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Too much time at home, with too large of a toilet paper stockpile…. VIDEO-2020-04-05-13-18-21.mp4

Imagine being huddled together inside for months ...

That link took me to an E-Bay ad for a 1979 Volkswagen Bus/Vanagon CAMPER

We do manage to keep the fridge going and batteries around 70 to 75 per cent through the night, with good conditions, and miserly power useage for uses other than our 12v truck fridge. We also have to use a 100 watt "portable" to add to the production of the 200 watts of fixed solar. And, in less than ideal conditions, I chase the sun around the path with that panel. Even then, in low sun, crummy days, we will have to kick in a half hour with the honda 1000, sometimes both morning and night, if it's raining, especially if we have to use the power greedy furnace fan. Unlike many, we have very limited power needs. No electrical cooking or heating gear. No keurig. No induction hot plate. No microwave. Led lights even seldom get used. We charge phones during the day, and often from the truck while driving. No laptops. No tv. Not a lot of streaming on our phones. A couple years ago, we chased down phantom draws on the power, and we're pretty much down to the essentials-- which are mostly monitors and the charger/converter. We use a cooler with ice for beverages. I'm very conscious of where everything is loaded in the fridge, and how many times I open the fridge door each day, spilling cold air. No inverter, either. We used to have one, but with only 2 group 27 batteries, and the very limited storage, that just doesn't make sense. We removed it. I wouldn't necessarily recommend our minimal setup for new campers. It requires a lot of monitoring, (and, a good monitor) and discipline. We're ok with that, but it was our choice. And, we're used to it. We're solar powered by choice, since 2008, and almost never camp with hookups. Power misers by choice. And, we both love the new truck fridge, danfoss/ secop compressor, indel product. Quiet, efficient, even cooling, even a bit more capacity than our old Dometic. No orange lights from the panel at night. 🙃 That said, we've already purchased new solar panels to double our fixed panel production. I would love to upgrade to lithium batteries, but it would be a waste right now when the agms are still working well. That's a someday in the future thing. If we find we actually need them. Sherry

During the summers of 2018 and 2019, I put over 17,000 trailer miles on my Elite II. After many discussions with John D, I had OTT up-size to the 2 5/16" ball and Bulldog at the factory. My observations are: During the summer of 2018, I was using a Toyota Sequoia as my TV. For the Sequoia, I required all 7 threads of tension to get the weight distribution needed. During the summer of 2019, I was using a new F-150 Supercrew FX-4 with max trailer tow package as my TV. For the F-150, I required only 3 threads of tension to achieve the weight distribution needed. As stated in posts above, I observed that chain tension makes a big difference as to ball wear regardless of the ball size. But the larger ball displayed much less wear than others had documented with the 2" ball. With the Sequoia, the anti-sway part of the Anderson WDH system was important. With the F-150 it is much less so. With both vehicles, the weight distribution part of the Anderson IS very necessary. With the Sequoia, the cone self-destructed after only about 6,000 miles. I replaced it and started using a heavy grease on the cone and ball. So far with 11,000 miles on this set-up, the cone is still good and the larger ball has shown only minor wear. The extended life of the cone with the use of lubrication was significant. Granted, the loss of most if not all of the Anderson sway dampening is something each owner needs to consider for their set-up. But on my F-150 with 640 pounds of tongue weight, my Oliver has not demonstrated any sway what so ever. In summary, for my tow vehicle and trailer set-up, I believe that the good far outweighs the bad, and I will continue to lubricate my cone as well as ball. If I were to become a new OTT Elite II owner again, and were to use either the Sequoia or F-150 (As specified) for my TV, I would: Purchase the Anderson WDH System to meet the factory hitch weight limitations. Upgrade to the larger Bulldog and Ball. Use lubrication on the cone and ball to reduce wear of the hitch systems. I hope this is helpful.

I put a Mikado Uno .35 GPM in the stock Dura bathroom faucet/shower head and it triggers the Truma AquaGo Comfort in either the faucet or shower mode. I suppose you could always fool the Truma in the shower mode and switch back the the faucet mode if needed, but that would defeat the water saving feature of the .35 GPM aerator or use the .5 GPM version instead. Mossey

Those pesky Asian beetles...the ones that look like Lady Bugs! Last Fall, we were getting ready to winterize, as we had an early winter event coming in. It was warm, sunny, and a beautiful day. I gathered antifreeze and other supplies. As I came around the stern of the trailer, in the warm sun, it must have been covered with at least 500 of those little pests. We were careful coming in and out as we changed anti freeze bottles, and pumped lines, and so forth. We didn't want those things in there. We probably only had to remove 3 or 4. This Spring "wake-up", I only found 2 "hulls". That tells me the Oliver is essentially tight, and pest free and resistant. We have had SOBs (some other brand) in the past and they used to get invaded. Nice not to have that cleanup...

Our winter trip to Quartzsite was the first long test of our NovaKool fridge. We left home December 20th and arrived back home February the 24th. The first three days on the road it was cloudy and rainy. I don’t know that I had to but, on the third evening I ran my generator for about an hour. Several days of travel out to Quartzsite we boon docked with one night on shore power. Four nights at Lost Dutchman State Park with a day or so of clouds. Ran the generator one morning for a couple hours. We were at Quartzsite for ten nights with mostly sunny days so didn’t need the generator. Traveling home was a little disjointed so there were some shore power days and a bunch of boon dock days but didn’t need the generator on the trip home. Our fridge typically draws about 4 amps while running. Sometimes running more than 50% of the time and sometimes way under 50% of the time. All the while holding fridge temperature at about 34 degrees and freezer at around 19 degrees. We did need to defrost the fridge on the way home. Don’t know if excess frost affected the cycle time or not. Anyway, with our typical power usage we were overall pleased with the ability of the Oliver LEII solar/lead acid battery performance. One issue which Lithium batteries may solve is the Lithium batteries ability to charge quicker than a conventional battery. There were a couple of times that there just wasn’t quite enough hours of sun to get the job done. The next day of full sun was able to top off the batteries. Either more solar panels, quicker charging batteries, or a little of both would solve that issue. I think that the standard LEII solar setup is right on the edge but is probably about 80% or so adequate. Testing continues....when we’re allowed out of our house. Great information Overland! Your assumptions are spot on based on your actual experience, others actual experience, and my experience so far. We liked the extra capacity and relatively quick recovery when loading room temperature items. With the extra capacity, we found that an extra cooler was not needed except maybe if camping many miles away from anywhere to buy food.