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Packing up . . . . leaving in 32 hours! Edit: End of day 1; Burns, Oregon - Historic Central Hotel. Made it over Cascade Pass with no problems. Staying ahead of an incoming storm that is predicted to bring snow to the mountains, but veer north before it catches us!

It sounds like they’re using the hybrid battery to power the 12 volt system while the truck is off, rather than the start battery. That would be a sensible design in all cases except the one you’re describing. If that’s the case, then I doubt there’s a fix outside of some sort of smart relay to cut the trailer power, which would be more trouble to install than just remembering to unplug. FWIW, I always unplug for the opposite reason, to keep my trailer batteries from draining the truck’s. You might look through the Victron catalog - they make a number of products for interconnecting dual battery systems on ambulances and the like. Perhaps they make something with a diode or something similar that would only allow power to go one way. Thanks for bringing it up - I suspect we’ll see issues like these come up as more hybrid trucks come onto the market.

From what I’ve read and been told, for panels connected in parallel, the wattage of the panels doesn’t matter, but the voltages need to be the same, since the lowest voltage panel will bring the voltage of the entire array down. But all of Zamp’s panels have the same voltage regardless of their size, at least their standard ones. Not sure if the new line is the same, but I assume that it is. If you’re using a separate charge controller for the oddball panels, then I think anything goes.

While Hohenwald does get snow in January and it can be fairly cold there too, with average snowfall of only one inch and average low temperature of 25.9 degrees it is not likely that you will need chains. Even if it does snow, I'd simply hunker down for a day of so and not travel. This is due to the fact that not only is it extremely likely the roads will be cleared but since they do not experience very much snow in this area, the drivers are simply not accustomed to driving in it. Bill

I was going to look for the diagram in the 2020 Owners Manual. They no longer include ANY electrical diagrams. This is from 2019, no wires at the spare tire other than a parking light and ground. IMHO you should wire a camera thought it’s own switch, not the reverse circuit. It is better that way for a number of reasons. Has anyone else noticed the missing section in the manual? John Davies Spokane WA

Parts of it. All brass fittings and stainless crimps. And also a better quality PEX except for a few bits I reused. I tried as best I could to make it modular so that sections could be pulled out easily to repair. It’s so difficult in places to maneuver a crimper, pipe, arms, etc. inside the hull. Everything stayed tight though on our recent trip, even with some good bumping around. Feels so much more solid, though it’s definitely an overkill project and one that I’d never have done had it not been one of those ‘if I’m doing this, then I may as well do that’ sort of things. Nor would I have done it if I’d actually bothered to count all the friggin fittings and crimps ahead of time.

problem solved - I tried several things to get the pump to start pumping again such as filling the fresh water to 100, running the pump with the faucets open, opening both inlets to the pump, running the pump with city water. None of these worked. What did work was to put my hose with the regulator lowered to 20psi on the rear water inlet and then open the rear inlet valve, turn the kitchen faucet on and then turn the pump on. After I could hear what sounded like the pump starting to pull water I was able to close the rear inlet valve and the system started working as one would expect (pulling water from the fresh water tank). Not sure what caused the water pump and accumulator system to stop pumping, but I am happy to have it working again.

I suspect the Ram does not have a disconnect relay for the 12v battery line to the 7-way connector. As a result, the parasitic loads in the truck are also pulling current from the trailer connection. The trucks 12V systems battery is isolated from the 48V e-torque starter battery by a converter so this issue will be there whether e-torque equipped or not. You could add a Schottky diode isolator to the charge line in the trailer, but the expense may be hard to justify when just remembering to disconnect costs nothing.

I think I’d go ahead and splice them since it would give you a chance to shorten the wires to the right length at the same time. Mine are way too long.

What Bill said. Worst case scenario is waiting in place for a day or two. The sun will come out and the roads will melt.

David, Our tow vehicle draws five to six amps from the trailer, to the vehicle, when the engine is not running. It does this for five to ten minutes and then gradually diminishes. I believe it is because we have LiFePO4 batteries in the trailer and they run at a higher resting voltage, than the vehicles AGM. This causes power to be drawn for the higher voltage in the trailer to the lower voltage in the vehicle. I suspect that would continue until the voltages are the same. If we stop for any extended period of time, I disconnect the 7-way. I forgot once to plug it back in so be careful doing so. I have also tracked down the fuse providing power to the and have seriously considered just pulling the fuse. Andrew

I will revisit the Ram forums to see if anyone has experienced this behavior. The draw was almost 5 amps because it went from 1 plus positive to high 3 amps negative.

