jd1923

I will test each battery separately, when I have them out. My feeling is I have a set of like new batteries, as advertised installed in 2022. I removed the shore power today, turned on the exterior courtesy lights and will run more stuff during the day and night to make these batteries work. Like to bring them down to 60% and then see the solar charger bring them up after a long sunny day. Everyday is a sunny day in Arizona! Good news is the battery bay door seals nicely, none of that AZ dirt inside, that iron oxide red dust that @John E Davies has warned us of. Took the negative battery post apart today. Can see why past owner added these tall posts, as there is no way to mount 2 heavy gauge battery cables. I would have purchased similar batteries with taller 3/8" posts. These are 1/2" short 5/16" posts. I need a battery terminal to add two battery cables and 2-3 8GA cables to each post. Looked for 15 minutes on Amazon, weeding through the cr@p, not much there. With only a few minutes into this, I'm thinking why not just mount a copper bar. I'm interested in @John E Davies input on this. For $18 on Amazon, I can buy an 8" length of pure copper, 1/4" thick, 1" wide. I can cut this into two 4" pieces for both +/- terminals. Drill a 5/16" hole to mount to the battery post and drill two 3/8" holes for the cables and bolt through with copper washers. Love to find a quality prebuild post, but not seeing anything that would work effectively for my need. Please let me know if this idea would work, is a copper bar good, perhaps aluminum is better in the elements, or are there better options? Thanks https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9NDVW9J/?coliid=I35ZMYZFHWRUXC&colid=2UU65RMAO0WYD&ref_=list_c_wl_lv_ov_lig_dp_it&th=1

Our cable grommets at the rear of the battery bay are loose. They aren't even rubber grommets, but a vented plastic type. Brand new they would not keep battery fumes from entering the areas under the dinette and bed. It appears the only way to correct this is to first pull the batteries out completely. This will be the time to correct the cable angle and connection bolts mentioned above. Any suggestions on a long-term fix for this? I could just glue these back in place. Maybe an exterior quality, minimal expansion, "Great Stuff" kind of product? Let me know if this has happened to your rig.

Yep, thanks again @John E Davies and Bill and Sherry! These bolts are going and will get the cables coming from the other direction, so not turning against the wall. Lol yeah, the Prestone was a similar looking tool, made for checking antifreeze concentration. My hydrometer is likely in the same tool drawer. They're both turkey-baster kind of tools!

Bill, when you wrote "original" could you mean your batteries are the originals, now 7 years old? If so, this is a testament to life of the 6V golfcart battery! I will certainly remove these tall posts soon. They can't be good, would accentuate any vibration of the main cables down those two extended posts (same thing on the main -neg post). A past owner must have added this for some reason, maybe for better clearance of the cables. I need to remove all four batteries anyway, for a repair to the back of the bay. More on that later...

Thanks @SeaDawg everything you have here is great advice. Thanks for the link. Had no idea there are videos available like these and yes, I've been into so much other maintenance that I've been dreading studying the Blue Sky manual. I was really good with our last Solar/Inverter system, because I installed it and understood every component. Not near yet on this one. You asked the question, "is it on or off." @John E Davies asked it first, but it was at the end of so much other stuff that I didn't see it, and after your post @topgun2 wrote it again. Thanks Bill, third times the charm! I hate to have to admit, that I simply had the switch off! What a dumb newbie thing. Sorry to waste everybody's time, but I do have other battery related questions to follow... First thing will be per @John E Davies suggestion, I should move the Blue Sky panel to head height! I remember about 2 months ago, reading a post about Inverter issues, needing a complete power off to reboot and I went out to learn some about this system. I had turned the big red switch off, then found out there is no battery disconnect switch, and after some interruption I forgot to return and switch it back on. It was summer then, connected to shore power to run the A/C when parked, set at 84 degrees. It has been disconnected from shore power 3-4 weeks now and I run the Exterior Courtesy Lights 24x7 to fend off the dreadful Arizona Pack Rat! So, over 3-4 weeks the batteries dropped from 100% to 78% as normal. Back to 100% this morning. Threw the main switch, input from the solar panels. The Blue Sky lights came on and with voltmeter measured 14.42V across both pairs of batteries, showing it's charging as designed. What a dummy I can be at times. 🙃

