True Induction Stove Top will not turn on

[DanielBoondock]

12 hours ago, jd1923 said:

It's rated at 1800W which is listed on the Amazon title and on the product label underneath. Wattage spec should also be listed in product literature and user manuals.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KSNTSVR/?th=1

Great minds think alike - I have this one for cooking outside

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G9YKPQC

Stainless is nice but most is I like that its fine if it rains, don’t ask me how I know. Also it’s got .5 increments so is finer grained control than the interior stove 

Quote

 

I do not get this statement either, "the stove itself." How can an appliance possibly know what it's wired to, or know whether you're on inverter or shore power?

We run our induction cooktop often at the full #10 setting, for example to boil water for pasta. Everything always on our Victron Multiplus II, no problem. 😎

 

Hm? Not sure what you mean either … I’m just saying that the cooktops have a specified input power they can spend however they want. For the home Bosch the electrician used the wire gauge and breaker size required for installation and obviously same here. So the induction is sized to that, but they can use that power however it wants. The Bosch has a boost mode which is super crazy fast for boiling water, less than a minute for a full pot. I forget how much it is, 6-9kW I think? Anyhow that can only be used with the other burners at a much lower power, so it basically hogs the input. 

The Oliver induction is much the same. I can use the main burner on 10, and the secondary on 1 or 2 IIRC. Or I can use the secondary on 8 (max), and the main on 3. So clearly, 11 is the maximum level (the engineer must have seen Spinal Tap), and the onboard PLC lets you spread that across two burners in this way. Now the burner could be sized bigger, say 2.5 kW, and (without doing the math) say that allows both burners on full. OK fine, but now that would only sell to RV’s with 3k inverters which isn’t as common as 2k. Even on shore power we only have a 30A input which still limits. 

Quote

Everything always on our Victron Multiplus II, no problem.

Don’t know what this means, everybody is limited to 30A on shore, and on battery are limited by the inverter and battery. With my stock dual Lithionics 9kWh batteries and the Xantrex 3k I always have to be mindful of power while cooking. On battery I can do two things at once usually, but no AC. On shore I can do AC and cook, one or two things but still have to be careful. 

From the factory they incorrectly set the low voltage cutoff of the Xantrex at 11.3 IIRC. By accident I found that out, it’s supposed to be 12.1. At the previous value I could easily run two things at once on battery. At the correct 12.1 I have to be much more careful and run more like 1.5 appliances simultaneously. 

Making it more interesting I’ve got 10 kW off my truck if you can believe that. 7kW off the bed power sockets, and I have a ~3kW dongle which goes off the charge port in a ‘reverse power’ configuration. I think it’s using the onboard Level II AC inverter backwards for that. Anyhow this dongle has a TT-30 socket - they must have done it for the campers, so I can plug the trailer into mobile ‘shore power’. But it’s limited to 25A not 30A, so have to be a bit more careful. Buuuuuuut, if it really mattered, I could also go off the bed power (using an adapter for 240V), or just run the outdoor induction off one of the 120V, or whatever. tl/dr …

 

Edited June 5 by DanielBoondock

[Ollie-Haus]

Interesting thread indeed, and it will definitely be interesting to know how Oliver resolves the issue with @Lamar’s cooktop/inverter. It definitely appears that unique design considerations were required with the LE and its more limited power capabilities compared to the LE2 and it’s larger inverter and battery capacity. Depending on the outcome, this experience may initiate design changes for future LE  builds.

Regarding comments by @jd1923 and @DanielBoondock about induction appliances in their Oliver travels, after more than two seasons in our LE2 we definitely prefer induction for all cooking needs. Whether cooking outside or inside, the quickest, cleanest, simplest and in my opinion safest cooking option in an LE2 with large lithium system and 3k inverter is induction. And for us that includes both with utility connections and boondocking disconnected. 
 

