jd1923

I'm not @SeaDawg of course, but I can chime in @dewdev since my name was used. You just start typing the @ symbol followed by the name you want, and it will show up in a drop-down menu to select. The name is then tagged when used and the forum member will be notified which is a great feature.

We are closer to weekenders than full-timers for sure. Many here have travel-trailered more in the last 1-2 years than we have in our lifetimes. We go for at most 4 weeks annually and 4-5 shorter trips, hopefully more when fully retired. We just spent a week in cloudy/rainy days in Yuma, the Q and West Valley. We used the Xantrex 6-8 hours a day for kitchen appliances and TV at night and occasional quick microwave. We got down to 64% after 5 days out (the last 3 nights we had hookups). I calculate that if we instead had 600AH LI batteries, the monitor should read 78%, all things being equal. The usage is in the storage, the recharge is in the solar, generator or shore power. If I can get 80% of 600AH LIs, vs. 50% 450AH of LAs, we can camp at the same use rate 2.13 times longer! Good sun, chargers or connections will of course extend what's onboard. It does take patience to watch the monitor read 64%, thinking it could quickly go lower. Would be nice to experience LiFePO4 batteries! 🤣 Are you with LI worried when it reads under 50%? You shouldn't be.

Wow, so why do you need an Oliver! I imagine in your most wonderful part of the country, that at times you 'overland' and for longer travels you pull the Oliver!

Thank you, Bill. This makes so much sense! When I upgrade to LI, I really only need to change the configuration on the Blue Sky solar charger set for LI batteries. Given 90% of the time we are not plugged in, and live in sunny Arizona, any LI upgrade will get to 100% by solar on most days. Yes! 😊 The LI upgrade at $2K will be enough and I can wait on other related upgrades, e.g. the PD charger and the 2KW Xantrex inverter, until one fails. Thanks again.

Like having an older home where the only GFCI outlets we have are in the bathrooms. I ran 125' of 8 AWG burial cable, installed a 60A service panel in our shed, and a 10 AWG feed to a 30A outlet for our RV pad. Y'all should think about doing the same, being able to run A/C during summers, no cable overheating issues, etc. Often multiple GFCI outlets are run on the same household circuit which could be the cause. But basically, a GFCI outlet is not designed to feed a RV 30A power panel!

Agreed, keep the profile low and make it a permanent installation. ethernet cable run and 12VDC as @MAX Burner suggested.

Wish you had the Elite II like most of us! And your older hull seems to have a different layout than the late models EIs. I wonder the same, why our return and main ducts are within a few feet of each other (all rear curbside on the EII), not much heat getting to the bathroom. I have seen several other mods regarding this question. Changing the return location is something new here! Does it make sense to heat between the hulls so much? Isn't the reason for the dual hull construction to be an insulation layer? Otherwise, you'd be blowing a lot of heat to the outer hull, dissipating to the exterior. We will likely never do serious winter camping but would enjoy better heat/airflow in the interior. Thanks

Our even older hull likely does not have the LI/LA switch either, though I have not yet looked to verify. Given this and looking towards 600 AH Epoch batteries for 2025, it may be time for us to upgrade the Xantrex 2KW Inverter to 3KW! You could spend $400 +/- with tax for the charger alone: Amazon.com : Victron Energy Phoenix Smart IP43 12-Volt 30 AMP 120-240VAC, (1+1) Output Battery Charger with Bluetooth : Sports & Outdoors Or you could also trade-up to a 3KW inverter/charger for $1,100. Amazon.com: Victron Energy MultiPlus-II 120V, 3000VA 12-Volt Pure Sine Wave Inverter and 120 amp Battery Charger : Automotive Hmmm, so many choices today!

I was going to run mine from the battery bay up to the pantry or somewhere, but then the Dongle worked fine just tied to the rear battery ground cable. I did not have to run it higher to receive from the TV and farther. If you need to run much farther, this kit allows you to make your own cables, any length for $8 plus the costs of wire: Amazon.com: 20 Sets Mini Micro Jst 2.0 Ph 4 Pin Connector Plug Male With 150mm Cable & Female : Electronics

Mine had the rubber insert, edges a little chewed by pack rats. Like @MAX Burner wrote, it should not leak without the male connector inserted. Looked at mine again yesterday and the valve was at 45 degrees again, partially opened by our sewer hose, the end of the hose being right there. If I do not remove mine, I will use a zip tie to keep the shut-off valve at 90 degrees (closed).

