Geronimo John

I agree. How about three 100 amp hour Battleborns, 3000 w inverter, 200 watt solar suit case (I wish I had gotten two each 100 watt ones though), Victron DC to DC charging and 712 Smart all for under $4,600 in 2021/22? Plus of course about 5 days labor by my self. 2021 SOLAR INSTALLATION INVOICE SUMMARY.xlsx The only really hard parts were the below and cutting a hole in the dog house for the #4 charging cables to the TV battery. If I were doing it again, I would have made the cutting board "pan handle" just a bit wider. The switch mounting bolt could have used another 1/4" of meat.

Me TOO! Hence here is how I did it using a solid copper buss bar from the Blue Seas On/Off and then direct connected to a buss bar with ALL the + loads. Just be aware of the stack-up height and the clearance above the switch. May limit your poly cutting board thickness. GJ

Hair Dryer would a better choice as they typically are 190 degrees F. I have "Fried" plastic with my heat gun. They are often over 800 degrees F if I recall correctly..

For the electrical wizards skip this post. You know it already. Most DC systems with fuses (Like our 300 Amp fuse on the + side of our OEM batteries) would have their master On/Off convenience switch on the same side of the battery as the fuse. Granted, both will get the job done. Just that being on the positive side is more prevalent than on the negative side. Not a big deal for most applications. But it could be for a first responder not familiar with your owner mod. For example, Fire Fighters are trained to to look for a RED handle or device on the primary current carrying lines during a fire operation. This is because they are taught that when working with DC Electrical, there typically are only just four different colors: Red – Red cables carry the positive current. Black – Black cables will be the negative cable. Grey or White – Grey or white cables are the ground wires. And they are generally looking for the red wires to kill the power with their super sized cutters. I have seen this several times. Sadly, I have also seen first responders cut wires within inches of a master On/Off switch. None the less, it is no coincidence that the vast majority of RV master on/off switches are red in color and are mounted on the RED positive lead. As many of you have seen this at least three times.... once again: If you are going to add a convenient and quick way to totally kill the DC power of your trailer, I highly recommended this unit: Blue Sea Systems 9003E (350 amp rated). It just happens to be...... wait for it...... RED WHY? RV and NEC codes require that all high power DC circuits have at least one current limiting device. In the case OE2's, most if not all have a 300 amp fuse on the + side of the battery. (See Note Below). If a second current limiting device, such as a supplemental On/Off Master Switch, is installed, it MUST be rated for at least the capability as the primary current limiting device (IE. generally our 300 amp fuse). For this reason the minimum size any engineer worth their salt would insist on using is at least a 300A master switch. The impact of using a smaller switch can be "enlightening" and very costly. PM me if you want the full monte explanation. I personally chose the above one. John Russell (AKA GJ) Registered Professional Engineer, Former USAF Fire Marshall and Incident Commander NOTE: For our OE2's, I have not yet seen any OEM Inverters beyond 3,000 watts. And 3,000 watts at 12.7 volts = 236 amps. So it is likely that ALL our OE2's have 300 A fuses on their man positive battery cable fuses as OTT tends to design the wiring for all options offered, and the 3,000 watt inverter is the big boy unit. If your fuse is higher or lower, please let us know.

Imagine the look of some teen agers heading down to the Ole Swimming Hole and finding a 17 foot camouflaged gator had eaten their swing! GJ

I'm a bit of a nerd and if I have a 300 amp fuse in my battery + cable in route to the Inverter (as Ollie installs), then I'm not going to use a 125 amp disco. For my use, I installed the BlueSeas 350 amp version. Used a small bus bar to connect it to the RED (+) terminal and then reconnected the cables to the 350 amp rated Master Kill Switch. Granted it costs significantly more than $8. But for something critical like this.... Peace of mind rules. GJ

That's true. I used to use COSTCO for our tires, but for new tires for the TV, Discount Tire's cost, service and guarantee was a better deal with the 5% military discount. For our F-150 I looked really hard at the Cooper's (Max Burner) and others. Was not impressed any longer with the Michelin AT2's. Compared to almost anything, they were inferior ... other than in price. I ended up purchasing Nitto Recon's for the F-150 for install in three weeks. For Ollie I'll likely be following a suggestion like Routlaw's (Vredistein Pinza AT's). It is more of a highway tire with off road abilities. Rationale is that I want to have more off road capability for our TV, but want less "Stone Tossing" for Ollie's axles. If you are not familiar with the Discount Tire/Tire Rack test and ratings I highly encourage you to check it out. You can select on a scale what attributes you want and it will make recommendations accordingly. I must have Some great pearls in the above that have me clearly planted in the LT camp for tires with manners on road at high speed. run at least 50 combinations of inputs just to get a real feel for what is available and recommended for different "your uses". Some really good info from several owners. I took to heart these: GJ

Didn't know that, good to know. Our experience has been only with TV's. Thanks! Bring the rims in and tell them it is for your XXX vehicle. GJ

John I would order a dozen if you are going to use a ten amp switch on a 30 amp circuit. 🙂 Gotcha! GJ

Excellent choice. GJ

The 2200 is only 7,500 BTU capacity. For an OE2, that would not be enough capacity for the majority of HOT weather areas. However, it would provide great de-humidificaiton as it would have very long run times between cycles or run all day long and be cycling off only at night. Would prefer at least 9000 BTU for an OE2, and 11,000 being the ideal selection. GJ

That's a great looking super durable cover. Thanks for sharing. I'm thinking maybe one for my front storage box. Do you think it would hold up with constant wind and abuse there? GJ

