Geronimo John

Impressive! What is the actual maximum amps are you seeing to the batters with the Renogy 40 amp DC to DC unit? GJ

Also interested in what size cables you used and what charger you would use to get beyond the Victron Orion 30 amp units on the market. BTW, great fuse unit. GJ

I am not familiar with your unit. For our OE trailers, many of use the Victron Orion 12/12 DC to DC units. And NON of them can handle 350 amps. You must have a PeterBuilt to be working cables that size at 12 or even 24 volts. Just having fun. But it would be nice if you you would add your TV and Trailer info to your tag line. See above other posts for good examples.

This past summer, we traveled in temperatures exceeding 100F. Our breaker for the 4 AWG DC home run is located just aft of our F-150 engine bay battery. The breaker and system worked like a champ. GJ

Chris: Great idea and creative execution! Well done. Not only looks great, is functional, but the curved edge is more aerodynamic as well. In the world of PVC, the big box store white PVC is designed for underground use. The Gray PVC is designed for electrical usage that is often used above ground and exposed to the sun. Just like black tie-wraps, the gray/black products have UV inhibitors, and generally speaking the white ones do not. So if one is going to paint the PVC, I suggest using the UV inhibited PVC. OR if your decals use gray as part of your Ollie's theme, then the gray PVC could be used as is. GJ

More than a few of use a 350 amp BlueSeas master switch to eliminate any parasitic losses. It for sure would solve the problem and provide an emergency cut-off for peace of mind. GJ

I use this very small Mr. Coffee machine. For travel it sits in the sink along with other items. At less than 10" tall, it could go elsewhere though. Works great. Doubles as a water heater if on shore power. GJ

Pay attention here, light duty truck owners. This is absolutely true. You both are correct. My statement was not a typo, it was a brain fart. Post has been updated above. GJ

I used to believe this as an absolute as well. Until I got to spend some time with MaxBurner and we weighed the tongue weight of my 6,000 pound OEII. I just "assumed" my tongue weight was around 650 to 700 pounds with all the stuff I carry in the front wardrobe, tongue aluminum box and a really really full pantry of canned goods. My extensive high speed out west in high gusts and 100 mph trucks zipping by with zero sway what so ever really cemented my wag of the tongue weight. But it weighed in at only 540 pounds. I was shocked. So if an OEII owner wanted to run without a front basket, and the moar of the tools, cloths and canned goods,,, like I carry; it would quite possible to get it down to 499.... and drop off the Anderson. So, I'm adding into my list of absolute words to avoid the word "Requires". That said, I agree with your suggestion that an Anderson is a good idea for sure. Especially for a new OE2 owner without a lot of experience. How about Strongly Suggested, and in Many Cases is required if the tongue weight exceeds 500 pounds is required to have a WDH hitch? 🙂 GJ

I used to believe this as an absolute as well. Until I got to spend some time with MaxBurner and we weighed the tongue weight of my 6,000 pound OEII. I just "assumed" my tongue weight was around 650 to 700 pounds with all the stuff I carry in the front wardrobe, tongue aluminum box and a really really full pantry of canned goods. My extensive high speed out west in high gusts and 100 mph trucks zipping by with zero sway what so ever really cemented my wag of the tongue weight. But it weighed in at only 540 pounds. I was shocked. So if an OEII owner wanted to run without a front box and the tools, cloths and canned goods I carry; it would easy to get it down to 499 and drop off the Anderson. So, I'm adding into my list of absolute words to avoid the word "Requires". Ford liability shield limits their F-150 requires a WDH if towing over 5,000 pounds as stated in the below posts. Thanks guys! GJ

Impressive. Who made your batteries? 540 amp hours is amazing from our battery bay. Pictures?

Being in HI and Ollie in OK, I'm at a disadvantage in long range planning. The drain tube runs between our outer and inner fiberglass hulls from the Houghton across the roof and then down the wall to below the windows and belly band. It then passes through the belly band area and down another foot or so past the twin bed mattress. The inner hull there separates from the outer hull to make a cavity for utilities. At that point I think it is only covered by the Rejex insulation. If that is the case then it would only be a matter of knowing where to look. OTT OWNERS: Please jump in if you have any thoughts on this possible route of our A/C drain tube. Thanks GJ

Your extensive shop tooling, exceptional craftmanship, and willingness to spend the time certainly resulted in the most elegant install I have seen. But even if I had your shop and the time to invest, it would have been impossible for me to even consider trying replicating your skills. The much lower tech approach requires common tools plus a hydraulic cable crimper and hole saws to get the job done. But we all marvel at your and John D's amazing mods. They serve to elevate our thinking. GJ

There are at least 22.5 opinions about how many BB's to pack into an OEII, and how to hook them up. One nice, but expensive and time consuming to do idea floated and done by several owners is to clean out as much as possible wiring from the battery compartment. I figured that since LifePO4 batteries are pretty much maintenance free, I would not go that route. My DYI install considerations were: Ease of installation and inspection. Leave space for a master cut off switch Minimize changes to existing wiring Use as much existing wiring as possible. In the battery box, install three Battleborns, the Smart Shunt and a Master Cutoff Switch (350 Amp BlueSeas) To do this I also used two terminal blocks (Red and Black) and some poly cutting board. When all said and done, the master cut off switch had about 1/4" clearance. Here is a picture. it shows two heavy duty straps. 'll be adding a third this summer. As you can see, there is no room for a 4th battery. One important consideration of any layout is keeping all the connections easily visible for both mechanical and thermal check-up every once in a blue moon. For the thermal check, I use the John Davies recommended IR detector that works well with wheel bearing and brake checks at road stops. GJ