Like any electrical system it requires a mind for managing capacity and demand. We actually have two of the induction cooktops @jd1923 mentioned above, and use them simultaneously when needed. The beauty of two separate units is they can be positioned side by side and used like a two burner and not be limited by the settings on the opposite unit. We even have a nice non-stick griddle we place on the dual burner arrangement, with separate controls for each half just like you can on a double burner single unit.

For outside cooking, if we have utilities at the site, one gets plugged into the curbside outlet and the other run off the pedestal via a short 12ga extension cord. My eventual plans are to run a separate circuit from an added breaker in the 120v panel to a plug above the galley to facilitate using both induction units simultaneously without overloading a single circuit, keeping in mind the inverter capacity. Simultaneous use of one hot plate and the hot induction kettle would also become an option. 
 

As mentioned by @DanielBoondock we always must take into consideration any other appliances such as AC, microwave, induction kettle, and the notorious hairdryer!😉 But once you understand the capabilities of the LE2 and its electrical capacities, induction appliances really open up a lot of options. We love the propane system for unlimited and instant hot water and it’s excellent heating capabilities with the furnace, but for us, the convenience of instant and precise cooking with induction is something we’ve learned to love at home, and now very happy to have while traveling. 
 

 

[jd1923]

20 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Everything always on our Victron Multiplus II, no problem. 😎

7 hours ago, DanielBoondock said:

Don’t know what this means, everybody is limited to 30A on shore, and on battery are limited by the inverter and battery. With my stock dual Lithionics 9kWh batteries and the Xantrex 3k I always have to be mindful of power while cooking. On battery I can do two things at once usually, but no AC. On shore I can do AC and cook, one or two things but still have to be careful. 

From the factory they incorrectly set the low voltage cutoff of the Xantrex at 11.3 IIRC. By accident I found that out, it’s supposed to be 12.1. At the previous value I could easily run two things at once on battery. At the correct 12.1 I have to be much more careful and run more like 1.5 appliances simultaneously. 

What I mean is as follows...

We run our appliances on battery/inverter just as we would on shore power. I don't even like to hookup when hookups are available, not pulling out cables and hoses unless truly needed. I'll charge batteries, fill fresh water and dump tanks when leaving a campsite, given we are boondocking next. Often, I do not charge at all since as we drive away we average +40 Ah per hour towing with the Victron Orion 50A DC-DC charger! 😎

Our system can handle running our Chill Cube A/C, plus the induction cooktop at the #10 setting, while watching TV with soundbar, and if I wanted to push the system I could boil water with our 1100W tea kettle! 

Although running ALL of these appliances does add up to 3,000W! The Victron Multiplus II can handle it at default settings. It's rated at 3KVA and can run that in continuous mode. One time, I had our hot water heater running on AC, TV and normal stuff running and forgetting the HWH was heating I turned on the old dog Dometic P2 A/C (TG that beast is gone)! In a few minutes after the Easy Start got done with it's lame on-n-off routine, full power to the compressor, the Victron sounded an alarm!

When I checked the app it was providing over 280A (3400W). But it didn't shut down, it just warned us, and it ran at that level for a few minutes. Looking at the amperage numbers, I remembered I had the HWH on electric (vs. propane). I hit the breaker to turn off the HWH and the Victron alarm stopped sounding. We did not lose our TV streaming, not even a hiccup in Internet connection of any other electrical need. 

Sorry, the Xantrex product will not do this. You can search for keyword 'Xantrex' on this forum to find dozens of posts re Xantrex inverters failing, or at least shutting down, error codes present. Yes, perhaps the default low voltage cutoff is set too high, but that's not all of it.

The Victron MP2 also has the PowerAssist mode where if connected to 15A source, it will use that and add inverted battery power to carry higher loads like an inefficient A/C unit. So consider this. When connected to 30A shore power (3600W) the Victron can pass through that power and add another 3000W for 6600W total. Of course nobody would need that or do that, but you could run 3 of the worse A/C systems, like the Dometic P2 on that power.

