Overland

Another question to make sure of is the warranty. LifeBlue’s website says that their warranty terms don’t apply to OEM batteries, so is Oliver giving the full five year coverage or is it limited to the length of Oliver’s warranty? I have to say that LifeBlue’s website doesn’t instill confidence, though I’m sure it renders well in Netscape.

I assume that things like tariffs, fees, interest income, etc. are non-taxpayer funds. It probably doesn't make up a large percentage of government income, but then $9.5 billion is about 0.0027% of the $3.5 trillion the government takes in. I think that the NPS repair backlog is something in the neighborhood of $12 billion, so this money doesn't even get everything fixed. Years of underfunding has taken its toll. It's an interesting question why the funding is specifically non-taxpayer. I'd hope that it has something to do with the accounting rather than any political reason. I mean, if you were to ask the average person what percentage of their taxes should go toward maintaining national parks, I dare say that number would be considerably higher than 0.0027%.

I'm not surprised at the price. FWIW, that's about $500 more than what my system would have cost had I opted for the standard solar setup, which was three years ago, and I did all the work. I think my Victron kit is better; but as far as features go, Oliver's offering seems about on par, so it seems like a fair enough price. Before anyone flips about the $9000 price tag, you have to compare the cost relative to what you'd otherwise pay Oliver for the AGM upgrade, solar, and inverter - and I might argue also another $1500+ for a generator, gen connection, and accessories. For me at the time, the difference in cost was only ~$2000, which after tax rebates ended up just shy of $1000. I'm curious what that calculation would be now. With that much LFP storage, Oliver's solar offering is anaemic, which is why I only say you might be able to live without a generator. With 200w of portable panels, then I'd say yes. And yes, 5 hours of AC use is a fairy tale.

It was white. At first glance and in the photos it looks like it’s clear, with the darker areas where it’s thickest, but in actuality it’s opaque and the staining is just heaviest in the corner. It’s more evident when you peel off a bit.

Interesting problem, thanks for making everyone aware. I wasn’t familiar with that type of outlet, and tbh, it doesn’t seem like the type of connection that would hold up well in an environment with lots of vibration, even though these seem to have been designed for RVs? I might have to do some reading.

I've always thought that was an oddball outlet, too. But we have a fairly tall coffee maker that sits directly underneath, so it hides the outlet enough that I'm ok with it. I've always thought that the outlets in the nightstands were a bit strange too. Useful location, but I don't like the idea of pillows and sheets stuffed up against electrical outlets. I like the pop up idea. I wonder also if you could find a low profile power strip and run it along the counter, wired through the microwave cabinet.

It's definitely silicone based. And while I'm leaning toward it being stained rather than UV damage, the staining appears to be on the outside rather than being absorbed from underneath. The coloration is heaviest in crevices, which is the opposite of what you'd think for UV damage. So I'm thinking something environmental, like tannins from leaves or something. No idea really, since it's been covered. Maybe even something from the soap I cleaned it with last time reacted with it? Getting it off isn't as hard as I'd thought, but I need something to clean off the silicone residue before I recaulk. Any suggestions?

We had our bath window replaced last year by Oliver because the seal on the lower sash had failed. Not covered by warranty, btw, which is ridiculous. But Oliver used a silicone sealant vs what they originally used, and over the past year it's yellowed horribly - looks absolutely awful. So is this the stuff they're using on new trailers now? I heard they switched to silicone. If so, this is a terrible mistake. And the silicone on its own is awful - I'm going to have a miserable time cleaning this stuff off and redoing it.

For at least 3 minutes.

Don't know, JD. I know Victron required 4/0 for mine, or actually pairs of 1/0, but it's 3000w and I've got some long runs since it's placed in the forward dinette seat.

This is the chart I made for our system. Divide by 2 for a typical Ollie setup: So, yeah. Realistically, if we're talking 300Ah of batteries and people people freak when their batteries hit 50%, we're talking about an hour and a half of AC use. In most situations, once you include your other uses, the average Ollie owner could plan on the better part of two days of sunlight to recoup that. Average - if it's truly mid summer, four corners, zero clouds, you could possibly get it back in a day. If it's cloudy, might be three. I've said many times - it's not magic. AC units have tremendous appetites and solar output is one of the most exaggerated topics in the RV world, both from dealers and owners. Solar is great, LFP is great, but there's a reason my trailer looks like an aircraft carrier.

No, it was a good brand but not 1up quality.

Only Admins can do that but I’ll send them a PM. It might be a few days before they can get to it.

Off topic, but we had a bike rack on our X5 that had an anti-rattle gizmo built into it. When it came time to sell it after we got our truck, the anti-rattle thing had broken and so the retaining bolt just spun, which meant there was no way to get the rack off without a lot of cutting and drilling, So of course I included the rack with the X5 as a 'bonus'. Funny thing is that the people who own it now live in the neighborhood so I still see it every now and then - bike rack still attached.

You’ll get a lot more movement of the rack with an adapter though. Not the end of the world, but it won’t be as solid as you’re used to with the 1up by itself,

Does the remote switch light up, or is it flashing?

Have to agree with all of that. HDPE sounds like a good choice as does the 1” EPVC, provided you aren’t tight for space. John, another good thing about the EPVC is that you can write on it with a sharpie.

We’ve been following the gin trail on our trips. Or maybe it’s been following us - I can’t remember, but it’s one of the two. 🍸🍸🍸

What they said. I’d only add that it’s a fairly easy task to convert a twin to a standard and vice versa.

Man I hope that's not wood that I see your cutoff switch mounted to.

I think it would have to be a temp sensor. I think mine is bulkier than that, but yours seems too bulky to just be covering a crimp. I don't know about the 250 amp fuse. Doesn't the Xantrex inverter have a surge capacity of 3000W? That would put you right on the limit by itself. Although now that I think about it, I have a 400 amp main fuse and I think the surge cap on mine is 6k.

Mention what?

Related to the above, many people prefer that certain features of Olivers not be mentioned in public. So fyi if someone can't resist mentioning the unmentionable in a reply, one of the moderators will likely unmention said mention. 😉

I haven't heard of anyone using them, but it's worth a shot to see. For what it's worth, I've never had a problem with water pooling on our Carefree awning. And relative to Ollies with the Fiamma, the Carefree seems to be much tauter. I know that the fabric is different on mine at least - Recaril vs Sunbrella. The fabric may start to sag over time, of course (and it's a mostly irrelevant observation to anyone who has or is getting the new Dometic awning). I think if you opt for the powdered version, I'd make sure that you turn off the auto retract if you use those noodles.

I swapped out my 4/0 for pairs of 1/0 in many places. Victron actually recommends that and it does make it easier to deal with them in the battery box. Lots more connections though.