Leaderboard

I chose to remove the fuse that feeds that small wire to the 7-blade. That way if I choose to use another trailer with brake away switch and battery, I can easily restore the charging current to the emergency battery on their trailer. Amen. I travel not 250 or 300 miles a day, but 400 to 500 a day when I am on the move. Having a single 12/12-30 amp is more than sufficient. In fact, I don't even come close to needing to charge daily when in "GO" mode. I suggest installing one such unit and verifying your experience is acceptable, then great. If not, add a second later. GJ

Another option...

That is one thing I have never had a problem with. I either don't put it away wet, or if it does have to, I immediately air it out after I get home. Old backpacking habits die hard.

I do the same with the exact same tester. Once I know the plug is wired correctly I plug in and trust the onboard surge protector made by the same company.

Not sure about the experience of others with the Brightway (Chinese made) batteries, but if yours are more than a couple years old and you depend on them for boondocking - you might want to think hard about replacing them sooner rather than later. Ours failed in about three years with very little use, as we mostly camp with FHU. I had difficulty removing the batteries recently, as they had swollen up and wedged themselves into the battery box. These batteries were not high quality - a concern I expressed to Anita when Oliver made the change from Trojan (in 2020 as I recall). This was an expensive upgrade, clearly not worth the cost. We just bought three BattleBorn lithiums and will install them soon. Yes, I know we need to change the converter configuration for the lithium batteries.

If it were me, I would see if Oliver would try order a screen from the supplier. Or I would find out who the supplier is and call them. We like the option of leaving the dinette window/screen slightly open and the rear exit window screen open when camped. We turn the max air fan on low and it just provides a really nice breeze. There likely will be times when you may want both your bed side windows and privacy shades closed due to annoying CG lights, car lights or a neighbor who is afraid of the dark and leaves his porch light on all night. There is no shortage of campers leaving lights on all night. Our privacy shades and screened rear window came in super handy last year during our 6000 mile western trip. Looking back, we used our rear screen window a lot. I like options, options are nice.

Hi Everyone, we just bought hull #1147! We spent the past few weeks cleaning and performing some minor maintenance on this LE2. We just went on a weekend camping trip to Larabee park in Bellingham WA and it is such a nice little camper. Our kids have grown up and left home and this new to us camper is going to be our getaway plan for weekends and vacations! Anyhow we are looking forward to getting to know and learning from you all.

Thanks, Yep, the cup is from Harbor Freight. The 1" pvc was just a left over from a plumbing project. The antenna is from WalMart. Less than $20 bucks for the whole rig and it takes 5~10 minutes to set it up. No drilling, no pixelation and a crystal clear picture! The cup's hold is very secure.

And there is more - That looks like a Harbor Freight suction cup that is holding the antenna to the Ollie. If that is correct then there will be no holes to drill and/or fishing of wires. Great idea both in form and function. Bill

You'll definitely want to check which type of control board you've got in your current converter/charger. We had to buy (approx $65) a new control board for ours because it didn't have the "Li micro switch" - you won't hurt your Li's, but the max charge you'll see without the Li-capable board is about 13.6vDC. After installing the new board - we saw the full 14.4vDC which is indicative of the Li charging profile. No biggie to replace the board - less than 30 minutes; if you even need it as your C/C may have the optional micro switch for the Li charging profile.

Nothing crazy here at all. For my part, I was only questioning two 30A chargers, but you've done your research and know what you want. Please post an upgrade thread along your way so we can learn from it. First time (on this forum) I've read re an alternator upgrade to match, and I commend you for doing this! Even the mighty F250 Super Duty diesel needs an alternator upgrade for two chargers (if not one). Me too, on the not affording to pay a shop to do this work, though some owners lack the knowledge or physical ability (to crawl under trucks!). I did a 420W Solar, 1800W inverter, 315AH AGM batteries, Bogart Engineering solar charger and battery monitor with Wi-Fi setup for $2,360 total in parts, on a Class-C Bigfoot. Labor at an RV shop would have been how much? Up to $10K? Who knows. We're only part of this Oliver family for finding an older hull for sale used, in fair condition at a good price. And so far, I've added $5,000 in parts in 7 months, plus 100-200 hours in "sweat equity!"

I'm glad to hear that the quality of the blower and string trimmer implements are good! While I might get away with using an electric trimmer and blower... I have way too much grass to give up my 60" gasoline mower. The future is certainly coming where more and more of the items we use will be electric instead of fossil fuels.

Good call! I bought 50’ R/50’ B 4AWG for my initial single unit DC-DC 20A, subsequent 40A upgrade, install(s). The length was sufficient for my particular TV and unit install under the rear dinette hatch. Definitely 2AWG with two units.

@Sak Did you ever have it repaired?

