jd1923

If the engineering behind the Lithionics product would allow ANY current to the heater when temps are above freezing or say above 35+ degrees Fahrenheit, the heater should be disconnected. This very well could be the cause of 3% daily loss. @Geronimo John hit this on the nail! Oh, and if you are losing 3% daily and the Lithionics app shows no negative current draw, the app is not reading correctly. Loss of SOC can only occur with -Amps over a period of time. Love my $40 shunt, pure and simple, mounted to the negative terminal of my battery bank ALWAYS shows -A when batteries are discharging, and +A the next morning in the Arizona sun! You can disconnect the ground and not worry about the cause (easy solution, takes just 5 min) or strip the overhead out of these batteries. If they were mine, I would first bypass the heaters, and if that did not solve the problem, I would disconnect their BMS and monitor my batteries the old-fashioned way, with system shunt or a simple voltmeter. 😂

@Dave and Kimberly This is the old-school method for storage. I've done this alone for 40+ years on anything automotive that will sit a few months, for charge loss and safety reasons. It appears you have three 12V LI batteries wired in parallel. The grounds between the batteries can remain as wired. The cable providing ground back to the interior must be disconnected. Keep in mind that in this state, with ground disconnected, the batteries cannot provide power nor be charged. So, get them fully charged first. If you prefer, you can install a switch at the batteries, in line with the cable described above, or where that main ground cable comes into the interior prior to any connection to negative busbar or device (inverter, 12v panel, etc). It's relatively easy at the battery location. Besides the switch you would need a shorty cable or short copper bar to connect the switch to the battery post. I would want to figure out cause of the constant current draw. Given you have an Amp reading on your Lithionics App, I would do as you wrote "1) Pull each one of the 12 volt fuses from the panel under dinette..." Pull each 12V fuse one at a time looking for a change in amp reading that reads less negative. Of course, you must have shore power disconnected and the solar feed switched off too.

@SNY SD UP I’d say you’re done. Looks like all 4 batteries are sitting flat. You already made the cable change. Right is OK. 🙂

Very useful for us! I have a quick-connect 12 ft LP line to a quick-connect T. Then we connect our Weber Q grill (maybe buy a proper grill?) and this fire-ring. Removed regulators on both. Don't really need a YouTube if you have a good local hardware store to find the right brass fittings. Very happy not to carry an extra LP tank for outdoor use. Bond Bond Signature 18.5-in W 54000-BTU Bronze Portable Steel Round Propane Gas Fire Pit in the Gas Fire Pits department at Lowes.com

Our Anniversary night ended well. After a few hours watching a local P-ball tournament, and a little rest at home, we went to Papa's Italian in Prescott. It was a great weekend! Her birthday is still to come this Friday. Certainly cannot afford another Oliver, Lol!

Being and old school installer, I would have done this in a heartbeat! That's what mechanics do when you bring your truck or trailer to the shop. I just did something very similar when installing AGM starter batteries in our TV that were a little larger in one direction vs. the OEM lead-acid batteries. It doesn't hurt anything, really, it's only cosmetic. Good job, as hobbyists we always strive for perfection. Glad you worked a solid solution, to which you can be proud! 🙂

Yo GJ, the term "envisioning" truly suffices! That's like those who say "pre-vent-ta-tive maintenance" vs. just "pre-vent-ive." Please don't add the extra syllable! It drives me crazy when multi-million-dollar news anchors, paid so well but have not yet learned the English language, OMG. Chris' family has an old joke. Her Dad was a staunch old-school Irishmen, and very well-educated, a surgeon for the US Army during WWII, deployed in France. Yeah, his life was real. When one of his 8 children, educated in fine Chicago Catholic schools, said the word "irregardless" he would scream "GD-it, there is no such word! What are they teaching you in school!" Then he would rustle the ice in his empty drink glass which meant go get me another (Martini)! I got C grades in English class all through school, math & science another story. Just learned the English language little by little in business writing. GJ, just kiddin' with you buddy! Who's going to fill my glass, guess it must be me! 🤣

Why am I even commenting on a Truma post? Don't own any of their products and likely will not. OTT suggesting women's nylons for pest control just got me thinking, what the...?

