Leaderboard

Below is a pic of the "hood" I made for my camera. Your camera housing is a bit different (I'd guess) but it was not too difficult to fashion the hood I made. It does cut down on glare but even though I painted the underside with ultra flat black paint, there is still some glare produced by the Oliver's "marker" lights when driving at night. Bill

I expect the challenge is ensuring your batteries and your charging system are turned off every time temps drop down to freezing. The easier solution is what we have: a switched external warming mat placed under the batteries and wired to our Oliver 12V system. Ours was installed by Oliver with our 390 Ah Lithionics battery package. One similar option now available is from Lion Energy: https://shopsolarkits.com/products/lion-energy-battery-warmer?srsltid=AfmBOoo5_6ceyboAQUUVw1CNe_jCPeADkLbtop6B-CC3Z-THhq2OC5zhaDI

Oh, man... so sorry to hear this. Thankfully you got a full refund, at least. Sounds like they left something inside the blower wheel or evaporator housing. Might be worth pulling the top off the evaporator housing to see what's going on? Pioneer has a parts diagram with part numbers for their branded unit if it's an easily changed part. Diagram is here- Exploded parts diagram . I think I finally got mine working the way I want but it took more modification than I think most would be willing to do, especially since it will void the warranty. BTW- dealt with some of the same BS through support as you did when I contacted them with some of my concerns.

FWIW, we have the self-heating Lithionics and they've been great. Don't have to worry about them much. Don't have to remember to turn a heating pad on. But we live, and mostly camp, in the Northeast.

Jd, so sorry to hear the bad news, what a drag! I'm still biding my time waiting to see how this all plays out with the different brands. . . well actually, wifey put an end to my new AC dreams; "we don't need no #&@! AC around here, buy a bigger heater!" We did get one of those $79 dehumidifeirs though, I set it up with a Temp/Humidity gauge on top, then I saw your photo using the same gauge! Had to laugh🤣

I think you will be happy with your choice! And yes, self heating is a real plus!

I’m surprised, thank you! Maybe I get lucky… Bought from Turbro direct. These manufacturers seem to rarely want their defective products back. That’s why they wanted me to do their testing! How will they ever determine cause to improve their design and build processes?

Yes, you want self-heating. Good news is the Essentials series is also self heating with a self-managing BMS. The Elite Series which is a bit more expensive includes Victron Comms (can be wired directly) some upgraded internals and has a higher waterproof rating (can be submerged in 1m of water). The Essentials Series has everything most consumers need. I just added a 3rd 300, 15% off on the Black Friday sale. They run sales every other month from 10-15% off. I buy from Renewable Outdoors out of Colorado, free shipping and the do not charge for out-of-state sales tax. https://renewableoutdoors.com/collections/multi-use-batteries/products/epoch-batteries-12v-300ah-heated-bluetooth-lifepo4-battery-epoch-essentials

I assure you this was as painful to read as it likely was for you to post! Sorry you weren’t able to enjoy the upgrade experience and now an Amazon return missed opportunity!

Thanks for the new military term - "Flapping" - I like it. I decided that the 460 will fit but take up too much space - looking to go for the duo 300 AHs -Now I'm looking for a sale and deciding between the essentials and the pro series. (Do I really need self heating?)

@Mark Meadows as to your first post. For all the nonbelievers out there. 😄 Here are the plastic caps that I ordered from Mike Sharpe as a replacement. As mentioned, I think they are like $3 plus shipping. If this is what you are looking for, Oliver Parts usually keeps them in stock. Cheers & Happy New Year!

The true "dust cap" is the cap pressed into the hub of the brake drums (as pictured). Yes, the outer center caps can help in deep mud but are more for cosmetics.

Price hard to believe! Mike asked $150 plus shipping to send me a new DOT label for our hull! Ours is faded, hard to read. I had to reply no thank you, close ticket. My thinking is it should have been a no cost item! @Mark Meadows I have a deal for you! Just PM me with your shipping address and I'll send you mine, no cost. I have 4 good used and 2 brand new. If you want the full chrome centers, NP just let me know but shipping would be a little more. Mine living in the SW all look better than yours. Next time, perhaps add sealant like @topgun2 suggested. Mine were on for years NP, so perhaps yours are brushing on something. Or maybe you just take them off as I did. I'm thinking I can hammer the Nev-R-Lub bearing caps to remove the embossing, smooth the surface. Then mount some really cool emblems. The Oliver emblems are boring and these tall centers were designed for the old-style conical bearings that stuck so far out.

Very impressive system. I am upgrading to lithium. It was good to see those 2 Epoch 300s fit in the tray. I'm interested in the 460AH Epoch. THe dimensions are so tight - just a quarter inch of space lengthwise - that I'm hesitant to pull the trigger on it. I wonder if you considered that battery and rejected it because it might not fit (?).

