jd1923

Now that we upgraded to 600AH Epoch LiFePo4 and 3KVA Victron MP2 Inverter/Charger, it was time to add solar power in addition to the OTT installed rooftop panels. This Amazon link offered "Amazon Used" which I love since it usually is only damaged packaging. I watched it for 2-3 weeks and grabbed one when "Very Good" condition was offered for $525. Mine did have a small scuff on the handles which stick out flush to the foam packaging, NP for the cost. Amazon.com: Renogy 400W Lightweight Portable Solar Suitcase, Foldable Solar Panel for Outdoor Activities, Durable & IP67 Waterproof for RV, Camping, Off-Grid, Fast Installation with Sturdy Kickstands : Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry Installed a Victron MPPT 100/30 where the OEM inverter was previously under the rear dinette seat. This solar charger is capable of running two of these 400W suitcases since open-circuit voltage is rate at 47.2 V and short-circuit current is 11.0A, more than enough.

Trying to understand... I'm guessing you took your Starlink (not permanently Oliver roof mounted) and a Bluetti power station in your truck, drove to open skies, and setup the Starlink to connect. Am I thinking correctly? (if so) Pretty cool! Given this is true, it's the same reason I have our 5G Pepwave router with Parsec Husky antenna installed in our truck. The Oliver sitting at the campsite would have no signal. Out here, trees are hardly the issue. We camp in canyons and normally all I have to do is drive the truck 5-10 minutes to higher elevation to get cell signal. Also out here in the SW, no need to move with Starlink.

Thanks again Mike, as I finally got mine done today! I bought a 2-pack of these for $27: Amazon.com: 83W 12V USB Outlet Laptop Charger: Newest 2 Pack 65W USB-C PD3.0 and 18W QC3.0 Multi Car USB Port 12V Socket Waterproof with Power Switch for Car Boat Marine Bus Truck Golf Cart RV Moto, etc. : Cell Phones & Accessories I looked at so many "Qidoe models" and ended up with the same choice due to this spec: "Independent Button Switch. The switch controls the USB-A port and LED Lights, NOT the PD USB-C Port. Because the USB-C port is a smart output, when the device is fully charged, the USB-C port will automatically power off and stop charging." Nice! I hope this statement is true. I installed them today, but did not yet fully test them. I charge my iPhone at the dinette. The other is installed over Chris' bed. She could use a USB-C to USB-C cable to charge her Samsung Galaxy at night with the switch off, no blue LED light above her head. Installation over the curbside bed is not simple. Remove the deck plate inside the rear kitchen cabinet. It's hard to see but remove the two female spade connectors from the switch. The large plastic nut for the outlet is between the two hulls! Remove the two screws of the cover plate and grab the old unit and pull and spin lefty-loosie until it's removed. Look up in the opening and you will see the large 1 1/8" plastic threaded nut up there between the hulls. Ours needed a lot of cleaning after removing it, rubbing alcohol to clean. To thread the new one, first reinstall the cover plate. I do not like/need the dust cover. I cut the cover off to use the rubber washer, allowing it to sit nicely in the cover plate. Then push it up firmly to contact, turn it left a bit to get the threads straight and then turn it right and turn it, and turn it, until you get it nicely tight. Mine did not end up perfectly square in direction, but I got it nicely hand tight. Then reconnect the wires. It's odd that they have the brass-colored spade for the B- and the silver spade for the B+. If I remember correctly the B- is in line with the ON/OFF switch. Take note of direction since once it's installed you cannot see what's what after it's up there! Another nice little mod done, love it! 🤣

I finally checked out their website, OMG costly, especially where they say, "Starting at $,$$$" which means much more for a hull like ours! Ours begun a while ago. I have to find a young, eager, local detailer!

Nice, we will do some of that during the Texas Rally! Another thought is Amazon to a local pickup locker. If I ordered this today, it would be delivered here tomorrow: Amazon.com: PGSONIC CR2430 3V Lithium Battery (5pcs) : Cell Phones & Accessories

Just added the final touch. Prior to my clean-up project, prior owner had the steps wrapped with a rubber matting. They looked terrible and collected dirt, so I tossed them out. Noticed lately that when the steps are folded it's metal on metal, so I added these little bumpers in each corner (drilled 5/32" holes) under the door. They're out of the way and the folding step sits nicely. These where rubber feet off some appliance I tossed years ago (always save hardware)!

