jd1923

Please, please, please just use your stabilizer jacks! It’s safer and easier, recommended in the OTT 2016 Owners Manual, later OTT lawyers changed their recommendation. “What do you call a thousand lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?” a good start. 🤣 i suggest using a jack stand close as possible or on bottom-center of leaf springs for safety except for a quick tire change. Yes, connected to TV is always safer, yet not possible in my driveway or other locations. I wrote all this up in another post last week and quoted the 2016 OTT manual. Floor jacks don’t fit and bottle jacks can slip. Do it the easy way, takes just 2 min!

My feeling is Atmos was designed in Germany and the company made the mistake of manufacturing their product in China, where the copied the design and rebadged Knock-offs as Tosot and other names we’ve seen. This happened to ALL the technology patents that Motorola had, witnessed while I was there during the 90s. One of the reasons Motorola finally closed in 2011 (Motorola trademark purchased by the Chinese computer company Lenovo)! Question remains is are they quality knock-offs? SDG must be getting better wholesale pricing on the Tosot brand. Hopefully they made the decision knowing that it is at least comparable quality. If not, they will have future service and warranty issues.

I was thinking about this and nobody can be sure without real experience. However, the fact that the inverter A/C runs the compressor ALWAYS, and slows as it gets temp down to target, it may not produce the effect of the standard compressor A/C that shuts off and blows air across the cold frosted coil fins producing humidity. Give this idea a thought. Since the Atmos/Tosot discussion came up again, and let's keep that on the other thread, I started looking at these again. After travelling 5 weeks and getting more summer temps than we expect in the Dakotas, WY and CO, we've had to run our awful P2 more than I expected. I watch TV with expensive noise-cancelling headphones! I've learned that low power consumption is a feature that is more important to me than the quietest unit, since all of the models discussed likely produce half the noise of the Dometic. My need is to run A/C on 600Ah and the unit that can do that for the longest time would be the best for our needs. Anything new out there? We've all read @Treasure Coast Vault's post on the Pioneer which appears to be a Turbro Greenland clone, or vise-versa (can never tell when made in China which company owns the IP and which company stole it). Treasure Coast Vault reported exceptionally low power consumption, but if you read the Pioneer and Greenland specs, the Amp and Wattage usage specs are as bad as the Dometic P2. It's hard to make sense of it. And there is ALWAYS a difference in calculations EEs make and what is actually produced given climate differences and current conditions. I just found another option, running on DC which some of you like, but not me given our Victron MP2. I think it would be a pain to run heavy gauge DC cable up to the A/C when #12 is already there for 120VAC. 10K BTU should be enough for the Oliver, unless you regularly camp in the muggy summers of the southeast! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DW3TYSNR/?th=1 I'm still waiting, but please if anybody sees something new in inverter A/C for 14x14 rooftop RV application, even a new YouTube, please add to this post!

Kevin should know as soon as SDG has installed a few Tosot units.

I got this style from a guy on eBay that sells Mopar with 100% feedback. There are cheaper ones but be careful re quality. The smaller 8mm stud is to fasten to battery post and on the larger 10mm bolt you can insert 2-3 lugs on each side. Not sure of the kind of battery posts you have on the Nissan but there are 1000s of varieties. You want to get all connections solid and if you wire like I did with extra ground and extra run to alternator, you’re adding 2 lugs to each post. https://a.co/d/hn9O1Ak

Likely no experience yet, not sure. Call them and ask, they are great on the phone and in person. Everybody speaks of Lew. He is the lead guy, but Tim answered my call and serviced me when we arrived. All staff is great! Take a picture of your axle label and stamping on the leaf springs. They will ask to email pics. That should do you. They can build any custom leaf spring and charge like it’s a stock item. Best wishes, JD

Same height, 220 lbs here and no way my shoulders fit. I can just touch the line with one hand, then there goes my neck! I’ll ask my son to get in there and remove the two end screw fittings. Then I’ll make the replacement parts, longer PEX to make up for the restrictor delete. New check valves likely unless the originals clean easy with CLR which would be preferred to leave those connections alone. Then Adam again to reinstall. I might need a six-pack on ice for my helper! 🤣