I took off my 2019 SS Hub XX + the small round pieces to look like John Davies for the express pupose of maintenance and using a IR thermal gun for brake temp measurements. One less thing to clean or worry about. I have at least two of them that I can donate for thh cost of shipping to any that would like mine. I used them for 2 years. I'll be back to Ollie in June and can inventory and ship then. Geronimo John.

As John D said above - a quick call to Oliver will get you these disks. If/when you re-install them , you can make sure that they will never again "pop" out if you place a bead of something like "E6000" (THIS STUFF) (which is available at WalMart, Amazon, Ace Hardware, etc.) all around the back side of the disk. Unfortunately, this requires that you remove each wheel in order to get to the back side, but, you will only have to do this once. Mine are going on ten years since I did this and I've not lost a single one since. Bill

I'm in that club. 😅

Hello @Mark Meadows, Just search for “trailer center caps” on Amazon, eBay or anywhere. They are all aftermarket, no diff OEM except costing more. https://a.co/d/3c9VPWV If you need Oliver center emblems go to them. Many of us go no without center caps at all. Then with an infrared temp gun you can read hub and bearing temps. You might say it even looks better without. I have a full set with Oliver emblems, very good condition if you like! 😎

Ditto :) Thanks Wendy...

It depends on your total Ah and usage... I certainly agree with Will on two points (his snarky way makes me 🤣, although if you own BBs it's certainly not funny). First, these are truly OVERPRICED in today's market and he ran a valid test. Second as he stated, I wonder if BB the company has reprogrammed these to produce less output which of course results in less heat produced. Of course units sold years ago would not be programmed as such unless you can/have updated firmware. More on your question... Running a 1100W coffee machine is drawing 90A (1100/12 for 12VDC). Running a blow-dryer or A/C could pull 1800W or 150A . So any 1100W appliance is very close to his 99A test which I would call normal use. If you were running on a single 100 Ah, I'd say you'd be screwed! HOWEVER, not to worry as most of you have two or three 100 Ah BB batteries. Say you have 3 batteries the amperage is split, so the 1100W appliance that pulls 90A will pull 30A from each battery (more "normal circumstances"). This is why most of you have not had heat issues. The fact that the Gold Standard, premium priced battery can only produce half of their spec!!! If you bought BB new recently, I'd strongly suggest asking for your money back. In contrast, the 300 Ah Epoch Essential can draw 100A recommended and 200A maximum (400A peak for 10s). 300 Ah at $1200 list price is $4/Ah rating ($3.40/Ah when on sale 15% off). The BB at the $800 current sale price is more than double the cost at $8/Ah. If the 100 Ah BB could truly produce 100A discharge, 3 BBs would be far superior to one 300 Ah Epoch (only) in its ability to produce discharge output. But If actual numbers are 50% less, then the output capacity is about the same. Most Oliver Owners who upgraded to Epoch have installed two 300 Ah batteries (600 Ah for 85% the cost of 3 100 Ah BBs today, when both are on sale). Two have a discharge capacity of 200A, maximum 400A which means you can run that noisy Dometic P2 A/C (150A+) all day, under spec/no heat issues, or until you get low on SOC! 😎

Here is an interesting video which gives a pretty straight forward way to disable the speaker on an Apple Air Tag. Removal of the speaker eliminates the continuous audible chirp after 72 hrs. Removal of the speaker will not allow a bad actor to hear the chirp, then find and disable the AT by removing the battery after he/she locates it. For example an AT hidden in a car under the seat or in the trunk. Or in a piece expensive camping equipment say a portable generator or even an Oliver TT. The bad actor will eventually figure out there is an AT on the stolen item tracking them if they have an iPhone. Without the speaker chirping it will be more just a bit a lot more difficult to find. A common misconception - the map location is not the location of the air tag, it’s the map location for your truck or campers air tag that would have been the location of the persons phone who parked or walked or drove by close enough for their phone to hear the air tags broadcast. Patriot🇺🇸

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

Yes, YES certainly! (Now you'll get at least 3x feedback on this question!) It's the lowest cost addition (~$600 in parts) you can do to create Ah, increase SOC while towing! We boondock often, lots of short stays, and when you're going from dry camp to dry you can always count on gaining considerable power. Our 320W rooftop solar is about breakeven running our fridge on DC (10 Ah on average in the sunny SW). With our Victron Orion XS 50A charger (get this model) we get +40 Ah every hour towing! Here is info on my installation and performance results:

@taylor.coyote I recently had a complete Lithium upgrade professionally installed with 2 Epoch 300ah batteries which do have built in heaters. The Epochs fit perfectly in the OEM battery tray. I selected ALL Victron components to include the Victron 3000 watt inverter/charger and the DC/DC charger. Our DC/DC charger is a game changer for us and eliminates the need to ever carry a generator again. Our Ford 6.7 diesel has dual alternators which made my decision pretty easy to roll with DC/DC charger. I considered Battle Born but the preferred the (2) single 300ah Epochs. If one goes down you have a back up. “One is none and two is one”. Charging our house batteries via our TV while on the roads less traveled is certainly a nice option to have while traveling rain, shine or in darkness. ⚡️Have fun with your conversion!

