Leaderboard

We had two newer BB 100AH batteries in Ollie, but recently installed two 105 AH Epoch batteries in parallel. I like the physically smaller/lighter Epoch batteries for our application compared to BB along with Epoch's customer support and Epoch's app to monitor Epoch Bluetooth Smart battery condition. Really like the built in Epoch carry handles on the 105AH batteries making it easy to install & remove these 22lb batteries. We don't have factory solar or an inverter like many folks here. We have a Progressive Dynamics 45 amp charger and also charge with up to two Renogy 100W Portable Suitcase Solar Panels and Renogy Solar controller when away from shore power. Looking forward to seeing how fast the Epoch batteries will charge with 100W Portable Suitcase Solar Panels during the 2026 camping season.

Just in case no one looked at Zarcor's website, the glass sold there is a Lippert product for their doors. My older Oliver Lippert door (2015) used screws to hold the window trim and the glass in place (along with some butyl weatherstrip). The newer doors use clips which complicate the switch but is still very doable. There are a few Youtube videos out there which I would advise watching if your door uses the clip system. The window I used from Zarcor was Tinted Glass, Lippert Style A, Valterra Style C Glass size: 21 7/16" × 12 7/16", Fits frame style A I would call them with your door information and they will set you up. The kit comes with the glass and butyl so nothing else to buy except maybe some spare clips if your door is that style, I've read that they can sometimes break during disassembly. Good luck! Cheers, Dave

Yeah, my previous post was really meant to be tongue in cheek. I guess you can’t 100% substitute actual long term day in day out use with fake accelerated simulated use testing.

Not at all getting on your case because part of my lithium battery research 6 years ago was Will’s channel and still is part of my solar/battery research. I purchased three BB batteries then along with several Oliver friends. Back then BB batteries were the gold standard. Back then Will did all sorts of testing, he went to the BB “factory”, and interviewed the owner. He was as excited about BB batteries as a little kid at Christmas. They could do no wrong back then. Fast forward to today, something changed. Anyway we do the best we can with our research and still…..🤞🤪

I've never purchased a portable generator. Our Bigfoot Class-C had a 4K Onan which I rebuilt after we purchased it (cleaned sludge out, new carb, oil, filters and plug). We used it to recharge 2 lead acid batteries and/or run the A/C in the afternoons. Later I added 400W solar, 1800W inverter and 3x105 Ah AGMs and after that I only ran the Onan every other months to keep it in running shape. Original owners ran it 660 hours, we added about 30 hours on the clock. This is my full generator experience. I can't stand having to hear the generators of other campers (or the noise of A/C units running)! Would it not be crazy to carry or run a generator with 900 Ah LiFePO4, 720W solar and a 50A DC-to-DC charger? Our Oliver is camped now on Thumb Butte Road above Prescott right now and since Friday afternoon. It got up to 90 on Friday and highs of 85F since (quite a heat spell, cooling off next week). Ran the Furrion Chill Cube A/C 2-3 hours per day. 320W rooftop solar working, no obstructions, sunny ALL day... OMG, 4 days and 3 nights and we're down to 83% SOC! 🤣 We could camp here for a long, long time... My bet is that if Bob upgrades to 600 Ah, with their style of moving every few days with DC-DC charging, they will only have to consider #2 on his list! 😎

Great thread. Picking up tomorrow from Hohenwald (HULL: 1688)! I'm in North AL and will be storing on a lot for the next year or so. Have been keeping up with all the cover threads and this one appears to be the most current. Does anyone have an update on CalMark newer that ripple963's 3 FEB post? If not, I plan on calling this week. I'll share the latest.

Here are recommended products by Will. He loves EPOCH and Victron.