Yes true, this is the standard EE calculation which is based on 50A at 90-100' length of the wire, total length up and back. I believe I got away with 4 AWG since I only used 65 ft of wire. I've been working aftermarket automotive installations professionally since the 70s, so figured the shortest possible run for our TV. This heavy wire is soooo expensive these days. You're paying for every additional foot and increase in gauge! Ran the wire through the frame to reduce distance and provided protection for the wire, no wire ties required most of the length. I also used the truck frame as ground, using only 2' of cable from rear connecter to frame (file ALL paint off), saving a good 15' of wire on the B- side, not running the ground all the way back to the battery which is truly unnecessary. I know of other another installation using the frame ground using only 6AWG for a 30A charger. This is not suggested, but the report is, it's working fine. In addition, I ran two 2-ft 4 AWG legs from battery B+ to the alternator and B- to frame ground up front. I believe, not doing so is the issue with many installations not producing good charge output. Most trucks have much less than 4AWG from battery to alternator and battery to frame ground. If you run 2/0 all the way, but from your battery has only 6AWG, you can guess the result. I understand length in the engine compartment is shorter, again the diff between theory and practice. It's HOT under the hood too! My mod post can be found on the forum where I show my installation in detail. Our system has run flawlessly regularly pushing 30-40A to charge the house batteries. I believe even though I upgraded the TV alternator from 130A to 180A, if I spent more money on the 220A model numbers would be a little higher. I've seen +48A max and with our 320W rooftop solar it can add to +60Ah max towing (10% per hour on our 600Ah). Recently I'm running the A/C 1-2 hours while towing prior to arriving to a campsite with electrical hook-up, and we arrive with a nicely cooled cabin! Gary, good thing you purchased the Orion XS 50A. Only a few of us with the 50A model for greater capacity and efficiency! My budget much preferred the cost of 65 ft 4 AWG vs. 90-100 ft of 2/0. But if you really need the extra length and believe as some do that the truck frame is somehow not an adequate ground, buy the 2/0 as Gary did. Many of you want to over-engineer your mods and there is nothing wrong with that. Me too most of the time. I just did that buying D52 Dexter axles and Alcan springs rated at 2750 lbs. Our wheels are rated at 3200 lbs each and we're on Load Range-E tires. Except for the Oliver frame (weight capacity?) we could functionally carry 10K lbs, although who needs to. We're under actual 6500 GTW now, which will go up a bit with the heavier suspension, yet still under the 7K DOT label to be legal. To me over-engineering the suspension made sense given the road conditions today and the washboard we drive on regularly in Arizona! We all want improvement, though some of us, some of the time, need to consider budget as well.

Love Starlink, SpaceX, Tesla and Elon, but sure wish they would use industry standards in Starlink design! I can understand needing greater voltage, like 30V for the dish over distance. Why in the world 9V for this mobile solution when there are 100s of millions cars, trucks and RVs running standard 12VDC systems. If it can run on 9V they could have spec’d 12V just as easily. I’ll wait ‘til I get mine next week to figure out what will work for me. I’ll then contact MobileMustHave where I purchased our Pepwave cell system and they will know exactly if Ethernet interface is possible. Again, it would make better sense if the input was proprietary Mesh Mode and the output was the industry standard. That would have greater market appeal vs. daisy-chain one feature only to achieve greater distance. My fear from when I wrote my post last night is your answer may be correct! Boy this mini router would be the perfect answer if it could connect to any brand router. Elon is usually for open source! We’ll soon know a definitive answer. Thanks again Geoff for being the Oliver Community pioneer in this and many new applications!

Gary, I believe you will want to drill to the right of the 3 pictured cables, but do this to be sure. Open the front dinette seat and get a mirror down there, pointed towards the front a get a visual on the 3 OEM cables to see there is room. You want your cables running under the dinette but it’s not a good idea to drill blindly. https://a.co/d/7amvqcN Some go with a large gland to hold both 4 AWG cables but I drilled two 1/2” holes using simple plastic grommets that were a tight fit. My goal was to remove the least amount of fiberglass. EDIT: you’re using 2/0 which is better, so two holes will certainly work better. You’ll have 5 holes in a line when done.

We must be skeptical of specs on websites. Check the product label. Likely the R32 is correct and the 15.5K BTU is incorrect, 15K instead. i had ordered Epoch Essentials 460Ah batteries and if the website was accurate 2 would have fit in the Oliver battery bay with the tray removed. The website had width and height numbers reversed. Called Epoch and they could not confirm but the distributor did and they changed my order for two 300Ah which fit in the tray. Often bad data on websites. So much on auto parts websites for sure!

