John E Davies

This is NOT listed in the Victron manual. Quoting a Victron forum page: Justin Cook - Bay Marine Supply USA answered · Jan 07 at 1:02 PM T1AL250V . If replacing the fuse doesn't work, get in touch with your distributor and they'll have a troubleshooting protocol for the BMV/shunt PCB/display head. I8DBBQ · Feb 20 at 2:54 PM I'm wondering about your answer, Justin. My 712 came with 100mA fuses, not 1A. The T1AL250 is a 1 amp fuse. Is there something I'm missing? (I came here because I blew one of the 100mA fuses too and needed more info about the fuses.) Justin Cook - Bay Marine Supply USA ♦ I8DBBQ · Feb 20 at 3:18 PM @I8DBBQ, The original 100mA fuses should be replaced with a 1A fuse; since the original shipments of those it's been found that the 100mA fuses are prone to voltage drop and other issues over the course of their life, so they should be replaced with the 1A fuse. I haven't taken my holder apart to see what size the fuse is, but I suspect it is OK since it is brand new. This is what it looks like: I ordered a five pack to put in my spares kit. BTW I LOVE this device. After my next trip I will post a thread and review. John Davies Spokane WA

IMHO the tv should ALWAYS be raised when not in use. Three reasons.... It blocks the view and daylight coming from the back glass. It is so very unattractive. But most critically, it blocks your only emergency route in case of fire or something nasty trying to get in the door. Have you ever practiced an emergency egress, especially if you have a rear rack? It is awkward even under very ideal conditions. I removed the fixed mount tv entirely the day “Mouse” got home. I haven’t missed it even once. I can watch downloaded stuff on an iPad with wireless headphones or cuddle up with my wife to watch. If you take it out you can put a fan back in the corner. I think the trailer looks much better without that huge appliance. John Davies Spokane WA

Scribe, I want to caution that you can spend a whole lot of money and effort trying to make a marginal vehicle better at towing, but it will always remain marginal. You can add suspension parts to help stabilize everything, and suspension seats to stabilize your posteriors, but nothing you do can legally increase the tow rating. What is your Sprinter’s rating? Plus you need to consider the problem of finding a repair shop when you break down in the middle of nowhere. There are many solid reasons why it is very rare to see these tall boxy vehicles being used for towing travel trailers. An Elite would be no worries in terms of weight, but that doesn’t do anything about the other negative factors. FYI I installed an excellent set of Corbeau suspension seats ($1400 for the pair with cloth, base brackets, heating and inflatable lumbar) in my ‘06 Ram 3500 in an attempt to make the ride less obnoxious. They worked fairly well, but it was a bandaid fix. I sold the truck a year later in frustration after taking out the seats, which I resold for $800. I know that this type of seat is commonly used in commercial trucks like yours that are lightly loaded or in expedition rigs like the Earthcruiser (Mitsubishi FUSO chassis). They must be beneficial or folks would not bother with them. I don’t know if these can be fitted to your truck, but I do recommend them if you can’t stomach the heady price of Recaros, they are 90% as good for a third the price: https://corbeau.com/baja-xrs/ John Davies Spokane WA

Why did you feel the need to monitor the trailer voltage while towing? Can you start a new thread with some pics? Thanks, John Davies Spokane WA

Trainman, those are petty nifty. What do you do when they are stored inside? Do you have a cover for the rebar? I would worry about tripping and getting impaled..... Do they rattle in wind gusts? My wife would kill for that potting bench, can you PM me some pictures? Thanks, John Davies Spokane WA

I was pretty worried about leaving the pole set up while unattended. It would be a matter of a few seconds for a nasty person to lift it up and carry it away. I normally keep my jerry cans secured with a Master Python cable lock, so I just drilled a pair of 1/2” holes through the tube and the lowest section of pole. Now the pole can be left in place for longer periods of time, either fully extended, part-way extended or retracted, as in the second picture. John Davies Spokane WA

