jd1923

I would buy a new 50A Bussman breaker (check PD manual for correct breaker amperage) between the new charger and the batteries on the new 4 AWG B+ Red cable. You can add a bus or merely connect the current 6 AWG wire to either end of your new 4 AWG cable (at battery or charger) to the current 40A busman which feeds all DC fuses, fuses for stabilizer jacks etc. This way the 50A breaker governs the charging only and the original 40A breaker governs 12VDC use in the trailer. If you need more help, post pics. I used our 40A Bussman as described above and I have additional breakers for each solar charger. Note when wiring, the breakers are marked battery and load sides. OTT had some wired backwards in our hull.

Your math is close enough in theory. Though roof-mounted panels, flat to the horizon, are not getting near 340W. Ours often charge at net 12A, even in the Arizona sun. Our new 400W Renogy Suitcase when aimed directly at the sun got 366W at best one time and more often was between 200 and 300W. The Victron 30A SC has showed 20+ amps charging, where theoretical max is 33A. Starlink and other electronics, and the Oliver LED 12V lighting take so little power. Running cooking appliances, the A/C and a blow dryer is another story. I've been running A/C all week on only rooftop solar, but fall has broken up here at 5400 FT and the weather is wonderful lately. We do want to run A/C on inverter when it's hot after an efficient A/C upgrade. Running A/C when towing is a lot of drain, given sun and wind pulling the cool in your wake down the highway! I worry about charging via the TV. I would only do so with the kind of upgrade that Ron made. OEM alternators are not designed to push out another 30-50A. Trucks today have complex ECUs and you don't want voltage-related error codes affecting fuel injectors and ignition. @Snackchaser I read your DC-DC upgrade post (very nice work). I believe at the start of 2024 only the Victron 30A was available. The newer 50A is much more efficient, producing less heat, half the size, no large heat sink attached and likely no need for adding a fan. See video @rideadeuce added to my question post: Choosing a DC-DC Charger - Ollie Modifications - Oliver Owner Forums (olivertraveltrailers.com) Lastly when traveling, we I go out of our way to drive only 2-3 hours between stops and generally not more. We like to maximize time at the campsite vs. time on the highway. Some of you drive a lot of hours in a day where this is more useful. I will likely add a DC-DC charger but went the suitcase route first because of this. When adding this capability, you should consider the cost of the charger, another $150+ for 4 AWG cables and connectors, plus the cost of an aftermarket high-output alternator, to do it right. Victron Energy ORI121217040 Orion XS 12/12-50A DC-DC battery charger | Powerwerx

Good choice, given the new PD charger is 45A. I believe the original ones were 30A and ours usually read between 20-25A when plugging into shore power. The Blue Sky SC is 25A so 6AWG is just fine. When I upgraded, I found the ground bus (the one on the floor with many yellow jacketed wires connected) only had one 6 AWG connection to the batteries. Our new inverter/charger is rated at 120A, but i have it set for 50A. Instead of replacing the 6 AWG, I merely added a second 6 AWG wire. Together two 6 AWG cables are equal to one 3 AWG cable. This may be an option for you too. You need 4 AWG (or 2x 6 AWG) wire size on both sides, the B+ Red and B- Yellow connections from your new charger to your new Epoch battery. See these links the first one is to calculate wire size, and the second one allows you to calculate the combined AWG of multiple wires: 1) Wire Size Calculator (wirebarn.com) 2) Wire Combination Calculator (wirebarn.com)

Do what I do. Always leave the sewer hose attached while on the road! 🤣 Put the cap on the end of the hose. It must still be a reach with a big-a basket like this one. Nice product, but the back of my 8 ft pickup truck bed would have to get awfully full, for us to spend this kind of money for extra storage, and with the extra weight behind the trailer.

Just found this today and could have used it yesterday! To grease the inner tie rods on my truck, I had to turn the steering all the way left to get the driver side and then all the way right to get the passenger side. I really dislike crawling under a truck and not having everything I need. Crawl out, back in, again and again. It's getting harder on the older body! Next time, I'll have this and perhaps it will allow me to grease the Oliver with the wheels on. Glad to see LockNLube makes this. Just bought one! Amazon.com: LockNLube 90 Degree Grease Coupler Adapter : Automotive

This weekend I installed a HP Billet Alum water pump on our Ram. The WP is one known weakness of the stock Cummins. New antifreeze, changed oil and filter, new air filter too. Jacked up the front to make getting under her easier. Lastly, I greased the front end using the new Dewalt with LockNLube fitting. Adam walked by, “what’s that?” (He has a half dozen Dewalt power tools.) nothing cooler than a power grease gun, btw. TV ready to head to Tejas! 🤣

Dave, 6 AWG is all you need. The ONLY reason for anything heavier is when running an inverter. OTT uses 6 AWG to connect the PD charger, the 12VDC fuse panel and everything else. Make sure all B+ and B- connections are clean and tight. I cut 1/2” off each end to bare new copper in the buses, but if you have good eyelets to the batteries, just steel brush them Blue Sky SC in our hull also uses 6 AWG in and out. Check my upgrade link re configuring the Blue Sky for LiFePo4. Good battery choice, btw! 🤣

That’s all it needed. Bad Q on installation!

Yes, every time I open the LP valve after parking at our campsite, Chris is inside, and our first step is to light a gas burner to prime the main line. We change fridge to LP and start the HWH afterwards and the furnace should be ready to fire up overnight.

Wow, never seen such a thing and your Oliver is only 1 year old! I'm assuming your inverter was charging previously. Could something have been pulling on the 10/3 cable from outside the inverter? Anything loose or stored in that basement area?

