Rich Solar

[Chuck and Beth]

Just curious, does anyone know if any trailers other than our 2027 Elite II Platinum, Hull# 1735 was built with all Rich Solar controllers (Inverter/Charger, Solar Charger, and Dc-Dc Charger). It seems Xantrex Inverters were installed in the past and may also be what is installed now in most builds. I am not sure about the other components. 

[Rolind]

Our LE2 came equipped with a xantrex inverter, and Victron solar charge controller.  No DC-DC.  Maybe I am not understanding the question , maybe you are referring to SOB trailers and not prior Oliver model years. I haven’t heard of Rich components, but I also haven’t been in the market for a trailer for the last several years.

 

Edited Tuesday at 04:54 PM by Rolind

[Chuck and Beth]

2 hours ago, Rolind said:

Our LE2 came equipped with a xantrex inverter, and Victron solar charge controller.  No DC-DC.  Maybe I am not understanding the question , maybe you are referring to SOB trailers and not prior Oliver model years. I haven’t heard of Rich components, but I also haven’t been in the market for a trailer for the last several years.

 

No, I am referring to Oliver TTs, and specifically the one we picked up on the 8th of September (hull 1735). I do not think Oliver has used RichSolar in the past, but all of the controllers are RichSolar in our build. I am wondering about the relative quality, why the switch from the past, and why RichSolar is apparently not be installed in all recent builds. 

[David and Gail]

I have 2 RichSolar mppt controllers in my barn which is off grid.  They have been charging my lithium batteries for 6 years now and have operated flawlessly. 

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, Chuck and Beth said:

No, I am referring to Oliver TTs, and specifically the one we picked up on the 8th of September (hull 1735). I do not think Oliver has used RichSolar in the past, but all of the controllers are RichSolar in our build. I am wondering about the relative quality, why the switch from the past, and why RichSolar is apparently not be installed in all recent builds. 

Never heard of the brand. Never seen this brand in an Oliver, though we don’t get much input from owners with brand new hulls.

It’s odd that during delivery OTT made no mention of your electrical hardware. Please share pics!

[Chuck and Beth]

17 minutes ago, David and Gail said:

I have 2 RichSolar mppt controllers in my barn which is off grid.  They have been charging my lithium batteries for 6 years now and have operated flawlessly. 

Thanks for the reply - Good to hear!

[Hokieman]

2 hours ago, Chuck and Beth said:

I am wondering about the relative quality, why the switch from the past

@Chuck and Beth  Oliver changes brands of components every few years,  for various internal reasons I suppose.    Everything from batteries, solar panels, refrigerators, controllers, furnaces, wheels, axles, AC, etc,   For example, I’ve got Zamp 340W solar panels and controller, no inverter, all 12V electrical, and a small pantry instead of a microwave.    Our trailers all look alike,  but the components, wiring, and plumbing vary by model every few years.   That’s why it’s beneficial to list your model year in your signature, easier for others to help identify and troubleshoot.

Edited Tuesday at 09:48 PM by Hokieman
Typo

[Chuck and Beth]

16 hours ago, Hokieman said:

@Chuck and Beth  Oliver changes brands of components every few years,  for various internal reasons I suppose.    Everything from batteries, solar panels, refrigerators, controllers, furnaces, wheels, axles, AC, etc,   For example, I’ve got Zamp 340W solar panels and controller, no inverter, all 12V electrical, and a small pantry instead of a microwave.    Our trailers all look alike,  but the components, wiring, and plumbing vary by model every few years.   That’s why it’s beneficial to list your model year in your signature, easier for others to help identify and troubleshoot.

I am aware that changes occur for various reasons, and that is probably more often than not a good thing. But, what I find somewhat concerning is that it seems that they may have already stop installing Rich Solar inverter/charges in the 2027 models. It would be great to know if that is indeed the case and if it is, why.

[Chuck and Beth]

17 hours ago, jd1923 said:

Never heard of the brand. Never seen this brand in an Oliver, though we don’t get much input from owners with brand new hulls.

It’s odd that during delivery OTT made no mention of your electrical hardware. Please share pics!

Here are pics of the Solar and Inverter/Charger installs.

[Hokieman]

4 minutes ago, Chuck and Beth said:

It would be great to know if that is indeed the case and if it is, why.

Perhaps your salesperson could advise you? 

[jd1923]

3 hours ago, Chuck and Beth said:

Here are pics of the Solar and Inverter/Charger installs.

If you do talk to sales, please ask them if Rich Solar is their new brand of choice. I believe this is the first time we've seen internals of a 2027 Oliver. If not, ask if yours was some kind of experiment? (To answer the worry you expressed above.)

Clean installation, 60A SC and 3K inverter/charger are good capacity. If Rich Solar has a decent Bluetooth app, this setup may be better than hulls built with a mix of brands; Xantrex inverter, Zamp or Victron SC and Lithionics batteries.

Rich Solar brand batteries too, or Lithionics? How many Ah?

What make/model A/C? Did they wire your A/C so it can run unplugged, on batteries only? I imagine you also have the induction cooktop which should be wired to run on inverter when shore power is not available.

Yeah, every Oliver is a Jem! 😂

Edited 8 hours ago by jd1923

[Chuck and Beth]

9 minutes ago, jd1923 said:

If you do talk to sales, please ask them if Rich Solar is their new brand of choice. I believe this is the first time we've seen internals of a 2027 Oliver.

Clean installation, 60A SC and 3K inverter/charger are good capacity. If Rich Solar has a decent Bluetooth app, this setup may be better than hulls built with a mix of brands; Xantrex inverter, Zamp or Victron SC and Lithionics batteries.

Rich Solar brand batteries too, or Lithionics? How many Ah?

What make/model A/C? Did they wire your A/C so it can run unplugged, on batteries only?

