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Everything posted by Rivernerd
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New Oliver Advertisement - Winter Camping Adventure
Rivernerd replied to Patriot's topic in General Discussion
Note the absence of snow. And the fact that you can't see the actors' breath. They are wearing what would pass for fall or spring gear in Idaho, with no hats. This is consistent with my earlier observation that the stock Oliver is a "4-season trailer" where it is made, in the Southern USA. It would also be useful in winter in many parts of Western Washington, Oregon or British Columbia (such as the coast, where it rarely snows). But, without significant modifications, it is not a true "4-season trailer" for use in Idaho, Montana, Northern Utah, the Northern Great Plains, New England, Canada East of the Rockies, etc. -
Your engineer grandson can surely follow the simple wiring diagram posted by Mossemi above to enable you to install much-more-available 12V AGM batteries rather than the harder-to-find 6V AGMs. "4/0" and "6 ga." (or AWG) should be wire sizes with which he is familiar. The key is fitting the replacement batteries into the Elite II battery tray. Once your battery box is re-wired for 12V, your will be set for the next time you need replacement batteries. I recommend you measure the "footprint" of your battery tray, provide it to your engineer grandson, then look for 12V AGM batteries that will fit within that footprint. Since you rarely boondock, maxing out the space available in the battery tray is not essential for you. You just need enough amp hours to get you by when not connected to shore power, not the maximum number of amp hours possible in that space (which is what Oliver does when installing AGMs at the factory). For example, you can buy (3) 100Ah 12V Renogy AGM batteries from HomeDepot.com today and have them shipped to your home, with free delivery. The price is good, at $190 each+tax. They will provide you with 300 Ah of 12V power, which should be fine for your camping style. At 6.9" W x 13.1" D x 8.6" H, all three should fit in your battery tray, it if is the same size as the one in my 2022 Elite II (14.2" W x 21.1" D). See link below: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Renogy-Deep-Cycle-AGM-Battery-12-Volt-100Ah-Safe-Charge-Most-Home-Appliances-for-RV-Off-Grid-Solar-System-Maintenance-Free-BATT-AGM12-100/303412933?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&srsltid=AfmBOorSneKvTVWw2r3sIKlQ45WwEGlz22BrxiHdIMFves4CLf8EQjveME4#overlay That is what I would do in your shoes. Great price, sensible solution given how you use your Oliver. Once your grandson rewires your battery box for 12V (any additional 4/0 or 6AWG wire needed for the rewire should also be available at any Home Depot retail store), you should be good to go. Good luck! And, please post the solution you end up with.
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Have you tried the Batteries Plus store in Savannah, at 7170 Hodgson Memorial Drive? From an online search, it appears they may not sell Trojan brand, but they may carry 6V batteries that will fit the same footprint and provide the same output.
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Then increase the furnace temperature set point, i.e., if you usually set it at 70 degrees F, increase that temp setting to 75 degrees F. Keep changing, if necessary, until the cabin is comfortable and the toilet supply line remains unfrozen.
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Good idea. Not good to leave the toilet supply line frozen; even though Pex is quite flexible, it can still break when stressed too much. And, you might consider leaving the bath door open with the space heater on the floor pointing toward the toilet supply line. That reduces the risk of overheating that small bath area, and also allows cabin air warmed by you furnace to help with defrost the toilet supply line.
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Not me. But, FWIW, I own two flexible solar panels which I have mounted on top of Pelican 1600 cases to recharge batteries I use to power my CPAP machine on wilderness river trips. One is almost 20 years old, the other just 1 year. The 20-year-old 11-watt panel cost me more than triple what I paid last year for the newer 20-watt panel!
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But, be really careful using "Great Stuff" standard expanding foam to avoid overfilling the cavity. You could bow out the fiberglass hull if overfilled, which, given the degree to which the foam expands, could be as little as 50% full before expansion. A safer, but in my experience less durable, option is minimally expanding foam.
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I have not used mine in Power Supply mode. I once used it in Repair mode (which I believe uses variable low, not constant voltage to desulfate) when an AGM battery I used to power my CPAP machine on wilderness river trips got more fully discharged than I liked. It restored the battery to full charge on that occasion, although I was never able to verify for sure that the over-discharged condition had not shortened the battery's life a bit. That was before I switched to 12V LiFePo4 batteries (with internal Battery Management Systems), to power my CPAP.
