Leaderboard

This is how I ran the AC with the 2000 watt inverter. I added anther transfer switch to operate the AC circuit on my 2019 built Oliver. Posted September 7 Besides the huge improvement in the sound level there is also another area where it surpasses the Dometic AC that I had replaced. The Houghton with the compressor running draws 10 amps while the Dometic was pulling 16 amps. So I decided to install a second transfer switch for the air conditioner to test it running off the batteries. It was 11 o'clock in the morning on a cloudless sunny day the temperature was 88 degrees. I had my batteries 400 Ah fully charged with 340 watts on the roof and 230 watts remote ready to feed it. I set the thermostat at 70 degrees and turned on the AC. Once it brought the temperature down to 70 I noticed it was cycling four minutes on with the compressor and four minutes off. I left it running until about 5 o'clock and was surprised to see that the batteries were at 97 percent. So I was happy with those results but time will tell if that is the norm. I put the picture in to also show it's nice low profile. Paul

In a previous life, I transported very sensitive materials all around the world for a federal agency and never have I seen packaging as "bomb proof" as Foy's. I recently opened a drawer assembly he sent us and it probably took longer for me to unpackage the drawer parts than it did for him to actually produce the packaged items. Unbelievable. You know before you even get to the actual contents that this is going to be a quality product. Thanks Foy.

Good point, Mounted our non-Bluetooth shunt/indicator in the battery box. If it's Bluetooth capable, this installation could also work in the battery box if there's room and exterior door vents are plugged/sealed when using lithium batteries:

On the boat, we mounted the victron monitor in a space that's not really easy to see/get to, but the app makes the placement pretty much irrelevant. I can check the batteries from the back deck of the house, and certainly from anywhere on the boat, on my phone. Shorter wire run, and we had no space left on the existing monitor board.

I would like to add that unless the vent holes are sealed as shown in Bill’s pic, this is not a wise location for ANY electronics, other than a water resistant solar controller. When pressure washing the trailer, water will get inside. Sealing the holes pretty much eliminates that. Almost. And none should ever be installed in there if you have lead acid or AGM batteries. The latter theoretically do not vent explosive gases, but if one failed, it certainly could do so. John Davies Spokane WA

Have to agree with the above. I installed mine before the Bluetooth unit was available and even then I regretted having done so. It’s a necessary device but the display really shows you nothing. Hide it away and save the hole in your fiberglass for something truly useful like their color display.

Here's where mine went, it is out of the way. but relatively easy to see if you lean down. The data cable goes up the gap between the battery compartment and the inside electronics bay. I was thinking about putting it at eye level, but in retrospect it isn't needed, since I always use the app. FYI the center line of the monitor and other stuff in the pictures is 3.5" below the bottom of the removable counter top. The monitor comes with a huge data cable, maybe 50 feet? I bought a short one that was 5 feet and that fit fine, with the shunt located right below the factory 12 volt positive bus. From this thread: ... https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/5301-how-to-lithium-battery-powered-vent-system/ Some members have not even bothered to mount it where it is visible, it is OK to just leave it hidden under the street side bed. However I think having it located in the cabin is useful if you have visitors who may not have the phone app. I hope that helps. John Davies Spokane WA

Ok, we’ve read the reviews and seen the photos of Foy’s wares, and know of their well-deserved stellar reputation. I’ve just received my order, and it does not disappoint. An unacknowledged talent he possesses is packing and shipping. Imagine the care and attention to detail exemplified in his wood products, extended to packing and shipping. Rest assured, the items are crafted with care, and packaged to arrive in pristine condition.

I have a 2019 Oliver #475 and there was this spot open to use for mounting the monitor. I admit that the app for the phone is much more user-friendly but for a quick look or for some reason your phone is not working or available I still would not want to be without the monitor. The shunt for the monitor is located in the battery compartment so the area I picked for mounting the monitor is directly above it, although it was challenging to connecting the wire between the shunt and the monitor. Looking into the pantry door, the inside corner to the front of the trailer is where you will drill down through three layers of fiberglass, pantry inner shell, pantry outer shell, and base cabinet. Then drill a hole through the side of pantry inner shell. Now use the drill to cut a trough between the two holes. The drill needs to be sized to allow the plastic terminal on the end of the cable to pass through the hole. Now using a fish tape pull the cable up from basement into the pantry. Then from the access hatch on the top of the pantry side wall feed the fish tape down between the walls to the hole you drilled in the side of the inner pantry shell. Now you can pull the cable the rest of the way up to where the monitor will be mounted. You will notice that the back side of the hole for the monitor is in a area that transitions to a different wall thickness in the middle of the hole so I used the threaded ring on the back in combination with the front mount that is provided with the monitor.

