jd1923

I installed the VE.bus (required addition to the Victron Multiplus providing Bluetooth when going without screen displays), connected by Ethernet cable, in the same basement area on top of the wheel well. I put it there since it measures temp and I wanted it near the top of the same area where our inverter/charger is installed. The picture shows the "Detailed" tab of the app. You can see that today mine reads 69F and my Ruuvi sensor in the back trunk area shows 60F, which is about our outside temp today. The screen states Battery Temp because they assume you install it in the battery bay. So, the Victron is adding up to +9F on a cool day (hardly inverting and not charging at all since shore power is disconnected). Also, the cooling fan is off. BTW, these Beech Lane fans need resetting whenever power is disconnected. Above I mentioned the VE.bus is required. This is only true if you are like me and do not want the other Victron toys and displays, just app connection. I also mentioned USB or USB-C which is wrong for this device. The VE.bus is connected by Ethernet only to provide Bluetooth access to the Multiplus. This VE.bus also allows you to turn the Multiplus ON/OFF, charger ON only, or inverter ON only. There is an accessory you truly need for configuring the Multiplus. It's connected to the Mulitplus also by Ethernet port and at the other end of the device there's a short USB or USB-C cable to connect to your laptop. I have this sitting under the rear dinette seat but have not needed it since the original install. Though I believe I will need it again soon to up my batteries charge rate from 50A to 100A. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BNBVKSTH/

I've been amplifying the hi-jack but I imagine @Teaney Hull 292 got what they needed in 2 pages and we're all here for more questions from any and all members! I would not worry about the 104F heat issue unless you plan to exterior mount your inverter in the sun! 🤣 Ours is under the streetside bed. It did get up to 104 during testing August afternoons where we get pretty hot, when sitting in the sun. I installed the dual Beech Lane fan, like the one I installed in the fridge cavity. It pulls air from the streetside basement, all the way from vents I added in the bath, closet, etc. With the fan on 104F drops to about 88F, with A/C on and the interior about 74F. Reason you want the Victron is you can run your A/C on generator with the Victron supplementing extra power from your batteries when the compressor is running and when the compressor shuts off your generator would be back to charging batteries. You likely know this already. Victron calls the feature Power-Assist. Re your other comments, she may learn to like boondocking. We love where we can go where there are paved roads and campgrounds. More opportunities west than east. Oct we plan to park the Oliver on the edge of the North Rim! If at a point where we truly want to run A/C on batteries, after we replace the Dometic with something efficient, a third 300AH could be in our future. Given you have the Honda, I do NOT suggest the suitcase addition. We rarely use ours and wish I had saved the $800+ for the suitcase, the Victron 30A MPPT, cabling, connectors, etc. I would certainly suggest adding 400W or as much as you can get on your rooftop. Our 2x 160W panels are now 10 years old. I wonder how efficient they could be. Given that and the flat mounting we usually only get +10 to 12A net charging rates (winter afternoon sun). The 400W Renogy suitcase will double those numbers, from a combination of newer panels and being angled towards the sun. I'm looking forward to reading about your upgrade when you get to it! 😂

I get it. With home base of Houston or Tampa you guys have different needs. We will never come to visit you during the summer months!

I'm an engineer, certainly a numbers geek, and OMG! I never added this up before. 🤣 Yes, you are absolutely correct. The Epoch app displays total amps +/- and amps to each battery. This was taken on a recent winter day, snow on the solar panels and I plugged in after several days of this weather. You can see +48.4A net charge to the batteries, with individual batteries receiving 22.8A and 25.6A (see pic). I should set our Victron to 100A charging and next time I'm down to 20% SOC we can recover in under 5 hours.

Didn't I read @Patriot write something like this? Also, @Ronbrink or @MAX Burner might have commented the same. Who else is still carrying RV technology of yesteryear and rarely to never using it? With 600AH LiFePO4 and 720W solar we're good for emergencies. I get it if you have no solar, but do get solar so you can loose the generator! We also carry 35 gal extra water in the TV for boondocking and emergencies. We can get stuck somewhere for days but TG this had not occurred! Chris loves boondocking, and we much prefer it to campgrounds and truly dislike RV parks (or worse "RV resorts" 🤣). More often than not, when we have hook-ups, we don't use them, and if we need to we charge up, fill water and dump tanks prior to leaving so we're good for another week or so. I preferred adding a 400W solar suitcase vs. a generator, since we live SW, have mostly sunny days and rarely ever need A/C. We have only used the suitcase twice, so it is near the category of the rarely used generator, but no need for fuel and takes less space standing up in the TV. I can have it position the night before so it starts charging before we get up in the morning and it's on all day without bothering neighbors. WE move it to face the sun occasionally but not anal about doing so. Just other ideas to consider...

