Leaderboard

If nothing else, all of the battery photos show that in a mobile application such as in our campers there is almost constant movement between the batteries and the tray. For this reason I don’t think using solid buss bars between batteries is a good thing. I would think that there would be battery lug or internal damage caused. I bring this up because there have been posts about lithium changeover projects lately and this post highlights the need of being somewhat flexible with battery inter connections.

We rented a class C RV in Alaska in 1999. We spent 20 days touring state and even though it rained 19 of those days, we still had a great time. My brother had worked on the Trans-Alaska pipeline, so seeing the pipeline was a little special for me. We toured the oil storage facility in Valdez which is where the pipeline ended. While on the bus tour, the guide told a story about the inspection of the pipeline before it went into service. As the story goes, they used a mechanical device called a pig to inspect the welding on the inside of the pipeline. During the inspection, they found an anomaly on the inside wall of the pipe. So they sent a more sophisticated pig, capable of high quality pictures through the pipe. And when they reviewed the pictures, they found that someone had welded the outline of the state of Texas on the inside of the pipe. Now this caused the Texans on the bus to roar their approval. And then the tour guide noted that they could cut Alaska in half and make Texas the third largest state in America. So if everything is bigger in Texas, I guess everything is biggest in Alaska. 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Mossey

There are so many beautiful places that we have enjoyed that it's hard to pick one. So, I'll go with Deer Island Point campground in New Brunswick. We took the (free) ferry from letete, nb, and planned to stay one night, then ferry to Campobello, and on to Maine. The campground was "officially" closed for the season, but the tourist office said we could dry camp. No services, but no fees. Don't leave a mess. Our site, right at the point, (may have been a tent site, not sure) was just amazing. Marine life, walk down to see the maelstrom, (old sow), and watch the ferries. Absolutely incredible. We kept rearranging our schedule, and stayed four days, leaving our special quiet place, with a heavy heart. The little island is lovely, and quiet, off season. It was cool/cold, but so very beautiful. Probably more crowded in season. Campobello was a fascinating day, when we finally left.

Calmark cover. And a couple of the Damp-Rid buckets inside the camper to absorb any excess moisture, but it’s always extremely dry inside the camper if there’s nothing inside to generate moisture such as people breathing or cooking. https://calmarkcovers.com

This is my first post on this forum so forgive my ignorance if I say something silly here. My wife and I are in the queue for an elite 2 with the lithium pro package so the dead Xantrex 3000 post gave me concern. Following up on the post about the power save mode possibly being the problem I found the manual for the unit on the Xantrex site because the wrong manual is on the Oliver site. There is a power save mode that is factory set to shut the unit down 25 hours after ac loads drop below 50watts. When an ac load greater than 25 watts is sensed by the Xantrex unit it should automatically turn back on. I have attached a copy of the manual to this post. Not sure if this helps but the power save feature could be related at least. 254903808_FreedomXCPROOwnersGuide(975-0799-01-01_Rev-C)_ENG.pdf

For all but ambulance/wrecker/up fitters the 220 is plenty - . If you intend to do some upgrades with heavy amperage requirements - the added cost is minor in the whole. You get two batteries with the diesel anyway. Air suspension - no idea - I tend to go with simplicity - regular suspension has been fine on my GMC - but perhaps a few forums out in the WWW will have some reviews or comments as to its effectiveness and reliability. Good travels.

Now that I have the Garmin 890 installed along with the Builtright rack for the dash tray on the Ford (150 or 250), here are a couple of pics. Hardwiring the 12 volt/2 slot USB that used 3M double sided tape to attach to the underside of the Builtright rack was a bit un-nerving but not really difficult - let me know if you want details. With the adjustable RAM mount I can move the GPS to a more comfortable position as compared to my old GPS which actually had to sit up on the dash a bit too far away to make changes on the fly. And, even given the weight of the 890, the RAM mounts hold the screen securely and without vibration. The Garmin 890 is really very nice - it should be for its "sale" price of $400. But, the inclusion of data for campgrounds, dump stations, propane outlets, truck stops, Walmarts, Cracker Barrels, etc., really make this unit much more useful as compared to my old Garmin. The traffic and on the fly fuel price functions of the 890 are obtained via a Garmin app connected to the 890 via bluetooth. I've not had a chance (yet) to test these features. Questions? Bill

You should also be thinking about the future Elite III.