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Then, as John Davies suggests, invest in a high-quality (ergo more expensive) lead acid battery charger that has a "repair" or "desulfate" feature. I have had good luck with NOCO Genius chargers. They are small but effective. Below is a link to a 10A version for $79.96 that includes a Repair feature for deeply discharged lead/acid or AGM batteries. If your AGMs are 6V, it can be set to 6V as well as 12V. https://www.amazon.com/NOCO-GENIUS10-Fully-Automatic-Temperature-Compensation/dp/B07W3QT226 In your shoes, I would invest the $80 to see if the batteries can be salvaged. Your 400+Ah battery bank will take several days to recharge with this charger, even if it can be saved. After the charger has done its job, verify voltage of each battery with a multimeter, at least twice, before concluding that you have "dodged a bullet." Even if you can't save the batteries, a NOCO Genius charger is handy to have around just for maintaining automotive lead/acid batteries. Good luck! And, please report your results.
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Truma Aqua Go hot water heater leak
Rivernerd replied to srthomsen's topic in Mechanical & Technical Tips
Some hardware stores sell o-rings in the plumbing department. I have sometimes been able to find a replacement by taking the "old" o-ring to the hardware store and comparing it to what is available. Then, as John Davies has wisely recommended, apply dielectric or plumber's faucet grease to all o-rings before re-installation. -
Inside vs. outside should make little difference (even in Wyoming where wind chill can be brutal) because when in the battery compartment, the batteries are fairly well protected from wind. The connection to shore power should keep the battery warming mat, on what must be your 390 Ah Lithium Pro Package, well supplied with power. For what it's worth, we store our Hull #1291, with the Lithium Pro Package and the battery warming mat, in an enclosed but unheated shed, connected to 30A shore power, during our central Idaho winters. We get nighttime lows barely below 0 F at times, and have not had any issues. Lows much colder than that are rare. What night time lows do you commonly get in your part of Wyoming in the "dead of winter"? If much colder than 0 F at any time, I would open a service ticket through which to ask Oliver Service what the temperature limits of the battery warming mat are, even when continually supplied with shore power.
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Newbies taking the plunge - Are we missing anything
Rivernerd replied to Dennis and Melissa's topic in General Discussion
If you do use the space between the beds for storage, keep it on the street side half. Be sure to allow at least 12" of free air space in front of the furnace return air vent on the curb side. The Truma Varioheat furnace installed in all 2023-24 Elite II units will register error messages when the air return is blocked, such as by a storage tub. This is because the furnace air opening is right behind the bulkhead under the bed on the curb side, and it has air flow sensors that should not be blocked. We have even gotten those error messages from the Truma Varioheat in our standard floor plan model when a pair of shoes shifted during travel and ended up in front of the return air vent! We feel your pain. We, too, have searched for storage locations in our Elite II. We have learned the "hard way" that using too much of the tempting space between the beds (or under the bed in our standard floor model) will prevent furnace performance. -
If there is no setting change that will enable your Xantrex inverter to keep your battery bank charged without "manual" reset, then installation of the master battery cutoff switch makes sense to prevent parasitic draws from drawing your battery bank down too far.
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What a pain! In your shoes, I would open a service ticket and verify with Oliver Service that there is not a fix for that problem.
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Good point. During the winter, we store our Hull #1291 in a covered shed, with a 30A shore power connection, and with the battery heater turned on. So, we don't need an "external charger to prevent depletion", as the Xantrex inverter/charger keeps the battery bank at full charge. Parasitic draws are, therefore, not an issue. And, we ensure that the propane tank valves are fully closed when in storage. Of course, per Lithionics' protocol, every 3 months I draw down the State of Charge to Reserve Cutoff Level, then let the Xantrex charge the batteries back to full charge.
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Your photo depicts the inverter wall-mounted remote in your 2022, not the actual inverter. The actual inverter is mounted under the the street side bed, aft of the pantry. Our 2022 Elite II has the same configuration.
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We use our inverter regularly when boondocking. We have yet to use a generator, although we usually carry a pair. But, we also have 390 Ah of LiFePO4 batteries, which provide sufficient power to run 120V appliances (like the microwave or AC) for an hour or two. Cort, what battery package do you have? That may impact the feasibility of an inverter upgrade.