Update: spent on this item twice, but I'm saving the white one for an Oliver friend visiting here this summer! I had to go gray to match our color theme. This item fits the opening and screw holes, and comes in white too. Works smoothly, nice o-ring seal. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08N71PRNQ/?th=1

Oops, forgot the part #: PR1022. But Check your door. My door is 11 years old! Dave

We have the 640A/h Lithionics batteries, and in addition to the 400W of solar on the roof, I have three 200W folding panels. While 1000W of solar sounds like a lot, you'll quickly realize that (at least here in the eastern US) the roof panels are frequently shaded, the portable panels are sometimes a nuisance to move around, and that even on a perfect sunny day and constantly moving the panels, it would take 8-10 hours to completely recharge a battery from zero. The only time I've gone this route was in the heavily wooded Adirondacks last year when we were seven days without any hookups, and I don't have DC-DC charging. I only had two panels then, and the only AC we used was the microwave occasionally and the coffee maker once a day. Mid day, there were times that with 800W of panels exposed, I was getting less than 100W into the batteries. Driving home and one rainy night in a Harvest Host, we arrived at the house with somewhere around 46% state of charge. I thought that was pretty great! We didn't try to conserve power use. We just didn't need much. The biggest power draw was out fridge/freezer in the truck, which I had plugged into an Anderson Powepole outlet on the trailer.

Camping in the Northeast, with the foliage, low sun angle and long shoulder seasons can change the generator calculus. That said, we never needed our generator with this trailer until my wife got her ebike.

We have a 2018 LE, with a single Epoch Essentials 300Ah battery. Two of the Epoch 300Ah will not fit into our battery tray. They will likely fit into the battery compartment if the tray is removed. Measure first; your mileage may vary. Our tray inside dimensions are 14-1/4" x 14-1/4". Two Epoch Essential 300Ah batteries side-by-side require 13-3/8" long x 14-3/4" wide (because the battery tops are wider than the bottoms and you can't snuggle them close enough together to fit into the tray). I would like Epoch to develop something like a 200Ah or 250Ah Essentials battery with Bluetooth and heat that is just a bit smaller so that I can fit two of them into the existing tray (or make the 300Ah battery just a bit narrower... but no wider or taller). I prefer using the tray as it slides out, making the connections easier *and* it provides slots for the battery hold-down straps to attach. p.s. I'm also a big Adirondack fan 🙂

@ripple963 We live in Maine and I store our 2018 Elite II outside without any cover and have not had any problems. I do clean and wax the Olie prior to storing it for the winter. In the spring, I do have to remove some rain stains on the side. I use a fiberglass soap which removes the stains. I then put on 2 coats of wax (wipe on wipe off) which generally lasts for the summer. A friend of mine who also owns a Ollie and lives in Maine stores his ouside without any cover. If I lived in the south, where the sun is strong all year long, I would invest in a cover.

Will obviously now has more and better equipment than he did a few years back, and what really changed is that he discovered some significant problems with BB batteries.

LOL! Never is a really long time to NEVER run a generator. BTW great posting on how to increase power density of an OE trailer. Can't believe that just a few years ago 300 AH was tops. Wow how things have changed in the world of RV's and boondocking power. Glad to read your post. But NEVER? Really. 🙂 GJ

When I get over to storage I will get the exact dimensions so I know exactly what I have to work with. I agree, the bluetooth apps are a must. Bob

1000 watts of solar does sound like a lot, especially when we are at 260. I think even if/when I find higher AH batteries I will add at least one folding solar panel. I should have done that by now. By the way, love the Adirondacks. I climbed all 46. 🙂

Our hull is near 10 years old. The PVC was dried out, chalky to say the least and I wanted to replace it last year but never got around to it. It took me over an hour on Amazon to find one with exact measurements. Most important is the diameter of the screw hole pattern. I found this and after installing it, I like it's better than the OEM. The threads are much larger, easier to turn with less/wider threads, and it seals better. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08H4HX29J?ref=fed_asin_title&th=1 As with all things OTT installs, it took me a full hour of labor to remove the silicone caulk. I installed the new one with dum-dum ONLY (what us installers called butyl tape back in the day). Why would you caulk something that does not have to be waterproof anyway? The bottom side of the doghouse is wide open, right? And butyl when squeezed out is waterproof enough. The original hatch had tiny screws, maybe 1/2" #6 screws. I upped the size to 3/4" #8 screws, drilled the holes out to 9/64" and on the back side I used speed clips on the underside to hold them tight. This way you can torque the 6 screws tightly and evenly to squeeze the butyl. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H8STNFJ/?th=1