Thank You everyone. We are going to stay with the Lithium Package. Everyone's posts gave us great input and helped us make the decision to stick with Lithium. We found four (4) items to cut-out $1,500 (Laguna Table, shower curtain/track, the powered back flow control for gray water, and the extra front 30amp outlet). We spent 8 years playing the AMP Game. We now have the real peace of mind. After everyone's posts here and on Facebook, we got the answer we wanted. Enjoy the rest of the Thanksgiving Weekend. Happy and Safe Travels😊

I do the cleaning of our composting toilet and have never seen any evidence of urine getting mixed in with the compost. Neither my wife nor I seem to have an aiming issue. Let's for a moment suppose that a little urine does go into the compost; so what? There is no smell from the intended waste that normally goes into the compost pot, so why would I worry about a little urine getting in there too? We love the composting toilet. No black water to have to deal with. When we get home from a trip, I simply run the grey water out on the ground from a ground pipe I installed in our storage barn. No muss, no fuss. Had to borrow a section of hose from a fellow camper one time to reach the drain pipe at our campsite. He lent me a section of some of his blackwater hose. DISGUSTING!!

I believe the 3000W inverter is what allows the new models to run the AC off their lithium batteries. If that was your ultimate goal, I think you would need to upgrade. Mike

John D., 3 -5 years for AGM batteries? We had AGM batteries on our boat and they lasted for about 10 years.

Doesn’t sound right to me. We did some clean up on my cabling and replaced the old non-lithium capable PD4045 adding two Battle Borns and I don’t think I spent more than $3K.

Happy Thanksgiving holidays! Visiting daughter in San Antonio ( military) , enjoying the Riverwalk and other sights . Meeting up with Ollie owners , Ralph , Mike&Carol while here . We pick up our Ollie 2 in early Jan . Much to learn !! Cheers !! Ed

Here is the packaging of the Mega Dinette Top I bought from Foy. I bought several items from him and all of his items are packed with this level of care.

I'd be willing to bet that Foy's wife - Mirna - has a hand in that packaging somewhere too.😀

See this link for a discussion on how a few of us modified coupler to 2 5/16”. OTT changes their policies over time, so may be best to check with your sales rep.

We only have 10 days worth of camping, and haven't emptied the compost yet. We just got back from our last trip and I need to do empty the compost now because of the colder temperatures the defecation will not break down. I think we could make it at least 15 days without emptying the compost. One day was diarrhea. Have had no problems with smell or urine in the solids, nor clean up. Again as other have stated, a spray bottle of 25% vinegar/75% water used after urinating keeps all odors away. JohnL, WOW 3-4 days of Urine tank fill. We get about 32-36 hours if using the Oliver for all of our bodily functions. I never dreamed we would fill the urine tank that quickly, I guess we drink a lot of water. We did buy an extra Urine tank for longer trips, I am glad we did. One of us just carry the urine tank to the outhouse/park bathrooms to empty it without a bag. I figure this is camp ground. no big deal. If I have to go into a McDonald's in order to empty, I will put it inside a bag. Both my wife and I are nurses. Dealing with our own bodily waste, is preferable to dealing with someone else's waste products spilled around the dump stations. I really hate walking through waste at the dump station and then transferring that stuff back into the vehicle/Oliver via my shoes. Had that happen a couple of times when we had a Greyhound bus conversion. We dump the gray back at home. Planning on using a pump to fill the Black tank with gray water to expand our ability to stay out longer without using a dump station while on a road trip. I will get to find out this next summer our alternatives for dumping while on a 3.5 week trek. The only negative so far is feeling like you are sitting in a high chair. The compost toilet sets several inches higher than the regular toilet. The Compost also takes up slightly more space in an already tight space in the bathroom. The decision to compost or not is totally a personal decision and what you are comfortable with. No right or wrong answers, only different choices in the way you deal with the waste.

