Snackchaser

I added a top and bottom vent for the closet, but it's hard to know or measure how much airflow has improved. But you can be certain that it has improved over having no vent at all. At the same time I added a vent in the bathroom that allows the pressure from the heater duct to flow out under the dinette seat, then through the basement back to the furnace intake. This was a significant improvement for bathroom heat. You can feel air flow through the new vent, and it actually holds a tissue in place from the back pressure. FYI, I used a hole saw and taped the surface to prevent chip out. It worked great! Cheers! Geoff

Just before leaving on our current trip, I covertly made a new cherry table and installed it to the surprise of wifey. She had wanted to keep the Oliver’s stock modern look, which is understandable considering that the house is already full of custom wood pieces. But after using it on this trip, we both absolutely love it! If I were to choose to have only one Oliver modification, it would be the enlarged table! The original table was small to fit between the seats for a third bed, and it is barley big enough to fit much more than a two piece place setting. The new table is 28” x 37” (about 10” longer and 5” wider) and it makes a huge difference to have the extra tabletop space. We can now fit the computer and our place settings. I realize not everyone has access to a wood shop to build such a table, but there are consignment woodworkers just about everywhere that could easily do it. As wood working projects go, it doesn’t get much simpler to joint and glue planks together and sand them flat. Many hardwood lumber shops even have wide belt sanders available to flatten tabletops. You could even have a lumber shop cut a nice piece of hardwood plywood, round the corners with a saber saw, and dress the edges with real wood self-stick or iron-on edge bands, just like they do for kitchen cabinets. I recommend experimenting with a cardboard template to determine the optimum size to fit your body types. I also remember a guy who advertises wooden accessories on this forum who might sell larger tables. Anyway, it’s a worthy project or expense to think about! Cheers, Geoff

I wouldn’t reset your TV. Starlink is amazing fast with clear sky most of the time. The router should help when you move the dishy to find a hole in the trees. The times you don't have clear sky will be few and you will just have to accept no service or the buffering blips.

This has been our experience from several years of using Starlink in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. We often had to move the Starlink Mini the whole 50' length of the cord to find a clear sky hole, but then the WiFi signal was so weak we couldn't stream. Now with the new Mini Router, a bargain at $40, the WiFi signal is much better and there is a big improvement in speed and streaming. The USB-C power supply has been working great for the router too!

Went through the border again today, after about two hours waiting in line with only two of the many gates open. I handed the US border agent our passports and cell phone with the CDC letter. He snapped back that the didn't want the letter. Gees, a little grumpy . . . go figure?

This is the hatch I'm referring to. Instead of mounting the switch next to it, mount it right on the hatch cover. It will make the drilling and wiring a breeze!

We filled out the on-line form that @John Dorrer kindly linked. It was just some simple questions. We then received an Email reply from the Center for Disease Control (CDC Dog Import). We entered and exited Canada for a 3 hour visit to White Rock, BC yesterday, and will be going again today! When entering Canada, we declared our dog and they did't ask for anything. When returning to the US, I gave them our passports and my cell phone with the CDC Dog Import email. They looked at the email and said thank you, and let us pass. Thanks again to John!

You didn’t provide much detail on the symptoms or what all has been checked, but I looked at the manual that @Galway Girl provided and there are very thorough trouble shooting guides, test procedures, fault codes, and schematics. Even three internal fuses. I think the big RV outfits are more likely to recommend replacement than repair. So, not knowing what your comfort level is for electrical troubleshooting, I think you could find some old school appliance repair guy in your area that could probably figure out what’s wrong and fix it. You already replaced the boards, so it's likely some other electrical component. Although parts are scarce in the US, they seem to be more abundant in Australia. Also, besides the boards that you already replaced, many electrical parts are off-the-shelf and can be substituted. For $4800, I’d be using the manual and a multimeter to run all the tests, or at least paying someone else to do it. Wish you luck! Geoff

Have you considered mounting it on the hatch cover? At least if you mess up, then you can just get a new one. Cheers, Geoff

The statements jive okay. This question was originally about the virtual load setting, and it's morphed into why not more solar input. The solar charger data looks good for the 36 watt input. However, the question of why the input is not higher is a whole different discussion. There could be a number of reasons why: I'd first look at the "History" feature of the App, it will show the solar input over several days. If it was charging at more watts in periods of more sun, then that will give you a better idea if it's sun related. Cleaning the panels will always help, but not that significantly... unless they are really really dirty. Next I'd review the Solar Charger settings, particularly the battery type, as they can also impact the output. Also, whatever device you are reading the 40% SOC from, I'd review those setting too. You might actually be at a higher percent charge and the charger is ramping down the output. There are probably some charging curves out there to see how it ramps down, and that can provide clues. Let us know what you find and we will see where it leads to from there! Cheers! Geoff

Thank you! We will be crossing into Canada in a few days. We have her vax papers but didn’t know about the form. Cheers! Geoff

JD, I was looking at these units too. The new ones can have both AC and DC connected at the same time. It automatically prioritizes to AC when the AC is energized, regardless if connected to DC. I personally wouldn't connect it to the DC to DC charger, unless it was a really convenient place to connect the circuit. I'd just run a dedicated fused wire from the battery via a relay that is mounted close to the battery. From there it would be easy to trigger the relay from an ignition-on circuit or a manual switch inside the cab. If your truck has an up-fitter option, you can program the switch to work only with ignition on. Cheers! Geoff

Hi George, The Virtual load is only used if you don't have an actual load on the solar charger. However you have an actual load, which is the battery. So the State is correctly set to OFF. All your other data looks good, you are happily charging away in bulk charge. Cheers! Geoff

Yes it seems your right, the charging is desired, but it's not explicitly defined in the regs. Years ago when I used to tow a sizable boat into Canada, I was almost denied entry one year because they had just outlawed Surge brakes. I had to replace the trailers surge coupler head with an Electric pump/hydraulic unit including a breakaway switch, battery, TV charging, and an electric brake controller. It was a unique setup because you don't want to dip all electric brakes into water when launching a boat. That expierience was burned permanently into my pocketbook and memory! Cheers! Geoff

@Jim and Frances, you are right, the charge line is from TV alternator (Pin-7 of the 7-Pin harness). I'm not sure where that B4 breaker is, it looks like it must be under the bathroom sink or in the propane house. B5 would be under the bed on the street side. As JD noted, Pin-7 is not connected for lithium batteries. This is because lithiums have specific charging parameters that are different from lead acid/AGM batteries, and they could be damaged by normal alternator charging. So if you have factory lithiums, then you probably don't have the B4 and B5 breakers. If your trailer came equipped with lead acid/AGM batteries, then Pin-7 is probably connected through the B4 an B5 breakers. It’s a comparatively low amperage charge and not very efficient to charge the house batteries. But any trailer with electric brakes must have a battery and Pin-7 charging, or equivalent, for the “breakaway brake switch,” which I believe is a DOT requirement. Two breakers are definitely needed because there is current potential at both ends of the this circuit, from the battery on one end, and from the alternator on the other end. The breakers are polarized, meaning they only protect the wire on the “load” side of the breaker, and the “line” side is connected to the current potential. So if you had only one breaker, it can only protect the circuit from the battery on one end, or the alternator on the other end. . . but not both. Now if a fuse was used, only one would be needed because they are not polarized. But I'm not saying a fuse would be better because I fully believe Oliver observes sound electrical engineering practices and there is good reason to use breakers in this configuration and others. Hope that helps explain things. Cheers, Geoff