jd1923

Full time might even be more a reason to have it in the tow vehicle, unless you plan to trade the TV in often (but who would with your TV). You are always near your TV and not always near your TT.

@rich.dev so where will you install the router? (kitchen cabinet?) Unless you can disconnect the awning wires, it may be difficult to drill that opening wider. Those 7 antenna wires are close to an inch diameter. You want the router the right distance from the antenna. The cables on my Parsec were 7 FT long and you don't have room to coil them up anywhere. If I was mounting to the front awning, I would drill straight down into the closet, and yes use an Icotech cable system. There is room for extra antenna length along the ceiling and walls. Then you would need 12VDC and add a closet vent too. Still think my idea was better. Great reception while driving or streaming back to the television (in fact over 100 FT around the campsite or at home). And when we travel during the day, we have our Internet with us, not back at the campsite.

And yes, our hull has check valves and restrictors on the Fresh Tank and City Water lines (see pic). You may not need the following detail for a summer plumbing project, but when I am winterizing, I run air into all four (4) water inlets. First air into the City Water to drain both sinks, the toilet and outdoor shower. Then the Fresh Tank inlet for a few seconds. Then I connect to the rear port, after turning water valves to boondocking position and run air in for a few seconds. Lastly the toilet rinse inlet. Except for the first step that drains all the internal plumbing via the City Water connection, the other 3 just take a few seconds of air to clear those short inlet lines. You can bypass the HWH for a plumbing repair, but when winterizing, I bypass it to clear the hot water plumbing with the air and at the same time I pull the anode plug to drain the 6-gal HWH tank as well.

The check valves do not allow reverse flow out the hose which would lose pressure in the plumbing. So you would be blowing air in the allowed direction, into the hose inlets. I do it all the time since we travel on and off all winter and when home on the mountain it often gets in the low 20s overnight. It’s part of my winter return trip process to blow the plumbing dry while we’re still in the driveway!

We have 3 removeable, all Velcro attached tops; the nightstand top, below the pantry and the counter above the fridge/below the microwave.

@rich.dev No low points here and don't forget hot & cold plumbing to the outdoor shower. The only way to drain all lines is to blow air through the hose inlets. Set your compressor down to about 40 PSI and make yourself this kind of tool (bottom-right in picture). I use it for winterizing too instead of the pink stuff.

My Victron SmartShunt install is simply sitting at the negative battery terminal. Nothing gets -12V ground unless it goes through the shunt.

Have you seen the dude? Personally, Chris and I are not beard people, don't get the big beard thing, let alone a naming your battery company as such. Beards, tattoos, piercings, young people needing a good bath and shampoo... I'll stop there. I would say that if there is a new viable battery company, producing great product in Athens TX (not just a website, would want to know of the manufacturing facility), I would support them. I prefer the small co vs online reputation. We have driven through Athens TX, a cute East Texas town like many others, a good half dozen times traveling from Georgetown TX to UT Tyler TX for Adam's tennis tournaments during high school and college. Love all the great small towns of Texas! In East Texas they have a local burger chain named "Jucys." Hey @Jason Foster what do ya know about Jucys? Can you FedEx overnight me a 3/4 LB butter burger with fries? (make that 4 orders!) Jucys Hamburgers | Best Burger in East Texas

It appears today most models are inverter/charger. Please allow us to understand your reasoning. I can see an inverter failure in an inverter/charger combo unit could keep the charger from working as well. But they should be designed to run and fail independently. Do you have other reasons. This is a good thought to consider and we're all here to learn. Also, it appears given your older hull number that your Dometic is the 13.5K unit? Good to hear it runs OK, so my limiting factor is the LA batteries that almost immediately go down to near 12V with the 1800W demand. Thanks

The picture on this page, showing the Big Beard battery standing up got me thinking... You can fit four (4) of these bad boys standing up in the Oliver battery bay! (no tray of course, for the off-grid crazies out there) Big Beard Battery 12-Volt 300AH 3600 Watt Lithium Battery | Big Beard Batteries

Chris, the measurements shown here are for the Dakota 280AH battery. The 320AH battery is 15.06" long. Two times 280 = 560AH is not a bad number either, if the sliding tray is important to you. Given the battery comparison doc @topgun2 shared yesterday in another thread, there are other good options. The best value is Epoch, two 300AH batteries at $1,099 each, will fit in the OEM battery tray. The downside is they are likely manufactured in China, though deemed dependable. It appears Dakota and Battleborn are Made in USA. However, a 100AH BB makes no sense today, as it might have just a couple years ago. Not when you can get 300AH in one battery at a slightly larger footprint. When I upgrade to LiFePO4, I'm removing the OEM tray for sure! I want more AH to fit the 24x18" size vs. the 21x14" tray size. It also gives 3" more in height w/o the tray, so you can physically get your arms in above the batteries. The true purpose of the tray is for watering LA batteries and after a LI install you can just forget about them for years and you're not going to use the sliding tray. I'm going for ~900AH when we upgrade. Without the battery tray you can fit 3 of the Dakota 320s, three of the Epoch 300s (for way less $$$), or you can three of these. Love this new Texas company that I just learned of yesterday, at $2K per 300AH (vs. $2400 for the Dakota 320AH). Two will not fit in the tray, but 3 will fit w/o the tray! Big Beard Battery 12-Volt 300AH 3600 Watt Lithium Battery | Big Beard Batteries