I had similar concerns regarding separation of liquid and solid waste with our Nature's Head. It turned out not to be a problem. One of the greatest advantages is the amount of water conserved by not having to flush. There is also no odor. It's easy to keep clean with a spray bottle of white vinegar. When disposing of the solid waste there is a not unpleasant "earthy" odor. Urine capacity is about 3-4 days. I have a nylon tote bag that is used to transport the urine container to a toilet in order to be somewhat discreet about the process. For my grey tank I have garden hose adapters for both ends, but have never used a dump station because we usually just empty it in the yard at the end of the trip. When we set off on longer trips I'll probably have to deal with dump stations for the grey water. For me, the composting head was worth the extra expense.

I agree -- we've been very pleased with the composting toilet. No second thoughts on that choice. Urine in the primary compartment has simply not been a problem. It did take several cycles to properly prepare the coconut coir (i.e., to get the right amount of starting moisture, which varies depending on whether we are in a dry or humid climate). And we don't seem to get the 3-4 weeks of use that some might; 7-10 days has been quite manageable (the crank gets too hard to turn for arthritic hands). But even with that, I empty on my terms (not when the blank tank is suddenly full and won't take the last flush, like in our previous camper). We don't wait in line for the campground dump station, and we don't have to drive around looking for one when boondocking.

I have to agree with @hobo. I also do the cleaning and my wife and I both seem to have no problem "aiming". The only learning curve is figuring out where to sit - and that's different for everyone. Once you figure that out it's easy peasy. 😁

I’ve used a composting toilet in our van for 3 seasons and, while it does take some getting used to, it is possible to avoid mixing pee into the solids bucket. It’s all about positioning. You can “tell” when the pee is coming, and you just lean forward a bit so that it hits the diverter part of the toilet. it’s not absolutely 100%, but then it isn’t strictly necessary to prevent 100% of the pee from entering the compost. A dribble or a drop now and then isn’t the end of the world. It’s what I do, and I’ve never had an issue with smell (the effect of mixing too much urine in your compost bucket).

My daughter has an eleven year old AGM battery in her Subaru, and it still works fine. That doesn’t mean that is anything near normal. She and you have both been very lucky. My Ollie batteries were acting up by the third season, and tango uniform by the middle of the fourth. Two were shorted out, so I tossed those and limped along on the other two until I bought lithiums…. John Davies Spokane WA

Yeah, if you say retail on 600ah of batteries is $6,000 (high these days), and $3,500 for inverter, cables, etc. (also generous), then that’s $9,500 in materials. I wired my whole trailer in less than a week, and could certainly do it again in 30 hours or less, so with what’s left of the total, that would be over $500/hr in labor. Plus profit on the materials. Maybe I should think seriously about getting into the trailer mod business.

Happy Turkey Day....or in our case, Happy Smoked Boston Butt Day.... Seriously, I hope you've all had a wonderful Day of Thanks, with lots of love and friendship around you! mb

Ending a great Thanksgiving day . B0072E80-011F-46B1-A7ED-BC692D004388.MOV

Happy Thanksgiving ya'll 🙂

If you want we should catch up. We will be in Naples prior to Christmas at Collier Seminole state park from there up the west coast to Oscar Shearer state park just north of Venice. From there toward Destin area then Dauphin Island Alabama. Then New Orleans, Austin, Waco, Ft Worth. Then to NM AZ and Utah. Then back on route 66 to OKC. From there 40 to Memphis and Nashville then home by mid to late April. Safe travels!!!

Here is Muncho Lake BC. One easy mod you can do is remove both Exit stickers from the glass, and put a single one above the window opening. That way your eye does not focus on the stickers. I also removed the screen permanently, we never open that window, so that improves the view. John Davies Spokane WA

Tough question that only you can answer for yourself. The only time I've wanted larger windows in my Elite II is when watching a bear, deer, moose, elk walk through my campsite - this would have saved me from having to jump from window to window. Bill

Yes, it sure does. I've personally considered front windows to be problematic (rock chops, etc.). One more thing to worry about. Or rock guards to take on and off. Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! May your turkey be juicy, your stuffing moist, and your Ollie shiny!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

As we sat down to breakfast this morning, 10 wild hen turkeys flew over the back deck! Hope they are having a good safe day too. Happy Thanksgiving especially to those on the road. Bill

Happy Thanksgiving 🦃🍽🍁

Bummed we won't see the packaging! Foy has shipped our order direct to Hohenwald, where I believe Oliver will have it all installed by pick-up on Monday...

