Ray Kimsey

Thank you. My AGMs were still doing pretty well, but we were up in Canada this summer for five weeks and we were having to work hard at not pushing them too hard and using voltage to guess at the state of charge was rather annoying. I decided to go ahead and replace the batteries and enjoy the upgrade myself instead of waiting until they had to be replaced.

I updated my batteries with assistance of a friend who does solar installs for a living. This is a bit different than most of the installs I have seen here in that we used two 400 AH EG4 rackmount batteries. After removing the rackmount handles from the batteries and the battery tray from the Oliver they fit perfectly. There was a bolt in the bottom of the battery cabinet that was an issue. We put in 1 inch square aluminum rods on the floor of the cabinet to raise the batteries above the bolt head. We also replaced the Xamp solar charger with a Victron solar charger 100/30, added Victron lynx shunt, Victron distributor, and Victron cerbo with a touch screen (7" model). This fit perfectly in the hole left by the removal of the Xamp solar charger. To get the cables from the cerbo to the touch screen I ordered an extra HDMI extension cable and USB cable (approx. 15'). I ran the cables to the back of the camper in the tray behind the cabinet and then down the wall in the back, under the basement, and back up under the street side bed. Trying to pu the wire down next to the pantry would not work. It was too tight. I believe Victron is planning on replacing the HDMI cable with the small USB connections this spring. Didn't help me, but maybe it would help you. In addition we added a solar disconnect which you can see below. In the pictures below. These batteries can be powered off and the breaker thrown to disconnect. They also come with automatic fire suppressants, two per battery. Cost was $1200 per battery (400 AH, each). This was the first stage of the upgrade. At some point I may replace the Xantrex 2000 inverter, but for now it works well for us. Unfortunately the Xantrex and Victron do not talk to each other. That is why you don't see information on the touch screen about the AC loads and AC input. We have taken it on a couple of trips now and we do not come close to making a dent in the batteries. I added an extra battery in case we need to replace our 3-way fridge in the near future. So far it is doing well. I replaced a power board on it a while back, but since then no issues. Parts are harder to come by now though.

I have attached a Norcold Service Manual that explains the "n" error message with some troubleshooting techniques. See page 24. Hopefully the pdf will be allowed to upload. Norcold Service Manual.pdf

In addition to gray tank additives we put screens in the sinks to capture any food scraps that we can easily dispose of.

Typically the inverter would be mounted under the curbside bed (if twin model) and would be wired into the outlets to power them when you are off grid. A coffee maker could drain your batteries very quickly without a way to charge the batteries. Another possibility you might consider something similar to a "portable power station." They come in all sorts of sizes and costs and run on lithium batteries. https://www.rei.com/product/226836/ecoflow-delta-2-portable-power-station?sku=2268360001&store=&CAWELAID=120217890016383415&CAGPSPN=pla&CAAGID=107744412944&CATCI=pla-2087785025725&cm_mmc=PLA_Google|21700000001700551_2268360001|92700076752586024|TOF|71700000066695894&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwodC2BhAHEiwAE67hJJcxaXVRBKoDVQUqzcOLMkYRGRAL5qkqjqU-RB3WyrkQOlvmdaFu2RoCyZAQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I have the NC EZ Pass transponder and my license plate of the truck and trailer is listed with the NC toll people. In our travel through varying states they usually just count the axles. Be aware though the cost is state dependant and in states like NC the cost of 4 axles is not 2x the cost of the truck alone. It is 4x. I try to avoid NC toll roads which is not too much of a problem. It is best to look up the toll roads by state and see what classification they have for number of axles (and sometimes height, WV comes to mind) and how it impacts the rate you will pay. WV was fairly inexpensive as tolls go.

We are currently in the Maritime Provinces of Canada and lost a the rear, street side leaf spring on our LE2. I was able to get a replacement for now and will be changing mine out when we get back to NC. Fortunately we were near Quebec City and was able to get a one leaf spring. I will be following this topic over the next several weeks.

Correct, normal configuration would pull water from the fresh tank. The boondocking configuration is to pump water into the fresh tank from the inlet on the curbside (starboard) rear of the camper. In case you are boondocking and you need to "add" water to the fresh tank. I have several 5 gallon containers I can put water in and then pump the water from them into the fresh tank. Does that make sense?

Picture is showing normal configuration.

When the mosquito meter is in the 5-6 range, you can resort to a: Mosquito head net

@Brian Z It should turn 90 degrees. I have a 2020 also. Check around in that space around the heater for the lever. Mine vibrated loose a year or so ago and I was able to find it and put it back on.

I assume your water heater bypass valve is set correctly? That is the only thing I can think of at the moment.

In 2020 when Oliver could no longer get the MIchelins they switched to Cooper Discoverer HT3 LT225/75R16. They have held up well for us. I am not sure what they are using today.

@Just Joe Thank you for the information. I will give it a try!

@Just Joe I have done something similar but have never added the compressor blanket and was wondering if it did much and where you got it. Thank you! Glad it worked for you. My current sound level is 65db.