Search the Community

ADB is the "air distribution box" on the inside side of the roof. My install dealer and I are still working out the ramifications of they having installed a 15K BTU FreshJet3 instead of my requested 13.5K BTU version. There is now some question as to my Honda 2200 being able to run the 13.5 version. I can attest to the fact that it is NOT able to run the 15K version. 😒 Measured data 15K Dometic FreshJet 3 (with the Dometic Easy Start) and a Honda 2200 gen: Sea level, 73F. Low setting on the A/C - 13 amps. Generator runs fine Medium setting on the A/C - 15 to 16 amps, gen running hard, evidently right at it's max wattage output. High or Turbo setting on the A/C - 18 to 19 amps - Gen shuts down immediately due to overload. I am having difficulty getting my mind around the fact that Dometic claims that the amperage draw of the 13.5K unit and the 15K unit are the same. If they are the same, then why is one de-rated to 13.5K? in my mind, BTU = energy = watts = amps.... 🤯

There I go again, quoting myself! 🤣 By chance I found the individual electrical runs for the 110v outlets and microwave. This may not be true in newer hulls, but on ours there is one breaker for both. Good news is the run to the microwave is separate and can be wired to a separate breaker, given one available in the panel. Since I will soon eliminate the PD converter/charger I could use its breaker or install a thin double in its place. I already wired the panel in this way but need the PD converter while I have no batteries in ours, working on the new inverter/charger installation. I removed the Xantrex 2KW inverter yesterday. Ours is inverter only, no charger and it also has the Xantrex PROwatt SW external ATS. The freed-up space is perfect to add a DC-to-DC charger or other needs. I also plan to move the solar ON/OFF switch from under the streetside bed to rear dinette. I already upgraded to motorized ball valves so no pulling of the curbside bed, and I want absolutely no reason to move either bed when camping. OTT really needs this as a future design goal! I sure hope the MP2 does not have some kind of manual reset button! What hokey wiring OTT did. Though I'm thinking back in 2016 the solar inverter option was a rare add-on. When I built an inverter system in our past Class-C, I created a split bus in the panel, one side served by the inverter and the other side having A/C and converter/charger breakers only to be powered by shore power. PD actually makes panels with a split bus for this reason, but mine was hand-cut! OTT wired the microwave and 110v outlets into a standard electrical junction box using only wire-nuts to connect these runs to both shore and inverter. These only went through the breaker on the panel when on shore power, otherwise are protected by the GFCI outlet on the inverter. I removed everything you see in this picture, and you can see the junction box at the top of the picture. The second picture shows the two cables that were wired into the box. They are the two white cables you see lose above the panel which I wired into the panel afterwards. Also yesterday, I purchased my Victron MP2 and VE.bus for programming and Bluetooth connection from Inverter Supply, at a good OTD price, no additional costs: Victron Energy PMP122305120 - Inverter Supply The second picture also shows the main shore power cable (heavy black 600V 10-3 cable on LHS). This will be removed. A new 10-3 cable will be wired from the EMS as input to the MP2 and another from MP2 output to the panel so that the inverter handles all loads including air conditioning. When on shore power from either input (grid or generator) it will allow pass-through 120VAC and/or Power Assist when needed. No generator on our rig, just 600AH Epoch and 3KVA MP2. If this doesn't do it, though it should, I can always add more batteries in the basement!

We used Two 100 Watt Costco Solar Panels that they sell new in the box for just under $100. I bought three. Two to use and one as a spare. Each panel comes with instructions and wiring. The Airstream had an external connection for Solar on the Battery Box that holds the two 12 volt AGM Interstate Batteries that now can be purchased, also at Costco. I am not an electrician. I am not a Solar Installer for a Travel Trailer lot. You connect the + to the + side of the battery and the - to the - of the battery with the +/- of the Solar Panel. Diode is yellow when Charging and Green when batteries are charged. I could run a long thin pair of wires to place the Solar Panel against a milk crate with some rocks added, and move it with the Sun. Then I bought a second panel added it and charged faster. I sold the 25 foot Airstream and gave them one panel and now have Solar on the Roof of the Oliver and the Airstream. Easier for sure... but the Costco panels I have two left and if I need them in the future... repeat what I did previously. My rooftop Solar Panels provide us with all the 12 volt power we need. If they do not keep up with our simple needs for minimal power... add a panel, lean it against a Milk Crate and back in business. If anyone is curious I will try to find some photographs of our Portable Solar System for $100 and double it for $200. Better than the Honda that came with the Oliver that we never use. No Air Conditioning or TV while Off the Grid Boondocking. If you NEED Air Conditioning and Television... look into an expensive Generator that needs to be hauled around with gasoline. Been doing our own Solar since 2006. I am a Neanderthal, but common sense and two thin wires was MAGIC to ME. You may want to explain how you managed to ADD portable Solar for the price of a roll of wire and some wire connectors and go Human Bean. Like me.