We run our Victron inverter 24x7x360! We run 5 Victron devices in the Oliver (MPPT SC, DC-DC, Shunts, etc.) and two more in the truck which can read from the VictronConnect app.

BTW, most of us state battery capacity in Ah units vs KWH. Your batteries are 9KWH (750 Ah)? I thought the max OTT Lithionics installation is 640 Ah. It is standard to use Watts for appliance specs, like the 1800W (150A DC) induction cooktop. I'm always translating into 12VDC Amps since the Victron and Epoch apps show +/- Amps.

[DanielBoondock]

23 minutes ago, jd1923 said:

BTW, most of us state battery capacity in Ah units vs KWH. Your batteries are 9KWH (750 Ah)? I thought the max OTT Lithionics installation is 640 Ah. It is standard to use Watts for appliance specs, like the 1800W (150A DC) induction cooktop. I'm always translating into 12VDC Amps since the Victron and Epoch apps show +/- Amps.

I know - I’m an EV guy so my brain thinks in kWh. I do continue it here since the truck is the main power source off park, so for example “if I’m at 79 SOC (State of Charge) of 220 kWh, then taking 8kWh for the trailer leaves me 169 kWh or 75% of the battery, which is at 1.3 mi/kWh 219 miles which is fine to get back to civilization …

Yeah your right it’s 640 Ah I was misremembering, 7ish or 9ish kWh or something …

[jd1923]

40 minutes ago, DanielBoondock said:

I know - I’m an EV guy so my brain thinks in kWh...

Yeah your right it’s 640 Ah I was misremembering, 7ish or 9ish kWh or something …

You know, I've been worried about RV battery SOC ever since our first in 2018. But the Class A and then the Class C both had generators. I was adamant from day 1 with the Oliver that we would not run a generator. Battery and inverter/charger technology is here! You even got me thinking in a new way that an EV truck can be a proper TV! 😎 (Though no way we could afford one, and the old Dodge now with upgrades including exhaust brake is a joy!)

I pulled out lead acid and a 2KW Xantrex, 2 years ago, and upgraded to the 3KW inverter/charger and 600 Ah LiFePO4. It took me a while to know what I can run and how long the SOC will last. Then last Black Friday we up'd to 900 Ah.

In all our winter travels, I finally stopped worrying and I learned to use 3KW and 900 Ah to the fullest. Chris still worries some. After a week of travel, I remembered seeing 67% SOC and Chris asked could she use the Emeril (replaced the microwave with an air fryer). My reply was 67% of 900 Ah is equal to 100% of 600 Ah! Sure bake all afternoon of you need to! Love it.

Our Chill Cube runs on ridiculous low power, consuming <30% of what the old Dometic pulled, and I estimate <50% of the power requirements of the Truma, Tosot, or any ON/OFF compressor model! This is amazing and sure helps the worry factor.  

We had 450 Ah in LA and that means 225 usable which would be our current battery bank at 25% SOC. I don't worry anymore! 😎 (When under 20% SOC, Victron and Epoch apps will warn us.)

I believe that many of you with 600 - 640 Ah and 3KW inverter should think to worry less. Run your A/C and that Induction cooker, at least one burner! 🤣

Edited June 6 by jd1923

[DanielBoondock]

20 hours ago, jd1923 said:

You know, I've been worried about RV battery SOC ever since our first in 2018. But the Class A and then the Class C both had generators. I was adamant from day 1 with the Oliver that we would not run a generator. Battery and inverter/charger technology is here! You even got me thinking in a new way that an EV truck can be a proper TV! 😎 (Though no way we could afford one, and the old Dodge now with upgrades including exhaust brake is a joy!)

If you like that you gotta try regenerative braking at 0.5 trailer gain! I’ll pull 130 kW silently on the regen and bring you to a full stop, it’s nuts. I have to lower the regen to the moderate level as the high level is too much. Big batter == more regen capability basically. 

