Disconnecting Tow Vehicle charging circuit to the Ollie?

[routlaw]

With new truck and new Lithium battery trying to figure out a way of disconnecting the charging circuit from the TV. I don't have an electrical schematic for our #70 Ollie and since Ford has been no help in determining what if any fuses are associated with this task figured I might as well tackle this from the receiving end of things.

The question then, how does one determine what wire (color) and where to make this disconnect within the trailer? Presumably the wire in question would be terminated in the breaker panel box but nothing is labeled accordingly on my unit. Or does the TV charge wire go straight to the solar charge controller? I wouldn't think so but does't hurt to ask.

Thanks

[Mike and Carol]

I bent the charging wire on the trailer plug back when we installed the Battle Born lithiums.  There are a bunch of diagrams available, just google 7 pin trailer wiring and you’ll get a lot of hits.  The cover comes off the plug pretty easily, bend the wire back and put it back on.   Here’s one from e-trailer.  Some diagrams number each wire.

 

[jd1923]

2 hours ago, routlaw said:

The question then, how does one determine what wire (color) and where to make this disconnect within the trailer?

Perhaps easier than disconnecting at the harness would be to disconnect it from your positive bus, likely under the streetside bed.

It will be the black wire in the photo where you see the screw unscrewed and disconnected left side of the photo. Tape it up and tie it up somewhere off the floor. I used heat shrink to cover it and wire-tied it to a cable.

I would first test for power at the trailer harness (black to white wire or ground) and after disconnecting check again to see that you got the correct wire and that there is no longer power at the harness.

 

Edited Thursday at 06:26 PM by jd1923

[routlaw]

Interesting @jd1923 as I cannot find a bus bar that looks anything like that. The only bus bar I have found other than the ones in the breaker panel have all yellow wires running to them. Nothing at all with black wires, especially ones with inline fuses. 

Is your picture upside down? 

[rideandfly]

Another way, disconnected the wire connected to the Aux 12V power pin in the trailer’s plug in Mike’s 7 pin diagram. The wire connected to the Aux 12V power pin on my Ollie was black, but highly recommend testing with a  Volt meter to be sure it’s the 12V hot before disconnecting. I used electrical tape to prevent hot wire from contacting other pins or if you have heat shrink, it makes a nice job.

 

 

Edited Thursday at 08:36 PM by rideandfly

[routlaw]

Thanks for the tip @Mike and Carol good idea however I approached a bit different. Like you said easy enough to get the boot off the wiring harness. Turns out I had several corroded connections once inside the plug. Cleaned those, then unscrewed the black terminal wire from its connection, put a wire nut on black wire,  bent it backwards into the boot which should take care of the situation. 

More than one way to skin a cat.

 

[routlaw]

4 minutes ago, rideandfly said:

Another way, disconnected the wire connected to the Aux 12V power pin in the trailer’s plug in Mike’s 7 pin diagram. The wire connected to the Aux 12V power pin on my Ollie was black, but highly recommend testing with a  Volt meter to be sure it’s the 12V hot before disconnecting. I used electrical tape to prevent hot wire from contacting other pins or if you have heat shrink, it makes a nice job.

 

 

Thanks, this is exactly what I just did, except for using a wire nut. Worked great. Didn't check with voltmeter but all is working perfectly. Typically ground is white and hot or + is either black or red and polar opposites within the circle of contacts. 

 

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, routlaw said:

Interesting @jd1923 as I cannot find a bus bar that looks anything like that.

Yes, interesting that every era of Oliver is different. Either method is good as well as the wire you disconnect is well insulated. Keep in mind the wire is hot unless you disconnect it at both sides. I kept mine connected at the harness in case of some future need.

[routlaw]

Got it, now if I could only find the other end, would also disconnect it too. Still like the idea of removing fuses from the TV though, the simplest and cleanest of all the disconnects to my way of thinking. 

[Tony and Rhonda]

I hope I'm not hijacking this thread but I am also trying to find the TV charge wire. Our 2017 does have a busbar similar to the photo @jd1923 posted but only the 3 fused wires are connected. I can't find any loose wires in the basement either. Is this the positive busbar?

