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@Patriot finally got around to looking a my cables used to parallel the batteries. They are 4/0 and 12 inches eye to eye, I do agree with @jd1923 though that waiting until batteries are installed are probably best option. From the day I placed my orders I had the cables in hand 2 days later. This is a pic of my install, i chose to center each battery on existing tie down straps using 3/4 pvc sheet I had left over from previous project as a spacer. On the sides of the batteries on long length of battery compartment I used strips cut from a cheap Walmart cutting board so everything fit tight.

The reason they are installed is that Oliver's main frame is Aluminum, but the axles are mounted with a reinforced steel frame. Where those two metals meet there could be corrosion unless some other "sacrificial" item is added touching both steel and aluminum. Due to electrolysis, the zincs dissolve away and will look ratty and crumbled so you see it when it's time to replace them. That can take a very long time on the Oliver hull unless you are driving in wet/salty conditions. (Like maybe 10 years or more.) They are available at most boating supply stores or online as "round sacrificial zinc". $3 each. The factory service center also has them in stock and can mail you them if needed. The round ones shown are often used on outboard motors which are in salt water and fresh water...thus available at marine suppliers. Take a look at the 1:35 mark in this video on the chassis construction to see the actual installed anode. Hope that helps. CS

Gary, I will be at the rally and would be glad to give you a hand getting the new batteries hooked up at no charge. Would be helpful to determine whether you have the Xantrex inverter only or inverter / charger. If unsure post a picture and could help you identify. Also a pic of your current battery layout with good clear images of your current existing cables and connections.

Gary, To help you get a range let's think of it like this: Option 1: Factory Upgrade: $10K + If you upgrade at the factory you can get an accurate quote by contacting service via email. My guess is around $10K to add 3 Lithionics batteries and a new 3000 Xantrex Inv/Charger. One reason for the high price is uprading to a new 3000 Xantrex Inverter Charger would also likely have them change around some wiring in your trailer to enable it to run your AC off of your new batteries. The other thing you discussed was a fridge replacement with a compressor fridge. Those are a very time consuming upgrade and costly. A real quote for time and cost can be had via email to Oliver Service. Option 2: Self Upgrade with help from friends: $1-2K About the lowest cost would be to drop in (1) Epoch Essentials 300AH Heated with Bluetooth battery for $999 (SKU: 12300A-H) and charge it with the existing charging circuits. You would likely be able to reuse all the big battery cables you have now. If you dropped in 2 (about $2K including cables) then you would have 600AH capacity about 3x what you have now...and that would enable you to switch to a new fridge. Hope that helps. Craig

I have a tractor with a front loader bucket so I was thinking of sliding the old 6V batteries from the storage compartment onto the tractor bucket at the same height and getting the new ones on that way. If all else fails then get a neighbor.

In my case I also added solar and a battery shunt. Since I was already doing the wiring I added a positive bus bar under dinette and negative under street side bed to move the 6 ga wires out of the battery compartment. Not a hard job but takes a little more planning and wiring of course.

Option 3: I mentioned before re a local solar company that works with Xantrex or better would be Victron. I spent about $3400 (parts, no labor) for the Victron 3KVA Multiplus II and two 300AH Epoch Essentials with new wiring, buses, etc. I spent MANY HOURS getting this all installed (and so has craig on all of his mods). Batteries are easy, new larger inverter is a custom install building a shelf, an overhaul of battery and 120VAC wiring, and more. Gary @Teaney Hull 292 you live in Tampa. There must be 100 custom solar installers and marine shops that work with Victron. Any local option would be better than OTT and OTT is very likely already book before, during and after the national rally.

My ground is about a 1 1/2 feet (2 max) to the truck frame from the Andersen connector.

I crimped the ends. First picture was as delivered, second was after crimping the burner ends. Took 5 minutes. I'll add another picture when I TIG spot weld them.

He's still happy with the hardware, but firmware and app are problematic in v2, sadly. I subscribe to his YouTube channel and forum. You may want to look there, too. I hope Epoch gets it sorted out. They used to be Will's favorite (and ours has been great.)