We do have automatic insurance coverage for 30 days with our current provider, so I at least know I am covered for the drive home. At a premium! LOL

First class! All the way.

I totally agree! I was amazed at the packaging process. He told me he couldn't find the size boxes he needs so he cuts down other boxes to fit perfectly and the backing materials as well. It felt just like Christmas when my boxes arrived earlier this year.

We have the Ollie insured with Good Sam Insurance, tow vehicle is insured by another company. Colorado Good Sam quote was something like $700/yr. Full Replacement coverage. They tried to sell me insurance for tow vehicle and other vehicles in household but I declined. Something is not adding up with the quote they gave you. I hope you get it sorted. If you live in CO and will register the trailer there, wait til you find out how much the State wants for annual registration. That'll flip your other sock.

Thanks @LongStride and @SeaDawg I will call again on Friday. interesting data point, this quote is also quite a bit lower than that from my current insurance…though not a direct apples to apples comparison (agreed value on the TV vs actual cash value). this will teach me to wait until 4 days before camper pick-up to remember I needed to get insurance quotes. Made even more tight by the holiday.

That would be something new. Our vehicle insurance is with a different company. Unless this is something because if your home state rules, I'd try another call, and see if a different rep has a different answer.

@Mattnan, the Gaylord at Opryland is spectacular at Christmas. They turn the whole resort into a winter wonderland from mid-November on through Christmas. Even if you don't stay there, a lunch visit to one of their (slightly overpriced) restaurants is a great way to tour and see their amazing decorations. It's huge, and the indoor gardens are beautiful, too.

Don’t expect perfection. Your Oliver will be better built than about any other brand trailer out there, but will probably have a glitch or two. Mine did, I posted about it years ago, got it fixed (at Olivers expense) and have been camping trouble free since. Oliver doesn’t censor this forum, it’s all about owners helping owners here. Mike

Some of this is understandable considering the large degree to which they've ramped up production in the past couple of years. New employees to train, altered processes, etc. But it is somewhat concerning. My hope is that the "newbie-camper-due-to-COVID" surge will run down as my production date approaches and the factory will settle into a more comfortable pace and rhythm with a higher degree of QC. But, to be fair, look at all the reports of massive QC failures being reported in the mass-produced RVs of the past 18 months. Still better off buying an Ollie, as far as I can tell.

As I search this forum for technical advice, I keep finding new threads addressing yet more, and recent, production oversights. This one adds another item to the checklist I am preparing for when I take delivery on my Elite II: "Verify that furnace air flow to all vents, including the one in the bathroom, is adequate." While I laud Oliver for sponsoring this forum, and for leaving exposed errors like this one publicly visible, I surely hope Oliver's QC folks bring their "A" game when my Ollie is built......

