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Geronimo John

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Everything posted by Geronimo John

  1. No attachment, photo of model specified. GJ
  2. I agree with both Frank and SeaDawg I think that the area highlighted with the red circle and arrow are flaws from MFG. They and others not marked as mentioned by SeaDawg could result in a weak section of the top layers of the roof. Then that area was subsequently impacted by a collapsing cover, rock or tree as suggested by SeaDawg. I also definitely think that some form of blunt force was involved in this cosmetically unusual area. But because this roof is very thick, it very likely is not structural damage. So, IMHP, the cosmetic flaws are of factory origin. But the impact force could have occurred at the factory (Falling chain ball or dropped A/C for example). Or after it left the factory as stated above. But then, there is always the remote possibility that a 350 pound gorilla was skipping rope up there. 🙂 Before calling Jason, I suggest doing the tap test suggested by Jim and Chris. GJ
  3. The CFM through the furnace is not really that much. A fan powered induction box could be tied into the Truma fan intake so as to "Pressurize" the inlet of the Truma thereby avoiding the low pressure warning. GJ
  4. I agree fully. Personally I made that exact decision as I started out 20 years ago with a TEMCO Hammer Crimper. Still find it quite useful here in Hawaii on smaller stuff. But for use on our Trailer without a vice handy it was a no go for me. Especially I would have to borrow a vice. But I would never put a cheater bar on another's vice. So I went hydraulic. DYI Pro': I am very open to loaning out my hydraulic lug crimper during the summer. I know it was really handy this summer while visiting MaxBurner and beyond. If interested PM me. GJ
  5. I best keep my door open at night, elsewise I'll be trying to walk through it when nature calls at 3:30 AM. Learned the hard way to not close it at night....... Ouch! XXXXX words.....
  6. There are some learning curves with fabricating your own 4/0 cables. The below is the process that I have used successfully. Specialty Tools Used: If I needed to purchase tools for a 4/0 AWG cable efforts, I would spend the bucks for that Klein Standard Cable Cuter and a Hydraulic Crimper (shown above), or the one like John Davies suggested some time ago Amazon: TEMCO TH1818 Hydraulic Crimper Summit Performance: Klein Tools Standard Cable Cutter 63035 (16.25” long) 4/0 Cable Fabrication Procedure: I have found it very useful NOT to cut the copper bulk cable to length until AFTER you have completed the full lug insulation on one end. Failure to not do so will result in more cable wastage, and utterance of “Bad Words” as JD has mentioned occasionally. That said, one "trick" I stumbled on to help with getting all the copper stranded cable strands into the lugs is related to how I strip, cut and insert the cable to the lug. The amount of insulation to be removed varies by lug size and the length of the hole that your wire is inserted into. But for this description, let's say you want to have 3/4" of bare cable to insert into the copper lug. In this example I would: If the bulk cable does not have a perfect “clean cut”, then carefully cut it square with the cable cutter. Now mark the bulk cable with a paint marker ¼” from the end, and again at ¾” from the end. Use a tubing cutter (or a fancier insulation removing tool) circle cut the cable insulation (only) at the two marks. Only remove the ½” of insulation as you will be leaving that ¼” of insulation intact on the bulk cable. With the ½” section of insulation removed, now you want to loosen the ¼”" band of insulation by twisting the ¼” band of insulation on the bulk cable. Leave it in place to manage the strands of copper. Carefully done and you will have all the copper strands well managed by the ¼” band insulation on the end of the cut to length cable. Use a bench vice to hold your 4/0 lug. Since you have broken the bond of the ¼” band section of insulation, you can more easily insert the cable into the lug by pushing it into the lug as the ¼” of insulation retreats in front of the lug. As the ¼” band approaches the end of travel, remove it and you can finish insertion by twisting the cable into the lug as you push it. Only twist in one direction. Crimp the lug onto the cable. Now cut the cable to length and repeat the process on the other end. NOTE: Always purchase extra cable and lugs. There is a learning curve involved. GJ
  7. When we first got our OE2, I too ran out of propane, more than once honestly. Stupid mistake on my part. My problem was the auto change over valve and my inattention. Certainly there are not some nice monitoring systems, but they are not infallible for sure. My solution, which would not work well for a trailer not attended in extreme weather, but works for us, is to not use the auto change over valve (as suggested above). And to pull the tank out and leave it in the TV for ASAP refill. Although we are warm weather campers, I have insured that should we find ourselves in a situation where heating of our Ollie is essential, I have options that independently can do so: Use the furnace. Use shore power or generator to run our Houghton Heat Pump 3000W Inverter and lithium's to run the Heat Pump or other options. Use shore power or generator to fire off an old fashioned 1500 watt electrical induction heater Get into the TV and fire off it's heater Go to a hotel! And if dire, crack a window and MaxFan and heat with the stove top. (Dire emergency Only due to dangers of CO) I strongly encourage all owners to access their heat options. The more options, the better. GJ
  8. All modern propane systems have a safety feature that will shut down the flow of propane if there is a surge beyond that which is normal. I was in a hurry and fired off the refer, stove and furnace after storage. The combination shut down the regulator. Simple solution is to turn off all propane users, disconnect the tank hoses. Reconnect, and crack just a bit your tank valve and light off one stove burner. it will purge any air and you can ignite the burner. Let it burn for a few seconds and then fire off the refer and furnace and hot water heater. This process assumes that your regulator was sized to fire off all your propane appliances sequentially and to use them at the same time with some surge capability (but not much). That said, if the regulator was changed out to one of lesser capacity, then all bets are off. Regardless give the system 15 seconds or so between light offs. Other consideration: The colder your tanks are the less their flow capability is. Concerning auto change over valve.... I never use it. I would rather get up on a cold raining night and manually change over when a tank runs out. That way I KNOW what my tank status really is.
