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Well, the 4 new Bright Way AGM batteries are installed, and the MPPT controller reprogrammed. Ryan at Blue Sky Energy clarified the questions that remained from Wanda’s helpful documentation. I wish I were better suited for this work. But great help from ScubaRx, SeaDawg, and Topgun2 made it possible to be successful. Thanks so much everyone.

Thank you! Will put this on a list for when I am more resourceful.

Yesterday 4 Bright Way AGM batteries arrived! And the technician will be here on Monday! Getting closer. Somehow I only have 4 of the nuts needed to secure the cables to the batteries, so will see if I can find 4 more today. Still thinking about one question, and would appreciate advice: I wonder if the bearings that the battery tray ride on should be treated in any way, before the battery tray is reinstalled? At the present, they are exactly as they were installed 8 years ago. After all the mishaps I've had this year (even more than I've shared!), I am apprehensive about doing anything. IMG_2395.MOV

You all are the best! Thanks for the encouragement and help. It will be next week before there will be progress on the solar panel/battery issue. While we wait we find ourselves thinking it might be good to put in a cut off switch between the panels and controller; another part of us thinks it's enough to get things operating again. Many thanks!

We did not appreciate the peril! And then we got lucky. Yes, life is pretty good right now. We have the trailer outside right now, with several layers of a heavy duty opaque tarp secured with tie downs over the panels. The 30 amp switch is set to OFF. The cable ends in the battery compartment are well separated. The shore power is disconnected. It will stay like this until the batteries and the technician arrive. Thank you for making sure we are alert to the dangers.

Below is a diagram of the solar system that was in our papers; it disagrees with the other diagram, reversing the positions of the cables to batteries & solar panels; this is the right one for our set-up, I think. It shows an off/on switch along the cables to the solar panels; I followed the cable until it went out of view up the back of the trailer; did not find a switch.

Thank you Topgun2 and Seadawg, for the advice to get in touch with ScubaRx! Perfect! He thinks there is a good chance no damage was done, and worst case the fix will be inexpensive. Turns out that he helped my husband with Solar system issues 8 years ago when we first got our Ollie. It was like an unexpected meeting up with an old friend! It's amazing to have so much support, I am so grateful.

ScubaRx walked us through what we were seeing in the photo ( I understood a small fraction of it.) You and he agree on what is going on. He pointed out that the cable that appeared red on the far right of the photo was not in fact a positive wire. Afterwards I went back and pulled away the black covering and could see that the two exposed wires on the far right are actually yellow. (see photo below)

Thanks......Sent a PM. Hull 50 and Hull 55 should be pretty similar!

Thank you, Bill and SeaDawg, for your quick responses. As you suggested, I put tarps over the solar panels, and unplugged from shore power. Below is a pic of the controller and related stuff. Last night we moved the yellow lever from On to Off, hoping it was the cutoff switch. Do you think it is? If not, I think I'll add another tarp to the 2 thin ones over the solar panels now. I'll figure out how to PM ScubaRX...... Thank you again. Mary

A bit of the story: Last fall we had difficulty operating the jacks without shore power , they became sluggish, barely moving. A technician determined our PD4000 Series Power Control Center was bad, and replaced it. It also turned out that 2 of our 4 eight year old Trojan AGM batteries were bulging. The bulging batteries were removed, and the 2 apparently good ones left in for the winter. When preparing the Ollie for use this year we found that the jacks were again sluggish except when on shore power. Thinking it was the batteries, we removed the remaining 2 Trojan AGMs from the Ollie and had them tested; We were advised that even though they were holding a charge, they should be replaced. We ordered 4 Bright Way AGMs, which will be arriving next week. We did not know to disconnect the solar panels before removing the batteries. A short time later none of the lights in the Ollie worked, and I used the Power Control Center reset switch to get them back in use. I did not figure out why the switch had tripped. Now, while learning more about how to change over to the new batteries, I read that it was a mistake to remove the batteries without disconnecting the solar panels. We have arranged for a technician to come help us once the batteries arrive, but now I am wondering if we are also going to need to deal with a damaged Blue Sky Energy solar controller system. Any advice on how to proceed? I am overwhelmed. Thank you for your help.

Thanks so much for your information; what you are describing is exactly what we are about to do. Wondering if it is possible to reprogram the MPPT controller with the new settings while we wait for the new batteries to arrive? Or must the batteries be installed to do that? How long should we expect it to take to reprogram the controller? Thanks so much!

OK, The flushing of the hot water tank with hydrogen peroxide is complete, and one last rinse with plain water is done.. Thank you everyone, and especially bhncb, for all you shared about how to do this. With gratitude, Mary

Thank you. I'm off to buy more hydrogen peroxide, and finish this task off. I guess this is a way to get more familiar with our Ollie!

Another question for you: Should the pump valves be set for Boondocking (drawing the solution into the fresh water tank) or for Winterizing (pushing the fluid directly to plumbing fixtures)? I have a total of 22 cups of fluid, and wonder if the fluid goes into the fresh water tank if it will be meaningful in the water heater; I guess I could go buy more hydrogen peroxide, but am hoping to be able to work with what I have. Thanks again for your help.

So I pulled the anode, and flushed the hot water tank with water, then put about 750 ml of hydrogen peroxide + water into the anode opening. Think I really only got this solution in the bottom of the hot water tank. I am now emptying the fresh water tank. Not sure how to flush the hot water tank out more thoroughly?

Thank you everyone for taking time to discuss this! I used 1/2 cup of bleach, and let it sit for a total of 18 hours. The anode was replaced at the end of last season, so it was new when I did this. We have one of the tools for flushing the anode, so that is available to use. I’ve been reading about Purogene and that sounds like a better way to go for the future; am just deciding how big a bottle to get. Question about the advice to use hydrogen peroxide: is the intent to only use that on the hot water heater? Thank you so much!

I just sanitized our system (overnight), including the hot water tank, and then discovered advise to bypass the water heater; have I done damage? is there something I need to do now? Thanks for your help.