The Victron Multiplus II and many other capable inverter models have a built-in ATS. The 2KW Xantrex OTT originally installed in our hull had an external ATS and remote power switch. These are two different worlds. True for those not connected to shore power, without rooftop solar and/or who store long-term indoors. If not, as in my case the solar produces 10x parasitic draw on a daily basis. In fact, I can be 60% SOC on 600Ah LiFePO4 batteries, running exterior courtesy lights and in a few days SOC is 100%. Even in winter sun in AZ, and yes as you wrote in our "home area." However, I truly recommend those who have full inverter/charger capability, 3KW with built-in ATS, Xantrex or Victron, leave your inverters ON always when your Oliver is in use (I know some manufactures say not too, but I have trouble being told what to do without valid reason)! It protects against power outages, brown-outs, if Victron it provides power-assist and more. Heck, I've been running our A/C one hour prior to arriving at a full hook-up site and when we get there the cabin is cool and no hurry plugging in unless SOC is near 20%. Of course, you must have viable Ah capacity in LiFePO4 to do so. Use the technology that God and Mankind has provided us! It's wonderful and we finally had a wonderful 5-week trip to truly experience the amazing features, in all the upgrades I've made to our Oliver and tow vehicle! 😂

OK, now you got my attention! A cabled solution between Starlink Mini and Mini Router is not of interest to me and your test results show the true value of the Mini Router! Thank you, Geoff. I just ordered one through the app Shop menu. I also noticed the travel kit for $45 and got that as well. I did not order a cabled power solution, as of yet. I thought you had written about a 3mm male plug but could not locate that statement tonight. Would something like this work or is it another style plug? Does it also need a waterproof version like the Mini? https://www.amazon.com/ZEPFJHE-6-3mmx3-0mm-Connector-Replacement-Computer/dp/B0DKJN9L37/ Earlier when you had written your initial Starlink thread, this was all new to me and naively I thought it could be roof mounted. Immediately upon use, I realized the Mini is so particular to dish Alignment and Obstructions. So I ended up with a simple battery-powered solution (pic1) using the built-in Wi-Fi. This has worked well in the two months experience we have, but it is a pain to switch between Wi-Fi signals (Pepwave to Starlink) for TV streaming, laptop use and cell phones. Before realizing this I jumped the gun and had installed a wired solution using a Victron 12-24 DC-DC charger like you had used in a different configuration (pic 2 and if you look closely you can see the external cabling strapped down in pic1). To date this installation has been a waste and sits idle. Now shooting in the dark here... Could I use my roof-top wiring, change the power plug to the correct style for the Mini Router, connect Ethernet between the Starlink Mini Router and the WAN port of my Pepwave router? This would be so cool if possible, one Wi-Fi login and my installation would finally have purpose. I'm over my head, re whether the Ethernet port on the Mini router could be used in this manner or ONLY to connect to the Mini dish.

Ours work as designed after 10 years. Not an easy campsite install unless you’re very small. My size, I can’t reach them and that’s why the job is still on my to-do list! 🤣

It really depends. Geoff really explained every facet nicely and fully in detail. Everybody should read his post a few times! When we had the OTT installed 2KW Xantrex, when OFF shore power you had to turn the inverter on to run anything 120VAC, but not the air. You wanted it off most of the time if you're running on LA or AGM batteries, when not needing AC appliances/outlets so you would not loose SOC%. With a 3KW inverter installed, generally all AC circuits run through the inverter including the A/C. This is also how I installed our Victron Multiplus 2. I see no reason to ever turn off our inverter, so we don't. In fact since I installed it a year ago it has been on 24x7x365 unless it's on high amp charge when I'm trying to get to sleep and it's making some noise under my bed. Then I turn it OFF via the Bluetooth app and turn it back ON when I wake. With ample Ah LiFePO4 batteries and rooftop solar and the fact that our hull sits outdoors and does not get winterized nor go in storage, our Victron MP2 in ALWAYS powered on ready to use anytime.

There is a question that I do not believe has been verified. Tosot a year ago was using R-134a refrigerant. Are they now using the more efficient R-32? Anybody getting one should know this ahead of ordering. Ron can confirm, but I'm pretty sure his and other Atmos use R-32 refrigerant.

Yep, still on my list to remove both check valves and water restrictors, clean up the check valves and reinstall on both lines. Toss the restrictors and then add a true external water pressure regulator. If I run on City Water it’s always slower (less GPM) than the new variable speed water pump I installed. I have recently noticed that I can run on City Water and turn the water pump on to get a good volume of water when needed.

On Campendium you had to read the fine print to know that “Elk Ridge Campground” was actually Ridgway SP. We noticed the park sign as we drove in. Yes Mike, it is a beautiful location! I chose this place, without knowing better, because it was not on a lake! This place is rustic with only a half dozen decent RV sites. Looked like the SP had many more sites, more the usual setup. Most of the lake sites we’ve stayed had many mosquitoes where we’ve been chased in early at night! We sat out last night without those nasty creatures. Perhaps I’ve gotten used to the dry climate of AZ, preferring mountain views over lakefront locations. I know most people feel the other way, like my sister who has to live on the coast. She could not survive out where we live! 🤣

BaseCamp550 - just S of Ridgway CO, 8 miles N of Ouray, our view from the back of campsite #17 looking southeast. The tallest peak on the right is Mt Sneffels, one magnificent Colorado 14er, simply amazing! 😂 Certainly our best campsite in 5 weeks travel. An older RV park from the 70s. Though I have a leaf-blower, if I had my weed-whacker I'd clean up this site a bit. The view makes up for it and we have a triple-wide spot between a cabin, their front facing away, and the laundry which makes it private, not having RVs left and right. It's just so nice!

