Leaderboard

During the hot weather this summer, our Norcold refrigerator was also struggling to keep cold while on propane. The fridge fan could not remove enough heat for it to work properly, so it was time to install more cooling fans! I ordered the $75 Beech Lane fans based on the positive reviews, but there was no way they would fit in my Norcold’s lower vent area as intended. They could fit in the upper vent with modified mounting brackets and reversed air flow, but why pay for something that didn’t fit as designed. In addition to fitment issues, I didn’t like the control box being mounted outside behind the vent cover where the blue LEDs can be seen glowing. I wanted the ability to turn the fans off, but the control box didn’t remember the last setting when the power is switched off, and I didn’t want to be opening the vent cover to reset it. These are multi speed fans with 3 wires so switching the fan wire wasn’t a good option either. I returned the Beech Lane fans and bought 2 similar (water resistant) fans and a Normally Open 500c (1220f) thermo switch for lots cheaper. I made a rectangular frame of 1/2” aluminum angle bar for the fans, and installed them in the upper vent. Because the upper vent has an angled back, I used long deck screws with short PEX pipe standoffs on the bottom screws to keep the fans mounted vertically. The Beech Lane fans would have to be mounted the same way if I had kept them. The fans are powered from a new switch in the master panel and it’s in series with the thermo switch so they will only work when the switch is on, and the temperature is above 1220. I used a laser thermometer on the condenser fins when the refrigerator was operating on propane. The temperatures were significantly higher on the right side above the flame chamber, and they got progressively cooler towards the left side. So I hung the temperature switch between the condenser fins just right of center. It can easily be moved left to cooler fins if the fans are running too often. I installed a terminal block as a centralized connection point for all the wires, but they could be spliced together in any manner of ways. “Y” spade adapters worked well to connect to the refrigerators existing dc power terminal via a 5 amp fuse. The fans use less than 1 amp combined. The microwave was removed (six screws) to get wires up to the new switch on the switch panel. The tension jack to hold the microwave in place has to be loosened too, it’s accessed through the round marine hatch behind the switches. Just takes a couple of minutes to take it out. We have been testing the fans in 100 degree weather for the past week, and they've been working great! I hope someone finds this useful! Cheers! Geoff

Good job @Snackchaser! I somehow got my Beech Lane fans to fit, but had to modify the mounting bracket, as you mentioned. I really like your use of a terminal block and spade adapters for the additional power leads. If not already, consider installing the Beech Lane Evaporator Fin Fan for even more cooling efficiency!

Totally agree and apologize for my part in adding to any of that "tone"... Tried to help, as others had, (and definitely for longer than I should have), but outwardly blaming Oliver and the prior owner for the problem pushed me over the edge. Would be nice if the moderators could delete all associated threads as there's absolutely nothing to be gained by spending time reading them.

Four pages of mostly nonsensical diatribes. Plenty of help offered. “I’ll tell you what the fix was. Maybe. Someday. If I feel like it”. Can’t believe I even bothered to read most of this and offer advice.

Nice work Geoff, as always. Your aluminum frame is a very well crafted! I did mine last summer. I have the control panel in the cabinet above the microwave and we switch it on most hot afternoons. Beech Lane makes a good fan and it moves a lot of heat out from behind the fridge. I purchased a second fan that cools the basement area where I installed our Victron MP2 inverter-charger. Not near as much heat down there, but use it on occasion.

Again - wow. Just wow.

Hey Geoff, yes, that's what I suspected, and the notion it was coming from the panel was confirmed when I pulled the cable off the back of the panel and the V went to zero. Oddly the LED did not illuminate when I removed the fuse, unlike with the other fuses I tried. Thanks everyone, this forum rocks! Tim

Tim, The "blown fuse" LED indicators in the Oliver's dc panel will create a voltage even with the fuse pulled. This is mere milliamps, not a hazard, but a multi meter will pick it up. Cheers! Geoff

I turn the FWT valve to empty as I drive from the campground dump station. I figure that it's mostly empty by the time we get home. It probably gets a bit of sloshing around as it empties. John

From Seal Beach to Pinnacles NP, Yosemite NP, Crater Lake and then to Theodore Roosevelt NP. 9500 miles and the Ollie tagged along perfectly. Our longest trip and it was great. Stopped by the headwaters of the Mississippi and then 3 nights at Smokemont in the Smokies where I first started camping as a kid in the 60’s.