Anyhow yeah the first gen trucks like Lightning, CT and Rivian aren’t for towing, but these second gen Sierra + Silverado are pretty hard to beat as a camping companion. Power is the one thing I don’t worry about boondocking. I’ve talked about it before but I haven’t mapped a trip yet that doesn’t have charging close enough for these trucks. 

Quote

Our Chill Cube runs on ridiculous low power, consuming <30% of what the old Dometic pulled, and I estimate <50% of the power requirements of the Truma, Tosot, or any ON/OFF compressor model! This is amazing and sure helps the worry facto

The only vampire I notice is the WIFI (TP-Link travel router), slowly but surely it’ll eat at the battery and heat up the attic, even on Eco. Not a problem with all these kWh really but its’ annoying, I turn it off at night. I wifi hotspot mooching and tether my unlimited plan phone for the family otherwise. 

[Lamar]

We have returned from a 3,000+ mile trip through CO, Utah, AZ, and NM.  Very much enjoyed our Oliver Elite I, except for this issue.  I have been in contact with technical support and now service at Oliver.  Here is the update.

1.  As many of you suggested, the induction stovetop is NOT wired through the inverter.  The engineers did not do so because of the electrical needs of the induction stovetop -- 1750 watts with a 2000 watt inverter and the batteries at 260 AH.  The tech told me that they only made 4 Elite 1 Platinum units in 2026 that were wired this way.

2. If we put a 3000 watt inverter in, the batteries would be drained after 90 min of stovetop use.  While we would never use that much at one time, it would be cumulative as long as we are boondocking.  During a cloudy period and other use, the drain on the batteries could be a problem.  So it isn't recommended to replace the 2000 watt inverter with a 3000+ inverter.  BTW, they would be unable to increase the batter size to accommodate.

3.  Since we ordered the camper through B&B RV in Denver, service suggested B&B Rv would be responsible for selling us this unit and telling us the stovetop would work during boondocking.  I do have a call into them and waiting on a return.

4.  Oliver service is checking on switching out the induction stove for a propane stove.  In addition, they are checking with manufacturing regarding the production of these units with this limitation.  

Currently, waiting to hear back from Oliver and also from B&B RV in Denver.  We now know what the problem is, but we don't have a way forward yet to resolve the issue.  Oliver is currently suggesting a fix would be an upgrade but they are checking with manufacturing.   I'm suggesting it is fixing a poor design decision.  More to come on that.  Stay tuned.

[Steph and Dud B]

2 hours ago, Lamar said:

Since we ordered the camper through B&B RV in Denver, service suggested B&B Rv would be responsible

Passing the buck. Oliver should be better than this. They built it.

2 hours ago, Lamar said:

Oliver is currently suggesting a fix would be an upgrade but they are checking with manufacturing.   I'm suggesting it is fixing a poor design decision.

Again, for what you paid for your trailer (and what Oliver expects others to pay, based largely on their reputation) they should make this right. Building and selling an RV with no working stove in boondocking mode might be acceptable for an entry-level brand, but it's unacceptable for an allegedly top-tier brand. C'mon Oliver, what happened to you? 

[Lamar]

2 hours ago, Steph and Dud B said:

Passing the buck. Oliver should be better than this. They built it.

Again, for what you paid for your trailer (and what Oliver expects others to pay, based largely on their reputation) they should make this right. Building and selling an RV with no working stove in boondocking mode might be acceptable for an entry-level brand, but it's unacceptable for an allegedly top-tier brand. C'mon Oliver, what happened to you? 

I feel like I'm giving them an opportunity to step up.  Those that I'm currently talking to are likely not ones who can make some Company decisions.  I'm hopeful as the conversation progresses with Oliver and within Oliver that we can find a resolution.  

