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I (unfortunately) have three Battle Born batteries that are now six years old. At this point considering the possibility of having to cover shipping costs basically from coast to coast and BB charging me a troubleshooting fee, I’d probably just dump these and go with a different brand. At the time I bought my batteries, BB were the gold standard in lithium batteries. Who knew! I did extensive research and chose them. So for now I’m going to watch them closely and so far I haven’t had the slightest issue with them. The other day I performed a load test with no issues with loading them to 122 amps for about 20 minutes and absolutely no heating issues at the posts. We’ll see.

A follow up to my previous post. FWIW. This issue is exactly why I choose three separate batteries instead of using only one. If one fails or even two fail during a trip, I can easily switch to the remaining good one(s) in the field and not have to make a faulty quick decision in order to provide heat or to keep my compressor fridge running. Anyway something to think about when in this case choosing batteries.

I think they continue to call this obviously bad design a "feature" but in the near future start producing batteries with an "new and improved" way of protecting them from thermal runaway. I also think they stop blaming customers who have batteries that fail at the terminals and just replace batteries still under warranty with no questions asked. If not, I don't see how they'd be able to prove that the terminal damage was caused by "misuse" or from just expansion/contraction due to the use of three different metals and a piece of plastic in their design if a class action suit is ever initiated. I think this is the only way they can continue as an entity and save some of the reputation they've built over the years. I also think they'll have to come WAY down on the price going forward to entice people to buy them again after all this bad publicity.

Monument Valley tonight. Took quick and dirty images from Goulding campground. Will tour the loop tomorrow. Weather is still amazing,. 60 day time 30ish night and clear as a bell.. very nice but no clouds makes for boring photography. Slow / slack season and few people.. good time of year to visit. Dinosaur tracks off AZ Hy 160 on the way to monument valley..

We use a 500A Victron Bluetooth Shunt to monitor battery SOC. After looking at the Victron website, looks like it has a temperature function, too.

For those of us with the Victron 712, we have a spare unused port. One of the uses is for temp monitoring. I never hooked it up as it was "Not" needed. I am rethinking that one for sure! GJ

My take… 😎 If you own one or more 100 Ah Battleborn batteries you purchased years ago, let it go and it‘s time to scrap them! For $670 (less than what you spent on one (1) 100 Ah Battleborn you can purchase the new 320 Ah LiiTime mini! BTW, so cool! Or for $1200 (I just purchased a 3rd one at 15% OFF for their BF promo) you can buy the Epoch Essentials 300 Ah battery! We’ll be running 900 Ah for 2026 and beyond, so cool! 😎

I just bought a supply of popcorn for the show🤣

😄

Been there a few times...don't get too close to the edge :)

We are not going to be able to do Q this year. Family situation is keeping us close to home for the foreseeable future. ☹️

I will be watching for addition videos from Will

Not minimizing the potential issue here with the BB batteries (and I have three in the Oliver) - but keep in mind the recent Truma AquaGo issue. Oliver said there was an issue (and to their credit have been dealing with it) despite the fact that Truma says there is no issue with the AquaGo except in the Oliver trailers. One "expert" saying there is an issue does not necessarily make it so. Doesn't make it not so, either. Haven't seen a recall on the transfer switches that burn up, but certainly some indication that there is a problem there, too. EDIT: As I contemplate the potential danger here, those of us that have converted to Victron components - it would be pretty easy to add temperature sensors to each battery for monitoring by the Cerbo GX with it's four temperature inputs. Probably easy to do with other brand components as well.

Here is a response from an electrical engineer on Will's second video, the response video on BB's legal letter.

Part of what concerns me is that earlier they indicated that they have 400,000 of the same design. I have insider knowledge that the NTSB has been made aware of our concerns. John Russell, PE Russell Engineering

Would love to visit, but am a little afraid to travel that far by myself, well with the dogs, but they are not much help.