The tone of these two threads is radically different than most of this board. I'm neither mechanic nor eager DIYer. Just a spectator on most of those kinds of conversations. Which I typically find interesting. Not so much this one. On some chat boards I have participated in there was a way to give plusses and minuses to threads. I don't know if we have that feature here. If we did, I would be publicly advising others to just read something else.

That's a reasonable question, from a scientific perspective, I suppose. But, even if the answer is a hard NO, it's not likely to sway the argument in my household. 🤣 Our concern is more about taste (and maybe a bit of a YUK factor?). I can imagine us using the fresh tank for drinking only if there is some post-tank purification (like a fancy filter or RO or whatever). So far, I haven't come up with a practical way to pull that off.

I like cold water too to drink so I freeze ice cubes in the freezer and pop out a few in my glass then add the room temperature water from our jugs. I will pop out the rest of the ice cubes and put them in a quart freezer bag. I then make more ice for later. It's worked for me. Jihn

No drinking or cooking from on board water tank. Wont even use it for filling pet water dishes.

😄….🤷‍♂️

After FOUR DAYS +/- in 105+ Nevada... Clear Skies, Sunshine and Lollypops... Nancy and I, armed with Wire and Connectors, rewired, secured the wires of the entire Brake System. The Brakes were so NEW we dropped the Manual Gain to a FIVE. Hooked up the F350 and instantly had BRAKES and could adjust the Gain. Probably going to be a 5 or 6. Nancy said they were doing well at... 5. The Oliver Elite II braking issue obviously was missed at the check out in 2019, when purchased by the owner who sold me the Oliver Elite II. If anyone wants to GUESS WHAT FINISHED THE BRAKING MYSTERY... toss your idea out and I will Nah or Yeah. After a few days... I will Spill the Beans... OK? Mike Neal at Neal's RV Center in Orem, Utah had an email waiting for us, after we tested the F350 and Brake System. Oliver Inc and Neal's RV Center were very helpful. Neal... tossed out the FIX that we had already finished today. Those who had contacted us about purchasing know how to contact Nancy and I. She can explain everything... inside and outside. As someone had said "Get the Brakes Working and raise the price $5,000. Hmmm. I will think about that... Once you have gone through an entire Brake Wiring Project... I know how to lay on my back and move around, using my Elbows. To celebrate. We are going to Railroad Pass Casino just outside Boulder City, Nevada where we live. Get a cold Beer for each of us and play some 5 cent Video Poker. 🙂

Beautiful campsite at Joshua Tree. On the way to California leaving from Palmetto Ga. Spent 2 nights heading to Seal Beach CA to meet the kids and grandkids for a week of R & R.

Theodore R NP site 21 in Cottonwood

New Starter. Diagnostic port code P06E9. Real hot weather (SW USA camping trips) reported as additional P06E9 performance impact in powertrain control module.

The USER MANUAL states “ Remove the vent panel behind your refrigerator to make it easier to install.” It doesn’t really specify whether said vent panel is the ‘lower’ or ‘upper’, in that the fans can be oriented to either ‘push’ or ‘pull’, respectively. Specific to the Oliver (models having a lower and upper vent), the upper vent installation makes more sense; whereby ambient air is further drawn in the lower vent and hot air generated by the absorption fridge is forced (pulled) out the upper vent by the fans. Reason being, a lower vent installation may adversely affect the heat source (flame, if operating on propane), and pull in moisture if raining and/or excessive dust and debris. An upper vent installation is more likely to lessen these concerns.

We’ve always drank the water from the fresh tank. A properly sanitized RV fresh tank is no different than any other plastic container that is used to carry and store water. But then again I drank from garden hoses, hand pumps on old farm wells and public water fountains and even artesian springs in many locations without a worry our ill experience most of my life. Unfiltered well water was all I knew until I was an adult. We use a Costco pitcher filter these days for consistent flavor in our morning coffee or tea.