As a safety check as you contact Oliver. There have been a few of those under the dinette transfer switches that failed due to loose wiring connections inside and had thus melted internal wiring. Transfer relay wires can wiggle loose and cause the switch to toggle back and forth when power is applied. To check, you would need to disconnect from shore power and generator, then open the transfer switch box to check if its connections are tight and no smoked wiring.

You should have a breaker for the inverter under the street side bed on the wheel well, looks like this. Some suggestions... 1) Did you check if the ground bonding plug is seated properly in your generator? 2) Are you running your 3500W generator on gas or propane. Because it generates only approx. 2800 continuous running watts on propane, which at 120V is approx. 23A, which should still be enough power to run your trailer without changing the Xantrex settings. Try changing the Xantrex AC input settings from the factory 25A to 20A, that would be #28 setting in the Xantrex "FXC Control" app. This setting is set to 25A at the facory because the breaker size for the inverter is 25A and the main power supply is 30A which is greater than the breaker size. When you connect to a generator or house receptical that supplies a lower amps, you need to adjust setting #28 down to match the current incoming power supply. Your smaller generator could have messed it up. 3) Like @topgun2 suggested, take a rubber mallet and tap the transfer switch box 4) If you trust your generator turn off the EMS and see if it works.

A couple more things to try - 1. have you simply shut everything off, unplugged the generator from the Ollie and waited at least 5 minutes to give all systems a chance to reset? 2. If it is the transfer switch (I doubt this because you've now had the same problem with both the front and side transfer switches on your Ollie) and you have a rubber mallet then you can hit (tap) the transfer switch box. This will help the springs inside the switch snap back into place if they are "stuck".

After some thought of how little we used our 3200i generator in the cargo tray on our last 42 day trip out west, we decided to move forward with a custom all aluminum cargo/storage box from Sea Biscuit metal fabrication shop. My wife and I took a 3 hr drive up to Johnson City, Tenn and visited the Sea Biscuit metal fabrication shop. We met David and Kristine Hess the owners. Some of the nicest folks you will ever meet, and they are campers as well. After seeing the high quality of the Oliver storage boxes that David and his team craft we decided to purchase one. The fit and finish is excellent. We like supporting small companies and their products made right here in the USA 🇺🇸. We know we will get a lot more use from our cargo box each time we set up camp. It has lots of room for all things for initial set up. Our gen will be secured in the truck bed. I custom ordered and installed the XPLOR metallic silver graphics from https://lettering.com/ another excellent customer service experience. Had a buddy of mine install XPEL PPF on the front and sides of the box as it sits in the road rash blast zone. For questions on custom boxes and pricing reach out to -https://seabiscuitmetaldesigns.com/product/oliver-box/ a few photos - PPF - I bought and trimmed a fatigue mat to fit from HF to line the shelf and bottom. Added graphics- Moose rack holds our cables off the ground. Plenty of storage for all initial set up gear- XPLOR graphics installed-

My original battery setup was four 6 volt batteries. When I changed my batteries to 3 Battle Born 12 volt batteries several years ago, I basically connected the batteries in parallel in order to maintain 12 volts and provide 300 amps. I did have to make two new jumper cables between batteries using 4/0 welding cable. I also used the existing 4/0 Oliver installed cable that runs between the batteries and inside the camper. I also moved the #6 cables from the batteries to inside the camper to clean up the battery box, but this is not at all necessary for changing from lead acid batteries to lithium batteries. The only other change required (besides the previously mentioned Blue Sky setup) is to make sure the PD 4045 (shore power) charger is either switched to the lithium setting or as I had to do, replaced with a charger module that is lithium capable. My setup has been working flawlessly for about four years. I almost never turn on the PD4045 charger and depend on the solar setup to keep the batteries charged. We have a compressor type fridge which is used 24/7 and the batteries are able to keep up just fine. We are careful with power consumption but use what we need. Typically when boondocking we still make coffee every morning, cook breakfast in an electric frying pan, my wife dries her hair in the morning, we watch tv at night, occasionally use the microwave, charge cell phones and laptops occasionally, and in the winter the furnace is used. Again, we are careful with our power consumption so the above list of appliances used varies greatly based on current conditions and predicted conditions. Typically while traveling in the winter in the south west the batteries are fully charged by between noon and one o’clock. I carry a 100 watt folding solar panel and a small propane powered generator just in case and have used these once or twice due to extended overcast days.