Thank you for this, Robert. So, are you planning at trip to NM when 100 Oliver owners are heading to your home state for the rally? (just kidding) Long way from Alabama to the great SW! Come see us if you get a bit further west. I have mapped out dozens of amazing boondocking sites in the Prescott, Kaibab and Tonto NF and local BLM areas. Funny thing is... the week of the Rally, I'm working in Albuquerque. I really wanted to meet up with Art and D @MAX Burner on our next visit to ABQ but they will be with the 100 others down in Alabama! I can drive 6+ hours and stay at the event hotel where I teach my class. Or, we could take the Oliver to take our time to and from. I would need a campground/RV park in reasonable proximity to Marriott Courtyard Airport hotel, so all the suggestions in the old thread above would be too far. Thinking about staying at the Isleta resort and casino (with hotel and RV park) since it's just 10 minutes south of the airport, looks decent if you have to stay in a RV park! I need to decide soon whether and make either hotel or RV park reservations. I will call them next week. It doesn't look like anything else nearby. Except, for those who are Vets (not us), the Kirtland AFB FamCamp is in SE ABQ with good reviews.

@tallmandan thanks for posting this and you're certainly welcome for my help. It was only written advice, you did this! You asked for advice and put it quickly to use in your own way! 😂 There are two other threads going here, where others could copy what you did. As you now know, it's not that difficult once you dig in and just do it. There is no better upgrade on our Olivers than 600AH in LiFePO4 batteries!!! Your installation looks great! I would say better than the factory, as compared to the before picture. OTT has a way with plastic loom that is not needed in most cases and yours looks clean. We are all amateurs on our first mods and we get better over time. Good job and I know you'll be happy with it. It was a good idea of yours to add the cut-off switch and the shorty cable you had to add the required length to the battery ground. Otherwise, having all the terminals in the rear would be a pain over time. Your bolts should be fine as long as you have a 1/2" of thread connected. Yes, check them again but if they are still good with time on the road, they'll stay good, and you can forget about them soon. I'm jealous as I paid $100 more for our Epochs! Hope to meet you on the road one day. We'll be in parts of CO this June. Definitely come see us in Arizona when you're down our way!

We stopped using a generator after we sold our Class-C. As you know, we have the Victron Multiplus II 12/3000/120-50. The numbers translate to 12VDC output / 3000 KVA inverter capacity / 120A max charge output / 50A max AC input (shore power/generator). I've had our charge output on the MP2 set to 50A ever since we installed ours last summer, and in our case we do not have a reason for faster charging. Specs for the 300AH Epoch Essentials show "recommended charge current" at 50A. Max charge current is 200A, so they could certainly take every bit of the 120A, but why is 50A recommended? Perhaps the lower charge is better for the life of the batteries. With 600AH we can go for days, a week or more off grid, assuming no use of A/C. Given the SW skies cloud up for awhile (rarely except when caused by chem-trails🙁), we can eventually get low on SOC. Under 50% is rare, but I do remember one trip it got down to 20% and the red warning light was on the Victron Connect app! (I set this to 20%.) What we did that time, and would do again whenever needed, is merely to stay one night somewhere with electric hook-ups. Plug into shore power and the MP2 is giving a full 50A to the batteries. At 20% SOC, down 80% on 600AH is 480AH to charge. Let's round up to 500AH (worse-case scenario). To re-coop this would take 10 hours to charge at a 50AH rate. We are going to check-in late afternoon say about 4PM, and even if you're the type to leave before the sun rises (not us!), you're going to be connected for 12-14 hours minimum. SOC is back to 100% HOURS before we would leave and we're good for another week. I much prefer this to carrying a generator and extra fuel. You like to camp summers in the SE, God bless ya, get hook-ups because if you're running your generator all day you will get ugly looks from me and many others! Generators rules at campgrounds are generally no use after 10PM and boondocking in the SE is rare where you could be far enough away from neighbors to run a noisy generator and even worse, the awfully noisy Dometic Penguin II! 🤣

Thanks and can do! 😂 I have an older, longer detailed post... but the first post in this thread shows the highlights!

There is nothing wrong with keeping your Xantrex. In fact, I sold mine to another Oliver owner who is very happy with it since his hull had no inverter previously. You can run everything 120VAC with your setup as-is except for A/C on batteries. The other thing about a campsite installation is you need to have batteries disconnected, streetside bed and dinette seating out for many hours. I had batteries disconnected, beds and cushions moved into our house for 1-2 weeks!

