jd1923

When I bring up the VictronConnect app, the first menu shows the many Victron devices we have. Then I click on the SmartShunt, MPPT solar charger, Orion XS DC-DC charge, the inverter/charger, etc. Which Victron device is displaying the data above and showing it's "OFF?" Do you have one or more Victron devices? What kind(s) total?

Got this mounted today and a temporarily wired to the tow vehicle 12VDC system. I will work a more creative power solution, more like what Ron had done with extra battery and solar, later this summer. I'm letting it sit flat again overnight and will fire it up tomorrow, fill it up with 2-3 gallons of water bottles for testing. I want to measure voltage loss on the TV batteries per hour and speed of cooling. I should move one of our Ruuvi sensors inside to record fridge temps.

Certainly this is atypical! We need more info... What solar panels, roof mount or suitcase, what brand, how many watts? These are likely readings from the VictronConnect for your MPPT SC, do you have SmartShunt or battery readings? What is the batteries SOC? Near 100% SOC would cause a SC to limit charging? ...

Thanks Ron. I cannot find a similar picture in the CFX5 manual. Instead notice the wording I've highlighted in this picture from the manual. Perhaps it will work as I had wanted, but I will wire a DC switch and fuse and open the DC circuit before plugging into AC when needed. I have both cables inserted as it would be a pain in my installation to reach the plugs day-to-day. Eventually I want a robust DC-only installation.

Received the Dometic CFX5 45L fridge yesterday. Love it, fits like a glove exactly where I want it! Right know I have it propped up on 4x4s. It cannot sit flat on the floor of the truck bed. Wish it could, but the wheel well is in the way in one corner where if lifted 3 1/2" it will clear sitting at this height. Just under the toolbox lid, so it works! I may buy the Dometic insulated cover or rig something. It will be sooooo great to have cold water an arms length away while traveling, perfect location near the passenger door. No more going back in the Oliver after forgetting to grab water for the trip. No more water bottles in the Oliver fridge which will free up space and when shopping we can just put the cold goods here and not have to go into the Oliver and rearrange the fridge (again)! Swimming in my head is a complete installation that I do not have time for now, since a week from today we will be meeting up in the AZ high country with two other Olivers! I want it connected to our DC-DC charger wiring which I can intercept under the truck bed. I purchased a flexible solar panel which will be mounted on the toolbox and I have a decent 105Ah AGM lying around that can be installed inside the toolbox. More on that later! I have a question for @Ronbrink or anybody else that has owned the Dometic CFX. Can the AC and DC connections be wired simultaneously and will one circuit preempt the other? I want to have the DC wired and connected but wondering if I later connect an extension cord from the Oliver 110V outlet, will the AC supply take over and not draw from the DC batteries? Temp solution: run off the truck batteries and generator while towing, plug it in when at camp off house batteries and inverter. This model draws 8A on 12VDC. The other thing that I believe Ron did with his DC-DC charger installation is to install a relay that cuts off the DC-DC connection when the truck ignition is off. I'm going to need this feature when completing our full installation, so that the fridge will not draw from the truck starter batteries when parked. All the details of a robust installation is still a bit foggy! 🤣

Certainly no hijack, this is the named subject! Yes, that's a positive busbar. The 3 yellow 30A fuses provide power to your hitch jack and two stabilizer jacks. Hard to know where your hitch B+ aux wire may be. You can always use Mike's method, disconnect it up front, no more need to be looking. Now, my hijack... 🤣 Just LOVE seeing where OTT installed the display for your Progressive Industries EMS. At least you have one! Our hull came without one, so I installed the same model myself. It was good of OTT to make you lift the streetside bed to read the display (assuming the location of your picture). Now they put them up in the attic. Not quite as bad, but still crazy since it's a long hike up inside the Oliver after connecting shore power. You could fry a whole bunch of wire and accessories while you get up there to read possible error codes! Don't worry reading the display, the PI EMS will protect you! I installed our display inside the Oliver "trunk" right where we store our shore power cable. Plug into shore power and read the display immediately without going anywhere, simple as that! What would it be like to be inside the head of the average OTT installer through the years? Must be like some kind of bipolar disorder! Let's do it this way on this hull! Let's make it better (or worse) on the next hull! Changed my mind again, OMG! 🤣 It's almost too late now but perhaps OTT needs to hire someone with military training or real manufacturing engineering experience. Somebody needs to be in a position of power that truly understands the concept of continuous improvement or simply the meaning of the term SOP!

You're Beemer is certainly cool! But, I WANT that F-500, so cool and in great original condition!!!