Fwiw,,we use a soft car wash brush with a telescoping handle. And, the trusty two step Rubbermaid ladder. i don't know if it will reach your awning, or not.

Jason - Sorry about that - If I had thought for just a minute and/or looked at your signature I would have realized what the "problem" is. Those fancy new awnings sure are nice given how easy they are to deploy, but, that ease of use has a cost. For what its worth - I bet that I've only used my old style awnings a dozen times in the past eight years. Bill

Just to give you some food for thought, here are a few pictures showing where Oliver ran their lines.

I don't know about the height, but I would think the flex on that cap combined with wind going down the highway would tear the antenna off or at least help you remove the AC shroud for easy cleaning when you get to the campground. The best spot is where Oliver mounts theirs permanently behind the AC on the hull.

I just looked at the Brightway website and it's not easy to navigate. I would call their customer service and ask them to send you the spec sheet for your specific battery model. All battery manufacturers have specs sheets with suggested charger configuration. On a side note, why two (2) DC-to-DC chargers? Wanting a higher charge rate? Make sure your TV alternator can handle the load of two chargers, let alone one. That's a lot of money @taylor.coyote! I see parts & labor come to $2000, so $4000 - Yikes! The parts add up to less than $600 total (100 FT 2 AWG cable, one charger, battery terminals (lugs) and misc.). Add another $260 if you really need two chargers. The cable is $215 plus tax: TEMCo INDUSTRIAL WC0180-50' (25' Blk, 25' Red) 2 Gauge AWG Welding Lead & Car Battery Cable Copper Wire Black + RED | Made in USA - Amazon.com This link comes up as 25 FT of red and black each, but you need at least 40 FT each, I'd buy 50 FT red, 50 FT black 2AWG to be safe. With one charger perhaps 4AWG is good, but I would need to see more specs to make a proper cable gauge decision. When purchasing, make sure you get pure copper welding lead. TEMCo is good and if you find cheaper, it is likely not the right cable. You allow the RV Co to make purchasing decisions and you will get the cheapest product they can source. The chargers are $240 plus tax: Amazon.com: Victron Energy Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-Volt 30 amp 360-Watt DC-DC Charger Isolated (Bluetooth) : Automotive "RV shops" are supposed to be experts, but not always true. The wait is often long and they always overcharge. I would figure out your design (good examples to follow on this forum), purchase the components yourself. Then given you will not do the labor yourself, all you really need is a local mechanic. Lots of local "mobile mechanics" that would love to come on your property for this job at a reasonable price! Priced at $4000, with $1000 in parts and say a shop rate of $110/hour, leaves 27 hours in labor. This job is nowhere near 27 hours and keep in mind, they have profit in the parts and labor. If RV shop had standard flat-rate hours as in the automotive industry, this would be somewhere between 8-12 hours, less than half of the quoted $$$. @taylor.coyote, it's good the "cost slowed me down." I'd say, leave that RV shop and drive away as fast as you can! They're wanting $2000 off the top and another $2000 in parts and labor (with considerable profit already in parts & labor).

I’d take a snow day over an extreme heat/high humidity day anytime. That said and given the issue of “payback”, maybe I should go ahead and invest in a snowblower?

The English language is such a wonderful thing! Two entirely different takes on the same wording AND both make sense.🤔 Bill

Riverside Campground, Gila Box Riparian National Preservation Area, Safford, AZ. BLM campground $5/nt. Worth the 3 mile drive in on mostly paved, mostly single lane road.

@gatorewc A really nice write up by your son! Very cool! We just completed a 6000 mile 42 day epic trip out west and are running the 35” Nitto Ridge Grapplers on our 2021 F350 6.7 liter Tremor. I am very pleased with how these tires performed towing our Ollie. I have them balanced and rotated every 5k. Based on your sons write up, I may consider the Nitto Recon Grapplers when it comes time for a new set on the Beast. Thanks for your post!

@bsullivan I use a small cordless drill and drill bit small enough to just remove the top of the rivet head and then push the remaining part of the rivet shaft up into the hole with a small awl or finish nail if you don’t have a tiny awl. You cannot drill the rivet out as it will spin in the hole. The extra rivets should come with your new touch lights if you order them from Oliver. Note: makes sure when you remove all (3) rivets and the light drops down from its mounted location that you cut the wiring as close as possible to the old light. This will give you plenty of extra wire to work with when installing your new TL. If you need further guidance send me a PM and I call you and be glad to help walk you through it. You need - 3 new TL, a small drill, a small drill bit, electrical tape, shrink tubing, a lighter to heat the shrink tubing, wire strippers, and patients. Take your time, you can do it!👍🏻 Patriot🇺🇸

Not sure but I do know there will be one site empty the whole time as we now can’t use our reservation and they are unfortunately non refundable nor changeable they tell me. Would love to see another Ollie owner be able to be there but the City has been very firm on no changes with me anyways.