Batteries - two 320ah Lithionics 12V (added 2nd one as option); A/C Houghton (RecPro) A3400, inverter runs it off batteries when not on shore power.

I may be missing something, but so far, the BT apps for the Rich Solar components is a major minus. There is wall-mounted Remote for the inverter/charger. The app for the Lithionics batteries is great.

[jd1923]

1 hour ago, Chuck and Beth said:

Batteries - two 320ah Lithionics 12V (added 2nd one as option); A/C Houghton (RecPro) A3400, inverter runs it off batteries when not on shore power.

I may be missing something, but so far, the BT apps for the Rich Solar components is a major minus. There is wall-mounted Remote for the inverter/charger. The app for the Lithionics batteries is great.

Comparing your hull to ours is of course night & day. 10 years ago ours came with 320W rooftop solar, a 2KW Xantrex inverter-only (PD charger in electrical panel) and 200+ lbs of lead acid! We kept the rooftop solar but replaced everything else with 6 Victron devices all on Victron Connect which is an excellent app. I like having control of the inverter/charger to set input amperage, turn on-n-off, etc. We have Epoch batteries and their app is awful, might not connect when SOC is low.

Never heard a complaint on Lithionics here. They are expensive but you made a good choice in having 640 Ah. SOC% and amps +/- (in or out) are important numbers to keep your eye on via the app. I do not leave the Oliver for the day without seeing the -amp reading is small, meaning we didn't leave an appliance running.

Some like displays, I like apps. 90% of the time I want to read these numbers, I'm either in the truck or somewhere outdoors, by the campfire not wanting to get up and climb into the Oliver cabin to look at a screen. Perhaps Rich Solar CS can help you with their app.

One downside on Rich Solar is when you have a question on configuration, lowering the cut-off voltage or whatever, there will be not be the body of experience on our forum to help you.

In your first post, you mentioned DC-DC charger. Did they install a Rich Solar DC-DC charger too? To have DC-DC charging there is also a tow vehicle installation. Was this done?

I'd say you have batteries and perhaps electrical components equal to or better than most! @David and Gail gave you the thumbs up on Rich Solar quality and you have warranties on these products. Just as long as they perform as advertised and to your expectations. It would be interesting to know however, why did OTT install Rich Solar in your hull, and perhaps only your hull! Keep us posted!

Edited 7 hours ago by jd1923

[Chuck and Beth]

16 minutes ago, jd1923 said:

Comparing your hull to ours is of course night & day. 10 years ago ours came with 320W rooftop solar, a 2KW Xantrex inverter-only (PD charger in electrical panel) and 200+ lbs of lead acid! We kept the rooftop solar but replaced everything else with 6 Victron devices all on Victron Connect which is an excellent app. I like having control of the inverter/charger to set input amperage, turn on-n-off, etc. We have Epoch batteries and their app is awful, might not connect when SOC is low.

Never heard a complaint on Lithionics here. They are expensive but you made a good choice in having 640 Ah. SOC% and amps +/- (in or out) are important numbers to keep your eye on via the app. I do not leave the Oliver for the day without seeing the -amp reading is small, meaning we didn't leave an appliance running.

Some like displays, I like apps. 90% of the time I want to read these numbers, I'm either in the truck or somewhere outdoors, by the campfire not wanting to get up and climb into the Oliver cabin to look at a screen. Perhaps Rich Solar CS can help you with their app.

One downside on Rich Solar is when you have a question on configuration, lowering the cut-off voltage or whatever, there will be not be the body of experience on our forum to help you.

In your first post, you mentioned DC-DC charger. Did they install a Rich Solar DC-DC charger too? To have DC-DC charging there is also a tow vehicle installation. Was this done?

I'd say you have batteries and perhaps electrical components equal to or better than most! @David and Gail gave you the thumbs up on Rich Solar quality and you have warranties on these products. Just as long as they perform as advertised and to your expectations. It would be interesting to know however, why did OTT install Rich Solar in your hull, and perhaps only your hull! Keep us posted!

Thanks for all the feedback. I have been having mixed feelings about the Rich Solar Components. Although I knew that was what was going to be installed, I assumed OTT had made the switch for all the new models (accept the Apex).  Maybe they have and I am not correct about Rich Solar only going into some trailers.  I am getting the impression that the components I have are actually pretty good and I think the only disappointment is going to be the lack of good app monitoring and control.  As far as the DC-DC controller goes, no they did not do any vehicle wiring. It is all though the 7-pin. In fact, because of that I had tech limit the controller to 10amp output (jumper setting) to protect the truck's wiring and towing module.  If the charger was trying to put out 20amps it might draw up 25+ amps. Not sure if the F150 trailer wiring was designed for that load. 

[jd1923]

28 minutes ago, Chuck and Beth said:

As far as the DC-DC controller goes, no they did not do any vehicle wiring. It is all though the 7-pin. In fact, because of that I had tech limit the controller to 10amp output (jumper setting) to protect the truck's wiring and towing module.  If the charger was trying to put out 20amps it might draw up 25+ amps. Not sure if the F150 trailer wiring was designed for that load.

Yes, you have a viable system. Let us know more as you get real camping experience.

The Black/Aux wire on the 7-blade connector is 12 AWG. A 10A charge/load is the high end. Neither the F150 nor standard trailer wiring is made for DC-DC charging. The original purpose for the black wire was power aux lighting in trailers that do not have house batteries.

To be safe, I wouldn't use it and your rooftop solar on a sunny day is already giving you more than a 10A charge (to power the fridge)!

I used 4 AWG wire to connect the 50A Victron Orion and some said it should be 2 AWG. Anyway, it's no big loss since through the years, OTT had never installed DC-DC chargers. Real DC-DC charging looks like this: