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That's what even the simplest testers will show, reversed or open grounds, reversed polarity, or even wired correctly. The Progressive unit shows voltage and the other function, all before you plug in your unit. The nice thing is, if you 'fry' it, it has an unlimited lifetime warranty. And the turn around time is really quick. We do have pretty good negotiation skills, especially when it comes to $$$ and paid for services. Believe me my cost for the trip were negligible. We did try to educate the staff. We showed him other sites wired correctly, some with reversed polarity. We wanted to correct for them, but they would not let me crack the box. They said they would take care of it, but we question that. They have enough traffic coming in to LLRetail, that they are able to resell the lot if someone leaves. What they don't know is that I live close by and by nature will protect my fellow campers. Also my phone still has the state inspectors number in it. But the question remains, what is the danger to the camper? Are there circuit boards that could be compromised? Other than just normal protect the owner from themselves stuff?

I had a campground manager say the same thing to me once, so I showed him and told him what the problem was. We opened the box, reversed the wires back to their correct position, so nobody could get shocked, and then he gave me the site for free. The problem with not using your surge protector at all times in an RV park is that they can have varying voltages going on depending on if their system isn't strong enough to hold up all of the different loads happening at the same time, while causing brown outs. Not getting enough voltage or not knowing that your trailer is safe is a huge issue. So the problem isn't really knowing that wires can be frying because they have a faulty system, to me the real problem is that when you take the surge protector out of the system, you are taking your trailers first line of protection out of the loop... And the real problems are going to be from problems at the park itself, not yours. The external units will burn themselves out to open the circuit if necessary to save your trailer from anything, you still need to buy a new surge protector but your trailer is safe. Basically, you can plug in unprotected at any RV park and most will be safe, but if the person isn't willing to take care of the problem when it is brought to his attention, then you have an attendant that doesn't care one bit about your trailer. Lots of accidents happen at RV parks with faulty electricity, most of the time it's just going to fry some wires or circuit boards because of low voltage brown outs. Personally, I won't plug in or pay an RV park that doesn't take care of its problems, but honestly, the choice is yours because what could happen is total loss of the trailer, but that is unlikely. Every other trailer comes into the equation also when you run unprotected, if they plug in with a faulty adapter or bad wiring right next to you then your trailer can become the end result of their problem. As far as your concerned is if it was raining with an open ground and you stepped out into a puddle, you become the surge protector and if you have a pacemaker then will it take the surge? Not always... Next time take him out and show him the difference between a properly wired plug in and the bad one. I simply rewired their circuit properly because the person that had worked on it the week before didn't realise that wires had been reversed at the main pannel. Reed

There's a really good thread on ExPo right now about connecting LFP batteries to your vehicle's charging system, specifically Battle Born batteries. Lots of good technical info is being posted from both ExPo peeps and Battle Born themselves about their batteries. By the way, we did a test fit of the BBs in the Ollie's battery tray when I was over there last Friday. It's a snug fit but you can get 4 in the box without too much difficulty. The only issue was the screws that hold the strike plate for the door would need to be countersunk. That, or I can grind off the plastic strap keepers on one side of the batteries, which I'll probably do anyway just so they lie flat.

Our Aunt had one that she couldn't figure out, so she gave it to us last month and it has now become the main burner inside Goldilocks. Karen cooks breakfast on it every morning and it works with our Magma pans and scanpan ctq. She bought pans in the beginning to use with induction and cast iron works as well. We went from using the gas to using induction only inside for many reasons, the speed, the inside temp stays the same, the gas gets used for the water heater only and that has been a big savings rolling out to filling a tank once a month. It runs fine off of the generator or the batteries but mostly this fall we've been plugged into 120vac and it works great. We may switch our gas stove out to a good induction cook top because this gas stove has some size issues and mostly for the other meals we are always using the Cobb Grill for everything from making bread and pizza to barbecuing vegetables and beef or even gator steaks and burgers. The induction cook top and the Cobb Grill really give you the best of the best in our opinion when it comes to cooking from the trailer. Reed