Beech Lane attaches labels to both sides! Look at the two photos I attached, and Ron's, and note the side where the wires are showing which is the exhaust side. When you look at the my first picture and Ron's you see the wires and the fan bracketing (the exhaust side). My second picture show just the fan blades, with wiring and frame on the back side. I did not realize these were "designed to be in the lower cabinet." I must have missed that as I'm not one to carefully read instructions vs. just start installing parts! 🤣 My thought when installing was exactly what Ron stated here. I also tried the additional interior fridge fan that Ron suggested, but returned that one as I could not measure fridge interior temperature improvement, it took valuable fridge space and you could hear the fan when sitting at the dinette. Geoff ended up with a superior installation with his great knowledge of wiring sensors and switches. The Beech Lane control box, although I installed it in the interior cabinet above the microwave where the LEDs are not visible, you still have to reach in there every time you turn the fan switch giving it power. Correct it will not remember a previous setting when last powered on. I do not use its temp sensing function, even though it's wired for that. When camped on a hot afternoon, I will turn the panel switch on and then the fan to 50% speed on the control box (the lowest speed setting) and generally I hear the fan running after dinner or before bed and with the panel switch turning it off is easy! It appears in Geoff's installation the fan is powered by temp sensor where ON/OFF is automated! 😂 I was able to feed wires without removing the microwave which is a bit of a trick! DC power is located through the bottom vent and it's easy to feed new wires to the upper vent. Then I poked through the upper insulation with an electrician's steel fish-tape to push new wires to the panel switch. With a curved section of fish-tape I was able to follow the curve of the hull up into the cabinet above the microwave for the fan control.

Yes I do. After sanitizing the water system before this year's walkabout, I used a hospital-grade water filter, the Ultra Mini, by Clearsource and filed and emptied the tank three times to remove any residual taste from the sanitizing process. We've been on the road for almost three months now and every drop of water that goes into the tank first goes through the Ultra Mini filter, which removes tiny bacteria, like Giardia and even viruses. Water from the faucet then goes through a BRITA pitcher. Tastes great. Weighing in under 8 pounds, it is very convenient to use.

Yes, we drink and cook from our fresh water tank. I sanitize the tank if it sits for more than a month and use two water filters. Never had a problem.

Actually, the upward ‘chimney’ airflow of hot air rising (convection) is best achieved with the fans at the top vent and blowing outward, which is how ours are orientated.

@jd1923 and @Ronbrink you guys did a good job too! I will check out that evaporator fan, I could run it from the same switch perhaps. It's hard to tell from your photos, and forgive me if I'm mistaken, but it looks like your Beech Lane fans are blowing air in the wrong direction! They are designed to be mounted in the lower vent to push air out of the top vent. When installed in the top vent, they push air out of the bottom vent, which is working against the Norcold fan and natural convection. Try flipping the fans around in their mounting brackets so the label is in the back, and they will work much better! Cheers! Geoff

We have quite a bit of chlorine taste at the home tap. So all of our drinking water goes through a 3 gallon Berkey filter. I know that's not a purifier, but it at least tastes good. When travelling, we use the Berkey to fill eight 1-gallon square water bottles, as found at Wal~Mart. We bought them once, and have refilled them dozens of times. The square jugs fit nicely on the floor of the closet, next to a crate where we keep the Keurig and a counter-top pitcher. (Actually, a Brita pitcher, but without the filter, which we found *added* a nasty taste.) Eight gallons lasts us a long weekend. For extended stays where we will have access to water, I can refill using my home-made filter system. I just use the output hose to refill the gallon jugs. Or if no potable water is available, I can use my Lifesaver Jerrycan water purification system. https://lifesaverusa.co This is what we used when camping in the square drop before we got the Oliver.

FYI: Unlike the typical propane tank gas level gauges for backyard cooking/grilling, there is a safety feature in the referenced GasStop (specifically the GasStopRV model) that will shut off flow in the event of a line rupture while the tank valve is open. From their website FAQ: Do propane cylinders already have auto shut-off protection? In the USA, propane cylinders have inbuilt OPD valves. An OPD valve is an overfill protection device, and as the names suggests will prevent the overfilling of a propane cylinder. GasStop is an Excess Flow Valve (EFV). It is designed to shut down 100% of the flow of propane in the event of a sudden and catastrophic leak. To protect against sudden and catastrophic leaks make sure you install a GasStop.