After careful adjustment, the next step is to determine the total power going to the four brake magnets. I can think of two ways to do this: 1. IF YOU HAVE SOLAR: Disconnect from TV. Shut off everything in the trailer and note the residual amp draw. Go to the street side bed area and locate the power connection for the emergency activation of the brakes. Using your solar control system, check and record the amp draw causes by parasitic draws (Smoke and propane detectors, stereo, tv etc. Record this amp draw. Should be very low. Pull the break-away and check your solar system control and determine the amp draw. Subtract the two numbers and you will have the power going to your brakes "locked up". It should be right around 12 amps. Reinsert the break away pin to conserve power and avoid overhheating the magnets. If the increased power draw is less than about 12 amps, it likely will be around 3, 6 or 9 amps thereby indicating you have one or more magnets with a problem. If it is near 12 amps, the issue is not with the trailer end of the system. I would then take it to a trailer brake pro, not a RV shop. 2. If you don't have solar, than I would connect Ollie to your TV and having a partner to activate the brakes: Measure the total amperage going to the brakes. Requires a clamp on amp meter. Should read between 11 and 12 amps. This will tell you if one or more of your brakes are not getting the power it needs to fully activate. If low: Test the power going to each side. Should be half of the above (around 6 amps) and equal side to side. If not: Test each of the four lines going into the brake assembly to figure out which one is the problem. If found, determine if it is: Broken/corroded connection, bad ground to that magnet, or a bad magnet. As above, knowing the amp draw at various places allow you to figure out where the problem is. If none of the above works.... get professional help before replacing your controller. Ask prospective shops if they have a plug in testers that connects up to your 7-pin at the TV bumper to diagnose TV brake controller and wiring. Finding a bad connection there would be a lot cheaper than a new controller installation. Hope this helps. GJ

I had a similar switch on a very old second hand ragged out BMW that failed. It was backward. Being a poor college kid, I found a switch the same size that was not. Mounted it upside down and used some black shoe polish to "Erase" the upside down on/off lettering. Cost me 50 cents. I was shocked at the price as for 50 cents I could buy almost two gallons of leaded gas!

I totally agree, and for our OE2 it would be the same. But OTT has to take a higher road and consider that not all owners are as swift in the power management regime, and don't have silly folks or kiddo's switching on stuff that don't fully understand what we have learned in more than six (or more) decades. So the safer path is to put the switch outside where only a few of us know how to play the power management game. That said, if you really want the ability, it is easy to add a switch under the curb side bed rail. You doing so fully absolves OT of the negligence should "an event" occur. In today's world, i think their decision was pretty obvious.

Good luck! GJ

If I recall, JD super insulated the space under the sink as part of his winter hardening of his OE2. That project combined with adding access would open up the space for storage. Could you post some pic's under a net thread on how to do so?

I suspect that OTT felt that the the "pain and suffering" of having such a switch inside far outweighed the inconvenience of going outside and flipping the switch on the hot water heater. Specifically: Activating this high current element is mostly concerned with your setup location. Do you have a 30 amp connection to power up Ollie's systems, or just 20, or just solar, or just a generator (Etc.). The power available generally determines if I'll even be using the hot water electrically driven. However, having a switch inside would allow a whole lot of others to just flip it on. The impact could instantly trip the breaker. That could have a lot worse impacts. Benefit/Cost Analysis Summary: Fail. GJ

Having an OBD reader opens up a lot of different settings that the MFG knows about but may not make available on your trim level. Many of those options are actually available for the owner with such a scanner. For my 2019 F-150 they include: Bambi Mode Transmission Temp Display in degrees F above the idiot light Disable Auto Start/Stop Turn off double honk when leaving the truck with keys in it... like hooking up Ollie Toyota likely has many such options that may improve your truck suites your preferences. Recommend you search the Toyota Forum for your truck's generation. For sure will not improve the engine braking vs a big block V-8, but some of those minor irritations can for sure be fixed easily. GJ

JD: I like your tree guard! I have had my RVC antenna whacked more than once. GJ

I have experienced 80 MPH winds there while setting still. I have experienced hundreds of times 40 MPH wind gusts. So if you don't want to see 80 MPH winds on the AC, you are now limited to running 40 mph or below. Just saying there are hugly strong wind gusts out west, and if the fasteners have cracked the cover, making those connections more sturdy by adding the SS fender washers would be a smart idea. Just saying.....

On interstate highway steep sections The Beast will go as fast as I want to pay for fuel. No exceptions. At Buffalo Mountain in Oklahoma, I drag Ollie up or down a somewhat improved gravel fire road four times a summer. It is an 8 mile trek with grades 7 - 11% with a rough section at 13%. When transversing steep grades on gravel at 13%, I am running slow, 4X4 low range center transfer case, with my rear locking diff engaged. I use transmission in manual mode and use gears 1, 2 or 3 depending on grade and road condition. I keep the RPM's at about 2800 to facilitate cooling of the engine, tranny and turbos. Being able to lock everything up and taking it slow has proven to be zero worries. GJ

About 60 years ago, my grandfather and I built a buss bar knife switch very simular to yours. I had totally forgotten about it until I saw yours. Well done! GJ

Have a 200 watt solar suitcase. Used it last year but just ran the cables thru the battery compartment gasket. WIll be installing the z-amp 20 amp plug in the door this summer. After last summer's use, if I were to do it again, I would have gotten two of the 100's. Easier to pack and would fit in more spaces on the move. Looks like I'll be getting a Mainstays silcon lid. Where did you find it? GJ

I'll try that out this summer! GJ