I received this question as a private message (PM), but am posting it here as others may benefit from the discussion, or wish to weigh in... "Does the inverter automatically shut off when the batteries reach their full charge state? If so how would I know this? Is there any setting that would tell me this? Since our fan keeps running I am thinking in my head that the inverter is still trying to charge the batteries... I am thinking that the inverter is still drawing some power from our batteries when we are disconnected from shore power if that is at all possible. Maybe that is why our batteries are draining so fast with nothing on in the RV?" My understanding (which is very far from complete, and may in fact be flat-out wrong) is that the Xantrex unit really has two components: (1) a charging function and (2) an inverting function. When connected to shore power, the Xantrex unit is on, but its sole function is charging the batteries. The Xantrex unit is not inverting (changing 12V current to 110 volts) because it doesn't need to; the 110V outlets (and A/C, microwave, etc) are powered with shore power. The uppermost "esc" light on the remote panel is lit when the trailer is plugged into shore power and the Xantrex unit is set up to charge. The only way that I know to really "turn off" the Xantrex entirely is to trip the 300A breaker under the streetside bed. When in charge mode (i.e., plugged in to shore power) the Xantrex fan is running while charging. When the batteries are full the fan kicks on for about a minute every 15 minutes or so. When the batteries are full (or as full as you want them to be), you can set the charger ignition control in the Xantrex app to "auto-on" (again, thanks to NCEagle for this tip). In this mode the 110 outlets, the A/C, and the fridge get electricity from shore power, but the Xantrex unit is not charging the batteries. The inverter portion of the Xantrex unit is (or should be) active only when the trailer is not connected to shore power and the inverter is turned on (i.e., the button on the remote inverter panel is pressed in). The "bat" light on the remote panel is lit when the inverter is on. The Xantrex fan may run briefly when the inverter is first turned on (I suppose the fan could also run if the inverter is inverting to meet a large load). If the batteries are draining overnight there is likely another problem. Here are some ideas for troubleshooting the problem: Update the battery firmware to version 1.0.07 if you have not yet done so. In my experience, the SOC is completely unreliable if this is not done. Unreliable SOC might lead you to think there is a drain when there really is not. If updating the firmware, be sure to fully charge the batteries to 14.4 volts afterward to calibrate the SOC. When disconnected from shore power, turn off the solar (by turning off the the knob at the front of the streetside bed upper cabinet), turn off all lights, fans (including the toilet fan), etc., and check to see if there is a load on the batteries by checking the Lithionics app (2 upper right boxes below the SOC). The current and power should both be zero. Then... With updated firmware (and solar off, and no obvious load on the batteries), record the SOC and battery voltage on the Lithionics app. Let the trailer sit overnight and check again. The batteries should have a SOC and voltage very close to where you left it. If not, then... Turn off the inverter by tripping the 300 amp breaker under the streetside bed and letting the trailer sit overnight again. The SOC and battery voltage after a day or so should be the same as when you started the test. If this is the case, then there may be something in the inverter. If this is not the case, then there may be some other phantom load that is drawing down the batteries. (smoke, propane, etc detectors will draw down the batteries some, but it should not be very much over 24 hours). Record the SOC and battery voltage. Turn off each of the 3 batteries (button on top of the battery) and let them sit for a day or so. The SOC and battery voltages should be the same as when you started the test. This should confirm that the problem is not in the batteries. Next, .... Call Oliver. Any suggestions of mine are those of a well-meaning amateur, not to be confused with those of a real professional. They really should be able to help with this stuff; hopefully the results from some of the above-described steps will help them. Good luck!

@JRK: I share most your thoughts. Some more pondering on my part is in order for the below: I am wondering how the brake controllers wires for millions of brake controllers, from the drivers position all the way back to the rear RV axles, are handling the max braking events? None of my many TV's and Trailers I have owned have had mega sized cables as suggested. I suspect this is the case for lots of reasons. In our case, my first one is that the max amp pull of 12 amps (3 amps X 4 brakes) is rarely a long duration continuous load. Secondly, modern brake controllers sense when a vehicle is stopped and back off the power flow to the magnetic coils when stopped, again shortening the duration. As such, maybe these ideas contribute to having used smaller wires for many many decades in millions of TV's. Using commonly used American Wire Gauge Cable/Conductor Sizes and Properties as a guide is not commonly practiced for short runs such as a TV and Ollie. For example, it lists a #12 AWG wire (assumed to be copper) as only carrying 9.3 amps. Where as they are allowed a continuous use rating in residential of 16 amps, and 20 amps intermittently. Hence they are protected by a 20 amp breaker. A #10 conductor is listed with a max current of 15 amps. Yet our Oliver, and about a million other similar trailers use these as 30 amp conductors and breakers. My experience as an engineer suggests that 14 ga would be a sufficient choice. However, your 10 ga would certainly work! Overkill, but it will work great! All that said, when it comes time to replace my brake assemblies, I'll certainly upgrade the wiring, not to 10 ga, but for sure larger than that which Oliver used. And as JD pointed out, it will not be run inside the axle. Finally, and it is a very rare occasion that I have ever suggested taken a JD suggestion even further. But here I go into unchartered regions....., My recommendation is to also run the larger replacement wires through a gray plastic (UV Resistant) conduit (Maybe 3/8") across the back side of the axle. Where the cable inters and exits the pvc, I will heat shrink wrap the cable with a 4" section (2" inside and 2" outside the PVC), and seal both ends of the conduit with a suitable Silicon sealant. These extra precautions are to protect the line from physical road damage, hungry rats. BONUS SUGGESTION: Spray all exposed wired outside the hull (IE under the hull, in the front basket, and for the cables going to the TV) with peppermint oil and water solution. Most wire insulation eating critters (Mostly rats and mice) hate peppermint. It is also useful to spray tires, and jacks to dissuade those critters. I look forward to your and our owners thoughts. Thanks, Geronimo John