Leaderboard

Recently, my inverter stopped working and wouldn't power on. Here is what I found so far (long story, feel free to skip and go to installation section below) The trailer was parked in at my property with shore power and the inverter was working when we were back from camping trip a few weeks ago. Over the weekend we found that the breaker was tripped and narrow it down to problem with the inverter. When on shore power, either the breaker at the shore power or main breaker underneath the dinette seats would trip unless switched the breaker of the inverter to off. The inverter screens didn't show anything for both remote and on the inverter itself located under the street side bed. When not on shore power, inverter didn't power on. Checked the voltage at the DC positive and negative terminal at the inverter using digital multi-meter and confirmed that there's ~13V at the terminal. Tried to reset the inverter by cutting DC power using the 2 red button switches near the inverter and confirmed using digital multi-meter that there was no DC at the terminal. This also didn't work. The inverter wouldn't power on when restoring power to it. I decided to submit a ticket and Jason and I agreed that there's an issue with the inverter itself and I had to contact Xantrex. After submit a ticket to Xantrex, the technician recommended updating firmware and that didn't help. Xantrex agreed to send me a new one because it's still under 2 year warranty. Installation I got most of the information below from Oliver and it's specific to my 2021 LE2, please contact Oliver to confirm if you have a different model year. Disconnect Shore Power from the camper. Flip the 30A Main Breaker to the OFF position (located in the AC Breaker box under the Dinette) Flip the 25A Breaker for the Inverter to the OFF position. Trip the 200 or 300A Inverter Breaker located under the street side bed access panel area. The breaker is located up & under next to the side of the battery box. Remove the inverter cover in order to gain access to the wire connections. The 120V wires on located on the left with the 12V connections on the right, pictured below. Once the cover is removed you will need to disconnect all 4 wiring connections inside the inverter. As a precautionary measure, do not let the wires contact each other. With shore power removed & the Inverter breaker tripped there shouldn't be any power but it is best to be safe just in case you got in a hurry and skipped or missed a step. Make note of the 120V Wires once you disconnect for which one is the AC In and which one is the AC Out Disconnect the ground wire located on the top edge of the inverter. Remove the screws securing the inverter to the white AP1 board. There are two screws located on the bottom and two located on the top. You may see other screws that are securing the wires to the white board but it is not necessary to remove them when replacing the inverter unless you are installing new wires. See screws pictured below as reference. Follow the steps in reverse to install the new inverter. Mount the inverter on the white board & secure with the 4 screws Connect the ground wire Connect the 12V Wires. Red is positive & Black is Negative. Connect the 120V Wires. Be sure to connect the AC In & AC Out wires correctly. Reinstall the cover Reset the Inverter Breaker by pressing the leg by in. Turn inverter on at the inverter itself (not the remote display) and verify 12V to 120V operation through the inverter. Turn the inverter off at the inverter Flip the 30A Main & 25A Inverter breakers back to the ON position. Connect shore power to the camper and verify charge state through the charger to the batteries. It may take a minute or two for it to engage. Once the inverter has been installed you will need to check the settings and set it based on your battery type The only settings that are changed by the Oliver factory are: #02 ,#05, #20, #24 & #28, based on your options, and are in bold font below Xantrex Customer Support: 800-670-0707 Oliver Service Department: 888-526-3978

Replaced grommets in door hooks. Found at Ace HW and Lowes in the nut bins sector he store. Specs: Hook itself is 1/4” dia Bracket Hole size 1/2” Grommet hole 5/16” grommet is 1/4” thick

Five minutes; all fine.

Sak, thanks very much for the detailed instructions and annotated pictures. Those are always most helpful! It is very time consuming to write up this sort of post and edit the pictures. FYI everybody ….. “Remove the screws securing the inverter to the white AP1 board. There are two screws located on the bottom and two located on the top” There have been a number of owners who have found one or more of those screw holes stripped, and some like me have found that white board partially or COMPLETELY pulled away from the mounting surface (failure of the epoxy bond). I do not think that those four dinky little sheet metal screws are strong enough for that much weight, especially when going over rough roads. I drilled completely through mine in four places and installed longer machine screws, flat washers and nylock nuts. This is something to be aware of, keep a close eye on the boards where they are attached, and on the mount screws of all these components. Thanks again, great post! John Davies Spokane WA

I want to give my experience when I went to pick up my Elite I My tow vehicle is a 2020 Honda Ridgeline.. 19 inches to top of inside receiver.. so I brought a 4 inch ball mount (rise) We hooked up .. it was sitting to high, luckily I had a 2 inch rise one.. this worked great. I had full tank of gas the bed of truck was loaded.The 2 week trip out west, 3 National parks and 4500 miles later , the Ollie rode and towed great.. Honda got 14 to 16.5 MPG..

