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Big Cat, Be sure to follow up with Andrew K.. He helped me and has solved all the issues. He is an excellent resource.

I live in Ft. Worth, Texas and the Ford dealers lots are filling up with full-size trucks for sale and they are not selling, I know I've been looking at them. I can also say, Ford has pretty much screwed themselves when it comes to there customers, many have over paid well over List Price and there values are not there today, these customers will be lucky to be able to trade in five years, if lucky. Both Ford and GM are shutting down some plants as dealer lots are stocking up, I would personally not buy at this time as I see dealers will get desperate and prices will come down and manufactures will bring back the incentives. Texas sells more pickups then any place else and when dealers have units for sale that should tell you something. trainman

On trailers built with lithium batteries, the charging wire from the truck is not attached. The alternator in the trucks do not produce the amperage needed to sufficiently supply the needs of the vehicle and have enough to charge the batteries at the same time. Attaching this wire will make the alternator run at full capacity all the time and would most likely cause the alternator to fail. Additionally, the wiring would need to be sized at 2/0 to carry 150 amps from the alternator to the batteries. The are other ways to accomplish this, but they have been covered previously.

Could be a faulty switch. Pull up the mat in the cabinet above the light. Apply 12 volts directly to the wires on the light to eliminate a bad light.

You previously mentioned that your TV will also be your daily driver. That is a critical factor in your TV selection process. Determining your likely annual mileage for daily and for tow use is an important first step. Looking at the extremes, if you will be only towing 10% then having a great daily driver that also tows a fully loaded OE2 well makes sense. But if you are towing say 90% then you likely would want a TV with high tow ratings and less nice daily driving experience. My Texas family has for 40 years had a stable of 1/2, 3/4 and 1 ton trucks all from the same mfg. If I am driving and not hauling or towing, I always take one of the 1/2 ton trucks for a lot of reasons. So I would kindly submit that there are significant differences in not only the "size and footprint" that the higher tow rated truck classes entail. I used to believe that they were about the same "size and footprint" until one day my brother made me park mine next to one of his. It became very obvious to me that my very capable half ton "Beast" is substantially different from his "Monster". But, if I were towing a 7,000 (or higher) pound trailer, for our uses, I would take the larger truck. But for 6,000 class loads or daily driving, a well equipped and capable 1/2 ton does the job just fine for our uses. But there are other considerations that likely need to be considered when moving up to a higher class of TV: They do not handle as well. The ride quality for daily driving certainly is not as good. The MPG for daily and in most cases towing is not as good. The cost to buy, operate, maintain, and repair are certainly more expensive. The fun factor to drive is not as good. Finding a place to park is harder. If you will need the higher payload, a 3/4 ton would be the path forward. Not nearly as good a daily driver than a half ton unless you are hauling a lot of stuff every day. The full one ton series can be a daily driver, but most would not like for many reasons. For some those with high payload needs and towing an OE2, the 3/4 ton is advantageous. I recommend you look up the April issue of Consumer Reports to see the reliability ratings of each model you are considering. I personally shy away from buying any model they rate with a poor maintenance/reliability record. Or a first or second year truck after a major model year change. If mountain towing in in your future, I recommend you google the TFL series of "Ike Gauntlet tests. If you are planning on being a flat land camper, then their 100 mile out and back test is beneficial. If doing both, take both into consideration. Then further narrow the field by going to dealerships and test driving their products. Settle on a manufacturer you think best suits your needs and likes. Then rent or borrow your top picks for a weekend and do some serious seat of the pants driving. Not just a dealer test drive on a road they pick. Take each on at least a 100 mile trip and you'll have a better understanding. Finally, I recommend that you buy what you need. GJ

In principle, this fact concerned me. Like many others accustomed to having lead/acid batteries recharged by the tow vehicle alternator, I was concerned that the three 130Ah Lithionics G31 batteries included with our 2022 Elite II would get discharged during long driving days (when we run the absorption fridge on DC power), even though we have 380 watts of solar on the roof. So, I determined to follow John Davies' excellent posts referenced above and install a Redarc DC to DC charger IF our lithium battery state of charge seems low after long driving days. In actual practice, I am not yet concerned enough to invest the time and $$$$ in a DC to DC charger. We drove our Hull #1291 from Hohenwald back to central Idaho in the middle of last November. Some days were overcast. The daytime temps were consistently above freezing, and all night time temps were below freezing. We ran our absorption fridge on DC power while on the road, but switched to propane at night. Our battery state of charge never got below 85%, even on cloudy days, and quickly recovered to 100% once reconnected to shore power at a campsite. But, the DC power draw from the fridge during those cold temps, with the trailer cabin unheated during the day, was doubtless minimal. I plan to gather more data as we travel with Hull #1291 this spring and summer. An uncooled cabin may get pretty warm when on the road on hot summer days, requiring much greater DC power draw to keep the fridge at set temps. That should better inform the DC to DC charger decision.