Is it a coincidence that @johnwen and I are the only two installations that grounded to frame vs. another 20 ft cable to reach the battery B- terminal? 🤣 I got 30A when set to 30 and 40A at idle when set to 50. We'll see later how much of 50A I get when we pull out again and get to highway speeds.

You may get some takers! I would, but I have a conflict and cannot make the Rally. 🙁 And btw, you don't have to reconfigure both chargers on day 1 of your new battery installation. You will want to to optimize charging to the manufacture's spec, but charging on LA or AGM specs will not hurt LiFePO4 batteries in the short-term.

Found a brand new burner assembly from a "cosmetically damaged" AquaGo on eBay and bought it for $200. One goal was to see what is involved in removing said assembly, since we do not have access to a service manual. I also wanted to see what was required to crimp the ends of the intermediate burners. Having done that now, I will also put a small TIG weld bead at the ends to make sure there is never any movement. Still have not heard back from Truma to schedule a replacement unit, but now that I've seen what is involved in replacing the burner, I'm not going to bother. I'll wait for Oliver to get to me in their recall queue, but I'll have a burner that I am comfortable with already installed.

Wow, what’s a great job laying all the info out. I’m starting to realize doing this myself is way over my pay grade. Do you know if there any Oliver Owners who may be attending the rally that I could pay to do this, if I bought all the parts? I am a GREAT helper in times like this. Or, will the Mothership do this, or do I have to use all their parts. If so, do you know what they have charged in the past?

Back in 2020 Battleborn was a favored alternative. They have good product quality and many loyal followers. Over the last few years, they market their quality position hard but have not reduced prices relative to other manufacturers. Want an inexpensive solution, what Ron showed above is great (nice installation also)! The 460AH of LiTime batteries should cost about $900 about the list price of only one 100AH Battleborn. If I remember correctly, Bill @topgun2 did a similar install more recently. A 300AH Epoch Essential battery lists for $999 (sorry last week it pwas 15% OFF). On sale, you'd need to spend $2,250 in Battleborn batteries (and a lot more space) to get the same 300AH. https://battlebornbatteries.com/shop/applications/towable-rv/

@Imelda If you decide to replae the btteries yourself, make sure you cover the solar collectors so they are not sending power down to the battery compartment. Also take a picture of the existing battery cable placements so you can hook up new similiar batteries (if you chose) the same way.

I assume in 2018 model, your xantrex is the INVERTER only function, and for 12V charging you're using the internal progressive dynamics charger (under the dinette seat). Some folks with the Progressive Dynamics charger see a jumper switch for charging lithium. The issue with that setting is it's not the "best" way to charge lithiums as it's simply a constant 14.6V voltage...not a ramped profile. The WIZ setting is a PROFILE for AGM or LEAD Acid. The LI Setting is just 14.6V (no ramp/no profile). Some battery manufacturers (including Lithionics) won't warrant their battery in presence of the constant 14.6V no profile setting. Whichever battery manufacturer you select, LI Time, Epoch, etc....be sure to check what they need as a charging profile. If a constant 14.6V works for them, then you might be able to a drop in maintaining your existing Inverter and existing charging system. I know that battle born did warranty their batteries with the Progressive Dynamics chargers. Also, there are new "Lithium compatible" plug in boards for progressive dynamics that now offer a lithium profile wizard. So just upgrading the charging board in your Progressive Dynamics energy center is a possibility. In our case (2019 model) we swapped out the Xantrex 2000W Inverter (only) for a newer Xantrex 2000 inverter charger before installing new Lithiums. My full upgrade article is here. This may be too much of an effort for what you want to accomplish. https://4-ever-hitched.com/ggs-blog/f/lithium-battery-upgrade?blogcategory=Electrical+Upgrades

We replaced our 4 AGM 6V batteries with two Battle Born 12V 100aH lithiums in 2020. We had the configuration for over a year with no issues, we’re about 50% dry camping. We did add a third Battle Born when they went on sale. 300aH of lithium has been plenty. Mike

Hi Gary, I would also add that you'd probably be better off buying 2 batteries instead of 4. Less complexity with cabling/connections and larger batteries usually have a better BMS.