I rotated mine last year, only because I had the wheels off to do bearings. No other reason, except for why not, but yes otherwise it's just a waste of time. Keep this a secret though! You would not want to start an argument with a trained sales associate at Discount Tires. 🤣 They might want to invalidate your warranty.

Ours too and it will sit back there, hopefully never needed.

If you want to run it via inverter, say for testing purposes, you merely have to trip the 20A breaker for the air conditioner. The KISEA will sense no shore power voltage and connect the inverter to the A/C load wiring.

Agreed, the way the KISEA ATS works is when shore power voltage is sensed it will use that source regardless of whether your inverter is on or not. In the past, I had often kept the inverter on. Let's say you want to keep 120V circuits on when breaking camp or changing location (keep the TV on, run the microwave, etc.). Another reason is for power backup. If you lose shore power (a black or brown-out) the inverter will seamlessly kick in and keep all your 120V appliances running! We've often parked at campsites without connecting to shore power. When A/C is not required and you have ample solar/batteries/inverter, why bother? Now that this ATS is wired, you must realize the A/C can also come on which is a very different consideration. The penguin is too much pull on a 2KW inverter. Given good AH capacity in LiFePO4 batteries and a more efficient A/C system, all should be good. If you do not want the A/C to run while on inverter, you must turn off the A/C via the thermostat or trip the breaker. I did this installation in advance, for when I upgrade batteries and A/C. Until these upgrades are implemented in our Oliver, this ATS has no true purpose. Now that I have this experience, I believe I should have waited. What if the Xantrex fails, or I decide to upgrade the inverter? If so, this was a waste of time and $84 (but a good learning experience). A modern 3KW inverter/charger would of course replace the Xantrex 2KW inverter, and the PD charger (built into the power panel, and ours is the old version, not LI capable). It would also replace the KISAE ATS. For example, the Victron 3KW inverter/charger (given a viable location can be found, since it's much larger) has a built in 50A Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) which can easily power the 30A 120V AC panel in the Oliver. I did not realize all this just a few days ago.

That's the main reason to delete the bedroom duct, given yours has the similar 3 duct arrangement. Now the main airflow comes out through the kitchen duct, aimed at the floor away from the beds, and much greater airflow into the bathroom. We had that duct "where the dog lays down" closed as much as possible, but the other ducts truly get 2x airflow when the first duct is bypassed. We've been hot too. Not East Texas hot & humid of course, but my A/C has been running afternoons so I can get this work done while I have time off work. I stay plugged into shore power during summers since our Oliver is parked outside in the Arizona sun. Set at 84 so it does not get up to high 90s inside. At elevation, we cool off at night, so it generally runs on-n-off about 6 hours a day.

Yes, mine too. When the spare is of smaller size, you cannot work the 5-tire rotation that @MAX Burner has described. I got to tell you that tire rotation on a trailer is not all that important. Trailer tires merely follow the TV .They do not steer and have much in lateral forces. PLEASE do NOT allow the Maintenance Gods of the OTT forum strike me down in blasphemy! 🤣 I'll just run mine until they need replacing, and life is good. All y'all with strong adherence to dedicated tire rotation will get more miles on the lot. And if you tow >15.000 miles per year, it can make a small difference. My tires will wear out more quickly due to climate, vs. miles. I did rotate mine when I serviced the trailer bearings/brakes but will likely not worry again. "What me worry?" (Alfred E. Neuman)

Been puttin' of LiFePO4 for years in past RVs, mostly due to cost and China-only products being reasonable. But given I can install 900+ AH for say $3,500 OTD with Epoch, we're in this very soon. Love to afford the Made-in-USA Big Beard batteries, that you brought to our attention. Would love to scrape together $6K plus tax for these awesome batteries: Big Beard Battery 12-Volt 300AH 3600 Watt Lithium Battery | Big Beard Batteries Maybe they go on sale sooooon!

