routlaw

Quick update. Battery fully charged now while I was out on a bike ride. System seems to be making an effort to balance the cells from what I can tell. Upon returning the battery was indeed at 13.9 volts with a -.2amp discharge in progress. Checked the history with minimum and max volts and sure enough it did hit 14.3 volts at some point before going into float mode. I suspect within the hour it will rest at 13.6 volts in float at the rate it's going. Hope this helps others to understand the process when upgrading batteries. It sure had me confused for a day. A lot of excellent input on the situation, thanks all.

@jd1923 Actually I have had the Epoch app from the start or actually before the start so am familiar with all of its helpful information. Just got off the phone with Ryan Gurin at Blue Sky a short while ago and he explained the discrepancies I thought I was experiencing with charging. I am now at 88% SOC so it is moving along well with this perfectly clear sunny day. Charging amps are reading at 13.7 + which is about right for my 320 watt panels, and as Ryan indicated as the system becomes closer to full the voltage should increase to 14.2 but only for a short time. Which might be the reason you have not seen it at that value. What's important here and for others who might come across this discussion later as they adopt LiPO batteries is due to my very weak acid batteries the voltage was able to shoot up almost immediately to 15+ volts indicating a very weak battery bank. Because I now have a new battery in good condition this will not happen until the SOC is near or at full. I don't know the science behind this but Ryan was emphatic this is the way things work with bad vs good batteries. So for anyone who is experiencing a rapid increase of voltage within a minute or two from turning your solar on or plugging into shore power it is a dead on indication of very weak battery bank that should be replaced. One thing you can check on via the IPN Remote is the max and min voltage your battery bank has experienced via the menus which should indicate if your bank has ever hit 14.2. Thus far I have kept the Power Dynamics out of the loop since its charge current is 14.4 amps and non adjustable as far as I know. Tech support at Epoch stated they like to see the first several charges at a max of 14.2 as it is more "gentle" on the new circuit parts until they are broken in. Sorry I don't recall what those parts were within the BMS but he was serious about letting things break in slowly and easy initially. Fine by me as I rarely use shore power. Thanks for the help and info.

Turns out my unit was wired correctly, the yellow wire from battery compartment goes into one side of the shunt and on the other terminal a yellow wire runs straight to the Power Dynamics Panel. Special treatment I guess, odd that others did not have it wired correctly. Thanks for the heads up on correct wiring.

@jd1923 luckily we are at home so not a big deal for now. No telling how many miles we ran with this thing dangling coming back from CO. Given the age of our unit #70 I will just replace the entire batch especially given how many folks have had issues with their Monroe's. For sure I will remove this one today a bit later. Thanks for the suggestions.

FWIW in the conversation I do not have an inverter in system other than a small we occasionally use for charging phones, tablets, and computers via the 12 volt plugs in the cabin. Just haven't found much need for anything more than that so far.

Good info Steve. Curious I currently have two red wires coming into the battery box and one yellow. I assume one of the red wires goes to the Power Dynamics Charger/breaker panel while the other goes to the Solar Charger. Note one red wire is 6 AWG while the other is probably 10 AWG (can't tell yet for sure. However at least in my case upon further examining I do have a yellow wire going into my shunt but need to chase it back to make sure it's the going directly into the battery compartment. Lots of distractions this morning.

Well crap as luck would have it just discovered yesterday while working on my Ollie installing new battery I have a broken shock or rather the nut came of the suspension loosing rubber grommets and all and just dangling loose. Must have happened on our recent trip to Colorado National Monument a couple of weeks ago. Have not been able to find anyone with the Bulldogs in stock yet but need to fix this soon.

Correct I do have the 300 AH Essential should have stated that in my OP. I am not so concerned with the SOC so much as why my max voltage all day was throttled at 13.6 vs the 14.2 volts I had programmed into the IPN Pro Remote. It was a clear sunny brilliant day with only a few clouds rolling over periodically. On similar days with the old LA batteries I could easily obtain over 15 volts charging for equalization. Otherwise yes your math is close enough. This morning I am at 72% with 215 amps with a Volt Diff of only .001 volts indicating the cells are very close to a balanced state from the factory. Thanks for the input.

