Geronimo John

Bill: I am hoping that my 2018 has the plate. If so, then my understanding of how OTT has used it is more than a bit foggy at this point. As several above, I have a cracked trim and suspect failure of the microwave attachment. So this thread is a great one for my Ollie. I assume that the below picture was taken at OTT since it appears to be "Jigged Up", and it would be extremely difficult to field remove what appears (on the right side of the heavy aluminum "L" shaped plate) to be an imbed in the fiberglass wall behind the Microwave. And finally, that the two holes in the L-plate are for screws into the cabinet of the microwave itself. Is this interpretation in line with reality? If so, possible failure points appear to be: Not having the L-Shaped plate with or without the wall imbed. The two screws into the microwave The attachment of the plate to the wall imbed The imbed separating from the fiberglass wall Or if the Ollie survived being driven off a cliff, several or all of the above From your efforts, is the above logical? Next, I am perplexed how OTT installed the microwave and plate assembly without holes from above? I can understand why you took the "Lumber Shims" approach. I suspect I'll be doing the same. Some questions: Is the aluminum "L" plate hard against the microwave cavity ceiling? Or just against the microwave top? If the latter, how much space is above the plate and the Microwave cavity? Did you Epoxy in your shims or just force fit them into place for possible removal down the road? Thank you, GJ

There are several Tow Vehicle wagon train circles of TV's in the camp. Ours is over there with the 1/2 ton group. Most of us 1/2 Tonners don't want or need the Big Boy 3/4 or 1 ton. Yes you can find some big boys dressed up as 1/2 tons. But personally, I think for your payload, I agree with Taylor.coyote in suggesting the F-250 or larger size TV. GJ

My chili recipe can solve that problem! GJ

Keeping to that theme, and being a Star Trek fan for almost a century or two.... I agree and believe that our Clan has a few Klingons and Romulans for sure. Even a Ferengi gestor. A bunch of Vulcan intellectuals (who tend to be detailed, long winded, but highly insightful). And one that I know very well that can claim DNA from all of these races. Luckily, most of the clan is just human enjoying our Space Egg traveling all over our Universe. But there a couple that continue to take their Space Eggs "where no Eggette has gone before". GJ

Some lithium batteries manufacturers, such as BattleBorn, do NOT want their batteries on a continuous charge when in storage and not being used. Keeping them on float at 100% is bad for their batteries. Recommend you ask that question to your battery mfg just to be sure. GJ

Pretty amazing that this six year plus thread is still a valid topic. GJ

I use a spray can of white lithium grease instead of any "Water Proof" grease. Reason is that I had not discovered the "Red Bull" can approach (Max Burner's post). So my use of use axle grease (Pretty much water proof and permanently staining) came with time consuming challenges. Not to mention that I kept finding myself using Borax abrasives to sand off the grease (and a layer of skin) that always seemed to appear about 24" above ground. Or the buckets of Dawn dish soap trying to remove those stains from my 7-pocket shorts. At least lithium white grease is only water resistant and getting stains of me and my shorts is a lot less time consuming when I forget the Red Bull can! GJ

Being prepared for picking up your new OTT is essential. This starts with being here on the Owner's Forum. Learning all you can from the videos and other owners' suggestions on their visits. One checklist from such experience was very extensive and worth having a copy of in hand. Search the forum for any topic you can think of and likely you'll find more than a few excellent responses. Rivernerd's statements above are GOLDEN: As a senior Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing Engineer I had an advantage on pick-up day. Our acceptance process inside their Sales Building took most of the day as I generated many scores of questions in depth on how the systems worked and were interconnected. Our Ollie is a 2018, and is a simpleton compared to the electronics and systems integration of the new ones. It for sure pales in comparison. So "Drinking From A Fire Hose" today is a huge understatement. I recommend that you down load and study all the owner's manuals, equipment installation and user manuals, and watch all those videos "Until you could "teach the class" as Ralph has indicated. There is zero exaggeration in his suggestion of allocating three days for your acceptance process. In fact, I would call it three full days! One for the process, and two more camping and using ALL the systems of your OE2. While camping off site, write down every possible question you both even think about. Then go back to the Mother Ship armed with that list. If you live a far distance from the Mother Ship, I recommend that you schedule your visit on a Monday or Tuesday. This would give you the three days ending up before Friday thereby maximizing your ability to call or revisit at the factory. It also gives OTT time to for any adjustments or warranty topics to be addressed while you are in town. Since you refer to "We" in your post, I strongly recommend that both of you go to get your new Ollie. Since schedules of a couple may vary, if you are a long distance traveler to the Mother Ship, you may want to bring two vehicles just in case it is necessary to stay for any reason. If on the other hand, both of you have flexibility then traveling together is for sure best. Finally, know that between the unbelievable knowledge and experiences of the OTT camper owners, the quality of the OTT product, and their amazing staff across the board; you have made a great decision. And every purchase comes with a lifetime warranty for asking and getting answers to questions! “Laissez les bons temps rouler” Geronimo John

