Raspy Posted February 11, 2018 Author Share Posted February 11, 2018 Well, that is a good question. If you are maintaining the battery, you are charging the battery. Not sure what he means. I went from the system not being hooked up, such that no charging of the trailer battery could occur, to charging just fine. But it seems that different brands and models of tow vehicles have different amounts of power they will send to the 7 pin plug. I guess you'll just have to test it to see how much you are getting from your tow vehicle. First, verify that it is charging by looking at the voltage in the trailer, while plugged into the TV, and engine running. Should be up at about 14.1 if your battery is already charged. Then turn the fridge on 12 volts (assuming you have the absorption fridge). This will put a load of about 150 watts, 12 volts, on the system. Does your battery voltage hold at 14.1? If so, you are good to go. If your battery does not come up to about 14.1 while the TV is connected and running, but languishes at about 12.6 and then drops further when the fridge is turned on in 12 volt mode, you are not charging from the TV. I think I'd call Oliver back and ask what they mean by "maintaining". Does that mean it will charge from the TV, or not? Remind them that there are conflicting stories from Oliver about trailer charging from the 7 pin plug and that the problem was supposedly fixed back around Hull # 200. Then it turned out that Oliver was trying to run the brakes by grounding through the tow ball and that some of us have had to sort this out on our own. Also, if you get a "trailer disconnected" type warning in your truck, it could mean you are not connected for charging and have no ground wire to the trailer frame and battery. Let me know what you find out next. John John "I only exaggerate enough to compensate for being taken with a grain of salt." LE2 #92 (sold), Black Series HQ19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShallowGal Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Let me know what you find out next. What he meant and what I understood him to say are quite likely two different things. Symantics. We'll do your test next weekend. Thank you for explaining how to do it. Chris Chris & Duke Chadwell 🐾Maddie & Baxter🐾 Elite II Hull 292 2022 F-250 Lariat 7.3 Godzilla 4x4 Lakeland,FL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspy Posted April 5, 2019 Author Share Posted April 5, 2019 The latest modification is to the microwave cabinet. Our microwave tried to "escape" twice from it's cabinet and broke itself in the process. I decided I could do better and get more use from that area. So I installed a smaller one, that will still accept a full dinner plate, and I was able to fit in a wine rack, utensil storage tubes for the kitchen knives and things, and a couple of key hooks. We also gained a work surface which becomes extra counter space for preparing food or for a dish drainer. The latch was modified from a pantry latch and will not open while traveling. When closed we have a nice piece of furniture to look at that matches the rest of the tops we have, instead of looking at the old microwave. Since the microwave is now in the cabinet, it's door cannot open, so it is good for storing bread, towels, cereal boxes and things like that. It's very easy to pop open the cabinet, grab the bread, and build a sandwich on the new work surface/door with stuff from the fridge below. Or get things out of the fridge while someone is working at the sink and have a place to put them. Here are a few pix: 1 John "I only exaggerate enough to compensate for being taken with a grain of salt." LE2 #92 (sold), Black Series HQ19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators SeaDawg Posted April 5, 2019 Moderators Share Posted April 5, 2019 Raspy, that looks really nice. Love the drop down door, and your stainless door interior. How did you fasten the new microwave? Are the storage tubes lengths of pvc pipe? How are thectubes fastened? Congratulations on your solution. Looks awesome. Sherry 2008 Ram 1500 4 × 4 2008 Oliver Elite, Hull #12 Florida and Western North Carolina, or wherever the truck goes.... 400 watts solar. DC compressor fridge. No inverter. 2 x 105 ah agm batteries . Life is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Mike and Carol Posted April 5, 2019 Moderators Share Posted April 5, 2019 John, that’s a great job. We must have the same microwave you had. I’m putting this on my to-do list. I won’t have to carry wine bottles in the truck! Mike Texas Hill Country | 2016 Elite II #135 | 2020 Ram 2500 6.7L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspy Posted April 5, 2019 Author Share Posted April 5, 2019 Sherry, The microwave is screwed to the rear of the cabinet. The rear of the microwave is a single layer of thin steel, so I just drilled three holes back there and ran three screws into the wood wall from inside the oven box. The surround is a plywood box as built from Oliver, except it was rough cut and unfinished. Side to side I shimmed the microwave up to press into place between the pipes and the right side wall. So, it is pressed in and screwed in place. The (3) vertical stacked, wine rack tubes are 4" ABS and the (5) lower tubes are 3" ABS. They fit perfectly with zero play. A few #6 flathead stainless screws into the side wall and floor convinced them to stay there. I slightly modified the rear cord minder on the micro and set it on a 1/4" piece of plywood so the tubes supported its feet. It's set up high in the box so that it's door clears the drop down door with enough clearance to pass over a plate that is ready to go in. The rough cabinet, as it came from Oliver, was not designed to be seen, or support a piano hinge and latch, so it took some work to clean it up, tie the fiberglass to the plywood edges and cosmetically fix the rough cuts. The catch Oliver uses on the closet and pantry doors is a very nice piece and I was able to get them to send me one. But I had to make the strike plate and the arm that swings up to catch it, as well as make a few other little adjustments to it. Inside there is no extra room. The catch clears the micro by 1/8" and the micro door clears the strike plate by about a 1/16". The chains fall into spaces on each side of the drop down door that trap them to prevent swinging around underway. The latch mechanism is contained inside a hollow cavity in the door that allow it to be taken apart, but not seen. The door is stiffened up with strips of 3/4" X 4" oak and everything is varnished to prevent warping from moisture. Everything went in and fit around everything else, but it is tight. Also, the new microwave is a 700 watt model (vs about 1,000 for the original), to run easily on a small generator or small inverter. It's great not having the kitchen knives, spatulas, tongs and barbeque lighter in the kitchen drawers. Plus three wine bottles are handy and lying down, instead of trying to contain them in the closet, or something. Since they are in close fitting ABS tubes, they can never break. Even the extra keys have found a place where they can't escape. 2 John "I only exaggerate enough to compensate for being taken with a grain of salt." LE2 #92 (sold), Black Series HQ19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspy Posted May 10, 2019 Author Share Posted May 10, 2019 Here is the exterior plug installation for the suitcase solar. A very nice little 12 volt/20 amp plug, with cover and twist-lock plug that will not fall out or allow the connections to get wet in the rain. https://www.amazon.com/CNLINKO-Industrial-Connector-Receptacles-Waterproof/dp/B0795464LP/ref=pd_ybh_a_26?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=9EBPJGFS22DYCSBDBBGV I cut a #12 exterior cord to 20' to use for the solar cord. This allows the collectors to be set facing wherever the sun is. The interior cord is connected directly to the batteries. This is a very simple setup that only requires a 7/8" hole. The cord folds away as the door closes. John "I only exaggerate enough to compensate for being taken with a grain of salt." LE2 #92 (sold), Black Series HQ19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raspy Posted May 10, 2019 Author Share Posted May 10, 2019 Next is the jack stand modification. I started with three jack stands. I threw away the adjustable center pieces and cut off the ratchets. They are very strong and stable. Much better than stacking a pile of blocks. This is an update to the jack stand modification. I could not edit the earlier post, so I quoted it and added the pictures. These modified stands have worked beautifully. They are very stable, strong, easy to use and they stack for travel. Each one is rated for 6 tons. I modified them by welding on a piece of 3" channel and a piece of 2" pipe, after cutting off the original top ratchet part. 1 John "I only exaggerate enough to compensate for being taken with a grain of salt." LE2 #92 (sold), Black Series HQ19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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