Snackchaser

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

I don’t hear much about a 2500 gas powered 6.4 HEMI! We downsized from a RAM 2500 diesel to a RAM 2500 HEMI because of personal gripes with the diesel. In doing so we sacrificed a few MPGs, great low end torque, and the diesels excellent engine breaking. But the HEMI still has excess power, fantastic engine breaking, and it has 600-700 pounds more payload capacity than the diesel. This is due to the difference in the weight of the engines. Our overall mpg average is 11.5, and most of that is towing on winding mountain roads. We get up to 15 on flat highway. For the few extra mpg’s gained with the diesel, I don’t think we could ever reach fuel savings parity considering the 10k extra price tag for a diesel. For what’s it’s worth! Cheers! Geoff

Gary, I think I understand where your difficulty is coming from. My instructions are for the Orion 30 amp charger, which pre-dated the newly designed Orion 50 amp charger that’s different in several ways. I believe you are installing the newer 50 amp Orion. The first major difference is that the 50 amp charger is non-isolated, which means that the negative input and output use a common terminal. The 30 amp isolated Orion has separate terminals for the neg input & outputs. For the 30 amp, both the pos & neg wires from the TV go to the Orion’s respective pos & neg Inputs. The Orion’s neg output goes to the Oliver’s ground bus, and the pos output goes to the battery circuit main breaker via the new 60 amp fuse. With the 50 amp charger, you can run the TV neg to the ground bus, and a jumper from the ground bus to the Orion common neg. The pos connection is the same as the 30 amp. The second big difference is that the improved 50 amp charger is more efficient and it doesn’t have the significant overheating problems like the 30 amp Orion does. The 50 amp doesn’t need cooling fans, although they still have some benefit. If you choose to have fans, they are simply wired to the Orion’s pos & neg output so that their only energized when the Orion is charging. The thermo switch and 2 amp fuse are wired “in-line” with the fans pos wire. Let me know if a wiring sketch will be helpful. Hope that answers all your questions. Cheers! Geoff

You can have Amazon packages sent General Delivery to a nearby Post office. Amazon has these for the Dometic stovetop for about $12: https://a.co/d/exuedxY Geoff

Here's an easy way to provide DC power to the Starlink Mini Router which requires 9 VDC, 1.6 amps. I tested it for several hours today and it worked well. Anker #323 cigarette lighter style car charger with USB-C outlet. 9 VDC at 52.5 watts (5.8 amps): https://a.co/d/3Y3a5Hu USB-C to 3.5 mm barrel connector cord: https://a.co/d/0iLMf99 Cheers, Geoff

JD, perhaps you didn’t notice that I edited and corrected the power requirements for the Mini Router after receiving it. I’ve messaged one of the Moderators to also edit the first post because it turns out that the Router specifications on the internet are different than the Routers nameplate ratings. It’s actually 9 volts/1.6 amps (14.4 watts), so the car adapter will not work for the router, although it's still a good option for the Mini Dishy. You will need a voltage reducer/converter (12vdc to 9vdc) to run it from your truck or trailers 12 volt system. There are plenty of converters available and the Router takes a 3.3mm male barrel connector, and it’s not waterproof. I haven’t done the research for a quality converter, but I think the inexpensive ones on Amazon will work fine. Regarding your Pepwave, there are two ethernet ports on the Router, an input and output. But I don’t think it will interface with your’e Pepwave as your’e hoping because I’m pretty sure it’s a propitiatory Mesh Node and the output is for daisy chaining two or more Starlink Routers for greater WiFi coverage. Cheers, Geoff

Gary, "You can check out my post "More DC to DC charger installation tidbits" to see how I did it. As seen in your picture, the outer layer of fiberglass has been trimmed to make room for the penetrations. You can use an oscillating multitool to enlarge the rectanglular opening in the first layer. The layers are not bonded together and there is a gap between them. Just be careful to to go through both layers. Once the opening through the first layer is bigger, then use a hole saw for a gland similar to the existing ones. My gland was too large so I filled it with RTV and snugged it up after the RTV cured. It's good to hear that you're using properly sized 2/0 cable. There has been a trend of using undersized wire which may work, but it's asking for trouble. 🫢