Looking at your picture and these dimensions, two Epoch Essentials 300 Ah might just fit without the tray! You'd certainly have to replace these vs. adding more of the same, and of course measure twice before ordering anything! Length: 13.75" base, 15.5" at top for handles, Width: 7.63", Height: 10.0". For two batteries, you need a minimum footprint without the tray of 16 x 16" and 12" height. The Renogy product is pretty cool, but it's apples to oranges! It does not have internal BMS (why they are offering an external BMS), no heaters for charging below 32F. and comes without Bluetooth and app (something I could not live without).

And - Don't forget that some of these lithium batteries can be placed in differing orientation (i.e. on the side or end versus the standard top up). Of course this will only matter if you have the "head room" in the battery box. Bill p.s. In investigating this possibility - check with each separate manufacturer as to what orientations they deem acceptable.

Not sure of the full dimensions of your space in LE1 but you may want to check out some of the 300AH mini batteries like this one from Renogy. Renogy 300AH Mini Core They claim a much smaller footprint ...but be aware,,,this model doesn't have self heating for cold temp charging, but they do have low and high temp cutoffs for protection. List prices are currently $879 direct. Here are Epoch Dimensions Just an idea of others:

I'm not sure what vintage the old unit was? However, I recall that there was some question whether it was an AGM only battery charger. So if your new replacement has charge profiles for both AGM and Lithium and you want to retain the lithium option - then it's not worth keeping as a spare. Besides, no telling if the resistor is the only issue. Glad you're whole again! Geoff

Ouch for BB…yet another video from Will Prowse, he’s not holding back in this one! 😀

Excellent Mike! hard to determine cable size in a picture. It’s more the load to spec wire gauge and fuse amperage vs. battery type or Ah. If you have a 2KW inverter, 2/0 wire and 250A fuse are fine. 4/0 wire and higher fuse amperage are required to run a 3KW inverter at full capacity. 😎

Battle Borns gone. Epoch’s installed. Hold down straps aren’t on yet.

One of the helps I 'found on this forum' with lineup & threading is to mark (small dot, or line) on both the base & cover to show where the threads begin to mate/match-up. The other is to open that hatch and wash out when you get home (if not when out and about). it seems to catch a lot of dust in the threads abrading them and make threading more difficult than it should be. B~Out

For sure Bill, and you and I are good ol' school restorers! If you were to paint this part, I would suggest removing the lid to paint and just mask the surround and paint it attached. Removing it and remounting was truly a pain! In this case, paint would not help. The threads were bad and would stick. Also, check out my cropped pic. There were chips and scrapes in the plastic and a 1" x 1/4" gash in the top opening, just left of the word "close!" 🤣 This part had seen its better days!

When a couple of exterior hunks of plastic like this hatch started to show signs of ugliness I took them off, cleaned them VERY well and then used Krylon rattle can paint to make them like new again. Certainly a bunch less expensive and even a couple of items (like the jack switch cover and the 110 ac cover) that I did about five years ago are still looking good. Bill

Click on my second Amazon link for an example. Just like dum-dum the term speed clips is shop talk I learned from other automotive installers in Chicago during the 70-80s. 🤣 They help to install parts faster where you would otherwise have to get a nut behind the item. You can clip these onto sheet metal and they are ready to be screwed down. However, in the case of this hatch plate, I did not clip them on as that would not allow for a flat seal. I just held the clip on the underside to thread the screw. On the doghouse with 3/16" thick fiberglass you can hardly put a lb-ft of torque to the screw. Turn it more and the fiberglass will crack or shred. With these clips you can torque them down and they will hold tight. OTT made up for the weak screws with extra sealant and caulk. These clips are great to have on-hand. I was getting low on parts I've had for 40 years and when I found this Amazon listing, I purchased all 3 sizes; #8, #10 and 1/4-20!