First, I would say it would be easy to get help from friends at the rally for replacing batteries. A full inverter mod, the custom work of mounting the very LARGE Victron Multiplus II, stripping our all Xantrex parts (ATS and junction box) and related wiring changes may be a lot to accomplish at a campsite! I ran in and out of my garage/workshop 100 times while doing mine for tools and 4-5 trips to Depot or Lowes for hardware over a two-week period of time. If you study the mod threads, plan really well in purchasing parts, get very ready, have a lot of patience (new friends too), maybe, good luck! 🤣 You want the 12V inverter and do not need the UL-certified model (required by code for home installations only). I went with Inverter Supply for these parts for free shipping and no sales tax (see picture). You NEED the VE.bus to configure the Victron for charger/battery spec settings. There are two models (I purchased the USB-C model and there is also USB, depends on the laptop you would use to setup). You need an Ethernet cable also to connect the VE.bus to the Victron MP2. There are YouTube videos showing the configuration steps. You also posted pictures showing the Progressive Industries ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch) and the display which shows the readout of shore power stats. The ATS switches between the two shore power sources (side outlet and front outlet usually for generator in front basket). This will not change but the power coming out of the ATS, connecting to the 120VAC breaker panel has to be replaced with new 10-3 AWG cables to go to the inverter and back to the breaker panel (buy 15 ft to be safe, I used about 12 ft, it runs from streetside bed basement where our new inverter was installed up to the breaker panel under the rear dinette). The Victron MP2 has dual terminal bolts on both + and - sides. I ran the 4/0 battery cables, from batteries directly to the Victron MP2, removed from the 2KW Xantrex (I had the same older model) and all secondary 6 AWG cables that OTT had on the batteries, I also bolted to the Victron bus vs. out to the batteries. If you get this all done at the rally, that will be a great story! Take pictures and post...

No specific experience with the VIP3500 but both models should be standard for replacement on ANY trailer. The upgrade it likely a good idea. It would be great if the VIP 3500 was stronger and faster! I would check the manuals for both and compare measurements. It should be 3 bolts and one wire to replace! 😂

Love a front-end loader! Miss the Kubota tractor I had to sell when we left VA! I would not buy ANY brand on Amazon. Check out these: https://www.amazon.com/Litime-LiFePO4-Battery-Lithium-Phosphate/dp/B0BYH8J176/ Check out this post, same issue as you have. Check out @Ronbrink's post, 5th post on this thread. He and @topgun2 have had these batteries installed for some time without issues. This is the cheapest solution and the "Spring Deal" price today is AMAZING! Ron shows a picture of his clean installation in this link:

Option 3: I mentioned before re a local solar company that works with Xantrex or better would be Victron. I spent about $3400 (parts, no labor) for the Victron 3KVA Multiplus II and two 300AH Epoch Essentials with new wiring, buses, etc. I spent MANY HOURS getting this all installed (and so has craig on all of his mods). Batteries are easy, new larger inverter is a custom install building a shelf, an overhaul of battery and 120VAC wiring, and more. Gary @Teaney Hull 292 you live in Tampa. There must be 100 custom solar installers and marine shops that work with Victron. Any local option would be better than OTT and OTT is very likely already book before, during and after the national rally.

Oliver Travel Trailers (OTT) has installed a lot of odd designs in electrical, plumbing and other mechanical systems. For example, why should we remove the curbside bed to drain the Fresh Water Tank (FWT) or change the valves when adding fresh water while boondocking or winterizing with RV with antifreeze, if you must?! Blow a fuse on one of your stabilizer jacks, yep pull the streetside bed. My wife Chris spends time making nice beds with clean sheets and she's says - What?!!! Why are there 4/0 cables in the battery bay connected to the inverter and then they have to add separate 6 AWG wires for the interior 12VDC system and a similar set of wires for the solar charger. It's certainly unnecessary. Almost EVERY Oliver owner that replaces house batteries makes one simple fix, like what @Derek B has done, good work! We purchased comfortable yet heavy 10" mattresses and I'm not lifting one, if at all possible, while camping to add water to the Fresh Water Tank (we refill the FWT tank often when boondocking) and if we blow a fuse or have to reset the breaker for the solar charger, I'm NOT lifting the Streetside bed for these reasons either! It does take a lot of work to do all this for yourself. I enjoy the work!🤣

Is it a coincidence that @johnwen and I are the only two installations that grounded to frame vs. another 20 ft cable to reach the battery B- terminal? 🤣 I got 30A when set to 30 and 40A at idle when set to 50. We'll see later how much of 50A I get when we pull out again and get to highway speeds.