Does anyone know why they use such HUGE cables? My hull #217 has the 2000 watt inverter and 4/0 welding cable as big around as your thumb. Recommended cable size is 1/0, which is good for a 3500 watt unit. My positive cable has a 250 amp fuse. 4/0 cable is rated to carry 1200 amps up to 50 feet 😳 The bigger cable is twice as expensive ($8 per foot wholesale), way heavier and bulkier, awkward to cut, less avaialable and in general a really big PITA to work with. If they intended to upgrade the size in case of installing a larger inverter In the future, 2/0 gauge would be plenty big. Their cost savings would have been about $50 just for the wire, not including the more expensive terminals and the extra labor involved.....Here is what I have been working with- for scale that is a 1/2” cold chisel: I am pretty perplexed. As an aircraft tech I can’t see a single positive benefit from this choice. But OTH a whole lot of the electrical installation in an Ollie confounds me.....Comments? John Davies Spokane WA

wlonghurst, I feel for your concerns, your Truma problem should have been caught before delivery. However, you stated above: “It has not worked from the first night of camping at David Crockett State Park. We should have gone back to Oliver the next day but headed for home (New Mexico) thinking that we just had not been properly operating it.“ The whole point of personally picking up your new trailer in TN is so that you can give it a thorough shake-down over several days, testing EVERYTHING, and give the factory the opportunity to fix any problems BEFORE you end up 2000 miles away. So maybe you should consider not being so harsh on the nice folks in Hohenwald. Did you attempt to contact the Service Department to ask about your Truma before you headed west? If so, what was their response? If a buyer is unwilling to linger in TN for a few days, it seems more sensible to me to just have the trailer shipped by truck to your home town. John davies Spokane WA

It didn’t display anything because it was not connected. My 12 volt electrical system is in pieces, literally and completely. Here is what it will hopefully look like. This is just a foam mockup. I don’t recall ever seeing a temperature displayed, so either mine is/ was dysfunctional or I was just too dumb to find the right button. I mostly leave it set on Amps. Is there a Menu option that must be selected for it to show battery temperature? Should I read the FM? pardon my foul acronym language..... I will be sure to check it out when I can put power back on the trailer, which may be Tuesday. I am still waiting on parts. John Davies Spokane WA

This is only for those with Solar; the Zamp controller uses a remote sensor attached to a battery terminal to determine the temperature so that it can decide how much current it should allow. You will need a digital volt/ ohm meter, a cup of hot water and a cup of ice water. The probe should be waterproof, but just in case, only submerge it so that the ring is under water. I removed mine during a (major, in progress) battery cable mod - the factory had cut the probe cable and crudely spliced it back together, then covered it with sticky tape ;( I wanted to see if the sensor checked out before reattaching it again correctly. You can also go behind your controller in the cabin and unhook the two wires and test from there, but in any case you will need to remove the sensor from wherever it is attached. If you test from inside you will need a helper outside. Here is what mine looked like: Zamp does not publish any specifications for this device, nor do they tell you exactly where to install it. An Amazon reviewer replaced his with a new defective one that was shorted out, and it fried his controller....! I suspect he installed it on a positive terminal. If the sensor is installed on a NEGATIVE terminal, and it shorts out, it will not apply power to the wrong components, it will just quit working. Or alternatively you can install it on the side of one of the battery cases using tape. Zamp probe at Amazon Using a digital voltmeter, check each wire (red and black) one at a time to see if they are isolated from the mounting ring- the meter should read infinity (open circuit). A shorted probe should be replaced, it will not function. Next check the resistance between the pair of wires. This value changes with temperature. There may be a chart somewhere but it isn’t really needed. Mine read 13.7 Kilo ohms (13,700 ohms) when the garage temperature was 55 degrees F. Carefully lower the probe into hot water. I used tap water at about 130 degrees F. After a minute or so it stabilized and the meter read 4.6 K ohms. Lower it into ice water, the meter read 28.8 K ohms. I hope this helps, I have not seen this discussed anywhere. If somebody finds an official Zamp temperature/ resistance chart for this probe, please let me know so I can add this information. John Davies Spokane WA

