? Thanks.

The average vintage of RV owner's is such that Dragon Fly should be worried about just such a tragedy.

And - Don't forget that some of these lithium batteries can be placed in differing orientation (i.e. on the side or end versus the standard top up). Of course this will only matter if you have the "head room" in the battery box. Bill p.s. In investigating this possibility - check with each separate manufacturer as to what orientations they deem acceptable.

Not sure of the full dimensions of your space in LE1 but you may want to check out some of the 300AH mini batteries like this one from Renogy. Renogy 300AH Mini Core They claim a much smaller footprint ...but be aware,,,this model doesn't have self heating for cold temp charging, but they do have low and high temp cutoffs for protection. List prices are currently $879 direct. Here are Epoch Dimensions Just an idea of others:

Did you by chance have debris as acorns, broken branches that may have kicked the awning back out. Girard and Oliver say if you run it out and in you need to let it rest so you don't burn up the motor. You far exceeded that warning. There is something hear that just doesn't make sense. I maybe totally wrong, but I think the motor wasn't allowed to cool down and this was self-inflicted. This is solely my opinion.🙃

Your list looks good. I'd definitely look into bigger batteries. I know a generator is at the bottom of your list, but a little 1- or 2kW Honda would be more efficient than idling your truck and can be handy for other things, like charging ebikes, and isn't sun-dependent.

As John mentioned we used Epoch Essentials. Very satisfied so far.

I'm not sure what vintage the old unit was? However, I recall that there was some question whether it was an AGM only battery charger. So if your new replacement has charge profiles for both AGM and Lithium and you want to retain the lithium option - then it's not worth keeping as a spare. Besides, no telling if the resistor is the only issue. Glad you're whole again! Geoff

Thanks JD! To answer a couple of your questions, our LE I has a battery tray that has two 130AH lithionics batteries. They are 12.5” x 6.5” x 8.5” (L x W x H) with about an inch to spare. Without having the it in front of me, I think the tray is roughly 14 deep x 13 wide. Not a lot of room. Here's a pic I took a while back. It looks like the LiFePO4 (looking at the 460AH) dimensions are L20.55*W9.45*H8.58 so I will have to see if there is any wiggle room with the tray removed. I'll take a look at some of the specs on the other Li Time options. If I can't find a good fit, maybe a 400W suitcase panel plus the DC-DC charging will get us by until we find an option with the right footprint.

One lane, three mile long, dead road (unknown to us) deep in the back woods of West Virginia. Sharp fall offs on both sides of the road and absolutely no possible way to turn the truck and trailer around. Front hitch on the truck. I wouldn’t go anywhere without it.

I'd prefer not having another maintenance item, but thanks to Mike, next time our Oliver is home for service I will certainly open this junction box, remove all wire nuts and electrical tape, strip wires down to good copper, or replace wiring if necessary, and use butt connectors! Wire nuts and Wago connectors are not automotive grade! I've never used Wago products and likely never will. Wire nuts are for 120VAC residential solid-core wires. Wire nuts will not hold stranded wire effectively! Butt connectors are designed for stranded wire in automotive 12VDC systems to hold properly with movement/vibration. Another No-No is using ScotchLoks to add a wire. When I need to connect a third wire, I use a butt connector one size larger. Fold the wire to double thinkness on the side that has one wire. I had a boss years ago who said during a team meeting, "Anybody using ScotchLoks in installations will no longer be working for us!" OTT uses them often too and I remove them as needed. 😒

We have a 2022 elite II and this is something all together different than the awning opening while driving. We found out totally by accident that if the awning switch is left on the key fob for our truck activates the awning when you lock or unlock the doors the. This isn't normally a problem because the awning switch is not left on but it almost caused a divorce because we kept blaming each other for activating the awning when it was the key fob all along. Its always and adventure

I agree with Mike's comments. BTW he and many others installed two 300 Ah Epoch Essentials batteries. I did that too in 2024 and Jan of this year added a 3rd for 900 Ah! If you provide measurements of your battery bay, we could see what would fit. Don't know for the Elite 1. Also, are you willing to lose the tray? In the E2, 600 Ah fits in the tray and when I went to 3 batteries, I removed the tray and will not miss it since LiFePO4 does not require maintenance. The tray was meant for servicing LA batteries! Would a second Lithionics 260 fit? We think alike here! After all the work I've done in upgrades, we will not conserve! We're now running our Chill Cube A/C on battery! And I would be embarrassed to fire up a generator, never have and never will, and with technology today there's no need to! 😎 We added a 400W Renogy solar suitcase which we use rarely. It does produce 2x our 320W rooftop solar since you get a better angle in the winter sun. These panels are heavy and LARGE! It sits fine in our 8' truck bed, but you would hardly have the space. They're also a pain to move around all day, keeping them pointing to the sun. I remember reading that you (again like us) only stay a few days at each location. Our DC2DC charger is the best tool we have! My take is your best first step is #2 in your list. You need to double your 260 Ah batteries, or better yet, install 600! Page one of my post shows the 600 Ah upgrade and on page 2 upgrading again to 900. Let us know the dimensions of your battery bay so we can make suggestions. 😂