Never seen one. If ours had one, a prior owner removed it. We haven't camped a rainy day, yet! 🤣

We would drive down for the week (2 1/2 hour drive), given the dates many of you would be there are dates I'm not teaching class. My timing for 2024 was off but got our Los Algodones dental visit in. I won't have my 2025 schedule for a while. Hope to see you there! I wrote this on the other thread, but worth repeating here. Buckskin Mountain State Park | Arizona (azstateparks.com) is a great spot on the Colorado River. Good campsites, calm river sounds and excellent bird watching. Not free of course. White Tank Mountain, Maricopa County Regional Park is a good stop on the way to the Q: Maricopa County Parks & Recreation | Maricopa County Parks & Recreation The Maricopa parks are often booked up during winter 6 months in advance. Sometimes a few days here and there free up and some of their parks have overflow/boondocking sites for $15/night.

Not a big concern at driveway speeds. Check with a local trailer shop. They would have a variety of choices and could weld the mount.

Or you can go to O'Reilly's or most national chain A/P stores and borrow this same tool. They charge the cost of it to your credit card and bring it back in 1-2 days and they will refund/credit your card. We have an O'Reilly's 1/2 mile from home, and I have used their loaner program a good dozen times. I purchased a ball joint press that is much longer required for some applications, but I do ball joint service regularly having rebuilt 3 truck suspensions in just the last 4 years. For the Oliver, just borrow one for free if you need it!

Only to meet up with you Steve! Last Jan, given my work schedule and me being new here, I got to Quartzsite the last day you and @Mike and Carol were there (learned this from a later post) and the next day I drove by some "Fiberglass TT Meet" 🤣 Only to find a lot of lame Casita type TTs. Chris and I kept our heads down and quickly thought, let's "Get out of Dodge!" After a night in the northern section of the AZ BLM LTVA, we headed to Wickenburg for much better boondocking by Vulture Mountain and to enjoy a good restaurant that cannot be found in Quartzsite. We should meet up next year. @rich.dev unless you're into large communal camps, thousands of Canadians (wonderful people and country, but who in their right mind would live up there in the winter!), the hippies we knew back in the 70s and the near homeless yep, Quartzsite is the place! If you have 2 months, first come to Prescott and you'll never want to go back to the Q. I already mentioned Wickenburg. Stay at ANY off the Maricopa County parks. Go to Parker AZ and stay at Buckskin Mountain State Park | Arizona (azstateparks.com) Need dental work? Visit Los Algodones and you can stay here for $10 a night: Home - Quechan Casino Resort (playqcr.com) while you visit Mexico (this border is still safe). I can go on and on for days. Yep, Quartzsite is cool if you want to stay for weeks, have an off-grid setup, meet up with old friends that you met there years ago, but instead you can spend time ANYWHERE else in the wonderful state off Arizona. In four weeks, we are going to have a visit from an Oliver owner. We have never met another Oliver owner. So much looking forward to this visit and y'all are welcome too!

Pretty cool, but where we Boondock at times we need ground clearance which is pretty good on the Oliver. Keep this in mind, especially if considering a drawer behind the rear axle.

In other words, just hook up a hose to the boondocking inlet, and then I would run the pump to allow it to prime and take over. This happens to too many Oliver owners. Many can benefit from upgrading your water pump and valves. I replaced the $50 Made in Mexico Shurflo, spending $200+ on a Made in USA Remco variable speed pump. Also changed the manual valves that had 1/4" ID openings with electric ball valves with 12mm (.47") ID. I have the pump running when I change the valves (they're wired on the same circuit), no issues. We use the water at night with the pump off, no issues. We have the OTT OEM defective Fresh Tank suction hose. that was installed on some old hulls, where it runs out of fresh water after 18 gallons. We run out of water often, filling from the boondocking port, no issues. The high-quality variable speed pump always primes itself, no air locks ever. See before and after pics.

Yes, those would be the numbers. I and other Oliver owners have cited here in a few posts that even the old Dometic 13.5K BTU Penguin II draws 15 amps. 15K BTU by the numbers should increase amperage by 11.1% to 16.67A. Given you're seeing 18A then the 15K model at 18A is even less efficient, while a newer model today should be more efficient. One member has measured the new Atmos 4.4 15 BTU model at 7.5A (waiting soon on a second installation to verify this number). Given you have a sales receipt for the 13.5K model and they installed the 15K without your consent, perhaps you can request to a return/refund. Hope this works out in the end to your satisfaction.