I like those but they might be a little fragile, they have a very small hinge pin that all the weight would hang from, plus they use teeny number 6 screws and require a big hole in the roof. Here’s the other end of the spectrum. These are strong enough for motorcycle tie downs. I plan to order one of their track systems for my generator tray, but theses stand alone ones would work here. The bases are roundly contoured and fairly low when the rings are removed. https://www.youtube.com/embed/IpxxKyLNfpg?autoplay=1&rel=0&wmode=transparent It would be pretty easy to manuever the backing plates into position above the ceiling since the nuts are captive. I think! http://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/product/versatie-anchor-plate-assembly-4-pack/D-Rings BTW I hang stuff outside in good weather, but there are some places that forbid that, and sometimes the weather does not cooperate. John Davies Spokane WA

They moved it back behind the battery box, under the bed.

The easy start should work great out west. I was worried the decrease in output due to high altitude would be a problem for the honda 2000. I tested it at 8400 feet and it worked easily, starting the air conditioner without any noticeable strain. I did have the modification done to the generator for operating at above 5000 feet. After seeing how easily it worked I am not sure that is necessary. Yvonne

I love the idea of combining a western-state Ollie rally with this tank modification. I think it is important for us to keep up asking Oliver how and when the fix of this issue will be handled. I'm supposing that current owners comprise one of the most powerful promotional tools in the company's tool box. One they don't want to lose.

It is one of the options that we got on ours. 28x21. Plan to bolt and carry our generator there. -Angela

Thanks Pete and you too, Bosker. I've seriously considered upgrading to a Tacoma Double Cab LB for my TV and daily driver. My 4Runner, as you know, is body-on-frame and has the same drive-train as your Taco. I just like pickups for towing, because they have room for incidentals like my trike and a Honda generator. It's a handy place to keep leveling blocks too. It sounds like for our travel envelope the Oliver is about ideal. I'd probably start out towing with my 4Runner and then upgrade, if I feel like I need to. If I decide to stay with an SUV, I may consider a VW Toureg TDI. Folks are reporting some pretty remarkable fuel mileage with those. But my 'Runner only has 100k miles, so it's just now getting broken in. ;-) Besides, the paint matches. LOL

I got two 10 foot hoses off Amazon. I usually can set up so I only need to use one for my Q1000 grill, but have used both on occasion. Unless you’re going to grill or run a generator you don’t need anything for pick up. Mike

I ordered my 2015 Elite II (now sold) without solar or inverter thinking I would DIY my own to save money. It proved too large and technical a project for me so I left #64 with the factory to have the full monte installed. They did a terrific job. 320 Watts, 2000 watt inverter, Blue sky, etc. The system performed flawlessly. September of 2016 we bought a 28' Airstream and sold the Ollie to snowlakemike. The Airstream had no solar, little battery, nothing... so I hired my local solar company to install 500 watts of Renogy panels, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter with Blue Sky controller and IPN remote. I added 2 Crown AGM batteries plus 2 Trojan wet cell batteries I had in reserve. (Yes you can mix batteries. Just don't cook the AGMs) Again I am happy with my solar setup. I say all this so you will know that I am a fan of solar, but if I had it to do again I would skip the panels and invest that money in some Lithium batteries . I hear good things about the Battle Born brand.. My Honda 2000i running on propane, on Economy mode will fully charge my batteries in no time at all. It will also run my 15000 BTU AC with the Easy Start computer. The Magnum inverter is also a smart charger and allows me to select the amount of charge amps it calls for. I keep this at 30 when on shore power, but drop down to 7 for generator. This places a very small load on the Honda while charging my batteries quickly and quietly. The OP already has the Honda. Try camping without solar for a while...you can always add the panels in the future. By the way. I have 5000 watts of PV on my home and sell about $100.00 a month to Gulf Power. Solar does have its place.