Yeah, payload capacity is what convinced me to move to an F-250. We haul a lot of “stuff” when camping and I didn’t want to have to worry about payload limits. Just the loaded Elite II tongue weight (tanks full, etc.) and a driver and passenger will use up 1,000 lbs. of your payload. And I have a bed liner, the Rock Tamer mudflaps (which are really heavy), a rigid bed cover, an over the bed cover bike rack, plus bikes, camp chairs, portable solar panel, portable gas grill, folding tables, toolboxes, water filtration system, etc, etc, etc. My F-250 is optioned with the HD package and has a 3,334 lb. payload limit.

Battery tray is fine, so far. I was doing some cleaning and maintenance because we are heading west (AZ, maybe UT) right after Christmas. At this point I’m not going to get all four replaced so we’ll go camp and address this between the Jan/Feb trip and the non-rally in the spring. This looks to be a mounting issue Oliver needs to address. I will send the pics to Jason tonight.

You could load test them , but IMHO five year old AGM batteries are toast, regardless of whether they are leaking acid or not.... they need to be replaced before your next trip as a complete set ($$) or with lithiums and a new charger ($$$$). I hope the tray has not been ruined. Clean it up with baking soda and water, scrub well and repaint with a good spray paint. I really like the ceramic Duplicolor Brake Caliper Paints, they require no primer and are tough, but very easy to apply and they stay looking good for a long time. The damage to Overland’s cases is disturbing, does the material seem to be really soft? I was considering making pads from thin mudflap material or old conveyor belts (cloth reinforced neoprene) for my new Victrons, I think that idea just got shoved up the “Honey Do List” to near the top. This is all one big learning curve, isn’t it? As these trailers age, we start to see all sorts of unpredictable glitches appearing. John Davies Spokane WA

On the bay in Seward Waterfront Park , Alaska. life is good but I could go on to on the ocean along the 101 in Washington state again Life is good. Enjoy them all.

Thank you to Mattnan and Mainiac for pointing us in the direction of Banana Banners for our graphics..