Yep, and a little elbow grease! Clean surfaces with rubbing alcohol to get the goo off and sometimes that's all you need.

Just got this today and it looks great. Thanks to those who suggested it! amazon.com/dp/B00H7LPKKU?ref=fed_asin_title

Our longest time away is 4 weeks. With all the Oliver work I do at home (upgrades all summer!), I'll leave the big tools in my garage and enjoy the short time we get away. We're leaving to the Texas Rally 2 weeks early to spend time in the White Mountains of AZ and then Lincoln NF of NM. A week plus in The Hill Country, Inks Lake and South Llano River SP. Another week to 10 days on our return, to Marfa TX and Davis Mountains SP. Lastly Silver City NM on our return home. We'll go from home to Central TX and back without any travel on Interstates. I'll have some basic tools, though do not plan on using them. I'll deal with Zerks, and other maintenance, before and after! 🤣

Art, does your hull # 226 have all 12/2 Romex for AC circuits, or like mine with mostly 14/2?

So, 2020 models, hulls 579 and 628 have all 12/2 Romex for AC circuits, and you can see from my pic that our older 2016 hull 113 does not. We run a few appliances on the 110V outlets (never at the same time), An 1100W tea kettle, a 700W small pressure cooker, and the worst culprit Chris' 1875 Conair blow dryer. From what I can tell, you can't find a blow dryer at lower wattage. Ran this test and been running the A/C this weekend on the MP2. It handles the Air or the blow dryer no problem. Believe it or not, they blow dryer takes 5A/60W more than the Dometic Penguin II 13.5K BTU A/C. But you only use a blow dryer for a few minutes on and off. We replaced our OEM microwave with an Emeril Air Fryer. The small model rated at 1500W. I ran it yesterday on the MP2. Set it at 400F for 15 minutes in air fry mode. It used 23AH according to the Victron SmartShunt, brought the 600AH Epoch LiFePO4 batteries from 99% to 95%. Got to love that! Cook our morning hashbrown cakes, cook a pizza, while boondocking np. Since the microwave circuit is now on its own breaker that helps but still it's on 14/2 Romex. After 15 minutes on 400F the Romex was to the touch the same room temp as the other feeds, so 14 AWG looks to be doing it. My insulated oven cabinet stayed cool enough as well, only the aluminum of the upper bezel got a little hot but nowhere else.

I understand, timing is key. After posts today I looked up TEMCo 4 AWG on Amazon and they had a sale, so I purchased 50 of each red/black 4 AWG at a very good price. I can afford this now. The $400 charger will have to be for Christmas or soon after...

Look for an old-school trailer shop. Not a company that sells RVs and pretends to service them. Not a truck service center that works more on repairs and high-end, high $$$ truck accessories. Just a trailer service co, that has a dozen cargo trailers and another dozen simple flatbed trailers on their lot. Unless you want to be r@ped in service costs and get a B- or C+ installation m. Hey Scotty, if you live west stop by with your Oliver and new parts and we’ll get er done together! If you live east, go see our OTT Elder, our most knowable forum member @ScubaRx, either way it’w be great! Best wishes, JD

Wow, I got all my answers in just 2 hours! 😂 Thank you @rideadeuce that video sold me in the first minute. I had no idea of the size difference, let alone efficiency and less heat produced. Thanks @Steph and Dud B too, the table shows 4 AWG and the Orion XS 50 takes up to 4 AWG. Guess when I work this, I'll have to bite the bullet for the $400 Orion XS and likely another $200 for cables and connectors.

When I get around to adding this mod, I want to do it right and I understand @MAX Burner and @rideadeuce and others here have gone down this path. I want to add DC-DC capability but not overload the TV alternator. I also want to understand cable gauge minimum requirements, wanting required AWG without paying extra for overkill. Obviously a 30A charger requires less ampacity in cabling than a 50A model. I'm thinking that 30A is enough at 60% the cost of the new Victron 50A model. What would you do? Victron doesn't even list this model on their website anymore. Amazon.com: Victron Energy Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-Volt 30 amp 360-Watt DC-DC Charger Non-Isolated (Bluetooth) : Automotive They do show their new 50A model: Orion XS - Victron Energy

Check out this video re the need for wire ferrules on the MP2.