Gary, I have not heard of anybody buying this brand on this forum. Epoch and LiTime are go-to brands. LiTime is also on Amazon. Found these listed on Amazon and these are LiFePO4 batteries. Besides battery replacement, you may need batteries cables or new ends/lugs. You would also need to reprogram your solar charger and perhaps replace the main charger connected to shore power, given age of hull could be an inexpensive Progressive Dynamics charger. If instead your Xantrex is an inverter/charger then program that instead. it is a bit of Work. OTT would charge a lot for this. Given your FL location you likely have many solar companies in the neighborhood who could do this work. Easy would be to replace with same size and quantity AGM batteries, nothing else required, but we are all moving to liFePO4 batteries!

Wow, $55 or more! I have more tools than most, except for @ScubaRx of course! Two issues I see with this tool. First, you're not understanding the underlying cause, i.e. why is the Zerk stuck? Like Steve noted, the wet bolts are likely misaligned. Second, I would say half of the Zerks in the Oliver and ALL the other vehicles we have, there is no way in the world you have a straight-line shot to the Zerk where you could get this device and a hammer behind it. It just will not fit in too many cases. I did buy the suggested DeWalt power grease gun though, and it has been a blessing to the old body!

Thanks @jd1923. Really helpful. I placed my order today for the two Essential 300aH batteries. I have the Blue Seas switch ordered from Amazon. This evening I disconnected, capped and taped the black charging wire from my 7-pin lead under the bathroom vanity. Once the delivieries show up, I'll start pulling apart my AGM set up and hope things go smoothly 🙂 Thanks for taking time to think about my questions and replying with your help and advice!

The hydraulic crimping tool cost me $35 off eBay and I’ve used it for dozens of projects other than making 4/0 cables.

I would NOT suggest using measurements from other installations. Each OEM installation is different and each new installation is different. Measure your specific needs. I noticed in one installation, the same two Epoch 300s that I purchased but in that installation they put the batteries with posts on opposite sides, which required longer cables. I put the terminal sides of the batteries both on the right side. I added a 2x4 in-between the two batteries. The Epoch 300s are 7.6" wide and with the 2x4 made the terminals 9.1" apart. My OEM installation included 2 shorty cables that I gave to the guy that bought my LA batteries AND two cables were just under a foot, long enough to reuse. I cleaned them up and applied new heat shrink and did not have to buy any new 4/0 cable for my battery installation. Before and after pics below. You can barely see the original red cable I reused which is far right off the picture. The black one I reused is shown on the left. I the new installation they actually fit better, less arced. I also added a picture of my tray design. The wood 2x4s made it easy. Notice the rubber toolbox liner underneath. I also used the same rubber to surround each battery so that the batteries would not rub on the wood.

Good thought to buy now. This sale will likely repeat, but most often it is 10% OFF. I have worked a complete upgrade of our Oliver to Victron but will keep this simple. Two 300AH Epoch Essentials fit nicely fit (see pic). Only one 460AH will fit so upgrade possibilities are limited. Unless you're ever considering an inverter upgrade to run A/C for a few hours on inverter, you are correct in thinking 460AH is all you need and double the usable AH in what you have presently in lead acid batteries. All you need to do is: 1) Install the new batteries in the battery bay. A cut-off switch is preferred by some who park their Oliver in covered storage. I prefer to not add extra connections. I go without and merely remove the negative battery cable when necessary. 2) You need to reconfigure (software setup) both your Xantrex and Zamp SC for LiFePO4 batteries. This is usually simple yet tedious. There are others here who have done so. I have not owned either product but worked the same for our Victron and Blue Sky chargers. 3) I was not aware that the "460aH V2 battery comes with a nice wired remote state-of-charge display monitor." My Epoch Essentials 300AH batteries did not. I can see battery State-of-Charge (SOC) % and +/- Amp usage in both my Victron and Epoch Bluetooth Apps. I use no displays, so nothing is installed into the walls of our inner hull. Hope this helps! Best wishes, JD

I’ll be watching this thread as well. We have whatever the “default” batteries were being supplied in 2022 (“BriteStar” I think is the name) as well as whatever they were supplying as a charger. No solar here - though may do a “suitcase” down the road.