Yes, this is certainly a must! (at least your hull #) After I fill the FWT, I put the hose on City Water and fill the 6-gallon Suburban HWH (we don't know if you have this or the Truma on-demand model). Then bleed the air out of the toilet first (if you have a standard model) then all faucets. Yes, good idea to also bleed the outdoor shower as it can be forgotten and you're right there when filling water! We have never run into the issue of air in the lines later (how does air appear out of nowhere?)! OTT installs bare minimum water pumps! Fancy hulls, bottom-end pump that could use more PSI and GPM! Maybe we never have this issue due to installing a high-end US made variable-speed pump? This pump can run dry for days! Highly recommended. 😂

OTT is there by phone or entering a service ticket. I've not yet ordered parts from them but many owners do and many also go to them for service and upgrades. That becomes expensive, too far for me, and it's not DIY! The components I've added are Victron (OTT installs Xantrex), Epoch batteries (OTT Lithionics), Samsung 32" M80D 4K UHD Slimfit TV in white (OTT installs clunker 24" TVs in black), motorized water valves (OTT manual valves), Alcan Springs, Timken bearings (OTT Dexter), soon new A/C (not OTT supplied Dometic or Truma products) so there's that too. 🤣

You will get ALL the help you need here -- Lot's of expertise in every factor of Oliver ownership and modifications! In the 2 years of ownership of our hull, nearing 10-years-old, I have rewired most circuits in our Oliver, added LiFePO4 batteries, new inverter, solar, DC-DC chargers, motorized water and waste valves, new HDTV and A/V system, more and more... And that's just me. There are 100s of others here who have done every imaginable kind of upgrade, from the artistic to highly technical. Just start reading the pages. 🤣 I like working the mods as you seem to. That's why buying a used Oliver was right for us. We spent less up front, allowing for available funds to make our special changes. One mod post example --

Yes, interesting that every era of Oliver is different. Either method is good as well as the wire you disconnect is well insulated. Keep in mind the wire is hot unless you disconnect it at both sides. I kept mine connected at the harness in case of some future need.

Perhaps easier than disconnecting at the harness would be to disconnect it from your positive bus, likely under the streetside bed. It will be the black wire in the photo where you see the screw unscrewed and disconnected left side of the photo. Tape it up and tie it up somewhere off the floor. I used heat shrink to cover it and wire-tied it to a cable. I would first test for power at the trailer harness (black to white wire or ground) and after disconnecting check again to see that you got the correct wire and that there is no longer power at the harness.

Must be a beast running on 56V producing 765 CFM! My DeWalt runs on 20V producing 430 CFM. Works well enough though and I stick to one brand, one battery type for the half dozen power tools we bring; Dewalt flashlights, vacuum, impact and sawzall, that all share batteries. Have the battery charger mounted in the Oliver Attic! Just purchased two 10Ah batteries and one alone runs our Starlink dish for over 8 hours!

Looks like a battery-operated Leaf Blower. I have a Dewalt model along with us on every trip! Blow the dirt of the vehicles after washboard roads, get the dirt, the pine needles and dog hair off the camping mat... Gotta have one! 🤣

In 3 cargo trailers I’ve owned, the breakaway had its own small independent battery and the Black wire was used to power interior lights when hitched.

You'll have to follow the 7-way connector cable, front to rear and see where they split the cable into the 7 separate wires, looking for the black wire. Let us know on both ends, are they using fuses or breakers? I forget if there was anything under the streetside bed when I disconnected the black wire on ours 2 years ago. I insulated the end of that wire and tucked it away in a dry spot off the floor.

Update: What Robert had written last week was in the back of my head, but forgotten when I made the Amazon Used purchase not first checking the Dometic website. Yesterday, Amazon notified me that my order was being delay allowing for easy cancellation. This happens more often on their used items that could be located in some remote warehouse. I canceled quickly and thought to rethink this purchase decision. I started to notice the different Dometic models, CFX2, CFX3 and CFX5 and found this paper: https://www.frigolab.eu/gb/blog/news/differences-between-the-dometic-cfx2-cfx3-and-cfx5-portable-fridges It convinced me to purchase the CFX5 model. I tried ordering on Dometic.com and their checkout would not accept payment. Tried 2 credit cards and PayPal which all failed. Then I found the same sale for a new CFX5 45L on Amazon, same 20% off. https://www.dometic.com/en-us/outdoor/coolers/electric-coolers/cfx5-45-electric-cooler--374706 The CFX5 55LIM comes with an Icemaker, interestingly, but at 1" longer and 2" wider it would not fit in the location I'm thinking of. The dual-zone 75L is priced very well while on sale! It's too big for our needs and where I need to mount it. I would make room if we made long trips often, had the need. https://www.dometic.com/en-us/outdoor/coolers/electric-coolers/cfx5/07-0703-070328-070328006-369003?v=97000050757

Thank you Jim, yes this is great. Won't the same wirings for our hull, but the 2016 OTT User Manual did not have any of these drawings. Looking at the full page, the B5 is under the curbside bed as Geoff and I expected.