JD thanks for the Battery 101 stuff. I do have a 70s or 80s Prestone hydrometer in the shop but haven't used it for quite a while! All four 6V batteries were at exactly at 6.16V yesterday, and ALL 4 were at 6.69V this morning, after connecting to shore power again, being charged overnight by the PD4000. All readings are accurate to .01V, both pairs adding up to 13.38V in series, I would say this is the best battery bank I've seen in years. I'm more the restoration kind-a guy, vs. everything is a poor design and the needs replacing kind. There is no way in the world I would replace these brand-new batteries at $299 ea for SLA. NEW Interstate 6V 6 Volt Golf Cart Battery RV marine solar deep cycle GC2 T105 | eBay They are both lead-acid and the SLA is not serviceable. With sealed batteries you cannot use a hydrometer, nor see the acid and plates. Love the quick disconnect battery caps on these. The plates in these batteries are CLEAN, absolutely no calcification, the acid crystal clear, like the distilled water added, which only took a cup or so of water for all four with 5 minutes of maintenance. No need for baking soda, as the picture shows how clean they are. I will check acid levels 1-2 times a year and keep these for many years to come. most Class-As have these batteries, many lasting 7 years.

I'm remembering a few months back, when we first joined this forum, you remarked that our Olivers were cousins. Old is good, or we're in trouble. I'm married to an old girl, she's wonderful and I can't live a day without her! And we have two old girls in Hulls 113 and 117, ours perhaps a few days older! It seems @SeaDawg understood my question. Her reply was exactly what I was looking for! Nothing wrong with the batteries or connections. There are odd posts for the main cable connections to the TT (see close-up pic). Thinking I should remove these tall bolts. Could this be original?

We have an older 2016 Oliver #113 and one of the features that weighed in on our recent purchase of this Oliver Ell (besides being conveniently 4-sale used in our hometown) was its Inverter-Solar-Battery setup! It appears we have newer batteries, advertised to be 1-2 years old and they look new (to bad installer did not punch the date codes). I love the setup in general and I'm totally fine with the installation of four (4) 225 AH 6V lead-acid golfcart style batteries! I'm not the guy paying $XXX for LiFePO4 to save a few pounds, and a little more capacity, on an already light trailer. However, I'm certainly jealous of those of you who have the OTT Lithium Package - just nice! Cannot afford it here, while spending $XXX on other stuff! Anyway, nobody really needs more than 450 AH, lithium or lead-acid (except for a few YouTube Class-A crazies!!!). Yes, we have ample storage, according to the battery labels, and I understand, though not verified, 380 watts of solar power! Over the last 6 weeks, ever since the Oliver did not need A/C during the heat of the day, I left her unplugged (think Eric Clapton's unplugged version of Layla - yeah! ... Lol, just kidding). I believed the solar charger should take care of things. Unfortunately, this was not so! Last week, I noticed the interior Blue Sky panel was reading batteries at 82%, then 78%, even after a long day of Arizona sun, WTF. There is enough solar power for sure after 12+ hours of clear dry sun. Is the Blue Sky charger insufficient? I'm thinking so. Can solar panels go bad, or weak? Don't know... Next thought, I should check into battery maintenance. Opened them up, added some distilled water, though no acid level was below the charging plates. Anyway, glad this maintenance is now done for this year. Found the front battery strap to be broken, with bungee attached and just crafted a new one. Batteries were at 12.32V and I would expect more, like 13.1V after a day in the AZ sun! Connected a trusted automotive charger, watched the voltage gain gradually, while adding a light 10A charge. Batteries looking good means the Blue Sky solar charger is not. Got the batteries up to +12.8V, measured after the charger was disconnected for a few minutes. Later, plugged into shore power, first time since August, and soon volts read 13.01V. Will check again later tonight and in the morning. So, how horrible is this Blue Sky ? In the older OTTs (ours), the LED panel is mounted just above knee height, and I have a bad neck!