Wow, it's been almost a year, right?! Chris in another thread, I wrote that I just placed a special order with Alcan Spring for Dexter D52 50.00 axles. They are an authorized Dexter distributor. Soon I should get confirmation and a part number for the correct axles for our hulls. If you are going to install yourself or in your home town, you could do the same given it works out for me. But perhaps you'd be going to back Hohenwald which is out of the question for me. Let us know what OTT says now and I will post here when I hear something.

After spending well over three grand on axles, springs and other parts. And after my recent experience, I'm wondering, does our hull truly need a new suspension? (I'm just kidding 🤣, but you're not going to believe this!) We camped on the Yampa River valley, near Craig CO. We had used most of the water in our fresh tank the 2 days before, so when we setup camp I connected hose from our TV 35-gal aux tank to the Oliver boondocking port to fill the FWT. Afterwards I put everything away, but forgot to cap the hose port. The next morning we drove down to Alcan Spring in Grand Junction. A 3-hour 140 mile trip, starting with 40 minutes of dirt, then CO Highway 13 south where we dropped 2500 ft in elevation, then on I-70W and it was the usual windy day in the West. After I worked with the staff at Alcan, I walked back to our rig to grab a personal check for payment. As I walked behind the Oliver, I froze in awe, OMG, are you kidding me? The cap was exactly where and how I placed it the night before. There is no logic, no physics nor engineering science to explain this, but believe me, it's the God's honest truth! This just goes to show that Oliver Travel Trailers are rock-solid driving down the highway! 😂

I love my old truck and have put my heart and soul into rebuilding it. It drives and tows great, but as we’re camped in Ouray Colorado, no way in the world we’re descending the Million Dollar highway when we leave here. The other route back home through Cortez CO, driving past Telluride will be enough for our rig! (BTW it’s amazing here, see the Where’s Ollie thread soon for our campsite pic)! The torque, the gearing and braking of modern HD diesel trucks are amazing! Something I should have considered sooner. I will be giving this some hard thought this summer while we’re home! Thank you for this reminder, my friend Patriot! We’ll be home for by The 4th of July. A salute to you, Mike and the other Oliver Vets during our Nations 249th! 😂

You’re welcome, glad it helped! I wasn’t mixing up proper names, but online names @GlacierGirl and @Galway Girl! I should have known better, since I’ve read many of Craig’s posts! Best wishes, JD

Barb & Mark, I remember you had shoes that disintegrated and the shop mechanic said it could be the self-adjusters. I had trouble seeing how that is possible and instead figured it must have been faulty materials or a spring or shoe holding clip or something was missing or not installed correctly at the factory. John E Davies, when he was an Oliver owner and Forum member, claimed that the self-adjusters could over-adjust and he changed his brake assemblies to be manual adjust. I would hate to have to manually adjust shoes, after how many miles? again and again! I just cannot see how the self-adjust mechanisms can get overly tight. If somebody can explain the mechanics behind this claim, please let us know. In my experience, including the maintenance I worked just prior to our current trip, they were loose, slightly on the fronts, more so on the rears. I tightened each so that I just barely hear the shoes rubbing the drum while spinning the tire. If somehow the self-adjusters were to mechanically lock up the brakes, you would first have to remove the rubber plug on the back of the brake backing plate. Then with two thin screwdrivers, use one to hold the adjuster plate up and another to move the gear in the opposite direction to loosen it. In automotive service sometimes you need to do this when brakes are so worn that you cannot remove physically remove the drum. In this case, the shoes down to bare metal have ground into the drum creating a lip in the drum. If this occurs in a trailer you would merely unbolt the entire brake assembly and replace it, they're relatively cheap. What happened to us recently is I just heard rubber screeching while coasting to a stoplight after braking and after releasing the brake pedal. The gain on the controller was too high or something. I let my foot off the brake and the brake magnet did not release for about 3-4 seconds. It then freed up and has not occurred again. When traveling in the mountains I have the gain set higher and this happened in the city at slower speeds. Too much gain can cause your brakes to lock up, but I'm not sure why they did not release after I let my foot off the brake pedal. Not sure if this answered your question or not. This was a short one-time occurrence for me. JD

Two little Ollies in a sea of 5th-wheels and Class-As!