BBL

I can second this and I made a call to Truma. They confirmed, the Aventa Eco cannot be used with an Easy Start and he added, you won't need it. Brian

@John E Davies Now that’s a steep price for an old tractor grill! Wow!

We are not much for “attractions” so we look for quirky. While you are there, look up Bush’s Baked Beans (Made-in-TN) and take the factory tour. It is very interesting and hard to imagine all the different varieties. You can actually trailer there and keep going on that road and it will put you back on I-40. This by-passes some of the major congestion up near Kodak. I you are looking for something to do un-hitched, go up to Sevierville and visit Smokey Mountain Knife (SMKW) and Gun works. Biggest store of its kind and if that’s not your thing, Lodge (the cast iron people) is right next door. Lodge is a Made-in-Tennessee product also. Hope that helps you and others looking to visit the Great Smokey Mountain NP area. Brian

@Mike and Carol Very nice! I would definitely like something like that for the barn! I’m a John Deere man but I still like it. BL

Recently, we stopped by a local RV dealer to get some supplies. As usual, there was a salesman out front and asked if he could show us something. I said, no, we are just here for supplies then I pointed and said you should sell those. He said tractors? And I said, no, Oliver Travel Trailers. He said, I have never seen one, heard they were really expensive and they only sell direct. I replied, I can confirm two of those! I then commented about the tractor. I have never seen one of these before but heard they were very expensive and hard to find. He agreed. Brian

@Hokieman that sounds great and very much like what I would do too. Unless it was a major issue I would keep going. We are mainly picking these sites to measure batteries while boondocking and then charge time when hooked up. We sold our Airstream 30’ Flying Cloud in 10 days and now we are going through camping withdrawals so when we pick it up we plan to camp! Brian

@Hokieman Did you go to VA Tech? My father and two of my brothers went there. I broke tradition and went to Embry-Riddle in Daytona Beach. It wasn’t near as cold in the winters! We did our second factory visit last week (we live less than 2 hours away) and scoped out ML State Park. Very nice and quiet indeed. Looks like @topgun2 has actually camped there. When we pick up, our plan is: First night at the factory, second night at Amber Falls winery (Harvest Host), third night at MLSP and fourth night at Mouse Tail Landing SP, TN. That should be a good shakedown before heading the remaining 1.5 hours to home. Brian

@dewdev You are correct! It was sold in October of 2021 and I had not heard that. Talked to the new owners and they sound like great people too. I have updated my link in my post. Thanks! Brian & Brandelyne

When you get over near Pigeon Forge there is a gem of a private campground called Buddy Bear in the Smokies. Give it a try, great people. Brian

Scoob - that makes perfect sense and I was aware of the differences between the two. My incorrect assumption was, when I saw the 712 with BT I assumed it was BT to the Shunt, not taking readings from the Shunt and sending out info via BT. I actually like the little display as a quick glance reference along with the ability to get the details via BT. Overall, I am pleased with the selection of hardware and the integrations. BL

And, for those that have not seen it, the new show room.

This is a picture of the new "Side Table" that was created when the lower fridge vent became obsolete because of the all-electric fridge. They did a great job on this and it is very sturdy. Will make a nice meal-prep or cocktail table.

This is the Xantrex Pro 3000 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter. You can see the MPPT Charge controller in the shot as well. Brian

@John E Davies John, There is really very little clutter in the battery box compared to others I have seen. The Shunt seems to be in the basement, not in the battery box itself but I could have been looking at the wrong component. There really wasn't anyone there to discuss the design with and I was told the trailer I was looking at was kind of an experimental "Frankenstein" model and they admitted that no one has actually seen a "Production Representation" of a 2023 yet. Here is what I think is the Shunt but it gives me pause that I see "RED" on the cable and I am under the understanding that all "Grounds" have to go through the Shunt to work properly. Someone tell me what this is: To the point that this may be a "Dumb" shunt, I now see the wires tapped off the center that likely run up to the Victron BMV 712. Here is the current battery box: Brian

Well..you might be right about that. I have actually never studied the difference between the "Smart" and "Dumb" shunts with respect to Victron because I always assumed (you know where that gets you) that they only used Smart Shunts. I will look into that and see what I can dig up. Brian

Update since our recent (Second) visit to the Oliver factory. We live less than 2 hours from the Oliver plant. We went back this past Friday to talk and take some more pictures in the showroom. @SeaDawg @John E Davies and others who were talking about the new solar. I learned Oliver WILL have a Smart Shunt on 2023 models! I didn't think it was there because I assumed the Victron display that I briefly saw in the trailer was to replace the ZAMP charge controller display. NOT SO, the Victron Solar Charge controller 100/50 with BT does NOT have a display, you MUST control it from the APP. The Victron display is the BMV 712 Smart Battery Monitor with BT and this display requires the Smart Shunt to provide information to the display and the APP. SO...when you open the APP you will see TWO Victron components, the BMV and the Solar Charge controller. Victron MPPT 100 : 50 with BT BMV-712 BT If something doesn't sound right, let me know. Would love to discuss. Brian

Thank you Steve - we will not be getting the cell phone booster but will likely keep the omni antenna for situations where we want local weather as an alternative to cell coverage, etc. I will have an Apple TV device in the trailer that will do much the same thing as your Roku stick. Safe travels and thank you again. Brian

Absolutely it helps, thank you and nice setup! Brian

I just spoke to Dick, one of the owners at KTT, he said if you are having issues and are unhappy to call them and they will get you information on how to get the covers repaired or replaced. Brian

Is this a temporary application or permanent? I have seen some people put temporary surface coatings for trips to AK but this looks like the permanent stuff. Did he just do the front of the trailer and the dog house? Thanks, Brian

Thank you for this post. We are waiting on an LE II build with a similar setup. So you are saying you have 340W of solar panels and in full sunlight you only recovered 10% each day? I am guessing you have the Zamp solar charge controller? I am hoping their move to the Victron Solar Charge controller and adding 60w of solar (for a total of 400w) will perform a little better than that. Also, I will be supplementing my solar with a portable, dual-fuel 2500w generator as required. Again, thank you for the post. Brian

Patriot - did you use the "stock" Oliver receiver or did you take the 1.25" off and replace it with a 2"? Really like this setup and while we normally carry our bikes under the truck topper, this would be a nice option to explore. Thank you for the detailed post. Brian

John & Wen, How old were your KTT mattresses when the were falling apart at the seams? We liked laying on the Totcha but didn't like sitting on them. We thought about ordering KTT direct from KTT but your comment doesn't make me feel good about that. Brian

John, This is a great post and it Colville NF caught my eye as well. I have been out there MANY times with the USAF Survival training school. Did my initials Wilderness Survival course out there and then several follow up "Exercises" where we were testing new survival electronics. Other people tested other things but electronics "was my thing" in the AF so I got to test the latest GPS, Radios, e-maps, etc. Talk about sleeping on the ground and things getting "buggy", there are many creepy, crawly, growling things out there in that forest. Brian

I could be tempted by a Monte Cristo #2 from Habana, but other than that, I have essentially given them up. Brian