  9. OK, I'll buy that you are killing the battery bay bank. But then, have you not seen your tail lights very faintly when you think EVERYTHING is off? Just saying lots of opportunities that could come into play. Glad you figured it out. What does the reverse power fuse/breaker do for us? Thanks GJ
  10. He has a shunt. With a shunt there is only one way to connect to the batteries negative side. The positive side can have several connections. That said, in theory if you turn off/ flip the main breaker or master switch, you should be killing all battery power. But, I am thinking that maybe: If you are connected to your TV, it is possible that that TV battery (Via the 7 Pin) and especially the DC to DC charger (especially if you have the non-isolated version) WILL supply a ground path. If you have an Inverter/charger, that could provide an electrical path as well. GJ
  11. Our 2018 OE2 has an outlet between the bathroom door and the coat closet. Perfect for plugging in a heater. We use that outlet a lot for many purposes. Did that feature evaporate on later models? GJ
  12. So long as the holes are covered by the frame from the cabin side, I see no issue. Seems like it is a normal door replacement. Now if the frame would not cover the old holes, then it becomes somewhat of a problem making them "go away". Certainly worth further discussion if your door is no longer closing enough for appearances sake and keeping shower water out of the main cabin. If not, looks like you may be a "Pioneer" on this one. Ditto TopGun. But i have only some sag. Possibly because of the "ditto". This is on my departure check list.
  13. I do know that for my 2019 F-150 with heavy duty tow package, it was enough to corrode the 7 Pin connection on the trailer end. Replaced the connection with one that has LED power indicators and removed the fuse on the truck end.
  14. I would consider laying a silicone bead in the ring. That would likely keep it in place when servicing the tanks. GJ
  15. Love your new OE2! Congratulations. Noted what appears to be a much more substantial door than on my 2018 model. More than a few of our vintage doors seem to develop a sage. Wonder if the older hulls can easily be modified to accept the new door? GJ
  16. Full credit to the Eaton Corporation for the below graphic. My post addresses a bit of the technical side as to why some owners like double protection and use an additional surge protector at the utility source. As indicated in the Eaton Corporation graphic, there are six components in better surge protectors designed for RV use. Most of them act as filters to block noise and surges. One, the Metal Oxide Varistors (Blue disks below) work differently. They actually absorb voltage spikes. And they do it very well. However, over time they take a lot of "hits" and in the process of absorbing the excess energy they degrade. As they degrade their effectiveness declines. These components generally are not serviceable. So if a spike gets absorbed by a surge protector at the pole, it extends the life of the much more expensive surge protector in our trailers. Additionally, the Metal Oxide Varistors in any surge protector can only absorb a limited amount. Lets say that your camp ground has a tremendous spike heading your way. The Chokes and Inductors of your power pole will "knock down" the spike as much as they can. What gets by then hits the surge protector in the trailer. This one knocks the spike down further. It also gives us an error code that we can see inside the trailer allowing us to take action (hopefully) before the next spike hits us. As is evident, it is for sure belts AND suspenders, and for many locations is highly recommended. Hope this helps, GJ
  17. Nice installs. Owners: Do you have any experience with damage potential to the hull for a removal of a wide bands of VHB tape secured equipment? GJ
  18. Looks like my response got to you slower than yours back! Working off your response and ignoring mine. I would prefer taped down, but.... first: They have two mounting options. Tape and bolted. When they respond to my first questions, I'll ask them if they are using 3M tape, and if so which version. After all, all things wear out and a replacement method is essential. One of my first set of questions asked was if removing the taped down ones will damage the gel coat. My concern with VHB is it is a bear to remove. Likely not only damaging the gel coat, but likely the fiberglass below. That is my motive for knowing ahead of time how to replace them on OUR trailers. OMG, you caught the fever. EXACTLY my motivation in this thread. 🙂 Not a difficult to do effort for our TV antenna, but your is a bunch larger. One of the advantages of these panels is that they can be penetrated and you only lose a bit of capacity. For my "Flying Saucer" TV antenna, I would look into cutting a hole for it to stay where it is. Just lay the panel around/under? it. In summary, likely we are looking at two of their 200 watt panels run front to back (Fore to Aft for the boaters). Virtually no visual impact and no aerodynamic impact as well. My two reasons, previously stated for not getting the OTT style Solar System. OTT: I hope you are keeping this thread in mind for a significant upgrade for 2025! Regardless we have a good start on this concept. Will give the supplier some time to digest my questions. thank you again! GJ