AI has the following to say on the subject of AGM battery life: "AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) batteries generally last 3 to 8 years, but the lifespan depends heavily on usage: expect 3-5 years for deep cycling (RVs, marine) and 5-8 years for standby/float (backup power), with high-quality units potentially lasting longer. Key factors include temperature, quality, depth of discharge (how deeply it's drained), and charging practices, with extreme heat or shallow discharges shortening life, while proper maintenance extends it. " Therefore, as Mike says above - you are probably at or very near the end of life for your current batteries. Bill

We found that after about 5 years our AGM’s started declining. We replaced them with 300ah of Battle Born lithium 5 years ago this month and we’ve never even been close to running out of battery power. If yours are four years old, it’s probably age combined with the cold weather that’s putting a stress on them. BTW, 300ah doesn’t sound like much compared to what some folks have installed but it’s been plenty for us even for extended boondocking. Mike

@Steve Morris I am pleased you found the tips helpful. It looks like you are on your way with the install. I like your base for the Starlink Mini. It certainly keeps it off the ground. 😀

Received the Air Tags and removed all four speakers. It’s not difficult to do and all four are mute now.

So, I have a bit of bad news on my Turbro purchase... I finished the installation 2 weeks ago. Adam and I, standing on top of the scaffolding, lifted the relatively heavy unit into place. We placed it on a bath towel so as not to scratch the new ceramic coating, and it slid nicely into place from the rear side of the Oliver. He stayed up top and I went inside. I pulled the towel down through the 14x14” opening and it only took a wiggle to line up the unit and bolt up the Fixing plate. I didn't yet mount the Air Deflector Panel because I wanted to first hear it run w/o the panel in place. When it powered up it started in the default Auto mode and was relatively quiet. It was not hot nor too cold in the cabin, so I believe it was just in fan mode. The fan control on the remote; low, medium and high settings did not change the fan speed. I put it into heat mode and turned the thermostat up high. It took a minute or so to kick in and when it did, the noise was terrible (listen to the video). Switched it from fan to heat modes and the noise returned three times. I was bummed and powered it down. I had been in contact with Turbro Support prior to purchase of the unit, so I thought to reply again to “Mason” the CS Rep. I reported my case and enclosed the video recording of the noise. He replied the next day, “The video has been received and forwarded to our manufacturer for further investigation.” Twice he wrote “the manufacturer” like Turbro Support was a 3rd party CS org. I spent a week with Turbro Support, sending one email a day, since I would only get one reply a day, always early AM! I came to realize that Turbro Support must be based in China. The differences in time zones made for the once-a-day communication. Also, I could feel the Chinese culture in the wording of these emails, having worked with Chinese for years at Motorola. Close to a week later, I was getting fed up! Each day they asked for more information. After their “further investigation” email they wrote “It sounds like there may be an issue with the indoor blower wheel.” They asked me to runs some tests, like I’m supposed to be their field engineer! The next time I powered up the unit, the noise got even worse and soon plastic fins and bits from the blower wheel spit out of it and all over the back of the Oliver! It took Turbro Support a full 6 days to finally state they would replace the unit! I had originally purchased the black model to save $100 thinking I would paint it gray to match other trim I had painted. Then over Black Friday, they priced both white and black models down to $949 (previously the white was $1,099, the black $999 with promo codes). I had asked them to replace mine with a white unit to just barely compensate for my troubles. I made this request on day 2 and finally on day 6 he wrote. “Please kindly know that we can only ship the replacement unit in the same color.” I was livid, and in reply I wrote: “After all you have put me through, you should satisfy the WHITE color request. Please REFUND my money to the original form of payment. I don’t feel I can trust the product quality and Turbro Support is too difficult.” (All quotations are exact copies from our emails). 24 hours later, their reply was, “We've issued a refund for your prior order…” So Chinese, no consideration of others in business! So, I have this albatross sitting on top of our Oliver. A good friend of mine suggested I should source a blower wheel and for the cost of it I’d have a new A/C. First off, the part is likely not available. RV A/C units are not considered serviceable. Secondly, why did the fan run OK but not so after the heat pump was turned on? I believe there may be a primary issue with this unit, still unknown. @CRM if you ever make it out west, you can pickup this Turbro for spare parts if you like! In the new year, I’m back to considering other A/C options. It’s good I have our furnace working on a simple Honeywell heat-only thermostat. Turbro AC Noise Recording.MOV