For anyone looking to buy a new Ford truck, that don’t have access to one of Ford’s X, A, etc. plan discounts, I don’t think you can do any better price-wise than ordering a new truck from Granger Ford in Iowa. I haven’t kept up with them recently, but they had been selling new Fords at 3% below dealer cost - basically the same price as Ford’s employees get. I believe you could fly there and they’d even pick you up at the airport, and then drive home in your new truck. I don’t have any affiliation with Granger, and have never dealt with them, but I’ve seen many, many excellent reviews of them on Ford truck forums.

Switches get wonky sometimes and flipping them on and off a few times sometimes does the trick. They’re easy to replace. If the wires at the switch are firmly attached, I’d just replace it.

Everything else works. I went back out and flipped 5he switch a couple Tim’s and the lights came on. Now I wonder if I have a loose connection in the switch. But right now the lights work. Thank you

Big Cat, Message me with your email address and I will send you a list of items I used and the installation instructions I followed for two 170-watt panels. I can send you pictures as well, if you would like. This should get you at least 85% there. Andrew

Here's a page from the Super Duty Tremor Forum with links to conversations with Zach at Granger Ford. He and Granger are very up front with their pricing and policies and many have bought from them on the Tremor Forum with nothing but praise for the outstanding service Granger offers. This applies to many of the vehicles Granger offers. In today's market this is a great place to work a deal. https://www.fordtremor.com/threads/welcome-granger-ford-as-a-sponsor-of-fordtremor-com.6551/

I was concerned that there was no charge from our truck, especially since we run the fridge on 12v when traveling. However, we've found that the solar panels usually do a good job keeping up while on the road.

Thanks John, Great info. I need to study your post.

Welcome to the forum. It would be really nice if that would work, but as mentioned above, there is a some risk and significant material and labor costs…. You can look in your truck owners manual and see what size fuse is installed in that trailer charge wire. On my Land Cruiser it is 40 amps, meaning the circuit is safe with perhaps 30 amps continuous, at the most. I think the 7 pin socket could melt from that much constant current, especially when combined with dirty contacts. A separate heavier gauge power and ground set using “self cleaning” Anderson Power Pole contacts would be a lot safer. A DC to DC converter mounted inside the Ollie is the simplest way, plus when you resell, it adds to its value to the buyer. (Your altered truck won’t have any extra resale value.) My small Redarc unit has proved to be excellent, going though the 7 pin contacts, but it outputs 11 amps DC and it is only supplying 200 AH batteries. Your larger bank should probably get a 30 amp unit. With a “smart” alternator you will have to run a new small gauge wire to your engine bay, that acts to switch on and off the DC to DC converter in the trailer. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/5270-how-to-redarc-dc-to-dc-11-amp-output-trailer-charger-installation/ If you haven’t seen this before, read and study this doc: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6629-how-to-find-happiness-with-lifepo4-lithium-ion-batteries-solacity-article/ John Davies Spokane WA

To charge your lithium batteries you’ll need a dc-dc converter like this 30 amp unit. Run some 6 gauge wire for the truck and trailer. To get anywhere close to 150 amps you’ll need to use massively larger wire and multiple charge controllers/converters wired in parallel along with your mention 440 amp alternator(s).

Mike and Carol. That’s what happened. They flickered first. Now seem to be working fine

Thank-you very much for the response.

I have heard of dust fouling the contacts on those switches as well. If it were my Elite II, I would pull the switch cover off to evaluate how clean those contacts are. If you do this, please report what you find, so others (like me) who have that same switch panel can learn from your experience.

I'd repeat @Katjo, is everything else working ?

You definitely don’t want to be caught driving in an ice storm, no fun!

We seem to get the ice storms in southern Ohio a few times in the winter. Good - beautiful scenery ... Bad - loss of power, horrible driving conditions

I really like the fuel economy of several diesel TV available. Also like the diesel lower RPM needed to reach maximum engine torque for towing. For us selecting a TV to be a daily driver, good overall fuel economy, and tow/load capacity to haul camping gear while towing Ollie. With the new breed of smaller displacement turbo charged gas engines, found the new Tundra 3.5L twin turbo engine to deliver good fuel economy unloaded and after several miles of testing getting over 15MPG towing Ollie in eastern US after finding the sweet spot for gear/RPM/MPG combination with cruise control on. Not as good of MPG as many diesels, but good gas engine low RPM torque performance reaching maximum torque at 2400RPM. Used CAT scales to find our 1/2 ton TV curb weight after installing accessories. I did not document accessory weights during installation. Installed side rails, folding hard bed cover, bed mat, mud guards, and Timbren SES rear suspension kit. Weighed TV with all contents/cargo removed, accessories installed, full 32 gallon fuel tank, and no occupants. Subtracted Curb weight from TV GVW to learn payload capacity. Calculating your truck's maximum payload and towing capacity: https://www.readingtruck.com/calculating-your-trucks-maximum-payload-and-towing-capacity Edit: I'm off topic again. Retired from the railroad, never met an unhappy steam or diesel Locomotive Engineer. 🚂

Sorry, didn't see this before my last post.