[Lamar]

FYI, I did speak with the sales person at B&B RV.  As I anticipated, he was not aware that on this build unit the induction stove top was not routed through the inverter and wouldn't work when boon docking.  He will also be contacting Oliver to discuss a remedy.  So far, everyone I spoke with have been unaware of this issue and are hoping to find a way to resolve.  That is a good thing. 

 

[jd1923]

11 hours ago, Lamar said:

The engineers did not do so because of the electrical needs of the induction stovetop -- 1750 watts with a 2000 watt inverter and the batteries at 260 AH.

Oh, boy... 
I'm going to attempt to explain how "the engineers" in drawing this conclusion are naive! A trained and experienced engineer should know there is much more to this than a simple comparison of data sheet specs. 🙃

Please allow me to explain. You could have used your True Induction cooktop every day on your trip, if only they had wired it correctly to the inverter. Your system is just fine for occasional induction cooking. I was hoping you would have rewired it on the road, it's what I would have done, but I do understand the warranty ramifications.

I cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast this morning using a 10" Smithey skillet on our 1800W DUXTOP induction cooktop. It cannot be much different than your 1750W built-in unit, meaning the numbers I will present will be relative to your True Induction cooktop, 2KW inverter and 260 Ah batteries setup (your solar may vary).

This induction burner starts at the medium #5 setting and within seconds the bacon started sizzling, so I turned it down to 3.0. After the bacon was done, I increased the setting to 4.0 and cooked a batch of scrambled eggs. I did not measure cooking time but maybe about 12 minutes total, I'll use 15 minutes to be conservative.

You'll be amazed how many actual Ahs it takes to cook a simple bacon-n-egg breakfast or boil a pot of water (wait for the punchline). 😎

Reading such nonsense from "the engineers," the engineer in me had to prove them wrong! So tonight, I went out and plugged in another DUXTOP that we keep in the Oliver to run an amperage use test. When it turns on at the 5.0 setting it quickly ramped up to 68A (DC amps) which comes to 816W (W = 12V x A). Your Xantrex 2KW inverter can handle this with just a low hum.

I tested the induction cooktop at all settings (1 - 10). Here are the results! (I'm an IE and used to do this kind of reporting professionally for 30 years.)

The first row shows the induction cooktop settings (1 - 10). The second row shows Amps produced by our Victron MP2 inverter, read from the Victron Connect app. The third row shows Watts calculated (amps x 12V). The fourth row titled %Spec is the actual Watts used divided by the 1800W maximum.

Note on FULL this induction burner pulls watts at ~80% of spec.
We call that a 1.25x engineering margin, therefore...

Your inverter will NEVER use 1750W! The actual maximum will be closer to 1400W on FULL which can boil a 5-qt pot of water in just minutes. 

I could not read actual amps out of the inverter for any setting less than 5.0. For example, at the 3.0 setting the amp reading ramped up to about 60A for a second and then wound down, then repeated this pattern. I believe the heating element is not capable of a lower amp setting, so it would turn ON and quickly OFF to some timed algorithm. More OFF time than ON as the settings go lower. This is likely why the unit starts up at the 5.0 setting.

In the table above, the amp readings in BOLD are actual readings, the lower numbers calculated. There is an obvious linear relationship, so I used a graphical extrapolation method to calculate amps for settings 1.0 through 4.0 which looks like this:

Let me tell you how many Ahs I used to cook breakfast this morning! Estimating 15 minutes cook time, half of that at setting 3.0 (40A) and half at 4.0 (52A), so on average I used 46A for 15 minutes.

Isn't it amazing, the technology where it is today, that I used only 12 Ahs to cook breakfast! (46A x .25hr = 11.5 Ah) 

On the #10 setting, you cook boil a large pot of water for pasta in say 10 minutes. This would use 20 Ah of your 260 Ah batteries.

You could simmer a red sauce, chili or any fresh made soup for 2 hours on the 1.0 setting using 28 Ah. Sorry, you're under powered to get into the food truck business, but quick meals 2-3 times a day, np.