@Geronimo John, I'm not sure how this occurs, but 2-3 times now it appears like you are quoting me, be instead quoting a post that I had previously commented. My previous comment to @Nan who wrote the quote in your post was as follows: "They really said that OMG! Not sure how that would weather over time, but I could be wrong. My first thought would be nylon screening (not nylons) that you could buy a small roll at Lowes or the Depot. It is a coarser weave than women's nylons but is designed to be exposed to the elements for exterior use." You're not catching me with women's nylons. Where do you even purchase those things today? I have a faint memory of my wife wearing such, on a special occasion, say back in the early 90's. We are not inviting to, nor attend the parties of the elites, where in big cities such dress may be expected! 🤣

I believe OTT disconnects the black 12V at the + busbar, not in the coupler at the hitch. That’s how I did mine. Therefore it still has +12VDC down the wire. Somewhere along the path the wire to the awning sensor must be connected. OTT uses 3M Skotchloks, at least they did on our older hull. They are prone to fail over time with vibration. I worked for an aftermarket automotive installation co in the early 80s. The boss upset one morning re excessive warranty repairs said any installer using these vs hard crimps would be fired. @John Dorrer that could be the case in the awning staying open or the sensor failed. We all know we should not count on sensors for our safety and care of our expensive Olivers! Besides the basic driver’s ed rules, Always walk around your rig, looking under, do all 8 tires look right, eyeball all hitch connections, stabilizers up? Leaving an awning open is operator negligence! Or instead of system failure, maybe they disconnected the coupler and drove off that way.

Thanks @John Dorrer, it’s got to be that the sensor reads voltage on the black wire from the 7-pin connector. Sorry for being an engineering-nerd! The other wires are all open, no voltage when the TV is parked, wires for lights, turn signals, brakes are all open (off) when parked. Kind of a crazy precaution. Can you see driving away with an awning open? Check your mirrors is first rule of driver’s ed. Much more likely and damaging is driving away with a stabilizer Jack down. Like you, we very often camp with TV connected. It’s safer when boondocking in the mountains, as I want to stay connected on lose ground far up a dirt road. I don’t want to disconnect just the coupler EVER, since if you forget to recouple, you have bigger issues in having no trailer brakes and lights. If you want to negate that feature, you could disconnect the black wire at the coupler (or at the awning, which may be harder to locate). I have already disconnected the black at the busbar, since I don’t want to be camped and have house batteries going low on SOC, sucking power from my starter battery (OTT does this only on LI installs). The awning would be connected either way. I’ll bet that will do it for anybody who would prefer to use this model awning with the TV towing coupler connected.

My old ones were also an inch short. When installing new, starting from the bottom, I pushed hard as I could to compress the new rubber into the channel. I feel I got an extra inch in and later it should shrink from a very tight fit to looser, but hopefully not another inch gap. Thanks Dave, I’ll have to get a bottle of 303 for the rubber on all my cars and trucks.

@John Dorrer did Jason mention how it is sensing the 7-pin? Perhaps they pull a feed off the 12V black wire.

Most cows prefer a dirt floor! 🤣

I'm getting only -0.25A with the Xantrex 2000 OFF and breaker ON and -0.80A with the exterior courtesy lights on. I do not care since ours is never winter stored. If the Lithionics app shows total +/- Amps then the batteries have a built-in shunt. I installed a shunt since I have lead acid the only way to read SOC is via a Blue Sky panel mounted at knee height under the pantry. Clicking through the menus to get other data is also painful. We will be migrating to more Victron products over time. When I upgrade to a Victron 3000W inverter the shunt VE port will be plug and play. When I upgrade to lifepo4, we will go with Epoch without paying extra for an internal comms. I can read this display while sitting in my living room about 70 FT away. This is a screenshot today, 9AM on a hazy morning. Only +0.62A is being added by the Blue Sky solar charger since the batteries are full and do not need additional charge. Certainly worth $40 and the time it took to build a shorty battery cable.

They really said that OMG! Not sure how that would weather over time, but I could be wrong. My first thought would be nylon screening (not nylons) that you could buy a small roll at Lowes or the Depot. It is a coarser weave than women's nylons, but is designed to be exposed to the elements for exterior use.

@Dave and Kimberly and @roguebooks, something wired must be drawing current! Daily loss of 3% is not normal! Not at all. You must figure out what is ON and drawing current. I read a post or two here where the newer model fridge cannot be turned off. @connor77 mentioned a compost toilet. I have no idea, would never have one, but could the fan be running? Yep, that's a good 3%. Something is ON! I have a 105AH AGM house battery from a past project, just sitting on a shelf in our shed and it can sit there for 2 months, and it barely needs a charge (still 12.7V +/-). I would say it's losing 3% per month. Not a measured number, but this is a magnitude of difference vs. per day. I put a charger on it every 1-2 months to keep it good. At 3% daily loss, this battery would be completely dead in two months. BTW, lifepo4 batteries hold their charge over time even better! I do not store our Oliver, so solar is always active. However, I installed the Victron SmartShunt (something you should do for $40), so I can watch battery consumption day and night. At night our Oliver uses 10W (0.8A) consistently, meaning every night always! And this 10W consumption is mainly the outdoor courtesy lights I leave on every night to deter critters. Our peristatic draw is often 0.25A (3W). It amazes me since we have owned our Oliver how little power it draws, even with many lights at night, inverter on, TV and soundbar, etc. and we only have lead-acid batteries. First do a simple shunt install, so you can via the app see immediate changes in +/- amps. There are many threads on this install here. Read negative Amps (-A) showing usage at night and start pulling fuses until you see a change in the readings. Best wishes and keep us posted as to the resulting cause. JD