Has anyone here got sick from drinking, or using the water for cooking, brushing your teeth, from the Ollie tank?

I felt the same way until recently. There could never be enough cold water, with room in the fridge for at most 6 water bottles. We make ice too, but for drinks other than water. I long pooh-poohed the idea of an extra fridge, but it makes all the difference in the world to ALWAYS have fresh cold water! We keep 1-2 of these pitchers full in the outside fridge and one inside. When the inside one empties, I bring in one from outside and refill one so we always have one cold in and another cold one outside. Another 6-8 store-bought water bottles outside too for anybody who needs one. Now I'm getting thirsty! It's how we roll. 🤣 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VFK4WS6/?th=1 https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/11018-dometic-cfx5-refrigerator-tow-vehicle-installation-with-solar-power/

I'm glad it worked for you, though replacing all the brake wiring instead of finding and repairing the fault is not "common sense". That's like a mechanic replacing an engine because it doesn't run. Was it "common sense" when you replaced the axle wiring knowing that it couldn't be your problem since your brakes worked when the disconnected switch was pulled? Glad your happy though, and more importantly, traveling with brakes now! Over and out....

Perhaps someone here can help this retired engineer (BSEE / MSCS, not bragging) understand what's the heck is going on here. I'm in the final stages of wiring up a Beech Lane 'fridge aux fan. My plan, based on a suggestion by @Ronbrink in this post , is to splice the fan power into the heavy-gauge red & yellow power cables connecting to the rear of the 'fridge. Soldering to the yellow conductor (ground) went fine. The red (+12V), however, is sitting at 12.09 V after I've pulled the 20 A Refrigerator fuse (#1). With the fuse in place the voltage rises to 13+ V, which is what the solar charger is putting out at the moment. I have not yet disconnected the batteries... To be clear the 10 ga. red & yellow wires come up through the floor of the 'fridge compartment and normally connect via spade lugs to the black control box on the back of the 'fridge. Are these not the DC power cables to the 'fridge? I don't think they lead to a motor start capacitor... Seems like there's some path to the batteries, but I don't understand why that is, and why it isn't interrupted when I pull the fuse! Thanks in advance... Tim

Glad you finally got your brakes working, but you can't know for sure that this was an issue from the factory. You bypassed all the original wiring without doing any actual testing/troubleshooting in a logical manner. The problem was most likely a bad connection or cut wire somewhere, which is MUCH more likely than Oliver sending your trailer out the door with inoperative brakes.

Finished REWIRING what seemed to be the entire Oliver Elite II Brake System... with FEET of insulated wire. The Brakes themselves are probably like new... as they never did work. Which now, for me, is great. 🙂 Today... after finishing our final wiring... connected the F350 Ford Diesel 4x4 and... Trailer Connected and adjust the Gain 5... and went on a 'final test drive'. Gain of 5 or 6 should work as the Brakes obviously had NO WEAR. The previous owner could not have had Brakes. Otherwise they would have been working. Going to our favorite locals Railroad Pass Casino just west of Boulder City, Nevada... get a ice cold Draft Beer and play 5 cent three hand Video Poker. Anyone want to guess what the problem was at the beginning? A Service Tech could rewire this in less than two hours. Thank you all for participating. This is an education for all of us. Human Beans may want to guess... and if you are close to what the FIX WAS... I will post the solution after everything seems to be a FINAL FIX.... If a Neanderthal can do it, you can as well. I will give it a few days... and as they say "Spill the Beans".🙂

Not sure it would cause this or not, but is it possible you have one of those "fridge defenders" installed? Maybe it's holding some voltage if so? Have you tried putting a test light between the connectors to bleed off any voltage? Edit- better yet, maybe hook your fans to them to see if they bleed it off?

Yes. Never had an issue. Sanitized several times a season and especially if sitting for over 2 months. I never leave water in the tank. We use the On The Go Water Softener, which helps prevent any calcium build-up. We also use a high quality water filter, as post previously by Steve Morris (not the cheap blue Camping World Special).