CORRECTION! This post was Edited to correct some miss-information, and my apologies to anyone who ordered a Starlink Mini Car adapter to power the Mini Router. According to Google AI, the Starlink Mini Router operates on a voltage range of 12 to 48 volts, but apparently AI is confusing it with the Mini Dishy. From looking at the actual specifications on the Router nameplate and power supply, it operates on 9 VDC, or 120VAC. This means that the Mini Car adapter will not work for the Mini Router, but it will still work for the Mini Dishy of course! I should know better, because it's not the first time AI has tripped me up with bad information 🫢 I'll be looking at getting a 12 to 9VDC converter, but right now were packing for a road trip. The new Starlink Mini Router showed up today, just two days shipping which is unheard of where I live. It's only shirt pocket size, just a little bigger than my phone. I couldn’t wait to test it, so I placed the Starlink Mini Dishy on the ground 45’ away from my bench. It's powered from one of my home made portable rechargeable power supplies as seen in the photo. The Mini router was on the bench separated from the Dishy by a 2x6 wall. The results were great! Standing next to the Dishy without the Mini Router, I got an impressive 163.9 Mbps download speed From my bench without the Router, I got a paltry 12.5 Mbps From my bench with the new Mini Router, I got a respectable 113.5 Mbps If the router was hardwired with RJ45 cable, I suspect it would be the same speed as standing next to the Dishy. The Mini Router paired in about 4 minutes using the Starlink App. It showed up as a new Mesh-2 device, the App asked a few questions, and it was immediately working. It really couldn’t have been easier.

Mark, Good going, you're narrowing it down! We now know that the breaker gets hot over a 60 minute period when charging the battery, and it trips as it should. It's important to know if only the breaker is getting hot, or the accociated circuit wiring too? If it's just the breaker, then it probably has some internal resistance and it should be replaced. You could verify that by swapping it with the other 25 amp panel breaker and re-test. If the whole circuit is getting hot, then that's an indication of something else. It would also be helpful to know If the breaker was tripping sooner than 60 minutes originally, and if you lengthened the time by dialing down the charge amps. You can go always dial it down more.

Oh, okay. In that case, @topgun2 had a good notion that it's leaking where the vent line connects to the top of the freshwater tank, However, that doesn't explain why the pump is cycling . . . unless the pump check valve is leaking by; back-filling the tank from the pressurized side, and then leaking where the tank vent is connected to the top of the tank. . . and it would only be noticeable when the tank is full! Are we getting closer? Geoff

Bill, Yes you can power it with a USB-C cord, but I question if your Anker charger can handle the wattage. The router needs to be fed from a power supply rated at least 65 watts at about 20VDC. Most USB-C power supplies, and outlets for phone chargers, cannot handle that wattage. For example, some folks have replaced the Oliver USB outlets with USB-C outlets, but these are typically under 20 watts. The 12vdc cigarette outlets can certainly handle the wattage, but be aware of plug-in adapters to USB-C because most are low wattage. The Starlink power supply is good value at $45. You would pay almost that much for an aftermarket power supply and cord, but you would not get the quality that Starlink is known for. For the more savvy electrical folks, there are scads of 9-20VDC boost converters under $20 that can handle the wattage. These can be used for powering all sorts of electronics or appliances that use 120vac wall transformers. I've even seen them for under $5 on AliExpress. Cheers! Geoff

I'm not exactly clear on what is meant by the weep hole, but I can share what I have experienced: The freshwater tank overflow also acts like a vent to prevent a vacuum as the tank is drained. I have noticed that when the tank is full, the overflow may start dripping again later due to thermo expansion or a change in the trailer level. A failing pump can cycle as if there is a slow leak because it's internally leaking from the low pressure intake side to the high pressure output side, even though there is no visible leak to the outside of the pump. A leaking pump internal check valve can also cause water to leak back into the tank, and potentially overfill again. If you think about it, all the water on the pressurized side, including the water heater and accumulator, can flow backwards through the faulty pump check valve and into the tank and you would only notice it if the tank was full and overflowing again. Hope that helps! Geoff