Our bolts are also way too long, the black caps are too big for the diameter of the bolts so the factory put a dab of silicone caulk on the pressed on the black cap, which then fell off and resulted in me being gouged in the arm during one of our first adventures. Cutting the bolts to size is on my "to do" list and every time I open the closet door I'm remined of being bled by the bolt.

I removed the first battery today and took the rear battery from the other string and reinstalled at the front battery. I now have the batteries installed and we had sufficient sun today to complete charging before the sun abated. I have taken battery I removed that dropped precipitously today when I started the furnace after doing okay overnight. It had used 11ah of power, but the furnace running quickly resulted in a 11.5V and then below 10V reading. The first battery in the string stayed pretty strong. I have now taken the battery I removed and manually charged it to full strength. It was pretty well charged by the sun when I removed it, but I topped it off for about 15 minutes before I disconnected. It was at 7.25V right after I removed the charger. Within a 1/2 hour it dropped and after about an hour it settled to 6.6V. Tomorrow I will take this battery and the other battery to have it load tested. I suspect as everyone else is suggesting that they will both fail and then we will be looking to replace the batteries. I have a 2019 Oliver that has the Progressive Dynamic Converter that supports Lithium so I may be looking at that option too and will be reviewing posts about doing this upgrade if we go that way.

I asked about the brand and model, they are Lionshead, but I can not find that actual snowflake style wheel, it is not shown here. https://lionsheadtireandwheel.com/wheels One reason they may be retaining the 6 on 5 1/2 pattern is that the load rating is about 700 pounds higher, which is good. I did find one very nice 15” wheel with the smaller bolt pattern, and it has a 3200 pound rating. I would be quite reluctant to use a wheel with a 2150 limit on an LE2. John Davies Spokane WA

I can't resist pointing out that while providing one important safety feature (the fire extinguisher), Oliver has created a different safety hazard in the newer models (overlong bolts that can cut you when opening the closet door). I hope Oliver properly responds to Gliddenwoods' service ticket by eliminating the overlong bolts. I plan to check for such overlong bolts when we take delivery in a couple of weeks.

Take it apart again, go to an Ace Hardware store and they should be able to match up the seal for a dollar or two at most. Buy a spare for your kit. Alternatively, if you are near a larger city, an RV parts supply store … If that doesn’t work, ask Oliver for the make and part number of the valve, you most likely can find it at an online vendor to at least see if their price is acceptable (it does seem very excessive unless it includes overnight shipping and hand delivery to your campsite 😬). I suspect it is a special RV part, most common types have female threads Take pics please. Good luck. What a sh**y project😬 John Davies Spokane WA

The axles are not changing.

WHEW!! Thanks for the pictures :)

Grrrrrrrr. 😤😤😤😤😤😤😤 Idiots. I have opened a ticket asking why they continue to use this b*****d bolt pattern, and what is the brand and load rating of that spoked wheel. Maybe I can find a 5 on 4.5 version. Unless they changed to 5000 pound axles on the LE2, is that a possibility? That would be really weird, downsizing the wheels and tires and upsizing the axles. John Davies Spokane WA

Kansa - I also apologize like JED above but are you sure that the will not reset? Sometimes they can be a bit finicky when you push in that reset button. It is a bit unusual for a GFI as new as yours is to be faulty (but certainly it can and does happen).

Agree with John. If you are plugged in to shore power and your inverter is on and still no 120V, you could always run an extension cord to your heater from the outlet your are using in the driveway for heat overnight. Bring the cord through a window, the small amount the window is open shouldn’t be a big deal. We got into the 20s last night with both ceiling vents open and the window next to my bed cracked. Mike

If you are concerned about leaving it switch off the microwave circuit breaker, that will remove power from the entire 120 volt circuit. Since you have not been plugged into shore power, I have to ask this….. did you try turning on your inverter? When you are not plugged in, that is the only way to energize those outlets. Sorry if that is a silly question, but we do have a lot of first time owners here. FYI, you can run a space heater for a very short while using the inverter, but it will deplete your batteries VERY quickly. It is far better to use the propane furnace when you are boondocking. It only uses 3 amps when the fan is blowing. John Davies Spokane WA