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Then you would surely benefit from installation of an inverter to provide 120V power when boondocking. But, I expect adding an inverter is a fairly major upgrade after construction. Has anyone on this forum ever done it?
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That is not your inverter remote control panel; it is your solar panel charging panel. Below is a photo of the Xantrex inverter control panel in our 2022 Elite II. The silver button in the lower right hand corner is the "on/off" switch. "In" is on, "out" is off. In the photo, the inverter is on (switch in the "in" position).
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Our Hull #1291, 2022 Elite II, includes the Lithium Pro Package. Each of the 3 Lithionics G31 batteries has its own on/off switch. I see no need for a "master" DC cutoff switch with this package.
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I concur. Just be sure that any external charger you buy is designed for lithium batteries, or has a "lithium" setting. Ordinary battery chargers work great for lead/acid batteries, but do not properly charge lithiums, which require higher charging voltage. That said, you still need to get your Xantrex Freedom Pro inverter/charger addressed so it will charge your battery bank as designed. Please post what you are advised to do by Oliver Service, in case others (like me) are faced with a similar problem in the future.
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FYI, an upgrade to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries would require many other upgrades as well, probably including some of the wiring in your trailer, and likely the inverter/charger. Although I am a LiFePO4 fan, such an upgrade does not make sense in your use case. You just need batteries to run your 12V systems in between shore power hookups. I recommend avoiding 12V Flooded Lead Acid (FLA) batteries (like the ones that come in most cars and trucks) because they require maintenance, and if too deeply discharged, can be permanently damaged. It would be worth the extra cost to me to get deep cycle Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) marine batteries, as they are sealed, never leak, and do not require periodic checking and top-off. As I recall, the AGMs installed by Oliver were 6V wired to produce 12 Volts. If yours are 6V, it would be easiest to replace them with identically-sized 6V batteries, wired the same way. 12V batteries would require a different wiring configuration. I recommend you buy 6V batteries providing the same number of amp hours (Ah) you have had, if you can find the right ones that fit in your battery tray. If you only buy only one battery, you may have an unpleasant surprise if it is not adequate to power your 12V systems as long as the originals did. This can be significant, for example, if you run your fridge on DC while on the road between shore power stops. I second the recommendation to check out Batteries Plus. If you take the trailer to one of their retail locations, they have knowledgeable salespeople who can help ensure that your replacement batteries properly fit in your battery tray, that they can be secured using the factory tie-down straps, that the positive and negative battery posts match up with the locations of your "old" AGMs, etc., so the solution will hopefully be "plug and play." And, you can swap out your old AGMs right then to avoid the core charge on the new ones. They might even remove the old batteries and install the new ones for you. As an old guy with a bad back, that would be important to me, because AGMs, like FLAs, have lead/acid chemistry, so they are heavy! Good luck!
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Do you have a larger 50-foot extension cord, perhaps 12-gauge, which would be rated for 20A? When I connect house power to our 2022 Elite II, I use a 10-gauge extension cord so there is no issue with delivery of at least the 20A provided to the receptacle by the 12-gauge wire on a 20A circuit in our house wiring. If I didn't own at least a 12-gauge extension cord, yet needed to connect my Elite II to house power some times, I would invest in one, or maybe even a 10-gauge. Also, be sure to submit a service ticket. Oliver Service has surely encountered this issue before.
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elite 2 The wait
Rivernerd replied to Jason Foster's topic in Welcome To The Oliver Travel Trailer Forums
Lol. Sounds like something I would do. Then plan to do it! With a Tuesday delivery, I recommend you consider spending Tuesday-Thursday nights at David Crockett State Park in Lawrenceburg, then return to Hohenwald on Friday with your (hopefully short) list of issues to be addressed by the Oliver Service Department. Reserve a spot at the Oliver Service/Showroom facility for Friday night, as your Oliver may not be returned to you until the end of the day. If you have more time, plan to spend Tuesday night at Oliver Service, then Wednesday-Sunday at David Crockett State Park, returning to Hohenwald on Monday morning, if needed. We had a Thursday delivery, so we spent Friday-Sunday at the Park. I spent nearly all of those 3 days thoroughly inspecting and testing the Oliver inside and out, which left me too little time to really explore that beautiful state park. Once you finalize your plans, reserve a camp spot online. It is a popular park. We found that, even in November, most campsites were reserved many weeks in advance. The spots along Shoal Creek are the first ones reserved. Good luck!