Maybe it's my long-bed, long wheelbase truck, but I do believe it's the nature of the Oliver EII. It sure takes a long stretch of road just to straighten out TV and TT after it's been cocked from a turn. The only 3-pt turns I'm doing is where I can back into a driveway, a side road or field with short brush! Our truck is also 2WD, so in any maneuver, I must always keep the rear truck tires on solid ground. 😎 We travel FS roads all the time and use the Motor Vehicle Use Maps as a guide which they have for most AZ National Forests and other western states. These maps show road kind and size and mark where dispersed camping is available (see Prescott NF example). No drive-thru fast food lanes for us when camping! We travel to get away from all that! 🤣 When traveling up some FS road, we (Chris too) keep our eyes out for turn-around opportunities while thinking how far we would have to back up if the road ahead became impassable! Not the Oliver, but towing a similar-size dual-axle trailer, once I had to reverse over 3 miles on a road in North Texas, when the thunderstorm had turned the road ahead into a huge lake. At least, it was a straight paved road, but it was pouring so hard, near impossible to see out of the sideview mirrors. A major sigh of relief when we finally got to a crossroad! Yeah, the thrill of camping in the back country of "The West!" Prescott NF MVUM Front.pdf

Thanks Mike. We would love to get a 600 AH capacity. Did you do that with Lithionics?

I would think your best bet are the first two options. You can replace your current batteries and significantly increase your amp hours. I just replaced three 100ah batteries with two 300ah batteries, doubling our amp hours but using less space. An additional panel is easy to do also. We carried a generator for years, and used it when the weather was non-solar. They are a pain and I don’t like that option either. We also carry a Jackery 1000, but it is for Starlink power when we’re off the grid. Mike

We are looking to identify all of our options for increasing amp hours available when boondocking. We are in the Ollie I with the specs in our signature below. We have found that during the winter months (minimal solar efficiency even on sunny days) we get a maximum of 2 days out of our 260 AH Lithionics bank. We don't try to conserve, so we have a small ice maker going most of the time, use the microwave frequently, etc. We recently added DC-DC charging so if we are traveling frequently there are no issues. We are back to full charge by the next stop. But when we are stationary for 3 or more days we would like not to have to worry about running out of capacity. So these are the options I have identified for expanding capacity while stationary during winter or cloudy weather. Are there others we should consider? Thanks in advance! Add a portable panel(s) to more efficiently capture solar Replace the 260AH lithionics with batteries with a similar footprint but higher capacity Find a way to add another lithionics battery to our bank (Is there a way to do this? There is no enough room in our tray where the 2 batteries sit.) Use the DC-DC charging system to charge while idling (this has been a little unreliable so I have been researching why that is) Add a standalone power source to be used as reserve such as a 2000W Jackery power station Try to conserve while boondocking (probably not going to happen) Carry a generator (this option is a distant last) Thoughts!

And for the LE I owners, 9'2" is pretty accurate per the specs. The only thing we have had to back out of is a Chick-fil-a drive through and for that we only needed a couple more inches of clearance. 🙂

I just love happy endings! GJ

Was 2005, our family moving from VA to AZ. I purchased a race car trailer, since it was the largest cargo trailer I could find used locally. Had a 26' cargo box, a 31' trailer and when packed with all of our family belongings to move west, it weighed 14K LBS, towed behind a new 2003 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins 5.9! It had a 24' awning. We made it all the way to New Mexico. Boy-oh-boy is NM the sand storm and WIND state! Towing down I-40, looking at my sideview mirror while towing at 60 MPH, I could see the entire awning like a gullwing sail flapping in the wind and pulled over ASAP! All I could do, to get back on the road, was to rope tie it up on the rear end of the awning (the front had held). Sold the trailer a few weeks later, after moving into our new/current home. Before that, I deleted the awning, made it look like it never had one! 😎 If something was to happen to our Oliver awning, I would delete it as well. We've used it 4 times in 150 overnights. I've already deleted a few unused rooftop items, and would do so again. Our Fiamma closes on the front end and is always 1" short on the rear end from closing. We also have a safety strap! (look closely top-left)

Mike, I have been thinking about moving from LT to ST tires next year, just a thought for now. Thanks, Bill

Anyone with the Suburban hot water tank should check their power connections annually. Had I checked I could have caught the issue before the meltdown. I’m sure it’s been going on for years. One screw is all that is holding the cover on. Mike