Thanks Bill. No I didn't change anything at all other than hooking the main cables onto their respective terminals on new battery. It never occurred to me this might be necessary. I will check this shortly to see how the cables were originally routed. This begs the question why would it be different for the lead acid batteries vs the new Lithium in regards to the charge voltage of only 13.6 vs the 14.2 I programmed into the IPN Pro Remote? Rob

Thanks. Correct the BS 3024iL is a MPPT type of solar charger. I may need to clarify a few things. I am not all that concerned with my SOC so much as to why even in bulk charging mode the charge rate is only 13.6 volts vs the 14.2 that I programmed in the IPN Remote. Even on a sunny brilliant day it never got past that value when in the past with my lead acid batteries I could easily get well into the 15+ volts with equalization mode. Just doesn't make sense to me, unless as @topgun2 stated it might have something to do with the routing of the negative cable. I did not make any changes what so ever when I installed the new battery. Just didn't see the need to consider it.

Finally took the plunge and ordered a LiPO battery from Epoch. For now only going with one given what little DC we have consumed in the past. Install was fairly easy except for the massive clean up of rust, battery acid deposits on tray and battery cabinet. Half the screws mounting the slide out tray were rusted past re-use. No big deal on that. Still using the Blue Sky Solar Controller 3024iL with IPN Pro Remote. Made sure to set proper parameters before installing the battery and based on a phone conversation with Epoch they stated 14.2 bulk, 14.2 absorption, and 13.6 float. The system has been charging all day, however at only 13.6 volts although the IPN Remote says its in bulk mode. The day has been very sunny, with a few puffy white clouds floating by periodically. In the past with lead acid batteries I have easily been able to get well into 15+ amps for a long equalization charge. Have double checked all my settings a couple of times throughout the day and they are correct but still no 14.2 volts on the charge. Suffice it to say it's going slow. Battery was at 46% out of the box and half an hour ago now at 70%. Is this normal? Probably not, but anyone have any ideas on what might be going on? Thanks in advance

This is the first I have heard of being able to use never lube bearings. I do have the 5200 lb axles just by luck as Oliver was out of the 3500 lb axles when building mine but did have some 5200 lb units. Is it possible to simply replace bearings on my setup with the never lubes or are their more complicated mods one has to do? Also while on this subject what is the advantage of adding more springs for a trailer that will never be carrying the max load? Seems to me this would make for a much stiffer ride for the trailer vs the 4 leaf springs. But what do I know:) Thanks

Yep thats the same way I hooked them up too, thanks for the reassurance.

Thanks @CRM for showing. Yes I have that diagram as well which made for a confusing mess. However when I called E-Trailer who I purchased the kit from William informed me that DC and AC are treated different regarding neutral and ground wires. As it tuns out with DC the white wire is ground, and the green wire is neutral just the opposite of AC circuits. He went on to say this discrepancy goes back over a century with a Edison vs Tesla concept where they made no effort to consolidate and talk to one another providing a standard. Go figure. As I looked a bit more carefully its was obvious the upper row of lugs had all green wires and lower lug had all white wires and I followed suit. I haven't plugged into shore power yet but it's installed and should be fine… I think:)

Question for you folks who have changed out the older charge controller for the Progressive Dynamics 4040. Going by my diagram it states the ground wire should be connected to bottom row of lugs, while the neutral is to be on the top row. Now normally green is ground, white is neutral, however when I took my older unit out those wires were reversed with white on bottom row and green on the top. The new unit circuit board only states the color of the wire but does not actually designate whether white is negative, and green ground so before proceeding and turning on power just wanted to make sure that the white wire goes on top row, green on bottom. If correct how did this ever get past on the original Oliver build out? Thanks

Base weight of 12,000-13,000 lbs and gross of 16,000. Better have a huge towing rig for that kind of weight, but they are nice for the most part. I shutter to think of what these things might cost.