Our 10-year-old less efficient 320W rooftop solar nets +12A when mostly sunning. This means an hour after breakfast in our hull SOC / Total Ahs would be back to where it was just before we cooked breakfast.

Your 2K inverter and 260 Ah is just fine for your "Baby Ollie." We couldn't live on it, but I demand induction cooking while Chris toasts bread in the Emeril Oven and we stay cool running the Chill Cube A/C, on our 3KW inverter and 900 Ah.

Please don't retrofit to an LP burner. Induction cooking is FAST, well measured, it's just GREAT! In our home kitchen, Chris now uses a single-burner induction cooktop regularly while our GE 4-burner natural gas cooktop sits idly by! 🤣 She can't be without it, now that she knows it. Just ask @Ollie-Haus, who convinced me to buy ours!

Just get OTT to rewire your circuit breakers so that induction cooking and everything else is on the inverter circuit except for air conditioning (or have any electrician do it).

Thanks for allowing me to learn with you tonight. It was fun "engineering" again! Going into this study, I had no idea the numbers would be this good! 😎 When we need advice, our forum is the place, great collective knowledge here!

We thank OTT for providing us this platform. We should expect the company to continue manufacturing the best fiberglass hulls in the travel trailer marketplace, no doubt! 🤗

Edited 7 hours ago by jd1923

[Steve and MA]

@jd1923, excellent explanation about the power an induction cooktop actually draws.  I have to think that the reason Oliver doesn't wire it through the inverter 120v AC sub panel is to protect inexperienced campers from themselves. The 2kw inverter may be plenty for the induction cooktop by itself, but the microwave is already on the inverter circuit, as well as the wall outlets.  Imagine someone trying to use the cooktop, microwave and a coffee maker concurrently.  Even when on shore power, one should be careful running multiple electrical appliances. Many of Oliver's customers are first time RVers who have little to no experience with power management.  It seems to me that a 3kw inverter would be more appropriate as standard equipment for an induction cooktop equipped trailer since the demand could easily exceed 2kw. Maybe Oliver should just avoid wiring the air conditioner to the inverter since the battery bank doesn't have capacity for an extended run time.

Steve

 

[Lamar]

7 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Oh, boy... 
I'm going to attempt to explain how "the engineers" in drawing this conclusion are naive! A trained and experienced engineer should know there is much more to this than a simple comparison of data sheet specs. 🙃

Please allow me to explain. You could have used your True Induction cooktop every day on your trip, if only they had wired it correctly to the inverter. Your system is just fine for occasional induction cooking. I was hoping you would have rewired it on the road, it's what I would have done, but I do understand the warranty ramifications.

I cooked bacon and eggs for breakfast this morning using a 10" Smithey skillet on our 1800W DUXTOP induction cooktop. It cannot be much different than your 1750W built-in unit, meaning the numbers I will present will be relative to your True Induction cooktop, 2KW inverter and 260 Ah batteries setup (your solar may vary).

This induction burner starts at the medium #5 setting and within seconds the bacon started sizzling, so I turned it down to 3.0. After the bacon was done, I increased the setting to 4.0 and cooked a batch of scrambled eggs. I did not measure cooking time but maybe about 12 minutes total, I'll use 15 minutes to be conservative.

You'll be amazed how many actual Ahs it takes to cook a simple bacon-n-egg breakfast or boil a pot of water (wait for the punchline). 😎

Reading such nonsense from "the engineers," the engineer in me had to prove them wrong! So tonight, I went out and plugged in another DUXTOP that we keep in the Oliver to run an amperage use test. When it turns on at the 5.0 setting it quickly ramped up to 68A (DC amps) which comes to 816W (W = 12V x A). Your Xantrex 2KW inverter can handle this with just a low hum.

I tested the induction cooktop at all settings (1 - 10). Here are the results! (I'm an IE and used to do this kind of reporting professionally for 30 years.)