I checked the wiring diagram in our manual and it shows the charging wire connected directly from TV to battery (with a 40amp in-line fuse). I'll hook up our TV and check the wires connected to the + side of the battery. Please correct me if I'm wrong, I'll also have to cover the solar panels (no cut off switch yet) and disconnect the - battery side too.

Very slow going here due to a heat wave for the last 2-3 weeks....

[jd1923]

4 hours ago, Tony and Rhonda said:

I hope I'm not hijacking this thread but I am also trying to find the TV charge wire.

Certainly no hijack, this is the named subject!

Yes, that's a positive busbar. The 3 yellow 30A fuses provide power to your hitch jack and two stabilizer jacks. Hard to know where your hitch B+ aux wire may be. You can always use Mike's method, disconnect it up front, no more need to be looking.

Now, my hijack... 🤣

Just LOVE seeing where OTT installed the display for your Progressive Industries EMS. At least you have one! Our hull came without one, so I installed the same model myself.

It was good of OTT to make you lift the streetside bed to read the display (assuming the location of your picture). Now they put them up in the attic. Not quite as bad, but still crazy since it's a long hike up inside the Oliver after connecting shore power. You could fry a whole bunch of wire and accessories while you get up there to read possible error codes! Don't worry reading the display, the PI EMS will protect you!

I installed our display inside the Oliver "trunk" right where we store our shore power cable. Plug into shore power and read the display immediately without going anywhere, simple as that!

What would it be like to be inside the head of the average OTT installer through the years? Must be like some kind of bipolar disorder! Let's do it this way on this hull! Let's make it better (or worse) on the next hull! Changed my mind again, OMG! 🤣

It's almost too late now but perhaps OTT needs to hire someone with military training or real manufacturing engineering experience. Somebody needs to be in a position of power that truly understands the concept of continuous improvement or simply the meaning of the term SOP!

Edited yesterday at 06:31 PM by jd1923

[tallmandan]

6 hours ago, Tony and Rhonda said:

I am also trying to find the TV charge wire.

I'm not sure if this will help as I don't know if a 2017 trailer was wired the same way as my 2020 trailer.  I disconnected my charge wire when I upgraded to lithium batteries a few months ago. Mine did not have a bus bar.  I couldn't find anything under the seats or bed.

Inside the bathroom access panel under the sink I found that my 7-pin cable entered a standard galvanized steel junction box containing all of the connectors.  Each was connected with a Wago lever connector and then wrapped with electrical tape to safeguard the lever coming undone from vibration.

I just found the black charging wire, unwrapped the tape and lifted the lever on the connector to pull the wire.  I capped it, taped it and then put everything else back together.  Oliver's electrical connection design was less than elegant but it made for an easy disconnect once I found the junction box.

[Tony and Rhonda]

@jd1923 The inside of the outside storage area (trunk?) seems a better location. Looks to me like it's just 2 screws and the flat cable to the display. If I have enough slack cable I may move the PI EMS display at your suggestion.

Thanks, Tony

[jd1923]

26 minutes ago, Tony and Rhonda said:

@jd1923 The inside of the outside storage area (trunk?) seems a better location. Looks to me like it's just 2 screws and the flat cable to the display. If I have enough slack cable I may move the PI EMS display at your suggestion.

Thanks, Tony

Yes Tony, I like the term Oliver Trunk! And you have all the length you need in the connector cable to move the display anywhere in the Oliver!

This is how I did mine. I used 3M VHB 4950 to tape the display to a 3" wide L-bracket that could be screwed down to the base. The small bracket in front is there to somewhat protect the display from getting hit by the shore power cord, hoses and other stuff during transit. 

You could also mount it on the top of the wall, left in the picture. But for me, I have an exhaust fan and control panel mounted up there to keep our inverter/charger cooled. I picked this location because after I remove the shore power cord, I can see it leaning down a little without craning my neck. I check all readings and possible error messages immediately after plugging in, hoping to see about 125V, at 60Hz and "E0" (no errors).