EDIT 12/10/23. Useful link: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6720-natures-head-compost-toilet-troubleshooting-user-guide/ EDIT 06/06/23. This is an Oliver factory installation, not mine. One member has assumed that I did this. There are a number of threads asking about this toilet. I hope we can gather up a lot of the talk here in one place. I think there has been one other installation in an Ollie but there have been NO published pictures of any kind, that I have been able to find, even from the factory. This is baffling to me. I really wanted to cut the dump station umbilical. We routinely dry camp and finding an open station during a busy holiday weekend or off season is not something I want to face. With the NH toilet we can get rid of our grey water with a 3/4 inch garden hose. In many western states it is legal and encouraged to run a hose out to a nearby shrub and let your water trickle into the ground. The black tank, drain plumbing and vent system are all completely retained. The factory folks are extremely reluctant to delete these parts, since they are part of their certification. If you wanted to reinstall a regular toilet, it would be a very minor job. The fresh water line is even in place, next to the wall. You could sell the used NH for $400 and that would pay for the replacement conventional RV toilet, with a lot left over. An RV toilet is less than $200.... I chose to charge the base with coconut coir rather than peat moss, since it is a renewable resource and doesn't damage the environment. https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=coconut+coir I made the mistake of just dropping a dry 2 pound brick into the bottom, adding water and then letting it hydrate. I ended up with WAY too much material. You need to do this in a bucket, outside, and then transfer the expanded stuff into the base, and the leftovers into gallon zip bags. The correct height is even with the internal agitator centerline. Any higher and it becomes difficult to turn with the handle. It takes about two gallons, I did not measure. There are many online sources with info. To summarize: Sit to pee, everybody, so there is no splashing. The trapdoor stays closed and your pee goes forward, and then down into the reservoir. Which you pre-treated with a half cup of vinegar, to kill the odor. That part is easy. To poop, open the trapdoor, finish the job, wipe and close the door. Give the agitator handle two or three turns. The poop and paper will decompose rapidly once the natural process gets going, which may take a few days. The fan keeps a steady flow of fresh air into the reservoir and out of the trailer through the existing roof vent. I never noticed any bad odors except the first days, before I figured out that Oliver had installed the wrong fuse, a 1 amp, which had blown. Once I installed the correct fuse (2 to 5 specified, I used 3 amp), the fan worked as designed. The fuse is located in the main distribution panel under the dinette table, right row, bottom position (UN-labeled!). It is best to put only the absolute minimum amount of RV toilet paper into the base. If you put a lot in, it wraps around the agitator and makes it harder to turn. Only stinky paper goes down - the rest (damp with pee) goes into the small covered waste can to be disposed of weekly. The can came from Walmart, $10 I think. Cleaning is simple: spritz the area lightly with a dilute vinegar spray and wipe down with a disposable baby wipe, toss in can. Done. The residual vinegar and wipes control any odor from the can. The pee tank is big but it will fill up faster than you can believe if you have four people using it! Empty when it gets to within an inch or two from the top: Flip the two side latches, carefully rotate the top off the base, remove the pee bottle and cap it. Dump it in any approved location - a pit toilet or a rest stop restroom. Rinse with fresh water a couple of times and recharge with half a cup of vinegar. Reinstall into the toilet and close and latch the top. The pee will eventually form crusty yellow deposits. The fix, I have read, is to add gravel and water and shake it hard, then rinse several times. In two weeks of use I never noticed any significant deposits. The longer you let the poop decompose the better. If you can leave it over the winter, dump it out in the spring and it will be totally benign. If you need to empty it mid-season, remove the pee bottle and vent hose, unscrew the two hold down knobs and lift out the entire unit. Carry it outside and put a 13 gallon or larger trash bag on top, flip it over and empty the compost. Refill with clean coir to the centerline. There is NO need to clean it out. Any residual material will just help the next batch get started. The organic waste you can double bag and put in the trash, or if fully decomposed, it can be spread out in the woods, but not near a potable water supply or garden. The way to keep the smell in control is to keep the pee out of the main reservoir. It's the urine that makes a pit toilet smell so bad.... If you throw up or have a messy poop, you can add a little more fresh coir to help absorb the extra fluids. I keep a gallon bag of the hydrated stuff in the overheard cabinet (along with a quart of vinegar) and haven't had to add any extra. The fan has a dust filter that is supposed to be checked every few weeks, by removing two Philips screws. I think that is way too often in the clean environment of a fiberglass trailer, unless you have a dog that sheds. You can put your hand over the left (inlet) opening and feel a light suction. If that isn't present, you need to clean the filter. The pee bottle sits in a sealed cavity to catch overflows, This is a problem since when you take a shower, a bunch of fresh water gets trapped there. I intend to drill a couple of small drain holes in the bottom. I don't care if the pee bottle overflows onto the floor of the head, at least that way I will notice it! unless it is dark, and I am barefooted.... that would be bad 😉 This is why you want to empty the tank before it gets too close to the top. Agitator handle: ours fell off right away, the shaft has a set screw with lock nut. It is very easy to tighten correctly. I am not sure why the factory guy couldn't do it successfully. Spares: I intend to purchase a spare pee tank ($40), spare lids, and a fan.I already have extra 3 amp fuses. ... http://store.natureshead.net I intend to wire in a small LED in the wire harness to show that the fan has power. You can probably hear it running, faintly, if you are in a very quiet area and don't have bad tinnitus, as I do. The Nature's Head is a cool device, but it is really just a fancy bucket. A solidly built, very expensive bucket. I wish the price were about $250 instead of $800. That seems about right for what you get. OTH it is very rugged, and long time users seem to love it. My wife still has some reservations about using it, and we need to get a short step stool since it sits so much higher than even a tall toilet. This one might work well, and it might fit in close to the base with a bungee cord around it for travel: .... https://www.squattypotty.com/shop/poop-better/classic-ecco I am still learning, but I have no regrets at this time. Questions? John Davies Spokane WA

I could prefaced my alternator comment with: If there will be any chance of upgrading the charge wiring and adding a B2B charger. A factory secondary could have a drive ratio more tailored to the intended use.