Yeah I hear you on the interior part. In this regard the new Lance travel trailers have more appeal to me but perhaps not as good a floor plan. The exteriors of any of these boxy trailers takes a back seat to the Oliver by a long shot though. I wonder what that titanium package adds to the cost of the base model though, has to be significant. Would love to had a more detailed view of the suspension on this trailer too. The shackles look very similar to the Dexter upgrades I did years ago. Never cared for slide outs either but like their mod to theirs. Funny my wife and I for the most part rarely ever camp with hookups and the most amps we have ever burned through is about 85-90 on very cold nights running the furnace. Thus my fascination on how much energy they were consuming.

@rich.dev good video thanks for linking. Watched it yesterday. Great solar battery setup but for the life of me I cannot imagine using that much electricity while camping. Am at a loss for for what they would use this much amp hours in day, but its nice to have. Clearly their installers did a fantastic job and the Victron display is really nice too. Loved the self leveling hydraulic system. Thanks

Agree with Steve the Escapes are nice but there are some short cuts. We have been in a few of them and just were not that impressed. Regarding Airstreams, granted they have some very nice interiors but I have lost count of the times having conversations with AS owners and listening to the issues they have had. Most people actually carry a pop rivet gun along due to the rivets popping out, insulation is minimal at best. My wife thinks of them as a bear can on wheels, a bit harsh for sure. I do agree the Bigfoots are nice too, very well built and about as 4 season as anything out there. In addition I would also add the Lance Travel Trailers to the group of very well built. They have a state of the art facility in CA and while they may look like a typical stick built trailer they are anything but. If I were to ever change from the Oliver the Lance is the first thing I would be looking at. That said I don't particularly care for the models with the slide-outs. But their construction quality is truly a cut above. Hope this helps

@jd1923 agreed configuring the Blue Sky SC is a bit tedious. You have some valid suggestions on your post but probably will just belly up to the bar and buy the upgraded PD charger anyway rather than sweating bullets about watching the SOC when I am plugged into shore power. All that said, I am surprised it took 3 days to get from 55% to 100% with your solar and Blue Sky SC. On the other hand that is 270 amps to ramp up which is more than the available amps allowable with the 4 pack of lead acid (450 AH /2 = 225 AH). Thanks

This is great info @tallmandan had not found an online retailer. Given the heartier price if I go this route with Epoch perhaps I would be better served with the 460 Amp version which is only $300 more yet a 50% increase in AH. It's considerable heavier though which is a deterrent. I have no doubt the price increase is due to tariffs, but will call your linked company and delve into this and report back.

@jd1923 yes if you go to the App Store you will see two versions, Pro and Basic or standard. It’s my understanding the Pro version only works with their top tier batteries. In the meantime sounds like you CS experience reflects what others have encountered too. Not good. Interesting comments on the app otherwise. Needs work for sure. Thanks

Excellent info and feedback @ADKCamper appreciated and a very good description of what others have complained about with the app. I will most likely keep my Blue Sky controller charge from Sun Forge that originally came with #70 but will have to upgrade my Power Dynamics AC charger although it's not often we are plugged into shore power. I assume your PD charger came with the one that has an internal switch for Lithium?

True I did realize he was only reviewing the higher end Elite model 12V 460 AH and not the 12 V 300AH Essential which I was also considering. On Epoch's website they do have a spell out pronunciation as e-pic so I think Prowse is saying it correctly. In any case there are or were many who complain about the app with or without upgrade as well as customer service. One does have to wonder though what is it they have done differently on the more expensive battery compared to the less expensive that has made it so unreliable other than the app. For what they charge for these things it's a bit inexcusable. Glad you are having great results with yours, most important and good recommendation.

Thanks John for this reply and helpful info. FWIW you installed the same batteries I was contemplating the most but probably only one of them. History has proven we just do not use or need that much stored power. Just curious how do you feel about the Epoch app in general, upgraded or not? Prowse and others thinks it needs work, and in some cases lots of work.