I think you need to research this on some Ram truck forums, if you do not see your answer, start a thread there. Maybe talk to your dealer’s service manager, so he can contact Ram Support to see if this is a known fault. This forum is much too small to expect to get helpful info. Other than: Good luck. How many amps did you see leaking back to the truck? John Davies Spokane WA

I replaced mine. My bypass used screw connectors so I just unscrewed the whole bypass circuit and made a replacement to match. It’s the piece on the bottom left here -

Great news! Somebody backed out of their contract, so you are getting a nearly completed hull specced to your options. There is no other way they could advance the date by eight weeks, since that is the current build time for an LE2. Great for you, not so much for the other guy. He was probably charged a 15% cancellation fee... somewhere around $10,000. Ask your sales rep to apply that “credit” to your purchase as mental anguish compensation for your having to alter your travel plans, or at least ask for a dozen doughnuts, the premium kind. 😬 I think your trip will be much safer and more enjoyable. You will see lots of Christmas lights. We will need lots of pictures! John Davies Spokane WA

So, now we switch from the "excited" phase to the "worried about what I forgot" stage? Don't rush, enjoy the drive over to Hohenwald and be safe! Bill

In 20 years we have only had a blizzard one time, it lasted about 10 minutes. Snow in Middle TN - while not rare -doesn't last long- a few days at best. On the roadway - maybe a few hours - a day. A bigger worry is ice on the roadway. It has been my experience - bad drivers are everywhere. TN is one of the top destinations for people migration in the US. About 700,000 left CA last year, I know many that settled in Mid TN, along with a few Arizonians, New Yorkers, and so on. A melting pot to be sure. The States That Residents Are Leaving And The Ones They Are Moving To (forbes.com) Along with missing teeth, inbreeding, and perhaps driving in snow, the "south" has left behind the cliché it once represented. Nashville - its a badge of honor to claim originality - FWIW. No - you will not need snow chains - bring a smile, a good disposition, - you'll be fine - , RB

Figured out one way to reduce the app size, use “Split Screen”. You could have another utility app running (for propane level or for Garmin inReach communication Earthmate), a slide show, music, or even a web browser.😀. I think this has potential. John Davies Spokane WA

I was wrong, I got my old iPad set up and it works fine, the Victron Connect app rotates properly, whereas the phone version does not. The Victron app is huge, is there a way to reduce it to half size? John Davies Spokane WA

@SherMica I would definitely get chains; you'll need them to get back to the PNW ( I think that's where you're from). We have chains for both our F350 4WD and the Elite II. We purchased these chains from Les Schwab; you can return them for a full refund if not used. Traveling in any of the Oregon mountains and even lower elevation passes on I-5, you will most always see the "Carry Chains" signs posted, meaning you must have chains, regardless of road conditions. This is the law in Oregon pretty much from November through April.

Slide show would be nice, but as a sci fi fan, I’d have to have to turn it into a HAL interface -

If you'll be crossing high passes (including on the major interstates that cross the western mountain ranges) in winter then you'd certainly want them for both TV and trailer. Kind of depends on where you'll be going I think (and willingness to hunker down for a few days if needed to let roads get better).

It does snow, occasionally, around Hohenwald . Not likely for your pickup time. Not even sure if chains would be allowed . Chains, in the us, are primarily required in high elevation/ mountain passes.

Agreed! I’ve done that ride and would highly recommend it! Also, a day trip to Captiva Island and lunch at Key Lime Bistro.

For sizing up options - 5.8” wide x 4.7” tall

That’s an interesting note. There seems to be a lot more subtlety to the interpretations now than there was when I got mine. I wonder how much of that has been driven by actual IRS auditing decisions vs creeping conservatism from accountants.

I replaced my AGMs (4x6V) with Battleborn Li batteries. I would not go as far as to say they are a direct replacement, but it is not difficult either. The 6v AGMs are configured with two banks in parallel of two batteries each in series. The Battleborn batteries are already 12V so they can all be connected in parallel if you choose to add more than one. I purchased 4 Battleborn batteries after seeing what @Overland had done and found it pretty simple to get two installed using the existing battery cables that came with my system. Adding the additional two required reconfiguring of the cables. Hope this helps. Mike https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/4565-6v-agm-replacement-options/

That's a nice area. Plenty of places to visit. BTW, there's a high speed ferry that leaves Ft. Myers beach early in the morning for the Florida keys. It's a pretty ride, in good weather. A short day in key west, and you can come back the same day. Or book a hotel or bnb and come back another day. Right now, holiday pre-purchase vouchers are $99 round trip/pp. A significant savings. The ferry (key west express) is really nice. The ride alone is worth the price. A few hours in key west is a bonus.

