johnwen
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Posts posted by johnwen
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2 hours ago, Ray and Susan Huff said:
Our Xantrex 3000 inverter does the fan kicking on every 15 min or so, like the OP reports, running for a few minutes when hooked to shore power. I asked Jason if this is normal and he says it is. Whether the noise level is as high as yours, I can't say. It isn't bad, but annoying, especially after we settle in for the night. I've thought about unplugging shore power at night.
That being said, we have a new Xantrex 3000 waiting to be installed. The original inverter that was part of the Lithium Pro Pkg would not communicate with the remote panel (consistently). An attempted firmware update did not fix the problem; thus, Xantrex decided the inverter had a bad communication board.
Oliver sent us a replacement which Jason will walk us through installing so we can be fully functional, in regards to power. We'll see if the new inverter fan does the same.
Thanks Ray and Susan. I'm interested in the comparison. Good luck with with the swap-out 🙂
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My visit to the Oliver showroom was a couple of months ago and I was indeed distracted by the x3000 fan noise. The staff had used the ollie over the weekend for an office/workspace and the batteries were run down quite a bit. Upon hooking to shore power the inverter started doing it's thing to charge the lithium batteries. I tracked down a salesperson to ask about the noise and it was the first time they had noticed and were going to investigate but we left before hearing the outcome. I hope it's not a common occurrence, I think it would be a deal breaker for us.
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I LIKE it 🙂
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Welcome Stevon & Mary.
We are Wendy and John and we won't be picking ours up until mid Jan next year. We're full timing in our Casita ( a little over a year now) and appreciate the places we can go that the big rigs can't. Getting rid of our "stuff" has been a difficult chore but we are thankful for the liberation! Every day is an adventure and our only regret is that we didn't start many years sooner. We wish you the best and hope to "see you out there someday" 🙂
John
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Hello Scott and Frieda and welcome 🙂
We're in the same boat with the waiting period. I see you've had 2 tours of the plant. We plan to do the same, sometime before we commit in September. Hopefully they will still be allowing us to take pictures!
John
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Thanks John 🙂
3 hours ago, topgun2 said:Yes.
But, given the amount of room to walk around and the smoothness of the fiberglass it is certainly not all that safe to be walking around up there. I am virtually always on my hands and knees with some sort of pad under my knees. This pad serves two purposes - 1 - makes it a bit more comfortable on the knees and -2- it helps distribute the weight (165 pounds) over a larger area.
Bill
Bill,
I'm still weighing the pros and cons of the roof panel install vs only carrying around the 230w portable and charging through the solar port. I'm now leaning toward the roof mounted option and carrying around a smaller 170w portable, just wanted to know the problems with the care of the roof panels. For sure I like the idea of spreading out my weight and use of some grippy knee pads, no walking around up there 🙂
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8 minutes ago, topgun2 said:
Yes.
But, given the amount of room to walk around and the smoothness of the fiberglass it is certainly not all that safe to be walking around up there. I am virtually always on my hands and knees with some sort of pad under my knees. This pad serves two purposes - 1 - makes it a bit more comfortable on the knees and -2- it helps distribute the weight (165 pounds) over a larger area.
Bill
Bill,
I'm still weighing the pros and cons of the roof panel install vs only carrying around the 230w portable and charging through the solar port. I'm now leaning toward the roof mounted option and carrying around a smaller 170w portable, just wanted to know the problems with the care of the roof panels. For sure I like the idea of spreading out my weight and use of some grippy knee pads, no walking around up there 🙂
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2 hours ago, BackofBeyond said:
have to get out the ladders - and brush with extension
B.O.B.
Will the roof support my weight (170) if I have to get up there.
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For all you full-timers, how often do you clean your solar panels? I've seen comments, elsewhere, from every couple of months to twice a year.
John
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Welcome Katie and Jeff,
The factory tour is what put us over the edge. We have to wait until mid January to pick ours up. Hope to see you "out there" one day. Have fun and safe travels 🙂
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Looks like a decent mod 🙂
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Welcome! 🙂
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Hi ya'll and welcome! We must have just missed you at the showroom. Our down payment to Jason gave us a January pickup date. Safe travels 🙂
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Best of luck to ya'll! Safe travels and have a ton of fun 🙂 Sorry I can't share experiences with tune up but I've not heard anything but good things about their service.