There is no fuse at all. You don’t need to shut off the Zamp controller or any other 12 volt source, but you should disconnect shore power (or turn off the inverter) when actually working directly on the wires. The 120 volt circuit breaker does the same job as a low voltage fuse. You need to buy or borrow an outlet GFCI tester, similar to this. Make sure it has the Test button. Check all your outlets, the GFCI one is the “first in line”, it protects all the others from a short circuit. It is very common for them to fail. If the wires in back appear to be secure, then you may need to replace it. If you are not comfortable changing the outlet, you need to borrow a friend or hire an electrician. If yours is a new trailer, it should be covered by the Oliver warranty. https://www.dfliq.net/blog/what-is-gfci-outlet/ Please add your tow vehicle and trailer model and hull number to your signature, so we know what you have!, John Davies Spokane WA

In case you are visual, like me.

We are spending the night at Oliver National Park tonight. We took Anita out to lunch and had dinner tonight with Phil and two of the lovely ladies in his life. Phoenix is adorable as expected. I found out several weeks ago that Oliver had made (what I consider) a major change that will be included in the 2023 models. Today I sat down with some management folks to get the lowdown. As many of you probably know, Goodyear has bought Cooper Tire. Oliver has equipped their new trailers with Coopers for the past few years. Due to the immediate unavailability of the tires they have been using, their only choice was to switch tire companies. During their research they reassessed their needs and goals for running gear. The decision has been made that going forward and starting immediately, both Oliver models will be equipped with 15 inch wheels and tires with a matching spare. The tires will be Goodyear Endurance ST225/75-15’s. Tire SizeST225/75R15 Product Code724857519 Speed RatingN Load Index117 Load RangeE SidewallBlack Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG)- Max Load (lbs)2830 Max Inflation Pressure (PSI)80 Approved Rim Width (in.)6.0-7.0 Measured Rim Width (in.)6.0 Section Width (in.)8.8 Tread Depth (in 32nds)8 Outside Diameter (in.)28.3

I’ll either do that or put a hose through the bath window. I’ll probably fix it when we get home this weekend.

I had one quite bad experience decades ago with the balancing powder. So I can’t realistically comment on if the bead type is or isn’t snake oil. However, if somebody put that stuff in any of my tires WITHOUT MY CONSENT OR KNOWLEDGE, I would be absolutely livid. Oliver owes you an explanation. For example how long have they been doing this and how many trailers are affected? Does it in any way affect the tire warranty (internal damage as the beads break down)? Do my 2017 tires, which had no weights at delivery, have them??? John Davies Spokane WA

Thanks all. We just arrived at our campground in Louisiana, far from any civilization and with barely a bar of cell coverage. Tomorrow we’re in Waco for a couple of days and I will work on it then. If I can’t find one there, I’ll order one of the top two in JD’s Amazon picture above. Mike

Some of those flushers come with a check valve built into the spray nozzle itself ,making an external one redundant. You should be able to see if yours does by looking into the connection fitting. If it does, just take some needle nose pliers and break the guts out of that gray valve and use it as a straight nipple.

It looks like an ordinary 1/2" MPT x 1/2" MPT check valve to me. Pull the part and verify pipe diameter to be sure. But, I'll bet the Pex pipe that connects to the valve is 1/2", so odds are high that the fitting is 1/2". A brass version offered by Valterra (which would be an upgrade from the plastic one Oliver installed) is available from Amazon for under $10: https://www.amazon.com/Valterra-P23415LF-Lead-Free-Check-Valve/dp/B00HJ6P0Z8/ref=sr_1_5?gclid=CjwKCAjwwL6aBhBlEiwADycBICgly1OwtJDY5Q9FclIA3jCEEmcXbufHEPlR1A_rkK51r41DjwB-PRoCqMkQAvD_BwE&hvadid=616862894778&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9029558&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=b&hvrand=2988426038172399198&hvtargid=kwd-315243267828&hydadcr=24633_13611805&keywords=1%2F2+inch+check+valves&qid=1666189161&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIyLjMwIiwicXNhIjoiMS44NSIsInFzcCI6IjEuNDYifQ%3D%3D&sr=8-5 Camping World sells the same fitting: https://www.campingworld.com/12-brass-check-valve-x-mpt-95194.html You may be able to find a Camping World, or even just an RV supply store, on your route that would have it in stock. Good luck!