Once I got to it, the job was only about 2 hours total. If yours has the front power receptacle for a generator, then you should have the PD5100 Automatic Transfer Switch right where mine is under the rear dinette seat. But either way, you want to cut the main line going into the PD4000 Power Control Center. It's easy to see, on mine it looped down to the floor. You can cut it in half (at the floor) to be safe and trim some excess when you get the EMS box in position. @ScubaRx yep, it has a bright RED display that constantly changes every few seconds. Why does OTT put these in the attic? It's a long walk around to get up there after plugging into shore power, which is the only time you really need to check it. I would think you could see the flashing red during the night, and more so for those that have the frosted glass cabinet doors. You could easily move the attic display to where I have mine or another location. An easy way to do this is to merely remove the new display (two screws), purchase a new data cable (looks like a phone cord) and run it from the EMS to a preferred location. Just leave the old cable where it was, or you could pull it down from the attic to the rear trunk area and reuse it (if so, tape the head of the cable so it doesn't get wrecked from pulling it).

@DonnaDuane here is a list of the EMS codes, looks like open ground! this box should be under your rear dinette. Check out this thread, sounds like (might be) your ground bonding plug is faulty, so either get a replacement neutral ground bonding plug, or turn off the EMS and trust the generator. IF it’s a faulty ground bonding plug, a replacement bonding plug is not that expensive, that would be my go to. Stupid question, did you check if the ground bonding plug is seated properly in your generator?

Yes. Using front generator/shore power hook up. Excuse my ignorance but where is the EMS display? When I look in the compartment there’s a little box with a led display and a switch. I’ve tried flipping the switch but nothing changed. The usual click when the system switches from battery to AC didn’t happen.

I wanted to see if you are still happy with this box since install? We need one to contain set-up stuff only as we keep our larger generator in the truck bed.

More dumb questions! I'm a novice. So I have the legacy II, 2020. I put 4 new interstates in it. Now that I am back in my barn and plugged in to shore power. everything is working! A/C, batteries got restored, outlets working gfi ,yes! So I think my portable Generator 30 amp plug was not working? battery drained after 2 days . here is my questions. Do the outlets in the RV work on battery power only? I thought so, and That may have been my first misdirection... Do I have an Invertor? What is the Black box mounted on the inside compartment under the table? Looks like an invertor.

I mounted a piece of square aluminum tubing (1" x 3" x 12") under the front inspired by @mountainoliver and then I added a strip on aluminum on the inside back for additional rigidity. I don't think I needed that as they welded nice aluminum angle brackets along the front and back. I will NOT be carrying a generator in this box, it is primarily for our camping needs. I just have an issue putting things that are wet or dirty in the basement so close to the sleeping area although I try to clean them as much as possible before putting them in there. BL

I take pics of things I have trouble seeing, and after crawling on the floor to get to the fuse panel, I took a pic for future reference (attached). Yours may have a different layout, but on mine it's the 20A DC fuse #3 that feeds both fans. It actually doesn't matter whether solar, generator or shore power is connected, the DC branch circuits feed off the batteries. Pulling this fuse will remove "all energy" to the fans, no matter what incoming power feeds are connected. This is true of all fuses and breakers, whether it's an automotive DC fuse box, and AC panel in your home or an RV which has the combined AC/DC panel. The only power getting to this fan is through this 12V fused circuit. The only reason to throw a main switch is to disconnect all power, coming from the batteries and any connected sources. This would only be necessary if you need to replace the power panel, add a new run for an appliance, wire a new breaker, or other major electrical surgery!

True, no matter what brand or single/dual/tri fuel genset you buy. Plus, most of the old school "contactor " type generators have a total harmonic distortion so high that it can kill electronics and circuit boards. Something to check on any cheaper brand you look into. Under 5 per cent is most like clean household power supply. A friend of mine lost power for a day awhile ago, and I loaned him my Honda to run his fridge, on an extension cord, so he wouldn't lose his food. Now he wants a bigger generator for backup. He saw a cheap big open frame contractor type genset at a big box store, and sent me a photo. My response: Not only would his neighbors hate him, because of the noise, but THD was up to 25 per cent (of course not listed in specifications. ) He's going to keep looking, naturally. Most inverter gensets, even many of the cheap ones, like my spare Westinghouse, have decent decibel ratings, and decent thd ratings. If they don't, give a pass.