The first row shows the induction cooktop settings (1 - 10). The second row shows Amps produced by our Victron MP2 inverter, read from the Victron Connect app. The third row shows Watts calculated (amps x 12V). The fourth row titled %Spec is the actual Watts used divided by the 1800W maximum.

Note on FULL this induction burner pulls watts at ~80% of spec.
We call that a 1.25x engineering margin, therefore...

Your inverter will NEVER use 1750W! The actual maximum will be closer to 1400W on FULL which can boil a 5-qt pot of water in just minutes. 

I could not read actual amps out of the inverter for any setting less than 5.0. For example, at the 3.0 setting the amp reading ramped up to about 60A for a second and then wound down, then repeated this pattern. I believe the heating element is not capable of a lower amp setting, so it would turn ON and quickly OFF to some timed algorithm. More OFF time than ON as the settings go lower. This is likely why the unit starts up at the 5.0 setting.

In the table above, the amp readings in BOLD are actual readings, the lower numbers calculated. There is an obvious linear relationship, so I used a graphical extrapolation method to calculate amps for settings 1.0 through 4.0 which looks like this:

Let me tell you how many Ahs I used to cook breakfast this morning! Estimating 15 minutes cook time, half of that at setting 3.0 (40A) and half at 4.0 (52A), so on average I used 46A for 15 minutes.

Isn't it amazing, the technology where it is today, that I used only 12 Ahs to cook breakfast! (46A x .25hr = 11.5 Ah) 

On the #10 setting, you cook boil a large pot of water for pasta in say 10 minutes. This would use 20 Ah of your 260 Ah batteries.

You could simmer a red sauce, chili or any fresh made soup for 2 hours on the 1.0 setting using 28 Ah. Sorry, you're under powered to get into the food truck business, but quick meals 2-3 times a day, np.

Our 10-year-old less efficient 320W rooftop solar nets +12A when mostly sunning. This means an hour after breakfast in our hull SOC / Total Ahs would be back to where it was just before we cooked breakfast.

Your 2K inverter and 260 Ah is just fine for your "Baby Ollie." We couldn't live on it, but I demand induction cooking while Chris toasts bread in the Emeril Oven and we stay cool running the Chill Cube A/C, on our 3KW inverter and 900 Ah.

Please don't retrofit to an LP burner. Induction cooking is FAST, well measured, it's just GREAT! In our home kitchen, Chris now uses a single-burner induction cooktop regularly while our GE 4-burner natural gas cooktop sits idly by! 🤣 She can't be without it, now that she knows it. Just ask @Ollie-Haus, who convinced me to buy ours!

Just get OTT to rewire your circuit breakers so that induction cooking and everything else is on the inverter circuit except for air conditioning (or have any electrician do it).

Thanks for allowing me to learn with you tonight. It was fun "engineering" again! Going into this study, I had no idea the numbers would be this good! 😎 When we need advice, our forum is the place, great collective knowledge here!

We thank OTT for providing us this platform. We should expect the company to continue manufacturing the best fiberglass hulls in the travel trailer marketplace, no doubt! 🤗

JD1923...What a great explanation based on your experiment and knowledge.  This makes sense to me.  We do not cook full meals or use a stove top for very long in our camper.  Big stuff like meats, grilled veggies and such are outside on our griddle and that is only a handful of times when we camp.  Hot water for coffee, eggs, pancakes, is more like what we make on the stove top; and it is just the two of us.  This is so helpful.  We are experienced campers and are good at conserving energy and water.  We certainly don't live in the camper or even spend much of the day in the camper.  Time to share information with Oliver.  THANKS.  These forums are GOLD.

