jd1923

Gary, an early thought I had was to remove the tray as Mike did who started this upgrade post. A couple weeks later I decided to go with 2x 300AH Epoch Essentials that fit nicely in the tray sideways. Several other members have made this same battery choice. I believe only @rideadeuce has removed the tray. Mike could chime in, but how to removed the tray should become obvious. Once you empty the tray of batteries, slide it all the way out and you should se the mounting bolts. If I ever decide to add a 3rd Epoch 300A, three would fit in the bay only with the tray removed. Maybe someday. Which batteries did you order?

I read this too, last year when you first made us aware of this model. I'm thinking the Bremen Germany SANZ DREIHA GMBH created the design and brought it to China to manufacture. Once the CCP got their patent-violating dirty mitts on it, they stole the design and manufacturing processes and are competing with the German company (under the various trade names of Gree, Tosot, Fogatti...) that brought them this technology (China has done this with everything, in my experience from 30 years ago with Motorola). They all have identical Air Distribution Boxes (ADB), you have to know they were built in the same factory. Perhaps Fogatti added something new. They write re an "Auto Sweeping Motor" in the ADB (see picture 6 on Amazon listing). Is this something extra, that the Atmos does not have? Like @CRM stated, extra CFM is unnecessary in the Oliver and if that's truly an extra motor, mounted below the ceiling, all it would do would be to add noise creating the extra air flow. In the same pic, they advertise the greater airflow can reach the length of a 36' trailer. I doubt it but... Still hoping to get a confirmation of refrigerant type from @Ty J! You took a lot of pictures. Did you get one of the refrigerant label? Please post one. It would be great to compare it side-by-side to the DREIHA Atmos label Ron posted above.

Can you please confirm if the Tosot you have runs on R410A or R32 refrigerant? With R32 it means it is equal to the Atmos today. The Gree last year was advertising R410A and it's hard to know what you're getting since this Amazon ad and other sources often do not specify. See this article for the superiority of R32: https://aircondlounge.com/types-of-refrigerant-in-air-conditioning/ Still a good "Spring Deal" on Amazon now at $1, 020 + tax, delivery included. Wish we lived in one of your no sales tax states! With the high AZ sales tax, this comes to $1,105. The Atmos is $1,350 + $150 shipping + tax (both numbers without StartStart). https://www.amazon.com/TOSOT-Conditioner-Non-Ducted-Rooftop-High-Efficiency/dp/B0CDWR5RP9/?th=1 The Turbro soft start you show in the picture is $84 plus tax, also on Spring Sale today: https://www.amazon.com/TURBRO-Installation-Compressor-S15-Plus/dp/B0DK8BXHWH/

I installed the VE.bus (required addition to the Victron Multiplus providing Bluetooth when going without screen displays), connected by Ethernet cable, in the same basement area on top of the wheel well. I put it there since it measures temp and I wanted it near the top of the same area where our inverter/charger is installed. The picture shows the "Detailed" tab of the app. You can see that today mine reads 69F and my Ruuvi sensor in the back trunk area shows 60F, which is about our outside temp today. The screen states Battery Temp because they assume you install it in the battery bay. So, the Victron is adding up to +9F on a cool day (hardly inverting and not charging at all since shore power is disconnected). Also, the cooling fan is off. BTW, these Beech Lane fans need resetting whenever power is disconnected. Above I mentioned the VE.bus is required. This is only true if you are like me and do not want the other Victron toys and displays, just app connection. I also mentioned USB or USB-C which is wrong for this device. The VE.bus is connected by Ethernet only to provide Bluetooth access to the Multiplus. This VE.bus also allows you to turn the Multiplus ON/OFF, charger ON only, or inverter ON only. There is an accessory you truly need for configuring the Multiplus. It's connected to the Mulitplus also by Ethernet port and at the other end of the device there's a short USB or USB-C cable to connect to your laptop. I have this sitting under the rear dinette seat but have not needed it since the original install. Though I believe I will need it again soon to up my batteries charge rate from 50A to 100A. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BNBVKSTH/

