wolfdds

I am attaching pictures of the final install for the portable solar panel connection. I used the Blue Solar 75/15 with the Bluetooth Dongle which I mounted on a new piece of plywood attached to an existing backer board. I added an inline switch to turn off the Solar Controller when we are not using the panel just to save battery. I used crimped connectors with heat shrink shields. I also made a custom sealed port to run the wires into the battery compartment. The port was sealed together with 5 minute epoxy The pictures make it pretty self explanatory. As I said before the only thing I would avoid in my install is where I positioned the outside Furion port. It was just really hard to get it through bolted.

Congratulations!!

Bill, As nice as my install looks, it was very, very difficult to get the bolts on the top screws!! I would not recommend this placement if you are planning to use through bolts.

Just curious was the back too low or the front?

Congrats.

Welcome. Little Timmy! I have a 17 year old daughter and she loves bringing a friend and having their own space out in the tent. Works out perfect!! I am posting a picture of our old setup with our 2005 Casita. Notice the 10 x 15 EZ up for our outdoor dining hall. The EZ up is bigger than the camper. Lol

Adding to the color options thread: Our option choices were: Fiber-Granite Dakota Flooring Step-up Knox Cushions Mink Primary: Lt Orange Secondary: Copper Metallic

Thanks @Raspy. That is a nice simple idea. Well I have to say drilling a hole in my brand new camper was filled with anxiety but it was just about the easiest to drill hole I have ever cut. I decided to install the Furion solar plug port above my existing shore power port My plan was to use rivets to mount it but the rivets I had were not long enough. I think you would need 1 inch grip rivets to get through the plastic port and the thickness of the hull. I decided to through bolt it which worked but would be impossible with out a patient partner because the top through bolts were just under the lip of the inner hull; this made threading the two top nuts very tricky! At any rate the job is completed. I will post the pictures here and then add the final wiring install pictures when I get to that step.

@Raspy, Can you upload a picture of your plug install on the battery compartment door. Thanks.

Congrats.

Thanks. I will definitely take your advice Re: The Victron monitor. Just waiting for my outlet to arrive to start my install.

@grumbleandtwist Do you know the brand/place that you purchased the stackable bins with the fruit in them?

I am old school and love cooking over real fire/charcoal. I would not trade my Char griller sidecar for any grill. The one I have has lasted over 10 years. We also use an original two burner coleman camp stove (20+ yrs old)

Since driving back from TN to MA I can say that I definitely concluded (as much a s I would love to get the Gladiator for many reasons)...there is no way I would want less truck than my 5.7 L V8 Tundra. I am glad I did not have a chance to hedge my bet before driving home.

No I did not have it installed. They said it was very easy to do. Here are the parts I ordered to install the port. Furrion FSPINS-PS White RV Solar Port Inlet SolarEnz Adapter for Solar Panel Suitcase 2 Pin Power Industrial Circular Connector and MC4 Connector When I get started on the install I will start a new thread and submit photos and let you know how it goes.

I have just arrived back to MA with Hull #435 and my only real anxiety over the way I had optioned our New Ollie II was if I should have had the Zamp system installed by Oliver vs Installing my own. I had the portable panel from from my previous camper and had installed its system; which was pretty easy to do. So I decided to skip the solar option and do it again on my own (DIA/DIY (Lol)). I have begun the process: These are the components I have ordered so far: Victron Energy VE.Direct Bluetooth Smart dongle Victron BlueSolar 75/15 MPPT Charge Controller - 15 Amps / 75 Volts To go along with my existing HQST 100 watt semi flex solar panel. I am thinking of adding a monitor but not sure if I want to just get a simple monitor for just the solar or upgrade to a full RV monitor system like the Simarine. https://www.simarine.net/product/pico-battery-monitor/ I will keep you posted on how it goes.

We love our new Ollie II. Will make it back to MA tomorrow. We already met new Ollie friends (Kevin and Kathy) at David Crockett State Park.

I will not be able to make it to the rally. Our next trip will be to Vermont over Memorial weekend. Brighton State Park.

What Campground were you at?

Nice shopping list. We are gonna be right behind you...heading down from Massachusetts to pick ours up on April 16th. Have a safe trip.

I recently have planned my trip from MA to TN to pick up my Ollie. I used Google maps to plot my course and was able to save all my stopping points. Here are the url's for our roadtrip. https://goo.gl/maps/LDh4B5Kwkbz https://goo.gl/maps/JF51kKZEzhn I initially put in my starting point and final destination and used the route on the map to zoom in and find places to stay based on the amount of travel time I was comfortable with per day. Maps does a great job of showing you what is around each place you plan to stop. It does not have a UI to specifically help with actually choosing where you would like to stay and which campgrounds to choose. However almost every place has reviews and you can do a lot of research within the Maps app. If you have Google Maps on your phone you can download the route and even set it to be available without internet access.

Thanks for the reply John!. I did order the utility tray but will not plan to really load it down (you never can really have too much storage :-) . I will probably just use it to carry my Honda 2000 Gen. Ironically the Turbo Diesel is supposed to have less towing capacity than the 3.6 Liter Gasser. https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-shows/los-angeles-auto-show/a25345880/jeep-gladiator-pickup-diesel-tow-rating/ The info about adjusting the Anderson hitch appreciated. This is all probably just academic rhetoric since I most likely would not be able to take possession of a New Gladiator before I head down to Oliver to get the new vessel. I will let you know how it goes. Dave

I currently have a 2012 Toyota Tundra 5.7 L V8 and a 2017 2 dr Jeep Wrangler (Willys). I would love to trade them both in and get the Gladiator to satisfy all my needs in one vehicle, but I am worried that it will not be able to handle the Elite II the way I would like. I had been pulling a Casita with the Tundra and it did not even know the Casita was behind it. The recent specs have the Tow Capacity at 7,650. Any more thoughts on this subject would be appreciated. I am picking my Elite II up on April 16th. Not sure if the Galdiators would even be available by then. I bought the Anderson hitch and if possible would like to get it set for the vehicle that I plan to keep...not sure how hard it is to change the hitch to a new vehicle.

Sherry, This is the response I received from Oliver: We pre-wire every camper for Solar even if you don’t get the option today. This just means that the solar wire is installed in the roof and run down into the lower shell where it would be connected to the charge controller and another run is installed from where the charge controller would be located down to the side of the battery box. This makes it possible to add the solar option later if you decide that you want it after its built. The exterior solar port is not pre-wired as it isn’t difficult to add later.

Show off your good taste: Please post pictures of your Color/Option combinations here to help potential Ollie purchasers visualize their choices. When posting your combination choices include pictures of interior and exterior color combinations and please include the color names. For example I chose Mink Upholstery, Sandstone Awning, All black upper cabinets, Dakota Fibre Granite Counters, Step Up Knox flooring, Orange primary color and copper highlight. I will add my pictures in April 2019. (146 days until we pick ours up) Thanks for your help from all our future Ollie Colleagues!