This math doesn't seem right. I am not a Canyon owner, but I looked up the rated payload of the 2022 diesel version and it was stated (Car and Driver) as 1605 lbs. There should be a sticker (probably on the driver's door jamb) that states the actual payload rating for your vehicle. Remember to subtract the weight of any permanent accessories (such as tonneau cover) that you may have added. Using your figures of 580 lbs tongue weight and 330 lbs for people, this leaves 695 lbs of payload at the 1605 rating. The towing capacity and payload numbers are not directly related.

I think the "issue" being raised (and it's a valid issue) is that as Bill is doing his weight calculations and assumed safety margins, he is mixing up towing capacity and payload capacity. They are not the same thing. He has mentioned the towing capacity rating of 7,700 lbs. but then is using that number to calculate how much load he can put IN the truck instead of using the cargo/payload number from the truck door jamb sticker.

If you have a Xantrex unit, there are two things going on in there. The Inverter converts battery power to household current to run your outlets when you're not connected to shore power. That's what the round button on the Xantrex panel turns off/on. BUT... the Xantrex also has a Converter that converts shore power to 12 volts to charge your batteries. That will be on whenever you connect to shore power and is probably what's powering your 12v lights if you're plugged into shore power now and your batteries and solar are off. If the blue buttons on your lithium batteries are off nothing external can drain them. However, if you have the Platinum Package, those batteries contain internal heaters that could drain them. You should definitely check your Lithionics manual for the correct storage procedures for your specific batteries. Not sure what you turned off under the bed...

Engineer's wife says you never stop, just temporarily suspend . Have a great time. Camping experiences have been some of the best, in our lives . Usually, no engineering required. Just time to have fun.

Our 2019 Tundra with 5.7L V8 and towing package is adequate for towing our Elite II. But IMHO, it is not optimal, like a 3/4 or 1-ton gasser truck could be. We will not find out until prices for heavy-duty trucks (hopefully) settle back down in a couple of years from today's obscenely-high price levels. We get between 8 and 9 MPG when towing the Elite II with regular gas. Not optimal, but for now, a sensible trade-off.

Of course! Retired 13 years, and already stopped using my engineering brain... Thanks!

Cancellations happen. We cancelled our order for a new Ollie2 in 2021 after finding a 2020 for sale near us. Oliver was quick to send us the refundable portion of the required purchase down-payment. That says a lot about the good people at Oliver 😉. Charlie.

[Note a version of this was originally posted in the Oliver Trailer Owners Facebook group - wanted to share it here as well.] Quick tip: if you fill your fresh tank and then can’t get the pump to pull you can break the suction lock by hooking up to the boondocking port and running water through the pump into the tank. Full details below. Thanks to the authors of several threads that I can't find for the life of me again that suggested the cup fill, city water, and the boondock method that ultimately worked for me. If I can ever find those posts again, I will properly credit them. Full details Picked up Reset LE I Hull 1030 today after first year service at the mothership. Staying tonight at the campground, and since it’s predicted to be 20F overnight did not want to leave a hose out to freeze. So, I put a half load in the fresh tank for onboard water needs. I know the pump was working at drop off since we did a Harvest Host night on the way out and all worked fine. After filling the fresh tank, I started the pump and it ran - but ran continuously. No water flow at the kitchen or bathroom sinks. Based on posts in this forum I checked filter screen for plastic chips. While there were a few in there it was not enough to block flow completely. I also used the trick of filling the filter screen cup with water to try to get it to prime. No joy. Of course, service is gone for the weekend at this point, so we are alone on the campground trying to figure out what to do. Searching the forums turns up the suggestion to fill the city water side then switch to tanks. Did that and did not get the pump to prime after switching back to the fresh tank. Finally came across the idea for breaking a vacuum lock through the boondocking port. Hooked up the campground water to the boondock port with valves in boondock configuration. I turned on the water and ran the pump for about 5 seconds while I could hear the tank filling from the boondock port. Turned off the water to the boondock port and reconfigured the valves to normal and started the pump. Got pressure and flow immediately. Success and no frozen hoses overnight.

I’ve got a couple of switches that either don’t come on sometimes or flicker. I turn the on/off a few times and they work. One of these days I’ll just replace them. Mike