@Jamie Peghiny I've been following this thread and I just read you added your Ollie's year and hull number to your signature and wonder it you have a typo? Your sig. shows and 2012 LE2 hull #802. We're a 2017 LE2 with hull #251. Something doesn't add up. Lots of knowledge here so I only bring this up so you get accurate help. Tony

And @jd1923, thank you for your post for rewiring and moving things under the dinette seat. I will certainly work on that. Barb

@Rivernerd, that's a good reason for me to "let my hair down" while camping! @jd1923, no, I'm sorry I didn't articulate well. Our alarm, like yours, is under the dinette seat. I thought everyone could read my mind 😏 when I mentioned "under the street-side bed". That was in reference to removing the fuse for false alarms. I was thinking that in the case of those middle-of-the-night false alarms - or anytime there's a false alarm - that it would be handy to be able to simply reach under the dinette seat and disconnect a connector. I'm not sure why you couldn't read my mind!😁

Our factory-installed RVSafe propane/CO alarm has a "Silence/Test" button, which enables us to shut down false alarms without a quick disconnect. It looks like the one in the photo below. It has gone off when my wife uses hair spray in the trailer!

If only there was a Transporter to get there quickly! Only 2800 miles one-way Prescott AZ to New Harbor ME! One day we should head that way...

So, it’s a good thing I didn’t order those lug nuts because I specified the incorrect part number. (41188 instead of 41187). Neither Summit or eTrailer has these in stock though Amazon does. Maybe I should wait until spring so I can inspect what’s already on my Ollie and see if replacement is really needed. It’s too cold out there to mess around with it right now. Jamie

Jamie and Sandi, welcome to the forum! Lots of experience and expertise here. We loved our travels in Maine. John, add Maine to your travel list! We had a great visit there and plan on returning….. Mike

Nice to meet you Jamie and Sandi! (virtually of course) It would be great to visit Maine in our Oliver! Your home state is the only state in the 48 CONUS states I have not yet traveled! @Jamie Peghiny I'm with you on everything you wrote, except we are Amazon junkies for speed of delivery and ease of returns. However, I've been on eBay since August 2002, long before Amazon was started! Checkout jdokos1 on ebay where my feedback hit a perfect #1000 and 100%. I started back in 2002 selling old car parts from classic cars I parted. Recently on eBay I purchased Norcold exterior fridge vents a new pair at $35 each, about 1/2 the cost from the regular parts dealers. Last summer, I purchased a new Barker VIP3000 jack for the front of the Oliver. It was a one-off NIB item. Seller accepted Offer at $200 which was an amazing deal. eBay is now easier on returns where they supply a return ship label, often at no cost to the buyer (likely to better compete with Amazon). However, don't buy Timken bearings on eBay or Amazon. They will be knock-offs. I purchased a complete Toyota rebuild kit to replace the timing belt on a T100 truck. When it came there were 10+ parts all in Toyota package. When I looked at the casting of the water pump and the issues with other parts I realized these parts were faked! Wow, did they look real at first. eBay helped with an immediate refund and soon that seller was banned. I would buy lug nuts from this highly rated Seller if they reply with a good answer. I always "Contact Seller" first and only buy from Sellers that reply promptly. eBay and Amazon both have items you cannot easily find anywhere else. I have restored a half dozen classic cars and 3 motorcycles purchasing NOS parts on eBay! Welcome to The Forum and best wishes to you traveling in your new Oliver. Come see us in the SW this winter or next. There are always a lot of us at Quartzsite AZ (Jan-Feb). There should be a Forum post started on that soon! We'll coast down the mountain to meet other Oliver Owners this winter in the great valley of the SW, the warmest part of the USA! 😎

@jd1923 I’ve now added my year and hull info on my forum signature. I’m new here and didn’t realize how to actually accomplish this but I figured it out. Hope this helps. Thanks for pointing this out. I vet my eBay sellers carefully for a few reasons - many sellers are simply drop shipping from Amazon and have no inventory in stock. Personally, I prefer not to buy from Amazon. On eBay, I look for actual businesses that have high feedback numbers, high feedback ratings and inventory that is consistent with their business model. I also look at their location to make sure the item is located in the US. I’ve waited weeks for items for arrive from overseas. In this particular instance, Leet Auto has a high number of feedbacks (9850), a high feedback rating (98.8%), 193 items in stock and they’re mostly Gorilla lug nuts. This narrow business model and inventory could be a red flag. They might be drop shipping, hard to tell without asking the seller that question, which I have done I do see a very high level of expertise on this forum and I will go with your recommendation to go with Summit Racing or eTrailer. I agree with @Geronimo John about safety equipment from China and it’s very difficult to find anything made in the USA. Generally, I have had very good luck buying from reputable businesses on eBay. One recent exception was a Propane/CO monitor that I purchased from RecPro. They passed all of my screening criteria but still sent me an outdated sensor which I returned and promptly received credit. I will check out this item and others on Summit Racing and eTrailer Thank you for your help, I appreciate it Jamie