That is a great idea for something that might never move, but you can't relocate components easily. Using a thicker piece of the expanded PVC takes care of the retention - the 1/2" thick stuff Oliver uses is simply too thin; you don't want the screw tip to bottom out on the underlying fiberglass, which can cause the threads in the plastic to strip, so you are stuck with about 3/8" of thread length. This is unacceptable for a big fuse block holding a massive and poorly supported 4/0 cable! Using a 1" thickness lets you get 7/8" of threads, a HUGE increase. Drill the pilot hole a little small, use the right diameter screws (many of mine are undersized) and there should be no problems. Locating this material locally, in small "remnant" sizes, is a big problem. This is what I ordered: ... Celtec Expanded PVC Sheet, Satin Smooth Finish, 25mm Thick, 12" Length x 12" Width, White EDIT: That EPVC offers free returns through Amazon. I ordered 2 pieces, if I don't need the second one, I will return it. That is hard to beat... John Davies Spokane WA

Hi Gary, I don't have an exact figure, but anecdotally about 90% of the Ollies sold have two beds. I refuse to call them Twin Beds because they are not - they are narrow bunk-sized (30" wide) and the Oliver advertising is very deceptive. Having lived with two, I would never consider going to a single. Lots of reasons..... one being if you ever camp with somebody who is not your spouse or dog, you can let them sleep in the second bed and not have to use the dinette area, which is marginal at best. Resale value: NADA did not even list Olivers when I bought mine in 2017. Nobody had any idea of their value - I saw a one year old well-specced LEII listed by a dealer in WA for $58,000.... , and owners could ask whatever they felt like asking. Of the many Classified sales here, I do not recall a single one where the seller came back and listed a selling price. So used pricing - what the trailers actually SOLD for - remains very much a mystery. Oliver will stand behind these trailers, better than almost any other RV company, but the warranty specifically tells us that it is non-transferrable. This is something to think about if, like me, you live 2500 miles away and can't quickly buzz by the factory for a repair job. They are much more likely to do an out-of-warranty favor for you as an Oliver Family Member, if you take the trailer to them. Would I buy a used one, even a super nice, well modified, pristine, always garaged trailer with a solid written service record? Yep, you betcha, without hesitation, but only after a thorough professional inspection. Would I buy the average unit, always stored outdoors, corroded parts, not well maintained? Nope, no way. Too many unknowns, too many possible expenses. IMHO of course! They are, after all, still RVs, and they need to be well cared for to maintain their resale value. John Davies Spokane WA

Thanks for the info on temp sensor, it should go on a negative stud, correct? I will fix the crappy splice job.... My fuse block has a cover, it was removed for that picture. I decided to go ahead and add a second fuse block for my new 4 AWG hot bus cable, just in case. I will use a 150 amp MEGA fuse John Davies Spokane WA

CS you need the Premium level to get all the very cool layers and extra map types. I think regular cost is $40 annually but you can google and see if you can get a reduced price for the first year. John

I love this app, just when I think they have finished they add another new feature. Find Phone Signal With New Cell Phone Coverage Maps Attached is the Verizon layer for my upcoming trip, the first this year (to the Snake River Birds of Prey Conservation Area near Boise ID.) John Davies Spokane WA

Do the numerals show wear and collect dirt (grease rings) after using them a lot? I don’t normally like keypad locks such as an outside garage door opener access pad or a security system panel, since the numbers you use for your code become very obvious unless you change them often. How many digits are needed to operate it? How easy is it to reset the code? Can you clean the buttons so they all look the same? John Davies Spokane WA

I use this for all external sealing, it is excellent, stays white and is UV resistant, and you can remove it. The 5200 is for stuff like bonding the deck to a boat, a “forever” job that you hope to never ever do again. 3M 4000 UV Fast Cure I tape around the job, work the sealant in with a finger, then take the tape off. It looks great if you take some extra care. For some pics, look here: .... https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2082-how-to-install-a-big-bubble-level-no-drilling/ John Davies Spokane WA