Yes, the same lead wires I spliced into to create two additional sets of power leads for the Beech Lane control panel and fans. I never put that much thought into it, perhaps someone will provide a rational.

After packing our truck up this morning, going through our checklist, and getting ready to rollout on a trip, I thought about how useful these tool boxes have been on previous trips. I think I may have posted this a few years ago. So I pass this forward for the benefit of any new members with a Super Duty TV and the rear collapsible cargo tray. These three Craftsman tool boxes (link) fill the rear seat cargo basket just about perfectly and allow easy access to my tools. This mod does not allow use of the rear seat. https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-DIY-20-in-Red-Plastic-Lockable-Tool-Box/1000578365

That's nice, easy to reach, too.

We don't drink from it at all, but we do cook if the water will boil. We have a 5-gallon water container in the truck bed. The challenge we face is that we prefer cold water. While the refrigerator can hold more food than we anticipated, we don't have an effective solution for keeping cold water on hand. We often forget to fill small plastic bottles and put them in the refrigerator and like our bigger Stanely-style water containers.

No, not drinking from RV water tanks! And as @routlaw wrote, we do not use it for cooking either. We too had been doing your #1 until more recently we started with your #2 idea. I didn't want 5-gal containers, too heavy, and we have ample room with a long-bed truck so don't need collapsible. I purchased some 2.5-gal and 1-gal food-safe PBA-free plastic containers from Hudson Exchange: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G9MT3MB?th=1 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XVZ3X49 I fill two or more 2.5-gal containers, stored in the truck bed with an insulated cover (to keep out of sun since we have an open bed). And fill four 1-gal bottles kept on the closet floor, with one handy on the floor under the dinette. On average, we use at least 1-gal a day for coffee, cooking and Charley's drinking water. 🐶 Last time out was a 6-day trip and we had all the filtered drinking water we needed filled from home. When three 1-gal bottles empty, I refill 3 about 85% full using one 2.5-gal jug. We also bring the Clearsource 2-filter system so water from a campground is filtered. And we purchased these to keep cold drinking water ready in our new Dometic CFX5 45L cooler! Drinking from good quality cups or Thermos bottles instead of endless plastic water bottles of which I could easily consume 6 water bottles a day! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VFK4WS6?ref=fed_asin_title&th=1 We really like how this is working and should have done it sooner. A lot less trips to grocery stores or Walmart merely to buy water!

You guys and your big trucks............................

We do sanitize our fresh tank seasonally but never drink from it. We use it for everything else, also big NO to CG water…nope, notta, never. @DaveAndBecky_NorthernMI give a great example of why we carry our own drinking water. Edit- Campground and SP water sources can be questionable at times and we just to err on the side of caution. Yep, I guess you can say we are great tasting clean water snobs here. 😂

I agree, I always have my own tanks refilled, often at a Tractor Supply. I find AllStays to be a good app to find sources of propane when I am traveling, not to mention nearest Love's, Costco, etc.

This subject has come up numerous times on the forum. We never ever drink or even cook from the fresh water holding tank and never will. We do carry BPA free 5 gallon container along which we drink and cook from. Even if you filter the water from the holding tank it has a "plastic" taste which should tell you something. I totally agree with your "adorable" wife too. We also bring along a Brita water pitcher and filter the house water on a trip and try to avoid buying bottled water jugs if at all possible.

We carry 5-gallon refillable plastic water bottles with a pump. We have found the refilling stations are easy to find and reasonably priced. We had an incident at a state park where drinking water was treated with potassium permanganate. Rangers had added wrong amount, and we had some gastrointestinal distress after drinking.🤮

Good find @Boilermaker Chemist FWIW the main reason I bought a tank from Costco was due to arrive bad tank swap I received on a trip to Utah some time ago. The swap had a bad valve that leaked profusely but did not realize this until back in Montana. So now I am stuck with a full tank of propane I cannot use and no one will take the errant tank in as a trade or otherwise. Suffice it to say I will never do a tank swap again, and would suggest others to avoid as well.

Wow. Just wow.

Have two 30lb tanks and never even bother to weigh them. Run one tank until it's empty , switch to the full one, and then just plan on filling the empty one as soon as I can.

Dingo is certainly a cool name. Just keep the baby away...