Yet another reason you got that Ollie! 😀

Goosenecks State Park, UT, not to far from Moab. Camped on the rim for $10/night. High above the San Juan River. You get an option, campground or along the rim. No brainer.

The views never get old. Gooseneck State Park, we camped along the rim. The views were amazing, the sunset spectacular.

I got an Idea on how to fix the original lights that were failing. First, I had 3 lights that went from randomly failing to one out of 10 times trying to turn it on the light my come on. I played with the ones over the kitchen counter for 6 months trying to get them working better. When the 3 light started failing I decided to upgrade to the 7" and 3" white and blue lights for the touch lights. As I was taking things apart I noticed that I could turn the light on/off every time by just touching the spring. I also found that I could get within about .050 of an inch (just less than 1/16 of an inch) of the spring the light would turn On/Off every time. After I finished installing the all of the new lights, I thought I would try something. I took the light that was failing the most, and drilled a 3/8 hole in the center of the cover. I put the cover back on the light and it looks ugly. I thought If I could find a piece of metal button I could make it look nicer. Then I remembered I had a couple of 5/16 push on axle nuts/caps. The axle cap fit perfect in my hole and I put the cap back on. The cover looks like it was manufactured like this. I hooked the light up to 12V and tested it. It works great. Just like the light did with me touching the spring. Not pushing required, just get real close or light touch on the axle cap. This is a cheap and quick way to possible getting your lights functioning again. You might try to use a 3/8 press on nut cap. And drill the hole to 7/16 so the spring would set inside the axle nut instead of on the flange of the cap. Although you might not have enough spring pressure to have the spring tightly touching the nut. BTW, I do like the new lights. The 7" cool white (5000K) model is almost as bright as the originals, the 3 inch ones are dimmer. We chose to use the 3" one over the beds and kitchen table.

When I saw Will's "Sparking" demo, in my mind's eye it turned from a safety one time feature into a serious "Oh Ship" issue. If an owner has BB's, I highly recommend getting a thermal temperature gun for checking the 4/0 system. It is also very useful for checking Ollie's brakes... especially if in the mountains. GJ

I think BB has a problem. They should initiate a recall. In the mean time, I highly recommend inspection of the terminals and thermal temperture testing of all 12V 4/O connections. GJ

Excellent rebuttal in the second video. I'm not an electrical engineer, but I can't see how this can be a "safety feature" like BB claims. Loose connections on high amperage devices create heat, heat causes cell failure and potential thermal runaway in lithium batteries.

DIY Solar Power by Will Prowse has been around for many years. His take it apart and inspect approach is well received. Basically a common sense approach to looking at problems. He in my opinion is not the definative expert in the detailed design elements. But he is able to communicate well and calls issues as he sees them. I know of no other technician with his experience in taking apart and then making common sense reviews of hundreds of different batteries. So, is he raising the red flat on Battleborns before at least calling Dragon Fly for comment? Yea sort of I think. Was his post raising a flag that all BB owners need and should be aware of? Yep. GJ

Mather campground Gand Canyon NP An amazing week to be in Grand Canyon N P. The main water supply is shut down for repairs and the whole Park is almost empty. That would be Hotels, campgrounds, parking lots and South rim drive. The park is a ghost town. We are among the few dry camping in Mather Campground (only campground open). Might be 20 campers tonight. No traffic, no lines, no people. This might be a once in lifetime event to have the greater Grand Canyon N P uncrowded and as our personal playground. Doesn't get better than this.

John, mine had an intermittent issue and the reseller refunded upon return.