The trip that we just returned from last night was a month long road test to make sure that the box was weatherproof before I put the generator in. So as requested, I put the generator in the box this morning. The nylon strap that KSH supplied seems more than sufficient to hold the generator solidly in place. The original strap anchors that were welded inside the box may not have been sufficiently strong enough to hold the generator. I removed them because they were in the way of using the original Oliver supplied basket anchoring u bolts. If I were to buy this box again, I’d ask that the welded in strap anchors not be used. There is enough space for my extension cords and rope lights (pack rat deterrent) as well. I draped a piece of indoor/outdoor carpet over the generator to prevent any damage from the cords, etc. I’m very pleased with the results! The extra plus is that the generator box is about six inches narrower (front to back) and eight inches total narrower (side to side). This gives me a little tighter turning radius and a little less worry while backing up. I’m also saving about 15-18 pounds on the tongue. I would have liked to use a “store bought” triangular shaped aluminum tongue box but I never could find one of reasonable size that my generator could fit into.

The KSH folks provide a cam lock nylon strap for securing the generator. Looking at the photo of the u bolt inside the box, notice a 1/4 gap under the u bolt. I plan on running the straps under the u bolts and over the generator. I’ll probably also line the box with some sort of rubber to further protect the generator just in case.

@mountainoliver I like the way you secured the aluminum box to the Oliver frame it appears very robust vs self tapping screws. How do you plan to secure your generator when in use? Can you post up a few photos of your gen inside the box when not in use? Thanks! Patriot🇺🇸

I purchased a generator box from the KSH folks while we were in Lake Havasu this past winter. I particularly wanted a box for my Honda 2000 generator. For the past five years I’ve kept the generator in the Oliver basket (the older expanded aluminum version which weighed 35 pounds empty) and covered with truckers tarp material. This has worked great but the tarp has aged and would have had to be replaced in another year or so. The stock KHS box has three openings covered with removable aluminum plates so that the generator can be used inside the box. This setup is not at all water resistant and I’m not interested in using the generator so close to my trailer. I ended up getting them to make a box without the three cutouts. The box came with two hold down brackets welded in place which I removed because they were exactly in my way where I needed to mount the box. I was able to use the existing holes in the fiberglass cowling and the original stainless u bolts. The back part of the box is mounted to a 1/4 inch thick by 6 inch wide aluminum plate. The front is mounted to a 1/8 wall 1 inch by 3 inch rectangle aluminum tube. This allows the box to be level. I made two 1/4 inch aluminum spacers for the u bolts to clamp against for inside of the box. The u bolts can also be used to strap down the generator inside the box. I made two 3/8 thick by 1 1/2 inch wide brackets for under the frame. As you can see in the photos, the front bracket was made so that I can hang the safety chains on it as well.

This is one that I puchased a couple of years ago. Works great. I think that it's a bit louder than advertised and it's not a lightweight! I use it with propane fuel. I am going to build a collapsible box with sound deadening material to fit around it for use on the road. I bought it on sale at Costco for $599.00 Dual Fuel Inverter Portable Generator 4000W Electric Start with CO ALE – FIRMAN Power Equipment

Here if you want a “custom” gen box- https://kshmarine.com/custom-generator-boxes/

I like your heat gun idea better than the Rubbermaid box or tire tube mod. My goal is to keep the dust out of the generator so minimal dust entry points is a good idea. It would also hide the precious cargo from not nice eyes looking to finance their habits. Wonder what the fume ignition hazard is in the box or in our enclosed beds? GJ

Coincidentally I did search the internet for Honda generator storage box ideas and some ideas did pop up from the AirForum 🙂. Same idea with an Action Packer but this solution used a heat gun to deform the inner lid area of the Action Packer to get rid of the interference. A lot of other similar posts with various large plastic bins, usually with a cutout in the lid for the handle. And the Action Packer doesn’t take up much more space than the generator and Rotopax gas container separately. I have the short bed F-250 and we don’t pack light either 🙂. I already use several of the Action Packers for other gear, they are great for maximizing the use of the storage volume under the bed cover and keeping everything organized and accessible when needed.

Your AFA chocks are nice. $50 for four. I like the design and think the price is reasonable due to the extra material and forming costs it would entail. We carry in the front box of Ollie: Four of the below Harbor Freights (at $32 for four) A milk crate box of blocking 2 1/2 gallons of generator fuel Plus some other miscellaneous "stuff" The above fits nicely with room to spare. It is possible that the larger AFA's could as well, but it would be a tight fit.