I’ve been a Ram 2500 owner for almost 3 weeks so consider that my experience is very limited! I don’t have the air suspension. I bought a nice Curt hitch with a 2” drop thinking that with the drop from the tongue weight I’d be level. I’m not, I barely had a 2” drop in the suspension when I lowered the trailer (loaded, full fresh tank) but nothing in the bed. I do have a bakflip tonneau cover. I ordered another hitch, adjustable, because I need at least a 3” drop, maybe 4”. It should arrive Wednesday. Squat was about half what I thought it was. I’m a little too high in the front. My past two Ram 1500s had the 220a alternator as does this 2500. Never had an issue with the 1500s with about 60K miles of towing. I think the 220 is plenty. Not sure it is evident in the pictures but in person the front is high.

Personally, given the option, I would never pass on the opportunity for a factory installed second alternator. Trying to duplicate later would be much more expensive and potentially less reliable. Air suspension? Nice to have when they work but notoriously unreliable after a few years and expensive to fix out of warranty. It's a trade off with considerations for length of ownership and abuse truck will be subjected to. Not for me because there are lots of gravel roads and snow where I am and I tend to run things until the wheels fall off.

Since the storage area where I park my Oliver is very level and basically on gravel, I do not use the onboard jacks at all - other than the front jack. However, I do use some pressure treated plywood covered with 8 mil plastic sheeting to slightly raise the tires off direct contact with the ground. And, using the front jack I make sure that the camper is slightly tilted towards the rear so that water runs off the cover easily. Like FrankC, I cover the tires to protect from UV damage and have not had any trouble with "flat spots" on the tires in the Spring.

I typically put silver colored duct tape (or other non-conductive tape) over the positive lugs, completely covering them, when I take them off the battery and another color around the negative lugs to help insure things go back together correctly.

I use PVC lumber on the side of the battery tray like the factory did on my 4 lead acid 6v Trojan's. It comes in a variety of thicknesses. I also put a rubber pad in the bottom of the tray, but it was something I had in the shop. The product you posted should work fine. Mossey

Capacitors can store and discharge energy very quickly, so they can make-up for very brief, high energy demands that a battery can not keep up with.

Interestingly, as I have searched local dealers inventory the 7.3 is hard to find especially when you get to Lariat or above trims.

I will help in any way possible, but I am a little too ADHD to write an “How To" on this subject. But I would suggest that you purchase this book to start with. And while you are waiting for it to arrive, watch some of Will Prowse's YouTube videos. I will suggest that you approach it slowly. And as Sherry suggested, remove the bad battery pair and take your AZ trip with the remaining 200+ Ah's of batteries and your generator. Who knows, you may find a great battery deal in Quartzite. By all means, disconnect the solar panels. You can cover the panels with blankets or disconnect them from the rooftop port. And trip the flag circuit breaker under the street side bed. I believe you should follow Overland's suggestion of eliminating most of the wiring in the battery box by using Buss bars inside. I am down to 3 wires/cables from the battery box to the inside, 1 battery +, 1 battery - and a battery temperature lead. Mossey

Payload is what prompted me to go with a 2500. Decided to go with diesel instead of the big gas V8 just for a more relaxing towing experience. Mike

Question for all the electrically smart folks out there. Would anyone be interested in doing a “How To” for swapping out batteries in an Oliver? What not to do, what to do... disconnect solar controller?, turn anything else off?, which cables to disconnect first?, what to look for as far as cable serviceability?, rookie mistakes? I can try to patch my leaking battery or just go ahead a replace all four with either replacement AGMs or bite the bullet and go lithium. Exploring options and prices now. Seems like something I could do myself, just don’t want to get electrocuted or blow up the trailer... because ELECTRICITY...😳!! Mike

I just level the trailer with the standard Oliver electric stabilizers and that takes a little bit of load off of the tires. No other stands or jacks used. But I haven’t had any problems yet with the tires getting flat spotted after last winter storage. Wheels & tires are covered to protect them from exposure. And the trailer is plugged into a house AC power outlet to keep the batteries charged. It is a two person job though to get the cover on the trailer. It’s a lot of fabric that is pretty clumsy to handle. And I have not seen any signs of chafing or scuffing of the fiberglass gel coat finish caused by the cover (and I inspect my trailer very careful all the time when I wash and wax it during camping season).

