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We use a Victron shunt and Victron battery monitor that displays on an app all DC power coming into and out of the batteries. That way you can watch as you turn on or turn off separate things and their usage. Charlie

I have a 2016 F150 5.0 liter V8 pulling my Elite II with an Anderson sway & equalizer hitch to level out the truck. Just took a trip to NP's in Utah from Spokane WA and averaged 13.5 mpg which included some unhitched mileage. The Anderson hitch also helped with driving in some high winds. The V8 rev's to 3000 to 4000 rpm and pulls hills with no problem. I try to keep my speed at 65 mph or less and I get passed a lot.

If you have 630 AH of Lithium battery storage I can't for the life of me imagine you would ever need a generator to supplement your electrical needs. Again we only have 450 AH in our 7 year old wet cell lead acids batteries which effectively only means 225 AH without theoretically damaging the batteries. We live above the 45th parallel and not once have we ever needed a generator, and this is camping from the first week of March through about mid Oct. To the best of my recollection the lowest our charge ever became was around 83-84% capacity due to cold weather and running the furnace far more than normal. Given our minimalist style of camping a 100 AH Lithium would probably work for us, based upon past history of electrical usage. However I will most likely do a 200 ± AH battery bank of Lithium once we make the change over. As the saying goes YMMV.

I looked at the F-150 V6 3.5 and the Ram 5.7 V8 Hemi, it was a tossup for me, but went with the Ram in 2019 as it was a totally new vehicle in 2019. The Ram get 13.5 mpg pulling the Elite II so I think I made the correct decision. I personally would not rather get into eco-Boost/hybrid, etc., I feel the cost of repairs/maintaince on down the road will be more expensive. My 1/2 ton Ram with 4X4 does not propose with the Anderson, plus I do not have airbags on the Ram. trainman

From a ticket I opened last year (Jason): "The 340w solar panel system can generate up to 18.8a per hour but that is under perfect conditions which would be sunny day, no cloud coverage at high noon in the south. Between sunrise and about 10am this will be much lower but you should see it increase as the sun continues higher but will start to decrease around 2pm once the sun starts it descent. Under real world conditions you can expect on sunny days depending on your location and time of year to be anywhere between 50ah - 125ah. The farther north the less high sun exposure there is for the panels." The 18.8a number comes from Zamp. Here's a link to the solar panel: https://www.zampsolar.com/collections/roof-mount-kits/products/170-watt-long-expansion-kit In my brief experience with them, I have seen a maximum of 120ah collected in a combination of being on the road and at a campground one recent day in NC with a clear sky all day and full exposure in both places. It would probably be somewhat better at the summer solstice with clear weather. I have the Lithium Pro package.

You haven't stated what sort of batteries you have and how many amp hours of storage you have within those batteries. In general LiFePO4 will charge at a much faster rate than wet cell lead acid or AGM's. However given you're minimum usage of electricity its unlikely you would need a generator. We have been using our Oliver for over 7 years, with 4 Trojan T-105 wet cell batteries which has 450 amp hours of storage, however only 225 ± of those amp hours can be used without damaging the battery bank. With lithium you can use almost 100% of their storage and safely down to 15%. We do not carry a generator and have never needed one either. Typically we will only use 2-3% of our battery storage per day which is easily recharged by mid morning in the summer months out west. If you are in shaded areas it might take a bit longer. Also if you access the furnace with cooler nights this will draw about 3 amps per hour from your battery bank and this IS by far the largest amp draw, assuming you don't try to use the AC. Cutting to the chase I wouldn't worry about it much if at all. Still you need to know and understand not just your solar capabilities but also you battery bank capabilities. Hope this helps.

It is a serious safety (shock) hazard, I would contact the camp host or office and tell them to fix it ASAP before somebody gets hurt. "In an electrical system, ground and neutral are connected together in one location only, at the neutral point. This connection is either at the power company transformer or in or near the main electrical panel of the dwelling (see Electrical Circuits). The voltage on a neutral wire is normally 0V (volts) on a live circuit. However, if a neutral wire is open, the voltage on the line side of this open neutral is 120V. You can get a shock from an open neutral wire." https://www.electrical101.com/open-neutral.html I personally would not plug into any outlet that failed the basic tests. John Davies Spokane WA

Great you got this figured out! We had a similar puzzle with a CO alarm a couple of years back……It took us a while to solve it…..the problem turned out to be a hand pump of alcohol based hand cleaner that we sat on the table at night to clean hands after using the bathroom. Shortly after using the hand cleaner, the alarm would go off! We moved the hand cleaner to the bath room, and the alarm has been well-behaved since.

Exactly this is how I came up with the almost 3 amps for the furnace draw. Its actually 2.7 according to the specs. The Blue Sky solar controller and its associated IPN Remote provides a lot of calculated information but not being familiar with the Zamp have no idea how it compares.

Our ambulances have a little digital meter that shows +/- amps. Let's us easily see if we charging or discharging and by how much. I think others have installed something similar in their Ollies. Hopefully, one of them will pipe in with the details.

