Geronimo John

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

Not a dumb question at all! My generally doing the end of season black tank and dump line cleaning is at a military FamCamp dump station. I like to keep my stay on the dump station as brief as possible. With two hoses running full blast and the tank dump valve open, it gets a vigorous cleaning in about 3 -4 minutes. Poof I'm off station. Besides it's a blast inside that tank! LOL! GJ

Would some gorilla tape over the line of vent holes stick? Would be a lot faster! Cost beats $1.98! But alas likely less life span. GJ

I'm a Battleborn guy, so I have no idea. But I would bet Sherry does know! GJ

Since there appears to be space, what about adding a stainless steel fender washer with a rubber disk under it to seal? then use SS bolts to fasten. If you are really worried, then add some caulk that can be removed from around the bolt head. This would keep water away, and as importantly spread the load on the fiberglass cover from the fastening tension plus wind impacts when in Wyoming at 80 MPH. If the bolts need better grab to the hull, then consider RivNuts. GJ

With the twin turbo and ten speed transmissions, obtainable MPG is substantually determined by wind, grade and speed. The first two you can't change as they are what they are on any given day. So for a given day and highway, that pretty much means you can control only your speed. So picking a speed you want to run you can then play with the transmission gear limit seetting. I have done that enough on the interstates to know that any velocity under about 75 I lock out gears 9 and 10. If almost always keep my speed to 66 MPG or under, Doing so, I do pretty good on the MPG. At least until I get into Wyoming, where on most days, if you are not running well over that, you are the rock in the stream. It is there that I see that exponential rate of fuel burn..... GJ

I am just smart enough to understand why a reboot would allow the inverter electronics and capacitors to fully "Stand Down" overnight. Occasionally my fat fingers have typed in some inadvertent key strokes on my computer that put it into a tail spin and the reboot did the fix job. If you have no need to be in the trailer needing lighting or fans, you could just turn off your master DC switch (or pull the 300 amp fuse) and you will accomplish the same thing without the PITA of removing those massive DC input cables at the Inverter. Me: I would gladly sleep the night in the dark with the Master Switch off, and turn it on in the morning and fire off the coffee pot and microwave in the morning and thereby avoiding messing with those difficult to get to cables. GJ

Thank you for the testing and determination that it wastes a quart of water. I thought it was much more. So good news. However, with very few exceptions (i.e. going Lithium), just about every mod adds weight and complexity. I'm with the "Keep it Simple" group when considering mods. In this case the creative solution is really fun to see. But sadly we flush the toilet several times a day. So using a one quart plastic large mouth container to catch the cold hot water works great for the next flush. However this solution also adds weight (1 oz) and requires maintenance as well (cleaning). 😗

I have had the same experiences with the Toyota V-8's and 3.5 twin turbo's. The new twin turbo's are amazing. GREAT fuel economy when not towing. Good fuel economy towing IF you keep your foot out of the turbo's. I typically get 13+ to 14 MPG running 65 MPH on the interstates. But if I get in a hurry and start seeing much turbo boost on the gauges, the MPG drops off at what seems to be an exponential decline. It would be interesting to see a side by side TFL test of the Ford 350 vs 3.5 Ecoboost and the Toyota 5.7 and the 3.5 Twin turbo with the same loads running a mixed flat land/mountain course. Not to compare the Ford/Toyota, but rather their respective V8 vs TT V6's towing 7,000 horse trailers. JPR NOTE: Why a 7,000 pound horse trailer? I think that combination with less frontal surface area, but more weight would be a nice match for our OE2's with better aero and less weight. Just a SWAG on my part. OR maybe OTT could loan TFL Two Ollies for advertisement purposes! GJ