For sure no sense changing wheels sizes, when thinking new TV! I went with 17s and I believe it is the best upgrade in size when starting with an OEM LT265/75R16 tire size. The 17" wheels allows you to go to the LT265/70R17 size, keeping the exact tire height (do not get taller tires when towing) and width in this case. This upgrade also allows me to go to 17" front brakes, as mentioned above. Also, the 70-profile tire is a better highway size than a 75-profile tire (for off road, 75 and 85 are preferred). 18" wheels become too large an upgrade from 16" and you would need a 65 profile or they will be taller, causing drive-train stress and difficulty climbing mountains. Newer trucks with 65 profile or less will handle firm and drive rough, and the OEM 75 profile is softer, a little bouncier. "Tire guys" that say 18s or larger, do it from muscle memory, since "everybody" wants BIG 35-37" tires that stick out beyond the fenders, right?

For sure their logo is unique. If you want the covers, some are against them, and do not care re the logo, you can go with any number of caps. The domes are standard, and the cap size standard, with so many choices of logos or art patterns. These solve the issue at $15 for set of 4. Hundreds of other choices too. The size (47mm OD of inner stays) listed in this ad is what you need: Amazon.com: Modengzhe 4 Pcs Plastic Snap-in Type Wheel Center Hub Cap 54mm Outer Diameter and 47mm Inner Diameter for Cars, Chrome ABS Base Lattice Top : Automotive

For future reference, when you have 12VDC+ (nominal 12V, not 3-4V) at the pump (red wire) and ground (black), two things are true: 1) Any and all relevant fuses must be good, and 2) therefore the pump must be bad. RV pumps and most any electric pump do not need water to start! Just power. I'm installing an upgraded water pump in ours. It's on my workbench not connected to plumbing at all. I connect it to my shop marine 12V battery and it runs immediately. It's loud to start-off without water. Put my thumb over the inlet with a little pressure and now new pump runs quietly. Push hard with my thumb to shut off the air and the pump stops as it achieves cut-off pressure. You can always bench test 12V appliances. I do it upon receipt, so I do not go beyond the Amazon 30-day return window. It might be too late for you, though Amazon is great on returns! Now is a good time to upgrade your water system. My OEM pump was 3 GPM at 55 PSI and my upgraded Seaflo pump will produce 5 GPM at 60 PSI. I am also adding two .75L accumulators in series on the output side of the pump to reduce water pump cycling (can flush the toilet at night, and the pump under wife's bed doesn't run). I can't stand a weak shower and we carry 35-gal extra water tank in the TV! Amazon.com: SEAFLO 55-Series Diaphragm Pump - 12V DC, 5.5 GPM, 60 PSI : Industrial & Scientific

Received our Maxx Air Fan 6" Dome w LED from Amazon today. Got lucky again with Amazon used. Fan for $69 plus tax, yes packaging well damaged, but all parts included and cosmetically new. Tested the fan and LED light with my shop 12V marine battery and again all good. The product included all parts, rain guard, 6" ceiling extension, and everything you need. Earlier I suggested using 3M VHB tape and this will work on the exterior portion for sure. However, there is such a perfect flat surface, round around the external perimeter, OMG TG they do not have holes predrilled here! I'm thinking, if I can source a quality waterproof exterior glue/sealer instead of tape, I would apply a full-circle bead of glue to set this piece. If this was done, you would not have to caulk. Just apply and position in place and you're done! (again, no screws). The rain guard was included but will not be used. This is unnecessary, given the fan is installed and sealed correctly. This is designed for a wall-mounted installation. On an RV/TT you would need one with no vents to help somewhat. Put the solid portion up top and it may help when parked. Put it up front, and it my help when driving at highway speed, either way unnecessary. The interior portion is a bit trickier! there is not a full circle flat surface. There is an inner flat portion that goes 90% around the circle, and if that will contact the ceiling surface, you're good with VHB tape. You would have open screw openings on the fan surround on your wet bath ceiling. You could find 4 white plugs. Or if needed mount the 4 screws interior, which cannot cause a leaking situation, as the interior is merely cosmetic, holding the trim ring and LED light. Hope this helps!