I'm thinking two of the smaller 300s when they run another Black Friday sale. Two sitting sideways will fit nicely with enough room left over to mount a DC-to-DC charger on the wall behind them, huh. It will be a great Christmas gift for us and the Oliver!

We always carried the extra 20 lb. tank in past RVs. I really like being able to plug into the two 30's we have onboard. It was some work to remove the regulators in our grill and fire ring, but glad to have done so. I would prefer if OTT got rid of the rear one forever! What a dumb design! The front one should be built-in to the propane housing, 12" above where the current one is located, vs. just bolted under the frame. It would be safer and more usable. I do agree with you @Rivernerd. If I was to buy new, I would opt out of these connections and build one myself, since it is convenient. I was under the Oliver today and these LP fittings are on with more than Super-Glue. Tomorrow, I will spray some penetrant on the LP fittings... I have 2 weeks of other projects, before I can get back to this one!

We had a propane (LP) issue on our last trip. We arrived at our third stop and I setup the outside camp, the blanket, chairs, grill and fire ring, etc. Then I decided to start the fire ring, since it was getting late, and it gets warmer after the stones heat up. The fire ring flame was half of its usual force. I hollered at Chris, who was inside getting things ready for dinner, to start a kitchen burner. This is something we do each time we open the LP tank valve, so that we know there will be gas to the furnace later. The kitchen burner was also at half strength. I was puzzled for a while, and eventually checked the rear LP connection. You know that idiotic design where you have to release to bumper, revealing the sewer hoses, to hook up (why not mounted like the front one, aimed curbside)? Turns out the rear shut-off on that port was half open and it was leaking out of the cable connection without a fitting in place. It's not supposed to do that! I moved the shutoff to 90 degrees, and it stopped leaking. It had moved likely from the sewer hose hitting it over bumpy roads. The fire ring and kitchen burner were now again at full pressure. This useless rear connection is also dangerous in another way. They run a copper/brass line without protection directly under the frame. This is somewhat OK in front of the trailer wheels, but not a good idea near and behind them. One of several reasons to have the LP off when towing. I will be removing this line soon, certainly before our next outing. We never have a need to connect at the rear and never pulling the bumper to do so! I have a 12 ft line to a T-connection for grill and fire ring and they each have lengthy lines. We can connect at front and position the grill as far as the rear bumper if we need to. I will post info and pics on removing the rear LP line, just past the furnace T, which btw is also behind the trailer wheels. I will cap the rear line and likely add some form of stone-guard or protection. More on this coming soon!

I think it's just you Art! (Given "the two knuckleheads" stayed outside.) I sometimes call ours "butthead" and Chris says, "That's not nice." I've driven by that stretch of I-10 some twenty times...

These Air Tags are really cool, though I hope to never have to track down stolen property! I drove yesterday to fill the Oliver LP tanks plus two tanks we have on our deck for the grill and fire ring. So, I was at the Ford dealer on Sandretto Drive, waiting on the tanks being filled (see pic). Two tags for my keys and truck were at this address. The Oliver is shown parked at home and our GX was at an address on Lee Blvd. When I got home, Chris was already home and I mentioned, "So, you went to Trader Joe's?" She asked, "How did you know?" I replied, I tracked you!" Chris has a Samsung phone, so she did not get a tracking notification.

You purchased the model with the Victron comms: 12V 300Ah V2 Heated Bluetooth LiFePO4 Battery - Epoch Essentials (epochbatteries.com) Wondering what that does for you, that adding the Victron SmartShunt would not do? I already have this shunt and their smart Bluetooth dongle for communication purposes. This Epoch model is also 300AH without the Victron comms but slightly smaller, so thinking it would fit in the OTT OEM battery tray as-is. Are there other features that made you decide on the higher-end and slightly larger model vs. this one? 12V 300Ah Heated & Bluetooth LiFePO4 Battery - Epoch Essentials (epochbatteries.com) I just read your comment above again. It appears you ordered the smaller model but was supplied the V2 model instead since it was in stock, in time for your trip. Still wondering if the V2 model is worth it considering fit. Other V2 benefits?