JD is certainly correct about a structure being better than a cover. Unfortunately there are a number of us that simply do not have that choice either due to home owner restrictions or cost or a simple lack of alternatives. I too used to use the wash it directly on the Oliver method or hang it over a fence method, butt I've found that I can hang the cover from one of my decks, take a electric power washer to it (in order to not have too strong or heavy of a stream as I would from my gas powered unit), some mild soap and it is good to go for the next season. Bill

I want an F250 too but I just bought a 2020 Tundra. I'm looking at the new 7.3L in the F250 instead of the diesel. Still pondering my options as I think I'll have issues with payload with my Tundra based on the recreational stuff we'd like to take along (kayaks, grill, generator, etc). Lots of research still to be done. Good luck with your swap if you decide to do it.

Everything really is bigger in Texas, right?

How do you clean these cloth covers in the spring? It is really hard to fold up and store a dirty one without contaminating the inside, that rests and chafes against the trailer gelcoat. (It is impossible to get a clean cover onto a clean trailer without getting it dirty, unless the ground is paved and freshly hosed off.) I had one decades ago and used a pressure washer with the cover hung on a tall fence. An amazing amount of muck came off it, what a mess. It was not at all satisfactory. This was in Western WA where needles, sap and moss were the main problem, not so much airborne dust. IMHO a free standing carport would be a better choice if you don’t have restrictive codes. Unless you just don’t care about the cosmetic damage to the Ollie.. it can be a real PITA and costly to repair. Dirt washes off your Ollie, but fixing damaged gel coat is big $$$$. Invest in a structure now, save heartache later. John Davies Spokane WA

Depending on where you go, and power needs, you can run with 2 of the 4 agms. Take two offline.. Probably still more battery power than we have, in our Elite.

Thanks JD! I checked HD online for my local store and they had them in stock. They also had 8", 11" or 14" bags of 500 count for $8.88. I went and picked up a bag of the ones you referenced. They weren’t priced $9.88 on the shelf, but that was the price at checkout. Mossey

For those with a technical interest this is useful. Even if you can’t understand much of it, take away this important fact. “... it is common to charge a 12 volt a 4-cell series pack with a lead acid battery charger. The maximum voltage of these chargers, whether AC powered, or using a car's alternator, is 14.4 volts. This works fine, but lead acid chargers will lower their voltage to 13.8 volts for the float charge, and so will usually terminate before the LiFe pack is at 100%. For this reason a special LiFe charger is required to reliably get to 100% capacity.” https://www.powerstream.com/LLLF.htm So maybe a standard automotive portable lead acid charger of adequate size would be a good thing to have as a backup in case your onboard system becomes inoperative..... it won’t fully charge it, but it will get it most of the way there, about 70%. Or for around $120 you can get a 20 amp Renogy unit that will eventually get them to 100%. https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-12V-20A-Alligator-Batteries/dp/B08C2JN76Q John Davies Spokane WA

$20 for 360 watts (after the original MMPT investment of course)

This is the price you pay for combining a critical function (charging) in a non- critical device (making popcorn): with the factory lithium package if the inverter fails you can’t charge your batteries off shore power or a generator. And they won’t fully charge off your truck either! And if you don’t have solar there is no way to charge!! Having at least two separate charging sources is always a better setup for camping. The Progressive Dynamics charger section for Ollies without the lithium battery package is only $160 and can easily be changed in half an hour by the average owner. Why ruin a trip when one rarely used component quits? Does not compute.... ☹️ Good luck. Maybe also consider buying a high amperage portable lead acid charger, as an ultimate backup, it won’t hurt the lithium batteries in any way, it just won’t fully charge them. Complain to Oliver about their decision to charge off the inverter. I think it is a very dumb engineering decision. I will soon be able to charge my Victron lithiums by the PD converter (new module), by the truck (new DC to DC converter), by the roof panels (new MPPT controller) and by a portable panel. All independent of each other. I have already had one failure of the standard 2000 watt inverter, the replacement is loud, and I do not trust it. John Davies Spokane WA

Nice - I like it - I thought about doing a wrap - suggested to me by a friend - it was however- anathema. Not sure how much it would cost me to completely wrap it in - an aluminum sheen, a silver tint - - held together with well spaced painted on rows of loose rivets, with a dent here and there. I could then call it " Abomination."