I've been amplifying the hi-jack but I imagine @Teaney Hull 292 got what they needed in 2 pages and we're all here for more questions from any and all members! I would not worry about the 104F heat issue unless you plan to exterior mount your inverter in the sun! 🤣 Ours is under the streetside bed. It did get up to 104 during testing August afternoons where we get pretty hot, when sitting in the sun. I installed the dual Beech Lane fan, like the one I installed in the fridge cavity. It pulls air from the streetside basement, all the way from vents I added in the bath, closet, etc. With the fan on 104F drops to about 88F, with A/C on and the interior about 74F. Reason you want the Victron is you can run your A/C on generator with the Victron supplementing extra power from your batteries when the compressor is running and when the compressor shuts off your generator would be back to charging batteries. You likely know this already. Victron calls the feature Power-Assist. Re your other comments, she may learn to like boondocking. We love where we can go where there are paved roads and campgrounds. More opportunities west than east. Oct we plan to park the Oliver on the edge of the North Rim! If at a point where we truly want to run A/C on batteries, after we replace the Dometic with something efficient, a third 300AH could be in our future. Given you have the Honda, I do NOT suggest the suitcase addition. We rarely use ours and wish I had saved the $800+ for the suitcase, the Victron 30A MPPT, cabling, connectors, etc. I would certainly suggest adding 400W or as much as you can get on your rooftop. Our 2x 160W panels are now 10 years old. I wonder how efficient they could be. Given that and the flat mounting we usually only get +10 to 12A net charging rates (winter afternoon sun). The 400W Renogy suitcase will double those numbers, from a combination of newer panels and being angled towards the sun. I'm looking forward to reading about your upgrade when you get to it! 😂

I get it. With home base of Houston or Tampa you guys have different needs. We will never come to visit you during the summer months!

I'm an engineer, certainly a numbers geek, and OMG! I never added this up before. 🤣 Yes, you are absolutely correct. The Epoch app displays total amps +/- and amps to each battery. This was taken on a recent winter day, snow on the solar panels and I plugged in after several days of this weather. You can see +48.4A net charge to the batteries, with individual batteries receiving 22.8A and 25.6A (see pic). I should set our Victron to 100A charging and next time I'm down to 20% SOC we can recover in under 5 hours.

Didn't I read @Patriot write something like this? Also, @Ronbrink or @MAX Burner might have commented the same. Who else is still carrying RV technology of yesteryear and rarely to never using it? With 600AH LiFePO4 and 720W solar we're good for emergencies. I get it if you have no solar, but do get solar so you can loose the generator! We also carry 35 gal extra water in the TV for boondocking and emergencies. We can get stuck somewhere for days but TG this had not occurred! Chris loves boondocking, and we much prefer it to campgrounds and truly dislike RV parks (or worse "RV resorts" 🤣). More often than not, when we have hook-ups, we don't use them, and if we need to we charge up, fill water and dump tanks prior to leaving so we're good for another week or so. I preferred adding a 400W solar suitcase vs. a generator, since we live SW, have mostly sunny days and rarely ever need A/C. We have only used the suitcase twice, so it is near the category of the rarely used generator, but no need for fuel and takes less space standing up in the TV. I can have it position the night before so it starts charging before we get up in the morning and it's on all day without bothering neighbors. WE move it to face the sun occasionally but not anal about doing so. Just other ideas to consider...

Thank you for this, Robert. So, are you planning at trip to NM when 100 Oliver owners are heading to your home state for the rally? (just kidding) Long way from Alabama to the great SW! Come see us if you get a bit further west. I have mapped out dozens of amazing boondocking sites in the Prescott, Kaibab and Tonto NF and local BLM areas. Funny thing is... the week of the Rally, I'm working in Albuquerque. I really wanted to meet up with Art and D @MAX Burner on our next visit to ABQ but they will be with the 100 others down in Alabama! I can drive 6+ hours and stay at the event hotel where I teach my class. Or, we could take the Oliver to take our time to and from. I would need a campground/RV park in reasonable proximity to Marriott Courtyard Airport hotel, so all the suggestions in the old thread above would be too far. Thinking about staying at the Isleta resort and casino (with hotel and RV park) since it's just 10 minutes south of the airport, looks decent if you have to stay in a RV park! I need to decide soon whether and make either hotel or RV park reservations. I will call them next week. It doesn't look like anything else nearby. Except, for those who are Vets (not us), the Kirtland AFB FamCamp is in SE ABQ with good reviews.

@tallmandan thanks for posting this and you're certainly welcome for my help. It was only written advice, you did this! You asked for advice and put it quickly to use in your own way! 😂 There are two other threads going here, where others could copy what you did. As you now know, it's not that difficult once you dig in and just do it. There is no better upgrade on our Olivers than 600AH in LiFePO4 batteries!!! Your installation looks great! I would say better than the factory, as compared to the before picture. OTT has a way with plastic loom that is not needed in most cases and yours looks clean. We are all amateurs on our first mods and we get better over time. Good job and I know you'll be happy with it. It was a good idea of yours to add the cut-off switch and the shorty cable you had to add the required length to the battery ground. Otherwise, having all the terminals in the rear would be a pain over time. Your bolts should be fine as long as you have a 1/2" of thread connected. Yes, check them again but if they are still good with time on the road, they'll stay good, and you can forget about them soon. I'm jealous as I paid $100 more for our Epochs! Hope to meet you on the road one day. We'll be in parts of CO this June. Definitely come see us in Arizona when you're down our way!