I have heard that some owners have been allowed to use their trailer at night at the camp spaces on OTT property. That would of course be for repairs that are suitable for relocation and occupancy. Yours would seem to fit the bill. Worth a call. If an option, a simple heavy cardboard temp door duct taped on the hinge side could suffice for an evening or two. Maybe add a string and paperweight on the counter of the microwave to hold it closed. Lots of fun places to explore in the Hohenwald area to keep you and family busy for a day or two for sure. GJ

OOPS for sure. Glad nobody hurt. GJ

I think that MaxBurner pegged just right for me. The Red Bull! Geronimo John

I took notice of your steel reinforcement of the fiberglass bed edge. My experience with loading them with between bed platforms and existing cushions was that they are really strong. Just wondering what lead you to that mod? Thanks GJ

Yes, another kindred spirit to recognize for having a unique, but time consuming talent! I hereby bequeath you with this ceremonially appropriate T-shirt. GJ "The rabbit hole expert"

I apologize in advance for this thread highjack response. I prefer the option you and I utilized for our DC-DC system; i.e having full #4, or larger in your case) size cables for both + & - cables with the 175 amp Anderson Plug. It gives us an assured ground, and nearly the full 60 amps capability (Breaker Size at Battery) for a stronger battery assist. Otherwise we would surely be limited to 30 amps or less. GJ

For our OE2 setup, our old style PD 4060 maximum output to the batteries is 780 watts (60A X 13V). But it consumes 1300 watts of generator power. So the PD 4060 is operating at only 60% efficiency (780/1300 =60%). Our Honda EU2200i is rated for 1800 continuous duty. That leaves 500 watts for anything else in the trailer. Therefore, no A/C, no coffee pot and no microwave use when charging with this set up. Due to low efficiency alone, your thoughts about using the newer PD stand alone converter has merit. Coincidently, I am currently researching a set-up for my brother's SOB trailer. So, I have taken the liberty to dig in a bit further into this new PD line to see if we can use this new inverter at 80 amps output an our 2KW class generators. For consideration, I'll evaluate the PD 80 amp converter (PD9180ALV with PD92201 Charge Wizard). Per PD Technical Services: INPUT POWER: 15 amps of shore power at 120V = 1800W OUTPUT POWER: 80 amps to Lithium's @ 13.6V = 1088W Sadly, the PD 80 amp unit efficiency is only 60.4% (1088W/1800W). But it will require 100% of a Honda EU2200 generator's max continuous output. Basically, it leaves nothing on the table for other purposes when charging. The Honda EU2200i can pull the load, but not the Predator or Yamaha from the 2K class generators. That said, having everything shut off in the OE2 to do so is not realistic. As such, if we really wanted to get that extra 20 amps, it will entail an upgrade to a 3,000W class generator. In the Honda inverter line, that would be an extra $600 to get the Honda 3200i EU generator the EU2200i. Since both I have the smaller Honda's, my path forward is to not try and drive the charge process beyond the realistic realistic output for our existing generators. For our uses, the 60A PD was the cap. And frankly a better choice likely would be the standard OEM PD 4045 unit to reduce the draw to allow power for other uses while charging (I.E. Coffee Pot! But that is covered in a much longer thread. 🙂 I suggest looking into the actual converter efficiency of other manufacturers converters. Likely you'll find some with much better efficiencies, and then it is a matter of cost vs. performance. Ditto with replacement inverters as well! My Renogy 3,000 watt inverter efficiency is also rather poor. Two lesson's I learned post installation that I should have figured out pre-purchase! Hope you find this exercise interesting. GJ

Thanks. Creative using the existing rope handles for tiedowns. I think that that may be an ORIGINAL idea as I have not seen it done before. They also give two horizontal and vertical battery stability support to holding the batteries in place. GJ