Everyone does what works for them, were happy with the Oliver just as it was built and dinning is not a problem. I would like to have room for a rocker recliner in the Oliver somewhere, I could just eat in my chair. trainman

Just a simple data point: During the second half of a recent hunting trip the temperatures averaged 24 degrees at night. In 6 days I used 7 1/2 gallons of propane for the RV heater, and only 2 gallons of propane to run the Honda 2200 for 3 hours every night. I have the Hutch Mountain conversion.

In late October this year I took my Elite II Oliver (Hull 615) to Republic, Washington for Elk hunting. There was 2 to 6 inches of snow on the ground and temperatures of 8 degrees F at night, and highs of 22 degrees F during the day. I stayed in an RV park so as to have AC power readily available. I have a 5 probe digital temperature system installed in my trailer. Probe #1 is near the propane tanks, #2 is under the forward dinette seat, #3 is under the drivers side bunk, #4 is under the passenger side bunk, and #5 is attached to the spare tire. (Note, numbers 2, 3, and 4 are as low is I could get them.) During my first night I noted that #2 temp was at 28 degrees, #3 was at 22 degrees and #4 was at 38 degrees. The "ducted" heat kept ONLY the starboard side of the trailer above freezing. I put small AC heaters under the dinette seat and under the port side bunk. After that, all internal temps stayed above freezing. The drivers side bunk area never got above 36 degrees, even with the 300 watt heater. Having foreknowledge of the expected temperatures, I pumped 8 oz of pink antifreeze into all 3 of the exterior water fittings. I then wrapped the fittings in pipe insulation. I believe that I had not done that, all three fittings would have frozen and cracked. I completely forgot about the exterior shower, but evidently lucked out as there has been no leak so far. I intend to purchase 3 each 100W DC heaters, and install one under the forward dinette and 2 under the drivers side bunk. There is a spare fuse for the drivers side awning which I will use to wire all three heaters through. Have not decided where to put the switches yet. NOTE: Pulling the Olly over salt covered roads can cause a real mess inside the RV 7 pin plug. Oliver service talked me through a very strange set of symptoms, but a set they knew quite well. Symptoms were - with trailer in a camp, no AC connected, occasionally the outside lamps of all 4 of the trailer running light/turn signal assemblies would come on (very dimly). The would stay on until late at night when the battery charge fell below 12.6V. Then they would go out. Service said "it is stray voltage from your 7 pin plug, take it apart, clean it and put some dielectric grease in there." When I took it apart it was so corroded that I replaced the 7 pin plug. Remember, this trailer was delivered to me last March (2020). Service told me that they have switched to a molded 7 pin plug to prevent recent trailers from experiencing this problem. The exterior of the plug looked pretty good, but the interior was a mess!

For what its worth to you - every summer for the past 15 years I've spent the better part of two months at altitudes ranging between 8-10 thousand feet. To date, both in the Oliver and other campers, I've never had a problem with any of my stock propane appliances. Perhaps I've just been lucky. Bill

Yes - strictly charging capacity / time. I suspect I "may" need extra charging capabilities on trips where I would be at 8-10K elevation and have to rely on electricity for heat, cooking, etc. due to propane challenges that can occur at these altitudes (gasoline for generators at these altitudes too perhaps?). I would have bought a bigger, single generator, but I want the ability to mix and match needs vs. the type of trip I'm taking as well as not wanting to deal with the weight of a single unit.

Hi GAP, I also have the Honda 2200 and I've had the Hutch mountain propane conversion kit for a while. I prefer propane (hope to not have to carry gasoline) and I will be testing this soon as we pick up our trailer this week. So if you are not in a huge hurry, stand by and I'll let you know if it works as soon as I have a warm enough day back home in NC to do some quick tests. We have the Lithium package which also included the soft start. I will likely buy the companion Honda down the road and convert that to propane as well. I eventually need 30 amps to charge the pair of Lithiums on days where solar can't keep up.

I heard from Oliver, regarding the use of chains on the Elite II. I sent a link to the Z-chains suggested by @John E Davies. Here is Oliver's response: Those should work fine for our trailer. There will be plenty of clearance for them to fit.

I have decided to never buy a fire extinguisher until I actually need one. And life insurance, I will wait until I am about to die. And I won’t fill my truck up with gas until it starts to splutter. Chains.... yep, I will just wait until the storm hits and then go get a set. LOL. Don’t plan on buying chains in middle TN in December. Do they even sell them there? Walk into Wally World and ask for chains and they will just stare blankly at you. Read: .... https://nashvillest.com/2017/01/10/snow-nashvillians-cant-drive/ Buy now when on they are sale - use https://camelcamelcamel.com/ to track Amazon prices - stash them away, and pat yourself on the back. At your Ollie delivery you can take them out for your sales person to marvel over..... “”What the heck are those?” 😬 John Davies Spokane WA