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46 minutes ago, rideandfly said:
I like the the Furrion port and wish it was rated for 20A, but when purchased all I could find was a 10A Furrion port. Last time I checked 1 1/2 years ago Oliver installed Zamp ports.
I installed the Furrion port, still have the plug on my desk drilled out of Ollie, looking at it right now. Had to be sure where I was drilling! 🙂
I'm not an electrical expert either. 🙂 Zamp website shows connecting your controller directly connected to batteries.
Thanks for the info, Bill. Nice wheels 🙂
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Mike, thank you for this article! Bookmarked! 10 or 15 more times of reading it and I might just retain some of it. Very helpful 🙂
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Thank you much B.O.B. 🙂 Good advice and thoughts to consider! Summer weekends are indeed few and far between....if you can't boon dock 🙂
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Just now, SeaDawg said:
Guessing you've quadrupled or better the available power from the normal single Casita group 27, so there's that to consider, too
Thanks again, SeaDawg. We were pretty basic with our Casita... just an 100AH AGM battery with a 100W Renogy on 2 separate 8 day boon docking excursions. And the limiting factor was, of course, the bladder tanks. Your video is very much appreciated! Spot on as far as I'm concerned. Especially concerning the generator. We did get the easy start capacitor for the smaller gen sets.
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Rideandfly, thanks for your help and for the picture! According to the Zamp website, the controller is rated 15 amps and produces 12.6 amps. Can all that be passed to the battery? Not sure if that's a proper question, my electrical expertise is rated about 5 out of 100 🙂 You stated a Furrion solar port is rated for 10 amps. Is that the port OTT installs?
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1 hour ago, Mike and Carol said:
I feel confident that after I park and spend the day away hiking or site seeing my roof top panels will still be there when I return. Unless I’m in deep shade they will provide some charging during the day. I wouldn’t want to leave portable panels out while we were gone. Portables would be a good supplement. As John points out, charging while on the road is a big deal too. Mike
Thank you, Mike. I would definitely lock it away when we're gone. As you well know, those panels are not cheap! 🙂
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2 hours ago, SeaDawg said:
Johnwen, do you boondock much? Travel a lot? Camp normally with power?
All these things contribute to the decision.
Even if you have rooftop solar, you still need a separate controller for the suitcase solar, as the Oliver port (like those installed by virtually everyone) goes to a fused line to the batteries.
Thanks SeaDawg, 15,000 miles last year, full timers, and very little boon-docking. I see more boon-docking in our future though.
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2 hours ago, John E Davies said:
I think a portable unit is a great accessory, but ONLY if you have the rooftop array. As a stand alone charger it is really limited, because while you are towing, obviously there is no solar charging! So you might miss twelve hours of charging at up to 20 amps, until the time you arrive at camp, and THEN you have to hope you can find a clear spot for your portable unit, and the day is ending or the sun has gone behind a mountain. Your tow vehicle, as the trailer is delivered, will not do it. With a roof array, your system will always be operating, even when you fire up the inverter and microwave at a lunch stop, to keep the system as fully charged as possible. There is no shade on a highway to block them.
Buy the roof panels, then if you feel they are a little lacking, buy a small portable panel, and put the controller inside the Ollie if you want to tweak that device’s performance.
John Davies
Spokane WA.
Thanks for the help John 🙂
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I went with the 390 AH Lithium batteries and Xantrex's 3000W inverter but elected to opt out of the 340W roof mounted solar panels. I will get Zamp's 230W portable with it's controller and have OTT put a solar port on the LEII we just ordered. Seems like it would be more efficient to aim directly at the sun, not have to park in the sun, and be able to keep the panels cleaner. I have read that it's better having the controller close to the battery vs at the portable panel that's on the end of 30ft of 10 AWG cabling. Would it be beneficial to have the controller taken off the Zamp and moved to the battery compartment (if there's room) or maybe better, inside of the trailer where it would have been if I'd have bought the complete solar package deal. Hopefully I'll get enough power from the portable to charge the batteries and not wish that I had put the larger roof mounted panels on. Thanks for any and all suggestions 🙂
Camping at Corps of Engineers Parks
in Campgrounds & Parks
Posted
Hey Bryan and Maggie, what have been your experiences with Harvest Hosts?
John