  19. Chris or John: That would be very much appreciated. Apparently they are very flexible. However at this point I do not know if they are flexible on L and W, or just in the L direction. So until the supplier answers my questions sent, I can only ponder installing them in the S to P direction and not the F to A manner as that would require the second direction of flex. But if they turn out to be flexible in the both directions, then getting two of them up there running F to A could be a great solution. So, in addition to knowing if the 80" length will fit between the existing Max fan to the bath fan and vent, also knowing the Up/Down measurement would be helpful. Sure wish I could beam over and tag the measurement between the two awnings below while following the roof terrain..... I could accept having the panels run from the back side of the OEM awning over over to the street side so long as they stopped before reaching where a second awning is normally mounted. Further than that becomes a visual concern, at least for me. Thanks for your help! GJ
  20. Very nice write-up! I really like your recommendation for the Remco USA made pump. Thanks for sharing that. For winterization, OTT recommends getting 2 gallons of RV antifreeze. I always get three and have some left over. With the additional fixtures involved, I suggest owners using your approach to get that extra gallon. for some locations may not necessary, but if your Ollie is subject to HARD freezes, it is far better to not skimp on a $4 gallon of antifreeze.
  21. Chris and John: Thank you! Roger I snipped the wrong picture from OTT. Have deleted it above. I went deep into my pictures and snipped this one of our roof line. We just have up front the Omni Antenna, vent stack and bath fan. The Yuma Copper Iridium Gallium Selenide (CIGS) panels are rated at 200 watts and are roughly 26" X 80" in size. Ollie is 7' wide with two puff up/downs along the width of the roof. As such, dimensionally they will easily fit on our roof running starboard and port (S/P) direction with room to spare. With your measurements in mind: Without moving the antenna we can easily get two each 200 watt panels laid S/P. If I relocate antenna, it appears that we may be able to get three of the 26" wide panels laid aft of the bathroom fan and vent stacks. Granted laying the panels over the vertical roof section and their run up/down curved sections will reduce the outputs of the panels likely in the 8% range. "ASS of U & ME" such would de-rate the panels to 184 watts (maximum calculated) output. One of the significant benefits of these panels in partial shade is that they only de-rate by the shade over the sections shaded. Unlike many other systems, partial shade impacts the entire panel. For planning purposes, I'm going to assume only 175 watts max output. So, conservatively we are looking at getting maybe easily 350 watts or maybe 525 watts of power if we relocate roof penetrations. Point is go get what we can with virtually zero aerodynamic drag, and far less visual pollution to boot. I have sent the MFG Rep a series of questions about their panels, and will update this thread with their responses. GJ
  22. If you have to ask then this exalted position is well above your station in this life - sorry. Well said. However through exhaustive study and practice, I have learned that some are engineers who definitely were born with a warped sense of humor.
  23. If it is calibrated, then generally that means it can be recalibrated. May be worth a call to the Varioheat MFG. GJ
  24. I like either the suggested plusnut or Rivet Nuts for Plastic and Composites solutions better than a rivet nut for your project. I have used rivet nuts in fiberglass, but always put a washer on the back side before crushing. The washer spreads the load and greatly reduces the potential for pullout indued cracking from the back side. The use of a washer with either of these two other methods would also be suggested if any significant loads are anticipated as required by a specific application. For this project of course not needed. GJ
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