Cool, thank you! Btw, if you are a Zoom presenter, which is the vehicle of my parttime semi-retirement job, you are pushing more data up vs. down, and upload latency is an issue in all Sat connections. On all technology platforms, download speeds are 5-10x upload speeds, np for streaming movies, or if you must the Presidential Debate (oh 'twas so painful). 🤣 One part of me wants to be able to do my work on the road, so to travel more often. The other side says screw that and it's a GREAT day boondocking when in a deep canyon we're not connected!

I have ONLY heard the "clicking noise" when the LP valve is turned OFF.

My sediments exactly! When looking for fridge, or an upgraded A/C, anything but! I'm looking forward to your thread! The compressor fridges I've seen here so far do not enough freezer space to keep a half bag of ice, let alone a couple of fine steaks frozen, PERIOD! We need at least the same CF in freezer space, though this may not be one of your criteria. I would love a RV fridge that is literally 25% freezer or more. You can keep water bottles, condiments, beer and most things on ice, but you CANNOT keep frozen items properly frozen unless a freezer is less that 10F (speaking from many years in the restaurant industry). Anybody need an ice pack to apply to a injured joint? I sure do! You need freezer space. I will likely add a freezer to my truck bed, but...

The one with the Cummins!?

Ship me the second one! 🤣 Is the second box the interior assembly?

Has anybody worked a permanent rooftop installation? I like the specs, IP67, wide temp range, wind speeds 60+ MPH. Anybody wire Starlink Mini as WAN input to a router? We did our Pepwave upgrade in Jan. Just 9 months ago Starlink was $2500 HW cost and no Mini. It’s now feasible! Anybody use this yet for Zoom meetings? How is latency? (common in Sat connections) Thanks @Patriot

Recommended Charge Current is 50A on the Epoch 300AH LiFePo4 battery, and Max Charge Current is stated at 200A. That is a large difference. My question is, what would "recommended" be for two batteries in parallel? For batteries wired in parallel we add amperage, so why not add amperage of charge rates? I could not find a decisive answer to this question online. For these batteries Recommended Discharge Current is 100A and Max Discharge Current is 200A. I've set our Victron MP2 at a charge rate of 50A where up to 120A is available. I want what’s best for the batteries, but if I only have limited time on shore power, can I charge at stronger charge rate? Is it OK to be greater than the recommended rate and still considerably less than Max?

I had suggested 2WD earlier in this thread. Though hard to find one these days on dealer lots. Any 4WD truck is a climb! Love our 2WD TV, easy step up and it's not like you're going rock crawlin' with back issues! The weight of a TV is mostly on the rear axle, front wheels are important for steering vs. pulling.

Get these parts to flush black or gray tanks: https://a.co/d/1jRtUTP https://a.co/d/b4RE4F6 https://a.co/d/5eEU0sE

Actually, @Frank C did it first and best, quite detailed using u-clips. Mine was a quick job but the part re mine I like is the rubber seal, inexpensive part too!

Looks like you’re going to have to open it. I put mine back with 4 screws, drill 5/32” holes, rubber washers and a white rubber seal, no caulk. https://a.co/d/5G5pVZd

I did this upgrade first and by itself. Made a shorty cable and just mounted it at the batteries. You also need to connect the red wire to positive, so simple. When I upgraded to LFP and new inverter, I mounted the shunt at the other end of the B- battery cable closest to the inverter to get it out of the battery bay.

Yeah, my older 2KW Xantrex had the remote on/off button, no display, and I never thought to see if there was an app. For $100 and easy installation, the Victron SmartShunt is a very nice accessory! Now with Victron MP2 Inverter and MPPT Solar charger, I have 3 app screens to view. This one is for the SmartShunt. It's about 2PM, SOC is 100%, so the solar charger is only needing to add +0.75A net (in addition to amperage being used by 12V accessories/lighting and the inverter at idle. This can be added regardless of make and model of other system components: Amazon.com: Victron Energy SmartShunt IP65 Battery Monitor (Bluetooth) - Victron Smart Shunt - 6.5V-70V, 500 amp : Automotive

Just leave it on. Measure how much amperage it is drawing. The older 2KW Xantrex we had, took 1A when no 120VAC is being supplied. Our new Victron MP2 also takes approx. 1A at idle. This adds up to 24AH per day. Divide 24 by the AH of your battery bank for SOC loss. We have 600AH which comes to -4% per day. But with the solar charger running, net amperage is always positive during daylight hours, until you run a 120VAC appliance. We generally leave it on 24x7 unless we're gone for the day. We run our TV and Soundbar afternoons and nights, often the next morning too. Use our 1100W electric tea kettle to heat water for coffee and SOC is often 90% or high 80s. Maybe some microwave use and it's always back to 100% by the afternoon, unless it's raining or extremely overcast. Not sure if Xantrex has a good app. We added the Victron SmartShunt prior to upgrading our inverter. I'm checking SOC and +/- Amps on the phone app regularly and always just before leaving the Oliver for the day. One night we hit the fridge into DC mode without knowing it. I should have checked the app but had my phone charging at the dinette when I got into bed. Woke up at dawn to see the DC light on, checked the app and SOC was down to 63%. That was with the 450AH lead-acid we had at the time which is not a good situation. The following sunny day we got back up to 83% and then 90% the day after, rooftop solar only. Still used our inverter, ran the TV, but heated coffee water using LP on the cooktop! Keep in mind due to the fridge DC mode, this error would have occurred with the inverter on or off.

This is also true with the Victron MP2 setup where "User Defined" allows you to manually set charge rates to battery manufacturers' specifications. For Epoch batteries, the Absorbtion rate is 14.2V and Float 13.6V.