Nope, not on payroll. Do like to mention a small business, off the main road, that does a fantastic job. Just nice to see a business that can make an artist idea and design come to life.

I agree wholeheartedly! My wife is quite sensitive to the temperature, and I wanted to try a fan to make her more comfortable. We sleep with our heads at the rear, and I thought @John E Davies's fan was too large for our needs. I found the Caframo Ultimate 747 12V 2-Speed 7" Fan w/Lighter Plug for $46. It has two mounting options. One mount is a suction cup. The other is a permanent mount that can be screwed into the underside of the overhead cabinet. The mount is about 3 inches tall, and the fan is easily removed from and reattached to the mount. My initial plan was to use the permanent mount, and I had plans to either tie it into the 12 V system, or to install a 12 V cigarette plug receptacle into the overhead cabinet using some of the guidance John Davies provided in this post. (Our trailer has only two cigarette lighter receptacles, one under the dinette and one above the kitchen. Susan sleeps on the street side bed, so they would not be closeby.) I decided to first use the suction cup mount to decide on an optimal location to place the fan. The fan power cord was not long enough to reach the dinette, so I used a 120 V plug--transformer--cigarette plug receptacle adaptor that we have for a 12V ice chest, as an extension cord. This fan worked really quite well, and Susan was pleased. She decided that she did not want the permanent mount, but preferred the suction cup option. The suction cup was plenty strong, and we even drove with the fan attached, without problems. So in the interest of domestic tranquility, we are not using the permanent mount. We also have much greater flexibility in where to place the fan using the suction cup. When removed from the underside of the cabinet, the fan is quite small and stores easily. In future we will use the suction cup mount, along with either the 120 V plug--transformer--cigarette plug receptacle adaptor. The extension cord traveled nicely behind the dinette cushions and below the pantry door. I have found extension cords on Amazon with cigarette plug and cigarette plug receptacle receptacle at each end, and we might try that instead.

We had this issue that Ken describes. After a couple of years our outlets wouldn’t work when on shore power. Lose wires in the junction box...

sgcausey - While the CalMark cover is not waterproof, it is fairly water repellent. Given that, while it does "breath" I'm sure that the airflow through it is not very good. Therefore, I have never left any vents (MaxAir or bath) open while in storage. However, to control humidity inside the Ollie I have used a combination of a product called "Damp-rid" along with a renewable desiccant (renewed by plugging it into a 110 outlet a couple of times over the winter). I also make sure to use crumpled newspaper in the fridge and leave the fridge and bathroom doors open, and I remove my sleeping mattress but leave the dinette cushions in place. With these precautions I've never had any odors. Bill

We were able to reach out to Calmark covers and ask how they recommend cleaning the cover. We hope this helps anyone owning a Calmark. Here is there reply- Thank you for checking with us on the proper way to clean and care for your cover, I have attached some sheets on cleaning the fabric, I also included a stain chart as well. Normally, you can gently hose down your cover to remove any surface dirt. You can use a Dawn dishwashing fluid and a rag or soft bristle brush. Then, gently rinse with water again. It is NEVER safe to put your cover in a regular or industrial washing machine. They can damage the fibers of the fabric and remove items that the fabric was originally treated with, such as those that protect against UV Rays, mold, mildew and the overall water resistance. There is also a company called 303. They make a biodegradable product used to clean Sunbrella. They also make a spray that you can use to retreat your cover for water resistance. It is a good idea to clean, then retreat, about very 1-2 years. For a specific type of stain or spill, please refer to attached chart provided by Glen Raven. DeAnna Martinez Sales/Customer Service CalMark Cover Company (800) 838-7236

Just arrived Amazing what can come from a dialogue with Foy Sperring

Ours appears to be doing the same thing.

Well crap! Mine are doing it also. Hasn’t worn through yet but definitely wearing holes at all 4 locations.