JD: I have never had a problem with my TV (F-150) brakes on long steep down hill grades. But I constantly "worry" and do baby them consistently. As such, I would like to increase my safety margin. Hence an upgrade for my system rotors and pads are likely on my horizon. I cut and pasted info from your post and the Summit web site. Is the EBC Stage 1 pads box color consistent with their performance ratings from their web site chart? I.E. you are using their "Blue Stuff" as shown on their "Know Your Stuff" table? Generally speaking for mods, the higher the stage number the more aggressive the mod is. This is especially true for tunes. If not, what "Know Your Stuff Color" were the pads that came with your kit? Thanks GJ

Roger on the root cause of the plastic shards. But "Never" is one of those really big words that "always" get me in trouble. In this case, I would say "much less often" or maybe "rarely". 🙂 GJ

Does your 2023 have the black tank flush valve as our older Ollies have? GJ

Yes, but... Our data cable that runs from the Dometic to the multi function digital T-stat is very small wire. As such, several of our OEII owners, myself included, have reused that four wire cable to extend the furnace cable over to the old T-stat location. To do so we needed more current carrying capability for a new simple T-stat just for the furnace. So, we tied together two of the wires on each end to double the copper size for higher current flow. Since our Suburban furnace control is OEM run from the furnace to the Dometic A/C communications box, we connected the two "double cables" as a jumper from the now Houghton under belly to a dedicated single use thermostat that just runs the furnace. This works very well for the furnace. The Oliver double fiberglass hull is insulated and I suspect it would be very difficult to find another path to the former Dometic thermostat (Now new T-stat for heat). But if we can, that would be the cat's meow. Because of my preconceived concerns with the level of difficulty to do so would be a PITA. This is the reason that I was looking at possible other options to extend the thermistor cable. In that quest I took stock of the installed drain tube. On the OEII, it appears to run to the area behind the street side tires. My hope is that the path may take it to within reach of our rear attic area. Hence my question above (Saturday). But no responses so far to that question (Last Saturday, above in this thread.) But now, with your efforts in mind, I am thinking if the OEII drain tube could be intercepted in the basement space under the rear bunk. We OEII Houghton owners could use the drain tube to convey an extended thermistor wire over and down to the street side under bed area, and then over and up into the old Dometic thermostat location where we have the new single use T-stat. Once there we could poke it out as you did on your AS. That would then pretty much solve the Houghton's issues for the OEII's as well. OEII OWNERS: Anybody know if it is reasonable to intercept the drain tube inside the street side bed basement area? GJ

You likely have aerator screens on your faucets and shower. Removing and cleaning them, and then flushing with removed may improve your water pressure and flow rates. GJ

LOL. I have done the same thing. When the Owner of Houghton stated that their coils did not retain much moisture, I tested it by running the a/c wide open with the windows open on a humid day. As soon as I had a flow of water going overboard, I knew I had a "Loaded Coil". Then I closed the door and windows and switched the Houghton from cool to heat pump, it clearly demonstrated just how fast one could run out unwanted guests! GJ

What a wonderful effort! Many many thanks. I have some thoughts that may be worth a cup of coffee..... I am suggesting an "Old School" approach to short cycling that likely you have not seen done. In the olden days (IE. before transistors and electronic controls), if I had a T-stat sensing bulb that was in a difficult location (that we could not change), and the cold air was causing short cycling, we would first try shielding the sensor from the air flow. If that did not provide relief from short cycling, then we would add thermal mass to the sensing bulb. Thermal mass would work on a small thermistor as well I suspect. Try putting the thermistor into a small plastic pill container with a hole in the lid for the cable. Leave the lid hole sort of open, maybe even put a hole in the pill container bottom. Then tape it to the wall and note what happens. Then move it around the space. If the short cycling persists add thermal mass to the container with the thermistor and repeat. Something like a few small glass beads. Need more dampening, add more glass beads. The increasing thermal mass of the weighted container will ameliorate the output of the thermistor. That will delay temperature rise and fall as the unit cycles. Thereby delaying both start and stop. Basically extending the run times and off times as well. i am thinking that should the drain line approach be feasible (No answers to my question above about that yet.) then a thermal mass enabled thermistor in the attic with an air port via the smoke detector just may work. On the other hand there maybe a different thermistor that would do the same thing. But first proof of concept would be the first logical step. GJ

I feel the same way. My Ollie OEM Michelin's still have life and are E-rated. Down the road for OLLIE, I'll likely go with the Defender's light truck E-rated of course. For Ollie, my concern is having long life and low potential for rock chucking. But for our F-150 TV, for us the jury is out for at least 3 years as we run the Nitto Recon Grabbers. When their time comes I'll for sure be revisiting the topic. Who knows, it is possible that our lifestyle changes and we need to go back to the Defenders for the TV. just saying.. .. 🤣 GJ

I have a cousin that works the counter at a Discount Tire store. I was curious so asked him how much he makes on commissions. Answer zero. So I googled the question: My experience with them has always been top notch. Sorry they did not meet your expectations. GJ

For sure! I spent a huge amount of time there changing parameters to see how their computer adjusted recommendations. Many tire reviews also were helpful. GJ

First, I have used Michelin Defender and AT's for 90+% of all my tire purchases since 1970. After having problems with them I started researching which of the many tires would work better for us. We accumulate 94% of our miles getting from Texas to the far west to be in the mountains. Where there the roads where we fly our paragliders and hang gliders are all.... wait for it.... in the mountains and where we go I rarely travel roads that is not gravel, mud or worse. Point is, saying from your perspective using an AT for places we find ourselves every summer "is overkill for a tow vehicle period", and we buy our tires because they look pretty... just does not wash with this member's, and likely more than a few other member's reality. GJ