Overland, I monitored current into the inverter with the microwave turned on, I did not see any huge surge at startup..... it was pulling 78 amps pretty steadily. Of course you could,overload the inverter system but I think the inverter would just kick off line. That 250 amp fuse is there to deal with a dead short, so the trailer won’t burn down .I also suspect that it has a delay, like a slow blow fuse, but that is a guess. I will try the new circuit off that fused terminal, if it has any problems I can add a deadicated fuse and tap off the other terminal. Thanks for your comments. John Davies Spokane WA

Can anyone ID this probe? I think it is for the factory solar controller, is it a temperature sensor? It was mounted to a negative battery terminal. Is that the correct location? I sure did not like to see those splices wrapped in sticky tape..... I have all my wires ripped out and mostly rerouted, I decided to do the positives as well as the negatives. What a mess. I will have just the two huge inverter wires inside the battery bay, plus maybe that sensor, if that is what it is. I plan to add a positive bus for the loose battery wires, I plan to run 4 AWG or 2 AWG cable and tap off the fused side of the inverter 250 amp fuse. I think this should protect that big cable, the most amps I have ever seen on the inverter circuit is 78 amps DC. If this isn’t a good idea I will have to purchase and install another inline fuse holder, say 150 amps, to protect this new bus cable. I really did not like the idea of a bunch of unprotected positive wires coming straight off the batteries..... Lots of pics when I get done, I hope stuff works properly. John Davies Spokane WA

Thanks for the warning but you forgot a link or picture...... I haven’t tried loosening the gland yet but visually it appears fine. I am waiting on parts, but maybe I should go ahead and pull out that cable now, to make sure the gland hasn’t failed. I don’t understand why they drilled the hole so darned high, the cable does get almost kinked where it makes a hard turn into the belly. It should be located near the bottom, not the top. Did yours look like this? I may just tape over that top hole and drill a new one 8 or 10 inches lower, where it belongs.... that would also allow for a shorter cable by getting rid of that big loop. .... comments? John Davies Spokane WA

Those Viairs look like very nice units, just be aware of the relatively low flow rate and 33% duty cycle. They are perfect for topping up a single low tire. For airing up all your aired-down tires after driving off pavement, they will be lacking. What sort of air filtration do they use, and can it be upgraded? John Davies Spokane WA

I ordered some expanded PVC from Amazon, in the 1” thickness. I could not find a local supplier. I am going to bond it to the fender with JB Weld. I too was a little worried about stripped screws, the double thickness will take care of that. The Ollie stuff is just 1/2” thick. I might add a strip of 3M VHB tape under any bigger parts.... I won’t put any more wood in my Ollie, wood is for classic sailboats..... 😉 This is for installing the smart bus bar for my new Victron monitor, and also a Blue Sea double bus bar, for all the ground cables that I will be relocating out of the battery compartment. I don’t mind the regular sized ones but I really hate working with the big 4/0 inverter ground cable. I’ll probably remove that one entirely, and take it to my bench so I can shorten and beat on it.... I have a vise mounted cable crimper that works well, but I have no tool that will work down in an access hole. John Davies Spokane WA

Thank you! That was so very fast. I appreciate the info. John Davies Spokane Wa

I need a piece, and would like to source it locally. Can anyone tell me what it is? It needs to hold screw threads very well, and it also has to bond well to fiberglass gelcoat using epoxy. Just like this: Thanks, John Davies Spokane WA

Hi Raspy, welcome back. This is great news and I wish you the very best in this endeavor. I am interested in learning about the weight distribution option, how it works, how it would attach to an Ollie.... I have not even seen pictures. I am very reluctant to abandon the lightweight chains of the Andersen for heavy steel spring bars - they are so horrible to hook up and store when not in use.... Will you also be selling the jack with its thick spacers? Please start a new thread about all this. John Davies Spokane WA