I like your nuts better! GJ

JD: Spot on from the guy that has been there and done that! Thanks for your caution and taking the time to remind the new guys. IMHO, the removal process as JD has documented in his posts is a PITA. With advent and now widespread installation of Litho's with suitcase/rooftop solar, the capability of our DC systems is to the point that we can seriously consider removing and replacing the frig with an inverter frig. Even though I have a huge supply of JD's service parts from his efforts, I likely will be adding to it and passing them along to another OTT or SOB (MaxBurner Term) :-). Until I have the time to do so, I do recommend adding supplemental twin fan exhausters as I have posted (and others with other fan units). By increasing the airflow/heat exchange you are lowering the temperature and alleviating some of the risk of these three-way gas fired refers. Once again, IMHO, this is just another reason to ensure your propane and smoke detectors are replaced early (For sure no later than 5 years service). GJ

VERY nice drawing. Better than the OEM ones. Thanks for reprinting it for us, and thank you to the owner that created it. OTT: You may want to consider using this one!

Our 3,000 watt inverter does not have converter (Charging) capacity. The 60 amp PD does this separately on the older trailers. The Inverter is located in the aft bed basement. The Converter is part of the fuse/circuit breaker panel located in the rear dinette basement. I understand that the newer trailers have a combo Inverter/Converter unit. Personally, I like having them separate. If I smoke in one of them, then I still have something. If I smoke the smarts in a combo unit.......maybe not so "enlightening". On the other hand though, I really like the updated power panel and breaker setup of the newer Ollies. 🙂 GJ

I contacted RV Save about their products. Below is their response. GJ +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From: customerservice rvsafealarm.com <customerservice@rvsafealarm.com> Sent: Monday, November 6, 2023 7:05 AM Subject: RE: RV Safe CO/Propane Detector Good morning, Thank you for liking our product! We will be keeping both the Propane and the Carbon Monoxide / Propane combo. Nothing is scheduled to change. Regards, RV Safe LLC 11441 Markon Drive Garden Grove, CA 92841 714-934-8512

Keep an eye on the OTT "For Sale" section of our forum. If you find one you like, check out the owner's posts. It is amazing what you can learn about the history of their trailer as a result, and about the owner's skills as well. To you above list of upgrades if purchasing an Older OEII, I would add upgrading the Invertor to 3,000 watts, a Victron Orion DC-DC 12-12 30 amp charging system, and of course a 350 amp BlueSeas Master Switch and Victron 712 Smart Shunt to your list. Maybe adding solar or at least a solar suit case or two if it does not have solar already. Each of these efforts have been done by many owners and how to do DYI documentation here is off the charts helpful. To do the project listed, you will need normal tools, plus assorted hand power tools, a hole saw of the proper size, dedicated cable cutter, and a hydraulic lug crimp for starters. First spend some time with your used Ollie and try to understand all of the systems before doing any DYI mod. Please take the time to really study each project and look at all the different ways of doing each of them well before buying anything. Questions? First search the web. Then Google search the web. You'll get more items to digest as their search engine seems to be better than ours. If you still have questions then ask them on one of the threads for that mod. Just know that there may be several threads for a given topic, and each of us posters generally like our way the best....but some times the other thread has a better. And most importantly, looking at them all you likely will come up with an even BETTER way for that DYI effort. With our new Houghton A/C and 3 ea Battleborn 100Ah batteries and 3,000 watt inverter we can run our A/C for almost three hours in hot conditions. We routinely charge our BB's with a Progressive Dynamics 60 amp charger. When we need to run longer and do not have shore power, our Honda EU2200i generator works great. Some owners have the older Honda 2,000 w inverter and it is equally successful. However, some other brands of 2K generators will not pull the load. Lots of posts on this topic! IMHO, only for special needs situation is there a need for a super expensive and heavy 3,000 watt generator.... On the other hand, if you are Full Timing, and you discover some gold nuggets, then the Honda 3000 watt inverter generator would be the best on the market. Then you have a lot of power flexibility. I recall a recent post about this generator and that it fits in our front aluminum basket. GJ GJ