I believe I will purchase the $50 plan for local trips, a week or less. Understand we have an unlimited T-Mobile Business data plan 4-5G cell with Pepwave router and Parsec Husky antenna that works well by itself on most days, not at the bottom of a canyon! 🤣 We watch news channels and YouTube videos. We're not the download the 2-hr 4K high-rez movie types. Twice a year we go on trips 3-4 weeks. This May-June we're going for 5-6 weeks. Then the unlimited plan makes the best sense for sure. Ordered our Mini from The Depot yesterday and it will be here tomorrow. Ordered the cabling I need coming by Friday. I will go with the company @Patriot suggested - TYA, the Striker Mount with polycarbonate shield, magnet mounts, carry handle and the front rock/bug deflector, since mainly we will have our mounted top of tow vehicle. I have my shopping cart full. They sent me a reminder but I'm waiting a few days in hope they send me a promo code. This cart adds up to a bit of $$$! They say Starlink works up to 100 MPH on the road (cool, but we'll keep it under 70). It's going to be fun!

They are lighter but larger AH LiFePO4 batteries are still heavy enough. One reason why I purchased the 300AH Epoch at 57 lbs each vs the 460AH at 84 lbs! Do you have a neighbor, a young man in the neighborhood? I grab my son for two minutes when he gets home from work for many lifting jobs, that just a few years I never gave a second thought doing it myself.

You may get some takers! I would, but I have a conflict and cannot make the Rally. 🙁 And btw, you don't have to reconfigure both chargers on day 1 of your new battery installation. You will want to to optimize charging to the manufacture's spec, but charging on LA or AGM specs will not hurt LiFePO4 batteries in the short-term.

Back in 2020 Battleborn was a favored alternative. They have good product quality and many loyal followers. Over the last few years, they market their quality position hard but have not reduced prices relative to other manufacturers. Want an inexpensive solution, what Ron showed above is great (nice installation also)! The 460AH of LiTime batteries should cost about $900 about the list price of only one 100AH Battleborn. If I remember correctly, Bill @topgun2 did a similar install more recently. A 300AH Epoch Essential battery lists for $999 (sorry last week it pwas 15% OFF). On sale, you'd need to spend $2,250 in Battleborn batteries (and a lot more space) to get the same 300AH. https://battlebornbatteries.com/shop/applications/towable-rv/

Is this an exaggeration, or did you literally use 50GB by day 2? I would think on 50 GB you could stream YouTube or whatever 3 hours a day for 5-6 days. Perhaps your wife's business use is extensive (e.g. Zoom meetings). I found this related article: https://www.starlink.com/support/article/b3de8ce8-3123-38ab-6061-4f477106a7b4

Thanks Zodd. It appears you can pause but each activation costs at least $50 for one month service. This makes more sense than what I had written which would be too good a deal! I found this on Starlink.com: https://www.starlink.com/support/article/37bb3b47-9525-7224-5f0a-6d016ce26975

Gary, I have not heard of anybody buying this brand on this forum. Epoch and LiTime are go-to brands. LiTime is also on Amazon. Found these listed on Amazon and these are LiFePO4 batteries. Besides battery replacement, you may need batteries cables or new ends/lugs. You would also need to reprogram your solar charger and perhaps replace the main charger connected to shore power, given age of hull could be an inexpensive Progressive Dynamics charger. If instead your Xantrex is an inverter/charger then program that instead. it is a bit of Work. OTT would charge a lot for this. Given your FL location you likely have many solar companies in the neighborhood who could do this work. Easy would be to replace with same size and quantity AGM batteries, nothing else required, but we are all moving to liFePO4 batteries!

Pete, I believe it must be outside. The technology does not use radio waves that follow the curvature of the earth, etc.. Instead, think of microwaves that are directional, "line-of-sight." This is why trees are an issue, like the upper shells of the Oliver would be.

The "windy season" is starting soon! 🤣 Yes, it can be windy out west anytime and often, but you can count on it Q2 of the year (Apr-Jun). The wind makes things dry out and by June there are usually fires somewhere. Late July through early Sept is monsoon season, some break in the winds, patchy rains and you hope a monsoon or two hits your property to water the trees! We moved out here from VA leaving end of June 2005 (20th anniversary)! We thought New Mexico was the worst as far as being WINDY. We had all our family belongings packed tight in a 26' "race car trailer" purchased just for the move, pulled by a brand-new Ram 2500 HD. The trailer had an awning. The NM winds in the open valleys, known for their dust storms, blew the awning wide open. It was like we had a sail attached to the trailer, pushing us down the highway! I had to tie it up to finish the trip, then rewound it when we got here in Arizona. Thanks @Patriot for first starting this thread, bringing the Mini with the $50 plan to our attention. I had remembered that you purchased a carry case. I did not realize it had an aluminum frame, made in the USA, add-on features like magnet mounts, etc. I need to look at this seriously vs. the Trio product I mentioned. Has anybody purchased the "Polycarbonate Shield" (both companies offer one)? Instead of storing the mini in a case, I want ours magnet-mounted to the roof of our tow vehicle when driving (then you don't need room somewhere else to store it and you could hook up to Wi-Fi when needed while driving). The shield may help with the pine sap too. Thanks again. JD