[Lamar]

1 hour ago, Steve and MA said:

@jd1923, excellent explanation about the power an induction cooktop actually draws.  I have to think that the reason Oliver doesn't wire it through the inverter 120v AC sub panel is to protect inexperienced campers from themselves. The 2kw inverter may be plenty for the induction cooktop by itself, but the microwave is already on the inverter circuit, as well as the wall outlets.  Imagine someone trying to use the cooktop, microwave and a coffee maker concurrently.  Even when on shore power, one should be careful running multiple electrical appliances. Many of Oliver's customers are first time RVers who have little to no experience with power management.  It seems to me that a 3kw inverter would be more appropriate as standard equipment for an induction cooktop equipped trailer since the demand could easily exceed 2kw. Maybe Oliver should just avoid wiring the air conditioner to the inverter since the battery bank doesn't have capacity for an extended run time.

Steve

 

Steve and MA,

you are probably right.  This is our 4th camper and with all of them (30 amp models), you made choices such as running a microwave vs the AC.  We manage battery power, water, tanks, and propane.  When you made the wrong choice, you learned and didn't do it again or you prepared for it.  The induction stovetop is a new one for us and @jd1923 broke the info down in such a helpful way.  Thanks for your comments.

[johnwen]

JD, I need to talk to Wen about this :)

Thanks for all your testing and research!

John

[Steph and Dud B]

2 hours ago, Lamar said:

This is our 4th camper and with all of them (30 amp models), you made choices such as running a microwave vs the AC.

One of our previous 30A trailers had a load shed device that cut off power to the electric fireplace if you fired up the microwave. It wouldn't allow those 2 devices to operate at the same time. When you were done with the microwave, you could use the fireplace again. Oliver could set @Lamar up with something similar for the induction stovetop to protect the inverter. That should make everyone happy. Found this image on the Forest River forum. The topic comes up frequently there.

Edited just now by Steph and Dud B
Added device details.

[jd1923]

2 hours ago, Lamar said:

JD1923...What a great explanation based on your experiment and knowledge.  This makes sense to me.  We do not cook full meals or use a stove top for very long in our camper...

Time to share information with Oliver.  THANKS.  These forums are GOLD.

Yep, by design a cooktop is basically for quick meals on a skillet. Of course, the more Ahs available the longer you can cook. But as you well understand, all campers should know the limitations of their rigs.

You're welcome, Lamar! My goal was to provide you with correct information for your decision making. I'm always very happy to help and this forum is the best! 😎

3 hours ago, Steve and MA said:

I have to think that the reason Oliver doesn't wire it through the inverter 120v AC sub panel is to protect inexperienced campers from themselves. The 2kw inverter may be plenty for the induction cooktop by itself, but the microwave is already on the inverter circuit, as well as the wall outlets.

Steve, I agree with the points you made, but you may be giving OTT too much credit in your first statement. It was stated as more of a "1750 watts with a 2000-watt inverter" simple comparison without full understanding of the dynamics I presented.

I would love the be the fly on the wall as @Lamar explains induction cooking usage to OTT Service! 🤣

OTT and all RV manufactures wire microwaves to 2KW inverters all the time along with the 110V wall outlets. My wife uses a blow-dryer after washing her hair. The 1800W blow dryer pulls a hard 1800W which is the same load as the Dometic P2, or FreshJet 5 for that matter. You can't keep the dumb from being dumber, but those of us who are experienced would simply know, don't use the microwave when blow drying! 🤣 

Of course, that's with a 2KW inverter. Perhaps Lamar could parlay this poor customer service situation into getting OTT to remove the 2KW Xantrex for a 3KW model. Then pull out the oversized Lithionics and the unnecessary sliding tray and the EI battery bay could house 600 Ah in two 300 Ah Epoch Essentials. Then you're ready to wire your A/C into the inverter circuit as well, and you could do induction cooking with the A/C running. But if you need to run your A/C for more than 3-4 hours, you'd have to scrap the inefficient FreshJet (spec 15A on 115VAC) for an efficient inverter or variable-speed compressor A/C model. Add a 3rd battery and you'd have the system I installed for hull #113, but two 300 Ah batteries is all that would fit in an EI. Now I'm having way too much fun, but it's food for thought! 😎