Other than what ANT says above - you are correct - you will need to drill out the rivets to remove the "side extensions" of the twin beds. The night stand removes fairly easily too. Bill

Just did my 2021 today and found the exact situation as John when I opened them up. John

I had this conversation with Rodney at OE-East but didn't think I had enough background/information to put it out on the forums. We are scheduled to take delivery on 3/8 and he indicated we "may" get the 16" wheels with the Goodyear Endurance tires. As someone mentioned, this was the tire that came with our Airstream and I have to say, I was very impressed. No complaints whatsoever and a far cry over the previous "May-Pops" Airstream used to use. May-Pops is a generic term for any of the cheaper, imported, oddball trailer tires that were prevalent in the travel trailer market about 10 years ago. I think all the manufacturers wised up to the liability they were creating and decided to bake the better tires into the price. I am on the fence on how I feel about getting the 16's versus the "NEW" 15's - it would be nice to start out with the more common wheel and not run into trouble down the road should I need to replace one. Overall, I think this is a good business decision and I am comfortable with it. Brian

I took this photo this morning of one of the Elite II’s on the showroom floor. Rodney says this is the tires and wheel’s they will be using on the 2023 models. He did say that their existing stock of 16” wheels and tires will be used first. So, it may be as late as March of ‘23 before the new models will start to be delivered with the new sets.

Well, don’t hold your breath about that. The offset is all wrong for a trailer axle….. You could buy wheels like these:. And repaint them with Duplicolor Bronze : https://www.duplicolor.com/product/wheel-coating/ … You would probably have to repaint them every few years, depending on how much gravel you tow on…. I had a similar set as those shown on another trailer, I sanded and painted every two years, they still looked great after thirteen years. John Davies Spokane WA

If you’re into bling, look st these http://sendelwheel.com/wheels/t17mg.html

If only there was a 5 X 150mm bolt pattern option! I've got a lead on a set of five Heritage wheels to match those on my Land Cruiser. That bronze would be gorgeous on the white trailer! (Toyota press photo)

https://www.rvforum.net/threads/goodyear-endurance-tire-reviews-anyone.130815/ I am NOT a Goodyear fan, but I think these will be fine, I don’t especially like the tread design for the kinds of roads I travel sometimes. The Michelins on my Hull 218 were 29.3 inches overall diameter, these are 1 inch smaller, so the frame will ride about 0.5” lower to the ground. I do think it will affect how the trailer looks. Not so “tough”. I have to buy new tires next year, I may just downsize to these tires with five new wheels. Does anyone know what wheel Oliver will use? I would buy this (old price shown) or something similar. There was a thread about this a while back. Smaller usually means cheaper when applied to tires, wheels, and brakes…. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/5542-has-anyone-considered-down-sizing-the-le2-wheels-and-tires-to-15”-with-5-on-45”-lug-bolt-pattern/?tab=comments#comment-58171 By downsizing I would make my trailer super easy to mod with disk brakes, 😬😬😬 and a future owner might like having “current” Oliver tire and wheel size. Choose a slip on rotor version and then add Nev-R Lube idler hubs. No more bearing repacks, and you can carry a complete hub as an emergency spare…. https://www.kodiaktrailerbrakes.com/Kodiak-3500lb-Slip-On-5-Lug-Disc-Brake-Kits-10-inch_c_641.html John Davies Spokane WA

By adopting 15” wheels, dropping down from 6 lug to the standard 5 lug hub pattern will enable the Dexter/Kodiak 3500# 10” discs. The 16” wheels and required 6 lug hubs have been the hangup for a practical all-Dexter solution thus far.

What did the Victron Connect app indicate for charge? This is only a vague guide because it changes as the batteries age. It is quite primitive in how it operates. For example, the app lets you “reset SOC to 100%” even if the batteries are completely fried toast. The ONLY way to test an AGM for its condition is by load testing with a quality meter. They must all be fully charged, disconnected and then sit for six hours or overnight. Do this, take them to a battery store, and they will check them at no charge (battery joke). I bet at least two are junk, which means they all need to be replaced unless you want to operate on just the two others, if they test OK. That is what I did for a month before I swapped in the Battle Borns - it made a great winter project. Batteries fail by one or more individual cells going bad, shorted out, this causes self discharge of the other cells and when another battery is connected, it draws that one down too. And they can’t supply enough current for the load. Typically I saw this when trying to run the inverter and microwave, I kept getting low voltage alarms and the amp draw was way too high. (Ohm’s law, low voltage means the amperage increases.) Two batteries were junk, the third was marginal and the fourth was acceptable…. John Davies Spokane WA

The axles are not changing. The are no parts available to convert the 3500 pound axles used on the Elite II from drum to disc. It would be possible on the Elite I since it is supplied with a 5200 pound axle.