We stopped using a generator after we sold our Class-C. As you know, we have the Victron Multiplus II 12/3000/120-50. The numbers translate to 12VDC output / 3000 KVA inverter capacity / 120A max charge output / 50A max AC input (shore power/generator). I've had our charge output on the MP2 set to 50A ever since we installed ours last summer, and in our case we do not have a reason for faster charging. Specs for the 300AH Epoch Essentials show "recommended charge current" at 50A. Max charge current is 200A, so they could certainly take every bit of the 120A, but why is 50A recommended? Perhaps the lower charge is better for the life of the batteries. With 600AH we can go for days, a week or more off grid, assuming no use of A/C. Given the SW skies cloud up for awhile (rarely except when caused by chem-trails🙁), we can eventually get low on SOC. Under 50% is rare, but I do remember one trip it got down to 20% and the red warning light was on the Victron Connect app! (I set this to 20%.) What we did that time, and would do again whenever needed, is merely to stay one night somewhere with electric hook-ups. Plug into shore power and the MP2 is giving a full 50A to the batteries. At 20% SOC, down 80% on 600AH is 480AH to charge. Let's round up to 500AH (worse-case scenario). To re-coop this would take 10 hours to charge at a 50AH rate. We are going to check-in late afternoon say about 4PM, and even if you're the type to leave before the sun rises (not us!), you're going to be connected for 12-14 hours minimum. SOC is back to 100% HOURS before we would leave and we're good for another week. I much prefer this to carrying a generator and extra fuel. You like to camp summers in the SE, God bless ya, get hook-ups because if you're running your generator all day you will get ugly looks from me and many others! Generators rules at campgrounds are generally no use after 10PM and boondocking in the SE is rare where you could be far enough away from neighbors to run a noisy generator and even worse, the awfully noisy Dometic Penguin II! 🤣

Thanks and can do! 😂 I have an older, longer detailed post... but the first post in this thread shows the highlights!

There is nothing wrong with keeping your Xantrex. In fact, I sold mine to another Oliver owner who is very happy with it since his hull had no inverter previously. You can run everything 120VAC with your setup as-is except for A/C on batteries. The other thing about a campsite installation is you need to have batteries disconnected, streetside bed and dinette seating out for many hours. I had batteries disconnected, beds and cushions moved into our house for 1-2 weeks!

First, I would say it would be easy to get help from friends at the rally for replacing batteries. A full inverter mod, the custom work of mounting the very LARGE Victron Multiplus II, stripping our all Xantrex parts (ATS and junction box) and related wiring changes may be a lot to accomplish at a campsite! I ran in and out of my garage/workshop 100 times while doing mine for tools and 4-5 trips to Depot or Lowes for hardware over a two-week period of time. If you study the mod threads, plan really well in purchasing parts, get very ready, have a lot of patience (new friends too), maybe, good luck! 🤣 You want the 12V inverter and do not need the UL-certified model (required by code for home installations only). I went with Inverter Supply for these parts for free shipping and no sales tax (see picture). You NEED the VE.bus to configure the Victron for charger/battery spec settings. There are two models (I purchased the USB-C model and there is also USB, depends on the laptop you would use to setup). You need an Ethernet cable also to connect the VE.bus to the Victron MP2. There are YouTube videos showing the configuration steps. You also posted pictures showing the Progressive Industries ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch) and the display which shows the readout of shore power stats. The ATS switches between the two shore power sources (side outlet and front outlet usually for generator in front basket). This will not change but the power coming out of the ATS, connecting to the 120VAC breaker panel has to be replaced with new 10-3 AWG cables to go to the inverter and back to the breaker panel (buy 15 ft to be safe, I used about 12 ft, it runs from streetside bed basement where our new inverter was installed up to the breaker panel under the rear dinette). The Victron MP2 has dual terminal bolts on both + and - sides. I ran the 4/0 battery cables, from batteries directly to the Victron MP2, removed from the 2KW Xantrex (I had the same older model) and all secondary 6 AWG cables that OTT had on the batteries, I also bolted to the Victron bus vs. out to the batteries. If you get this all done at the rally, that will be a great story! Take pictures and post...

No specific experience with the VIP3500 but both models should be standard for replacement on ANY trailer. The upgrade it likely a good idea. It would be great if the VIP 3500 was stronger and faster! I would check the manuals for both and compare measurements. It should be 3 bolts and one wire to replace! 😂