Well, there you go Kelly. You have a camper using DC and a glamper using AC relating real life experiences. Only you can decide the amount of AC/DC usage which pleases your lifestyle. Charlie

I looked at this when I bought our 2021 F150. Came to the conclusion that, given the very small battery storage of the hybrid, you would probably not see much highway MPG help from the electric motor. I have not read any reports from actual users as to whether or not my concern is valid. The hybrid would give you more horsepower but that is kind of unnecessary as the standard 3.5 Ecoburst has more than enough power to handle the Legacy II. For what it is worth, I get about 11 to 11.5 MPG on average in the mountainous west where I live. The big tank is a plus and, at the time I was researching this issue, the hybrid had a somewhat smaller tank than my standard FX4 max tow package. A GREAT truck. Have been very pleased. The only downside is that the softer suspension, as compared to 3/4 tons, results in a bit of squat in the stern and some porposing. A set of air bags cured that issue.

I agree, the Obed is a special place. I have spent a lot of time there, and also at the Big South Fork (NPS), Frozen Head and Pickett State Parks in the Upper Cumberland Plateau area.

Wow! 100-120 amp hours per day, may I ask what you use this much power on. In seven years we have never ever come close to this much energy consumption. Not being derogatory just curious. Typically we only use about 9-10 amp hours per day unless we need to use the furnace then it might jump up to 20-40 amps at the most. I can only recall once that our battery bank did not fully recharge in a day, with the exception of our last trip where the solar controller the Blue Sky was not operating properly. In any case if the OP is only using the water pump and lights it highly unlikely they will burn through more than 10 or so amps per day, unless of course they have to rely on the furnace which will change things quickly.

Simply said... Your son is correct. There are so many variables involved that simple answers are not easy. Maybe this will help - we use about 100 to 120 amp hours in 24 hours of boondocking. Our solar on top of the Ollie can collect up to 340 watts (that equates to less than 6 amps per 100 watts per hour in direct, full sun). As you can quickly see 6x3.4= 20.4 amps an hour just isn't going to replenish the battery usage each day. Starting out with a full lithium battery bank of 300 amp hours in our Ollie, we can go about 5 days in the best of circumstances (direct, full sun.) Charlie.

@viola, congratulations on your new to you Ollie, and welcome to the forum. We've enjoyed our Elite so much, now in our 15th camping season! You said that you were afraid the lit leds were running down your batteries. What readings are you getting on the zamp solar monitor and the seelevel? (You should be seeing something at or slightly above 13. 2 in full sun, and something like 12.6 or so at night, even if you're not getting shore power, if you're not running any other loads like fans,, fridge, etc. Those led tail lights don't actually use a lot of power.) Even if you're not getting a charge from the house circuit, imho your solar should be enough to keep the batteries up, if you're not using a lot of other things in the trailer. Tell us about the house circuit you're plugged into. 15 amp? 20 amp? Anything else in your house using power on that circuit? Anything else running in the trailer? @John E Davies is correct, if your connector is corroded, its best to replace. However, we've also had new owners who left the pigtail up in the rain or condensation, and moisture caused the "ghost" lights. Their issues disappeared when the connector was allowed to dry out, by hanging the connector so the openings are down, out of the rain. A photo of your connector would help. As John said, you may have tripped the house circuit breaker or its gfci, or you could have tripped the gfci of the trailer. When you plug the trailer into the house circuit, you should hear a "click" inside the trailer when the transfer switch kicks in, and the microwave (if you have one) makes a chirping sound. Sometimes, all it takes is disconnecting the trailer, and reconnecting, with someone inside the trailer listening. Guessing you've already done so, but first step is to check the house circuit breaker, see if it's tripped. If there's a gfci on that circuit, test and reset that. Make sure you actually have good power coming from the outlet you're plugging into . And, check that outlet for proper ground, and reverse polarity. I think you have at least two separate problems here. Possibly three. Best to just start from the beginning, and rule things out.

Not being a solar guy I would say if it works for you, go for it. You should be able to track aliens, or tornadoes with that setup when not powering the batteries. trainman

Frank: I like your approach of having two safety supports at the tire change side. In addition, I only jack up my OE2 ATTACHED to my truck. Parking brake set of course. So, should something upset the apple cart, I'll have three safety points. Nothing like having a 6,000 pound truck as an anchor. 🙂 GJ

I just use a good heavy duty scissor jack on some 4”x4” cribbing to lift the trailer (but mine does have the marked jack points on the steel subframe) and then after raising the trailer I put the stabilizer down just as a backup. Chocks under the tires on the opposite side of course. Doing my wheel bearing re-packing now.

Picture taken a few years back at the COE Eastbank campground on Lake Seminole near Chattahoochee, FL. Notice the Jim Woodruff Dam in the background which forms Lake Seminole and serves as the origin for the Apalachicola River which runs 100 stream miles to the Gulf of Mexico.

Happy New Year!

Just a pic with a lake reflection…..