Fifteen years ago, 16” wheels were used extensively by the automotive industry. Now it’s an oddball size. All the heavy duty trucks are using 18” or 20”. Also at that time you could not buy a heavy duty tire in a 15” size and the ST tire’s being made were all Chinese maypops.

Actually, Michelin quit making the tire they were using. Is your trailer still on the market? This is a non issue for current owners.

Same size wheel and tire that came on my 2010 Elite II and I've had no issues with them.

The Truma is very sensitive to air in the lines. Make sure you bleed sufficiently before starting the Truma in either mode.

Everybody should know that something always has to be wrong with anything. Since the Ollie is such a fine work, why not make these bolts too long so the owners have something to complain about. Lol (Making light, but my wife cut her arm on one too, when the rubber cap fell off.)

It seems I had this same error code once when boondocking. When I connected to city water the next day it resolved itself. Maybe there was and air bubble or something that kept the water from entering the Truma when using the pump. Once it was resolved, it worked fine even when I disconnected the city water and used the pump. Not sure if that will help.

Thank you so much for this clarification update!! It would be incredibly helpful if Oliver published a winter storage guide for the lithium pro package. It definitely was unsettling to get so many different answers.

I spoke with Mike from Oliver Service this morning. He advised that, "according to Lithionics," the storage procedure for Lithionics batteries warmed by the external heating pad Oliver installs with the Lithium Pro Package is the same as for Lithionics batteries with internal heaters. So, you CAN leave Lithionics G31 batteries in an Oliver connected to shore power during winter storage, so long as the red toggle switch that controls the external battery heating pad (mounted on top of one of the batteries) is left "On." I recommended that the Oliver Service Department publish a storage procedure for the Lithium Pro Package which addresses this issue. I suggested it could forestall service tickets from folks who have the Lithium Pro Package and live in colder climates. I am pleased that Lithionics has approved the simple procedure of leaving trailers with Oliver-installed external battery heaters connected to shore power during winter storage, without pulling the batteries. But, given the nearly universal recommendation from lithium battery manufacturers to conduct a discharge/recharge cycle at least every 6 months to preserve battery life, I plan to do so once mid-winter, with the batteries still in the battery box, protected by the heating pad. Per the Lithionics Rev. 7 Storage Procedure, I plan to fully discharge the batteries, then fully recharge, then discharge back down to about 50% State of Charge, then reconnect shore power, which will return the batteries to full charge for the balance of the winter. If any of you electrically-savvy engineer types out there recommend a different approach, I would love to hear it.

You could always get Paul to install one for you. 😁 I like spending your money. Bill

I offer a contrary view to those expressed above. The Oliver we examined before placing an order was the twin bed configuration. With the permission of the owner, I spent a few minutes lying on one of her twin beds. I did not like having my inside shoulder hang off the side of the bed when on my back. I concluded that the 30" width of the Elite II twin bed is not enough for me to comfortably sleep. I am 6'0", 225 lbs. We take delivery on a standard (king-size bed) Elite II in November. The availability of the king bed option was a significant selling point for us. I strongly recommend that you actually lie down on an Elite II twin bed before deciding which layout to buy. That is what sold me on the king bed.

6’6”. 250 lbs. I make it work. At 6’2” he should fit just right.

I bought that lock too. Proven Locks also sells a locking hitch pin for $75 to secure the hitch to the receiver. I have a steel locking pin now, so not sure that I want to spend more. How do you secure the hitch to the tv? Proven Locks says their pin is more tamper proof. John

Done and done and ............. :)

The braided supply lines with 1/2” female pipe thread ends are available in various lengths at any hardware store like Lowe’s, etc., along with the Sharkbite fittings to go on the existing water lines on the trailer.

No, the bad bypass valve still felt normal when opening and closing it. The faulty seal inside the bypass valve wasn’t noticeable until I removed the valve. The new CAMCO bypass valve is installed and works well so far. One nice little detail of this CAMCO valve is that the positions are labeled (open or bypass). And I changed all water lines into and out of the Truma to braided flexible supply lines and brass fittings to eliminate the issue of breakage of the rigid plastic connections that some owners have had. Camco 37463 3-Way By-Pass Valve Replacement - Brass https://a.co/d/8qur0uz