This is the most straightforward, simple mod you can do to improve the operation of the Oliver (Suburban or Atwood) furnace system. Please let me know if you have any questions. After 20+ nights camping in the SW winter, we had no idea the wet bath was heated, until I read it here! Absolutely NO heated airflow into the bath until now, Thanks for reading! 😂

See this post for a complete installation, my simple mod: Furnace Duct Modification for Improved Air Flow and Circulation - Ollie Modifications - Oliver Owner Forums (olivertraveltrailers.com)

BTW, I added some white rubber tape, I had on hand, for a good seal on the return air duct, just to be anal (see first pic above). So, today I'm working @Rivernerd's suggestion next in adding vents in the closet and around the basement area. I'm NOT adding one that was suggested at the base of the dinette, since I believe that one would keep the basement return airflow from circling around and back to the furnace. I have not sealed the outlet covers yet. Wish I had circles of 3M tape but will likely go to da Depot for some kind of sealant in a tube, no hurry, suggestions? I had purchased one 4" vent suggested on another thread (installed above the closet), and then bought 3 of these, installed without the center black insert: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077HJC5T9?psc=1&ref=product_details I'm thinking I'm done, unless I install an inverter charger in the streetside basement which may require more airflow! Almost done here, wadda ya think?

Would a household system have return air duct(s) without a filter? My next thought was to add one, to keep the camp/road dust and dog hair out of the basement furnace area. I purchased this part: 10" X 6 Steel Return Air Filter Grille for 1" Filter - Removable Face/Door - HVAC Duct Cover - Flat Stamped Face - White [Outer Dimensions: 12.5 X 7.75] - Amazon.com This is an amazing addition for just $30 plus annual filter replacement. And think about the fact that with a filter in this location is would first impede airflow here, pulling more air from the basement AND it would result in less noise (dB) when sleeping! I was hoping, yes hoping, the idealist I am 🤣, for it to be a plug-n-play install! The OEM cover has a 10x6" opening, but not exactly go figure. OTT Service, if you are reading this, do your future owners a solid by either installing such filter as standard equipment, or at least cut a true 10x6" hole (measure twice, cut once). Turns out it was actually 10" wide, but closer to 5 3/4" tall. Thank goodness for a high-end Dewalt cordless jigsaw, so smooth. Cut the opening to the proper size and cut the other imperfections. Measuring, taping and cutting was just another 20 minutes labor, NP!

Finished up the bathroom vanity. I had a supply of 1/4" u-clips but the fiberglass is quite thick at the opening and decided that would be too much work, the placement must be extremely accurate. I merely used thin panhead wood screws with no taper. Measured with a digital caliper to drill just the right size holes. Added a SS washer so the screw head would not drag on the plastic. Thoroughly cleaned off all the old caulk and sealant. This product has just the right size opening and adequate length: uxcell U Channel Edge Trim, 6.5ft Length Rubber Guard Seal Strip Edge Protector Fit for 1.5-2.5mm Edge, (13/64" W x 5/16" H) White - Amazon.com To-dos left are the bathroom to under dinette vent and the return air filter housing. Waiting for parts...

There must be a half dozen mods in this category, and I studied all I found in searching this forum. It's a shame the flexible ducting OTT uses, when upon original installation it would be so easy to plumb rigid ducting. Mine was torn everywhere in the area where you need to reach in and change the water valves. I closed the rear duct at the furnace, using 5x6" sheet metal that I got inside of the furnace housing and used 3M 3350 tape to hold it airtight inside and out. I figured why not blow air at twice the CFM in the forward direction? I replaced the first 6 ft of ducting with semi-rigid dryer vent ducting and added a 4" steel junction to connect it. Placed foil insulation above it since it is now very close to the fiberglass under the bed. I kept it straight and tall as possible for better airflow vs. the downhill and tangled mess of the original installation. Wrapped the furnace hold-down with some old automotive heater hose to keep it cushioned and quiet. I wish I could have reached all the way to the junction but would have to cut the floor of our kitchen cabinets to do so (if I ever have to replace the fridge, I will cut below and replace everything past the junction). I removed the underbed airduct completely, which is now a dummy vent, a return vent that I will place an air filter behind. The airflow at the kitchen duct is now 2-3 times the old and at the bath it has certainly doubled. I also strung up the bath vanity ducting, so it has better straight airflow, not cramped by laying down at the bottom. While in there, I foam-wrapped the PEX which had been banging on the drainpipe very loudly when in use. I will add an air filter to the return duct next (to catch dust and dog hair) and my last task will be to add the bathroom vent that @Rivernerd showed in another post (thank you!) This should really help when the bathroom door is closed as well as to vent/circle air around the basement and keep the water pipes above freezing in the rear basement. And of course, thank you @Snackchaser for your "Bathroom Heat - a more direct approach!" post that got me started in the right direction!

Am counting right, only 400 AH? Come on, @rideadeuce teased us with 920! (Yes, we all still wanna read about it.)