@John E Davies made a good point. A quality rubberized plastic casing would be preferable, as long as the copper blades remain in good condition. Mine were toast! Hoping my new metal-cased plug lasts as long as the internals. I’ll apply dielectric grease around the plug so that dust and water will not affect the terminals. Take a look at my pic. This Mopar hitch has a housing for the trailer plug receptacle welded to the hitch in the 90-degree direction. It would be difficult to change this. There is 4 ½ inches clearance to the eyelet for the safety chains and 7” total to the 2” receiver. The standard plastic trailer is so long, I struggled every time, connecting and disconnecting. Now I have 2” extra room with this metal shorty! Tested all circuits today and all is good. Thanks

John, thanks for the link and yeah, I get it and thought some about that. I really thought the metal would be better in the SW and worse anywhere north where they salt the roads! I purchased this because it is 2" shorter than all the plastic ones. My receptacle runs in parallel to the bumper and the end of the plug goes over the hole where you mount the chains. Bad design, but it's there unless I change everything. I did run electrical tape around everything inside, about 3 layers of tape between wiring and the metal housing. I will buy a backup plastic one. Anybody know of a short plastic bodied plug? Or a 90-degree trailer plug?

Thanks @Frank C this makes sense and yes, the front jack has the same yellow fused link (I have pulled off that jack head for servicing). And thank you @MobileJoy the solar cutoff makes sense right there. I'll test mine to make sure at some point. Turn it off and the display should show 0 amps incoming. Why isn't there a battery cutoff on these OTTs? (or is there)

Thanks @Steph and Dud B that's a good idea for safety needs. Maybe I can run a switch for this purpose. Mine will stay disconnected, since I do not want charge going to or from the TV at all. I'm realizing that most of you have past experiences with travel trailers. We do not. Owned a Class A and a Class C RV, but not travel trailers. The 6 trailers I've owned never had batteries (except the small one for the brakes safety disconnect switch). When there are no house batteries, the 12V+ is used to tap the TV batteries to power for example cargo trailer interior lights. Then when the trailer plug is disconnected, there is no power at the plug.

Yes, it's now taped up and pushed below. That is the 12V+ to the front trailer connection that I just disconnected on purpose.

The setup under the streetside bed on our 2016 Hull #113 is quite a bit different from @Frank C's. Perhaps Frank, with hull 461 does not have solar? My pics attached below. I do not have the 20A breaker described before. I have a similar 12V+ bus connected on the ground side to a 40A breaker. The red cable far lefty appears to be the battery hot lead, the one far right connects to the breaker and to ground further to the right. Look close at the bus pic and you will see a smaller gauge black wire disconnected. Thanks Frank, I got lucky, disconnected this wire and it is the 12V+ going to the trailer plug. Anybody know what the other wires are? Mainly interested in the 3 black wires that have built-in disconnects. Also like to know what the red and green wires are. The large red marine switch does what? I turn it and nothing apparent! I would think it opens (disconnects) connection to the battery bank but switch it off and not much happens! There should be a main battery cutoff switch! 🙃

Thank you @ScubaRx!!! I opened this new discussion and asked the moderators to move a half dozen posts here, vs a Mechanical & Technical Tips thread I started on Suspension and Brakes Maintenance. Hopefully, @mossemi, @Frank C and @topgun2 who helped me immensely will find the new location.

Thanks for article @John E Davies. I'm pretty sure my wheel brush is stainless steel, certainly not low carbon, since I've had it for 30 years and it's likely well over 40 years old (bought many of my tools at estate sales). Never any rust on it! Found something similar, there is a 6" Osborn Knot Wire Cup Brush on Zoro: Osborn Knot Wire Cup Brush, 6", 0003303000 0003303000 | Zoro This item is still made in USA, many others here Mexico. These ads do not spec type of steel. There is the compression disc on the underside, bolt welded to it, with rust on that part only. Glad to read that I didn't mess them up. The first wheel I cleaned 10 days ago still looks great! No, not painting, not refinishing the fronts at all! Just cleaning the backsides (rust/dust from brake pads) and wet-sanded by hand where the tire beads contact for a good seal. Also, cleaning the bolt holes and gently the valve stem recesses. They are not perfect, but you can see from the pics on page one, they're really nice as is. Not building a show car, but a truck that will see a lot of dirt/gravel roads - they will look great! What a beast of an old tool, mounted to an old Milwaukee 7" hand grinder that weighs a over 10 lbs. mounted!