For sure, soon to be 28 pages! We cannot make purchase decisions for OTT. But we can make our personal choices. 😂 Made in USA products are scarce, due to decades of bad politics. I'll do what I can within our means to "put our money where my mouth is!" Gonna love my Alcan springs when I received the D52 axles and work the installation. To bad Alcan doesn't make axles. I'd pay 50% more for theirs over Dexter! I observed care and respect at Alcan Springs, in their efficient operation, local following and now a national customer base, a family-oriented business. Hard to say that about Dexter and Dometic, Lippert, Camco... and the many large RV suppliers. I've never been one to care about warranties. I buy used and with the money saved, I'm self-insured. I purchase what I need in parts and make my own repairs. Why do some think OTT owes us something more than a few years after purchase? They don't. I have all I'll ever need from them. They built a good travel trailer which keeps getting better in well considered mods and sweat-equity. Anybody here ever have fun with a warranty claim? Isn't it a lot like working with an insurance adjuster and as painful as a root canal! 🤣

@Jim and Frances, thanks for providing this picture, I had not seen it before. I'd wish Oliver would not use "Loose fuses." Better to install a larger panel for all DC fuses, labeled and easily found in one location. They don't do this in automotive manufacturing. Instead modern automobiles have 2-3 fuse panels. What is really troublesome is two fuses on the same circuit, though I have argued with others here to their value. IMO it's a bad design where you can check a fuse, find it's good and unbeknownst to you, they hid another fuse somewhere down the circuit. I believe you are correct in that the "Charge Line" is the Black wire from the 7-pin hitch harness. The graphic shows the B4 location, meaning there should be a fuse up front likely outside under the doghouse. Your picture does not show the B5 location which I would guess is under the streetside bed where the charge line connects to the rear +bus. So as I mentioned this line looks to be fused on both sides. BTW, Oliver disconnects this charge line for LiFePO4 installations. I believe the only valid purpose for the Black wire on this harness is for cargo trailers that do not onboard batteries needing 12V+ to power accessories, mainly interior lighting. Unless you're one of the cool guys who jump that line to power the trailer marker lights when off hitch. 🤣 If you have the full PDF file of this graphic, could you please attach it here. I save every Oliver schematic and drawing that others have posted. Thanks

I always thought that it we had a blackout or local crisis, God forbid a forest fire (we live in the Prescott NF) that we could get in the Oliver and relatively quickly get to safety! Those of you in hurricane climates should certainly understand the idea! We keep ours as many of you do, 95% ready for the next trip. We start the fridge, stock the pantry, pack clothes, fill the TV with grill and lawn chairs, all kept in one area of a shed, and we're ready to go in little time. So we just got back from a 5-week trip, washed and parked the Oliver Saturday. Were out for the day yesterday and when we returned the house felt hot. Later is was apparent our home A/C was not cooling, thermostat set at 77F was 83F actual. We didn't sleep well last night, opened the windows where at our elevation we got down to 75 hours after the blazing Arizona sun had set! Called for service and the best they could do is Wednesday afternoon. We plugged in the Ollie this afternoon. We are back to camping the next two nights on the edge of our property! 😂

When changing a tire lift ONLY the side needing changing. First have the jack up as high to the body as possible and have the space filled with blocks of some type. Doing this, you should be able to get both tires on one side several inches off the ground but only go high enough to remove the wheel. I remember John E Davies wrote a post on the shackle flip years ago which made me aware of it. I believe he had a way to flip it back in the shop, but the simple way is to slowly on an angle tow your Oliver up a curb on the affected side. The other side can just go up the driveway. Service station entrances work well for this. The flipped shackle should flip back. If it doesn't, try again. The one time it happened to me it flipped right back first try. You will hear it and see the leaf springs sitting straight again.

The $1700 cited included new HD shackles and wet bolts, tax on parts and reasonable installation labor. The cost of 4 Alcan leaf springs alone is $600 (plus tax in CO or shipping out of state). Made-in-USA is priceless! Personally, I must buy Made-in-USA, never China if there is ANY possible alternative, even when double the cost. We were T-shirt shopping in SW CO recently. If the label stated made in China, nope not a possibility (any other country OK). Wondering do the PR4s have the same "sheer point" as the PR4Bs? You get for what you pay for. GJ, love ya buddy, but you are alone in your purchase decision vs reports say near 100 Oliver owners have gone with Alcan. It's good to be different though. It's usually me, but not this time! 🤣

I have one of these, an older aluminum version. I tested it on the Oliver when I first got our Oliver. It will work, but the Oliver has an issue with the shackles flipping and this occurred using this jack. I had to tow the Oliver over a service station curb to flip the chackle back, hearing a LOUD BANG and then I know the shackle flipped back to the correct position. Just us your onboard stabilizer jack to change a tire! And get one of the bottle jack/stand combo units shown if you want to work real service like changing a leaf spring. To change a leaf spring on the road, I would use the onboard stabilizer jack to lift the tire off the ground and remove the wheel. Then I would use the combo jack to hold the axle, lift and lower it as need to take the weight off the springs as need for removal and replacement.

Thank you for this reminder. I'm going to wait and as you said before, our "design as we go" principle. I have to get it, test it, and determine the best location for it in the truck bed. I want to secure it so that it does not move while towing and then see about cover or protection. Maybe the Dometic cover or something else, as mine will be out in the elements while yours sits in your van while towing. You move yours in and out of the van and I'm thinking of one position in the bed TBD.