The Honda 2000 watt generator will run your a/c when used in conjunction with the easy start run capacitor. The on board converter controls the electrical useage through the shore power connection. I guess I'm the sole dissenter on the use of the zamp solar system, I do wish that oliver had installed a separate battery monitor with the system, but overall I'm happy with the setup. I don't have anywhere near the experience as other posters on this forum, but I go with the k.i.s.s. System for electronics especially. The longest we have boon docked has been 8 consecutive days and our zamp system brought our batteries up to full every day, we're pretty conservative on our energy usage, but we use the microwave, run a electric toaster, and my wife uses her hair dryer( not all at the same time or necessarily in the same day) hope this helps with your decision.

Thanks for the information....very helpful. While I seem to be tapped into electrical experts (not my strong point) let me ask another power question or two.... I have a couple Honda 2000 inverter generators mainly to run a/c but hope to be able to use only one with Ollie and the soft start capacitor added to the a/c. Does that work as advertised? What controls whether the electrical demand is satisfied via shore power (if plugged in), on board inverter or generator? I am not clear how it all works together.

!!All right then!! Good idea to get access through the tank gauge opening. Note to Oliver: As far as I know, the National Electric Code requires access to all connections. It also requires that a switch or receptacle needs enough extra wire to be pulled out of its box at least 6" for maintenance or repair/replacement. There should be an access port inside the hidden compartment and don't skimp on your wire! Glad you're up and running again! Dave

Success at last! For those interested and for anyone who runs across the same issue here goes. The fast tab connectors had indeed come loose from the pump switch located under the pantry. I removed the 4 screws holding the backing plate for the battery, water, gray water & black water gauge which provided just enough light and access but only if you have very small hands. Effectively when the Oliver crew terminated these wires to the switch they provide absolutely no slack at all, and in fact those wires were pulled quite tight and in the large harness with a bunch of other wires. The weight of the harness with tight wires pulled them from their connections. I re-terminated all three of the double pole switch wires with two foot long extensions of 12 AWG wiring. Tested the system before reinstalling the entire enchilada and it all worked fine. Hopefully no one else has to go through this because it is a major PITA to accomplish. I did not have to drill any holes either in the battery box or hidden compartment either, however it would have provided far better access to do so from the compartment. As Dave pointed out one can wiggle the switch out of its socket with a putty knife and flat head screw driver, but start with the putty knife first. The bathroom switch comes out much easier just wiggling and pulling with your fingers. And oddly enough they provided plenty of slack with the bathroom switch. I'm attaching a few relevant photos for future reference. Hope this helps. The first image is provides the size of the cut out hole once the plate is removed for the battery, water etc gauge. Its small, the second image shows correct wiring for the switch, note the purple wire is always in the middle, and the gray & brown wire to the outside terminals. It matters not which terminal the gray and brown wires are attached to, same for the bath switch which is the 3rd image.

Hello to all, Please forgive me for not being sure whether I should continue about batteries under the solar thread. I have had a question for a very long time and maybe somebody could answer. Since the battery box is sooo small, would it be possible and is it advisable to move the batteries, install long red and black cables, and locate the batteries on the tongue's generator metal basket? My hesitation if it can even be done is that the batteries would be close to the propane tanks. I am still in the hoping for AGM batteries mood. Locating the batteries in the generator basket would allow me more flexibility on having 3 larger batteries. I appreciate pros and cons, yeas or neas. The knowledge shared on this forum and the other fiberglass trailer forums is wonderful. Thanks for your help. Jam49

Sherry, apologies for not answering sooner. Look at my posting " Custom Made Mattresses" . I had the mattresses made specifically for the Elite. I went to the mattress factory in North Carolina and they took measurements of my 2016 Elite. They custom made the mattresses. I use queen sized fitted mattress sheets. I use single size on the dinette/bed. the post I did gives you much more details. I am curious. Are you saying you have two SOLAR 100 watt panels? Are they mounted on the trailer roof or stand alone? I am in the process of obtaining a generator for backup. I have about 10k and look forward to having 100k on mine. If I can answer more questions for you, please feel free to PM me.