Since last week, I now have two wheels clean! It's a lot of heavy work with the heavy grinder and I like to space out the really physical jobs to only a few hours a day. There are other chores. Just received my brake upgrade! Going to 17" wheels allows me to upgrade brakes, from Dodge 2nd Gen to 3rd Gen brakes. The rotors are 1" larger diameter and thicker material. Parts include a pair of wider caliper brackets and upgraded EBC rotors and pads. It's amazing, but the calipers are the same, as they are HD already. Purchased all parts at Summit: EBC Brakes S1KF1502 EBC Stage 1 Premium Street Disc Brake Kits | Summit Racing Check the pic below! This must be a 60% increase in brake contact area for my truck. What an amazing product! You guys with newer trucks, install EBC pads and rotors on your next brake job. Didn't want drilled or slotted rotors or anything. These look great, just dark and huge!

Bravo @NandNPNW for installing this without drilling mounting holes! This is great. The Ace Hardware product is likely good, I loved Ace in the day, back in Chicagoland, where Ace started! Next time, or if your install loosens up, go with 3M 4950 VHB tape. Instead of 12 LB you get 80 LB / SQ IN, so you could lean on the counter fully extended to get off the floor, been there Ha-Ha. This product is amazing! I'm an engineer and over-engineer about everything! I used to bolt down everything, but not anymore. I used this product to mount 2 large heavy solar panels on a fiberglass roof with only 20 SQ IN of tape each. This is an amazing product! Amazon.com: 3M Double Sided Mounting Tape 1” x 120” 4950 Foam Tape Heavy Duty Adhesive Waterproof for Car Home Office Deco Color White : Office Products

Likely in recent years, the OTT lithium upgrade means solar upgrade too. Back in the day when many TTs and RVs had only 1 or 2 "marine" style batteries, and no solar, charging from the truck while driving made sense. You could drive to your next destination and have recharged house batteries. Lithium or not, I would not want to have 4 large AH under charged lead acid batteries, powering an inverter when boondocking overnight, and then leaving early in the morning, solar not having enough time to recharge. This would put an enormous current draw on the truck charging system which could cause ignition or computer sensor failures. BTW, this 12GA wire is not rated to charge a half-charged 300+ AH battery bank and could overheat and cause fire. This 12V+ Black lead must be disconnected on any trailer that has an inverter with a large capacity battery bank. With all your help, mine should be disconnected asap, thank you. I'm certainly glad my trailer plug needed replacing, which allowed me to learn this today.

Thank you very much, Frank! I'll look for this today, disconnect the black wire, and then test at the trailer plug. If I do it right, the black at the trailer end should show an open circuit and no more 12V+. Being only 3-4 months into OTT ownership, we're learning every day! I will look for these online and it would be much better to have electronic PDF searchable manuals than a folder full of paper.

Thanks @John Welte, @Mike and Carol and @topgun2. There are several reasons why I'm interested in the new Dill product, vs. TST and other like products. The Dill sensor is installed in the tire on an integrated valve stem vs. small plastic valve-stem-cap devices mounted outside in the elements. Dill sensors, like OEM automotive sensors, advertise a 5 to 7-year battery life. So, you replace the batteries when you replace tires every 5-7 years. Another feature is not having to mount and wire a proprietary screen! Just read the tire data from your cell phone. Soon I will be mounting a small screen for gauges integrated to the truck computer (OBD II port), to read EGT on the diesel, trans temp, and much more! I have a good place to mount that, down behind the cup holder and really do not want anything on the dashboard. Full specs are not yet out on this new product, to be released by October end, but you must be setup a cell phone alert when tire pressure or temp is outside of control limits. Having the data view portable will also be handy when filling tires. I'm holding off on my new tire purchase until these are released, price and full specs advertised.