We have used Campendium for years at no cost. Recently, Chris paid for an account for additional benefits. Last thing you need is a pass from some app/website to get into another! Looks like the common scheme to get new accounts by linking prospects to some other service. Like the 100s of reseller websites that sell your going through them to buy insurance!!! Buyer beware and stay away! OMG, this world could do without prostitutes and the marketing profession which is far WORSE! At least with the prostitute, you know what you are buying!

I'm reading other posts since this one 3 days ago... Do the two (2) 12V 300AH -V2 Epoch batteries fit in the OEM OTT battery tray as-is standing right side up fit?!?!?

Longer bunk, YES!!! Not concerned with a wider aisle, but thanks for asking!

Thank goodness my bank account did not see our Oliver! However, it has seen about $15K in upgrades to truck and trailer ever since (June 2023). Our Oliver came to being by selling a Bigfoot class C and a clean 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder with only 12K miles! These sales netted our Oliver and another $5K net for upgrades! Our TV was purchased with proceeds from another old Ram we had for 18 years and sold the year before. I would do anything to have an Oliver only a little wider and longer to have a true twin bed 39" wide and the length of a Queen 80" with SQUARE back corners! Why did they have to round the mold at the foot/rear of the bed? This area could bulge out a little, for those of us lengthy and well north of 200 LBS. Nice idea, but you won't find us spending $$$$$$ (six figures+) on a new one. They would have to produce a larger Oliver for a few years, so we could get a deal used! Nice dream, but likely not going to see that day. WTF 🙃

We're not naming ours, so the name is yours if you want it! Yes, you certainly have a very special "One-Off" Oliver and the door on hull 113 six years later is quite different, I guess a Lippert door. The hinge top of pic is the friction hinge. The riveted one below it the original door hinge. Three original, 2 friction and the whole length is now hinged for a very strong installation.

What a big difference! Sorry to hear they did not help you, when the CSR I got called the manufacturer for me and got replacement parts for me after I reported I had broken the u-bolt platform. I buy from Amazon when I'm thinking I might have to return the item. Returns elsewhere are more difficult. eTrailer you know the parts are legit, and they have videos and PDF manuals. Amazon not always legit parts and the worse search engine. Why can't they just return the search you entered?

Sorry @Geronimo John as this would not work. The female receptacle, screwed into the fiberglass side of the OTT has cracked/failed, threaded plastic fallen on the street! This item would only provide another male end like on our charge cords which are in decent shape. I need this OEM receptacle or an upgraded SmartPlug version. Then realized more issues on the upgrade cost. We have another shore power receptacle at the front for a possible generator, so this would also have to be upgraded or rendered useless! Thank you though for getting me to think about this again. I just went on eTrailer and spent $159 for the original stainless twist-lock receptacle. I would need 400 to upgrade to SmartPlug and another $200 or so to upgrade the front shore power connection. I should have this fixed next week, sorry no upgrade. Love eTrailer! I recently bought a Timbren suspension upgrade for your TV. Over torqued the supplied U-bolt (bad design btw on this part). The eTrailer CSR called the manufacturer first thing Monday and the company sent me TWO parts received by Wednesday, installed before the weekend!

Maybe this latest post should be in another link, vs. Smart Plug Conversion... Wow 40 LBS really! You got me wanting to go out and measure my Xantrax 2000. I would want it in the same place. There certainly is depth there (ours is under the rear dinette seat, mounted against the wall towards the interior). Can the VM3000 be mounted sideways? Personally, I'm not mounting an upgraded Inverter/Charger anywhere else!

Buy Amazon used when you can! The "Like New" ones are now under $15! I bought this used set, and the parts had not been touched. The tape on the box was cut to open, re-taped, but nothing else. I have saved well over $1000 on 30+ Amazon used items in the last few years! If too used, just return it. This has only happened to me twice in 30+ items. Yours is an older hull, and our hull 113 is 6 years newer. Maybe you have a different make door. I have heard the older Olivers were built one-off. Just to be sure, have the friction hinge spread to the 90 degree position and hold the door frame all the way open. This way mine snapped into place. I can show you a picture of mine tomorrow, if you like, and post a picture of your door hinges for comparison so we can see if the brand/model is truly different.