Tongue weight was 448 with nothing in the truck bed. The composite Propane tanks did shave off some weight. Also, I did not have my Honda EU2000 generator or alternatively my Yeti cooler on the front cargo rack either. I'll work on the Dune Jump video for you :)

I would imagine that they are all built for the lowest common denominator, that being wet cells that need to breath, and while AGMs don't require it even they can have an issue. It's easier to add a couple layers of reflectix if desired, than to drill those holes and add those little screens they put in, in case someone decides they really want to install wet cells. My trailer has the double insulation completely surrounding the battery box between the hulls, so has no more heat loss than any other part of the hull. If I knew I we're going lithium, I suppose I would request it be closed off and insulated with holes to the inside for hull heat to keep them as warm as possible when needed (requested part of build I mean)

I don't think I've got that in my rear cabinet, can't remember ever seeing any circuit breakers there but will look again. To the best of my knowledge all circuit breakers are in the same fuse box mentioned previously.

Spike, This article will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about fuses. The ones in our Oliver's are like the ones shown as ATO (regular) but you will probably find them as ATC fuses. The difference being that the ATC has a fuse element that is closed (hence the “C” in the code) inside the plastic housing, sealing it from the environment to prevent corrosion from developing. The ATO fuse is open on the bottom, exposing the fuse element between the blades. You will need some 10 amp, 15 amp and 20 amp ones. The jacks in the rear are now being wired with fuses that are inline near each jack (like the outside front jack) rather than being fused at the box. They require 30 amp AG (all glass) slow blow fuses. I would keep a few of these on hand also.

This is all very cool Reed, I cannot wait to do this, but there is still the issue of the special tool for installing the fitting. Any comments about that? I suppose I could just buy one and rent it to Ollie owners for a few bucks.... shipping charges should be minimal since it probably would fit in a small USPS flat rate box. Though I think the factory should step in here. John Davies Spokane WA

I started editing the video tonight and I will make one of the spin weld itself also, it really was way too simple :) Today we had probably 40 people come over and go thru and ask questions about our Oliver. Karen is really happy now that the water issue is fixed and she was right back in her element today happily answering all of the questions about the inside of the trailer, while I had a crowd of guys around the outside going thru everything about the sewer set up and storage, the 4 batteries, the Trojan Hydrolink system, the Blaylock Ez-Leveler, the Dexter Easy Flex, the back up camera and back up lights, the Truma AquaGo water heater, my tool box and outside shower and last but not least, the Zamp solar that I will be changing out soon. It was a good day :) My only issue is that we have now been plugged in to a normal 30amp service for 4 days and I'm still watching the Zamp system struggle thru out the day to switch over to float mode. It sits between 13.3 - 13.6 with the batteries plugged in and fully charged,yet never goes into float... So I'm thinking that the Zamp system may have some other issues going on. I've seen it hit 14.1vdc once in the last few days in full sun and it has not kicked over to float at all that I have seen... The panels are spotlessly clean along with the rest of the trailer and car, so that's not the problem. Open house in our loop was from 1pm to 3pm and we had people here at our trailer until around 4pm, so it was a full afternoon and a great showing and this morning I pulled open the grey water drain valve, went in and took my first Endless Shower in a long time with full hook ups. I was in there Ooing and Aawing for half an hour with super hot water flowing at 62psi the whole time. I do love my Valtera adjustable water pressure regulator. The pump itself it set at 55psi, so I kick it up just a touch myself to 62psi because the pex lines are rated up to 130psi, so it makes for a killer shower with the Truma AquaGo :) Reed

Swap a known good fuse to see if that fixes it. Check to make sure the fuse is straight into the clips, and not loose or canted. I found the fridge fuse not making a connection because the two socket arms or prongs, that the fuse plugs into, were spread apart, probably from an amateur installation, not mine. It killed power to the fridge control panel so it would not function at all. If the arms are loose you can carefully squeeze them together with small needle nose pliers. Leave room for the fuse to go in. Be careful to not short anything out! You could wrap the ends with electrical tape, pray, or even disconnect your batteries. Your choice. I used bare pliers and did not create sparks. Check all the other fuses to see if they wiggle or if they are simply loose. Tighten all as needed. This is not what you would call a high quality fuse box, not like in a well built car. Now add fuses to your shopping list, and keep them handy in a spares kit. Be sure to buy ones for the jacks. John adavies Spokane WA