Sorry GJ, my post was poorly written. I meant that the original white ones were very soiled. The new black ones have no sign of mold/mildew. About 9 months now, still look new though very little grows in Arizona sun, and mine is parked outdoors. I don't believe black rubber needs any treatment. For city cruisin' you could trick them out with some tire shine! 🤣

Been reading older Houghton threads here. It seems several have stated the soft start is not required, even off inverter to small generator, please comment. That would be a good save at $350! Also, what is the Oliver roof thickness at the AC opening? I have not read this being discussed. An option for the "thick roof kit" for >2 3/4". Likely it's less since this has not been mentioned. Thanks

@Geronimo John so I’m thinking to change my mind to the 13,5K model. Went on RecPro to see it’s not only more expensive but + $350 for the easy start option. Yikes! Is it the 9.5K unit doesn’t need it? Also the 9.5K showed heat pump option, not sure if I care about that. The 13.5K model did not show the option, so it must be standard. Came to $1700 total, free ship plus tax and through 6/3 store wide 10% OFF. I’ll likely wait for the next sale, since I’m not sure and not traveling soon. Thanks

I did the black trim last year, and yeah I had mildew stain on those too.

Bill, your first guess was the charm. At first i could not even see that connection, as in our hull it is right behind the cabinet crossbar. I could turn it 2-3 turns with just my fingers. I pulled it out to make sure the o-rings were good. It's an odd little part, combination restrictor and back-flow preventer? But it seems like it works the wrong direction. Not sure, I was getting tired when I finished. Next chance to work on it will be Tuesday afternoon. The large threaded nut on the p-trap was also loose enough to move by hand. I was hoping to remove that to clean since it flows very slowly as compared to the bathroom, likely food gunk. Thoughts on cleaning that? Anyway, I'm day 1 into a lot of summer M&R and mods. Wish mine looked as good as yours and it's not like your hull is that much newer. I also do not have the port showing the air duct. Mine is just cabinet wood floor. I will be working on correcting the ducts soon too. Thanks, all input is greatly appreciated!

🤣 maybe they figure average voltage drop with compressor running.

Any chance you (or others) can explain what kind of switch? How/where installed? It must be integrated to the thermostat, so when it reaches temp, after the compressor shuts down, the fan stops 1-2 minutes after. The ONLY good thing about the Dometic is that in AUTO mode is behaves this way. I run the Dometic in our Oliver during late July-August when we got hot up here. Set at 84 to keep the interior from getting too hot when parked. It runs most of the afternoon while in the hot sun and it turns off all night long (we drop 30 degrees every 24 hours up in the dry mountains).

Derek, yes given your location, you should do more research and perhaps go with the 13.5K model. The spec says the 9.5K handles 400 SF and that is larger than an Oliver. I would not base it on what your current Dometic handles, as beside noisy it's basically junk. Replace a Dometic with another, not me. They are a RV parts company is all. Don't do it just because the thermostat is interchangeable. We had a similar Dometic in our 29' Bigfoot Class-C. A ducted unit that did not cool well at all. The fan froze up one spring and I replaced it with a 13.5K Furrion AC, since I got it for under $300 Amazon used! The new unit, after some riveting of the cracked cover (used) and some taping of the ductwork really cooled the Bigfoot, what a difference! With large slide out in this RV, rear queen bedroom, etc. it is a good double the SF and cubic feet of air that the Oliver. I asked @Geronimo John in another thread which BTU model he installed, but I don't believe he's had the time to answer yet. I would like to know what others have installed. I promise you that we would never visit your great state of Louisiana anytime from May through September, LOL, and the west is dry! It's a world of difference. Our summers are relatively nice up here at 5400 FT. Though we do not travel in the summer, since as soon as we leave the mountains, the valley below us is daily in triple digits. Even though Houghton writes you need a 2.5KW minimum generator to run, it also states, "The maximum power input of this unit is 1590 Watts and the maximum current is 14.6 Amps." (BTW, these numbers do not jive, as 14.6A x 120V = 1752, the numbers balance at 109V not sure why?) Both of these numbers fit within a 2KW inverter, so I want the smaller 9.5K unit for the possibility to run off inverter. There is a comment on the RecPro page that 1100W is the most one customer had ever seen. We run a 1100W tea kettle all the time and microwave on inverter, so why not the 9.5K model? Certainly not the 13.5K model. You want to be on shore power, summers in the SE US, likely go with the 13.5K BTU model.