MobileJoy: Concerning your Lithionics batteries: Each manufacturer has their own winterization procedures to follow. Some, like Battleborn have different procedures depending on how deep of a freeze your location could experience and how long your absence will be from the trailer. So I recommend that you DO follow your MFG's winterization process. If you situation is unique, such as my Battleborn's, with my 8 month absence from the trailer, and wintered where they can see a -5 degree F temperatures for up to a couple of weeks at a stretch; then call your MFG and discuss your situation with them directly. Regardless, I recommend not having your propane system active for any long term non-attended storage. If you don't have a master 12V on/off switch, I would strongly consider adding one. With lithiums for normal winter storage (say 3 months), the parasitic losses are typically not significant enough to worry excessively about. But having a BlueSeas 350 amp master switch sure lets me sleep better when away for so long. Not to mention the ability to turn off all battery power very quickly should we smell smoke inside the trailer.... It's just a good idea and an easy DYI add. See Max Burner's post about the install we worked on this past summer. Your statement is correct for most Lithiums that need to be charged/discharged during winter extreme conditions. The use of heated batteries allows one to charge and discharge their system at will. However, if you don't use your trailer in extreme freezing conditions, then you don't need to worry about use of the batteries because they are shut down at the master switch, or in come cases by button's on each battery. Such is my case and many others. So having the heaters is good and necessary for the Cold Weather Owners for sure, and generally not for most other owners. One other option for fringe weather owners that use their lithium battery powered trailers in early spring and later fall where they may get short periods of very cold conditions. By installing a cabin air ducted fan system to the Litho battery box, (Such as John Davies and others have documented), you could get by without the expensive battery heaters. There is also some benefit to having such mods during extreme hot weather conditions to help keep the battery box temperature closer to the interior temp of you Ollie. Best regards, GJ

Our previous Dometic Noise Maker A/C, and current Houghton are both 13,500 BTU. Both were used over the past five years at Tinker AFB, OKC OK. in 108 degree full sun conditions. Both of these A/C's were cycling which tells me that they had a bit of spare capability in them. Note that I did keep the sun side window shades drawn, and had the awning extended about 3' for some wall shading. Did not go beyond this distance due to local thermals passing by occasionally. If you buy a used Ollie, plan on replacing the Dometic Penguin II A/C. New OTT offers a much better A/C now. GJ

There are many posts on our forum about our life safety detection systems and consequences of what can happen when things go badly. For this post, I am trying to highlight one simple step that each of us need to do when leaving our Oliver unoccupied and unattended for extended periods of time. But first, some info about propane. Both of the LPG gases, propane (C3H8) and butane (C4H10), are heavier than air. Propane is about 1.5 times heavier and butane is 2.1 times heavier than air. In a stagnant air situation, they will pool at the lowest level they can reach. Good news is that propane will only ignite within their upper and lower explosive limits (LEL). Said differently, the lower explosive limit is the lowest possible concentration of a gas that will burn or explode if ignited. The upper explosive limit, is the highest possible concentration of a gas in the air which will burn or explode if ignited. So, keeping your life safety detectors in good working order is an imperative. Doing so gives us great protection when using Ollie. However, the purpose of the below is to call your attention to a potential hazard that most of us have not likely considered…. What about when we are gone for months? BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): It is imperative to shut off the propane tank valves and totally kill & secure the power to your trailer if it is left unattended for long periods of time. Scenario: You are going to be away from your Ollie for several weeks or months. Unknown to you, there is a super small propane leak in your Ollie. It is so insignificant that it does not set off your propane detector. For long duration storage, to minimize battery losses, you have turned your master 12V electrical switch to “OFF”. You have removed and secured the shore source and power cord. So electrically your trailer utility wise is dead. But, this time you forgot to turn off the propane tank valves and did not place the propane auto switch-over in the center position. In your absence, the small leak continues to leak. Eventually, it it pools in a low space and continues to grow. Eventually it exceeds the LEL for propane. For the fire/explosion triangle, you now have fuel and oxygen. But since there is no ignition source, no fire/boom. Weeks or months later you return to Ollie. You pull out your Arrival Check List and proceed to uncover and unlock Ollie. You carefully check for wasp/hornet nests as you carefully open the door. Then you open up the trailer windows. With your flashlight, you check all areas of Ollie for things that may have changed in your absence. Things like pest intrusions, leaks, spills, canned food or wine bottles that froze hard and then leaked, or any of a host of other things that can happen while you were away. Part of your Arrival Check List process is to open up the hatches and look there too. When all looks good and you do not smell any weird smells from the above sources, or the distinctive “rotten egg” smell of mercaptan (The propane mal-odorant), you turn on your 12 Volt master switch to power up the trailer lighting. Another quick look...all is good. Then you fire off the Max Fan for fresh air, and you can safely connect up to shore power. Next you turn on the refrigerator and A/C. Miller Time! But this year, a family member is the first to Ollie and they have just a bit of trailer experience. Their first mistake is not to follow your Arrival Check List, but instead they plug in Ollie to shore power. Boom. So, for long duration unattended time frames, please ensure that you make safe your propane system by isolation from the tanks and killing the 12 and 120 volt shore power systems by turning them off and locking up any means for them to be activated until you have inspected your trailer for unknown hazards. Mahalo, GJ