Hello from NC

[Cindy Townsend]

My husband Scott & I picked up our Ollie this past Monday.  We decided to name her Pearl.  She is now part of a growing family…. We have “Dug” (our Kioti tractor) and “Moe” (our John Deere rider) 😉

We’ve never owned a travel trailer before so there is a TON to learn.  I love the resources that are on this site and really appreciate the advice that all of you give on a regular basis.  We will hopefully feel more confident as time goes by.

The only question that I have so far is an electrical one.  We are storing Pearl at a storage facility that only offers a 110v outlet.  They had an adaptor that they said would work, but it tripped the GFI on their outlet pole within seconds each time we tried to plug in.  I”m guessing that maybe we just need a different type of adaptor?

Have a great day!

Scott & Cindy

 

 

[LeBill]

Welcome to the club!

We are also from NC (near Boone) and originally hailed from MI (Kazoo), and got our Ollie (Yogi) last March.

Depending on the electrical package that you got in "Pearl" the Inverter/charger/batteries could require a hefty current to bring the batteries up to full. This current demand could last a couple of hours or more. You mention that it takes several seconds to trip the breaker, so I'm guessing it is a circuit overload, not a short or fault situation. The fix may be as simple as charging the batteries prior to storage to alleviate this current demand.  The previous information is only an educated guess.

 

Bill G

[topgun2]

42 minutes ago, LeBill said:

The fix may be as simple as charging the batteries prior to storage to alleviate this current demand.

Or slowing the rate of charge - if possible.

Another Ollie in NC - yeah!  We're located in the mountains of Western North Carolina.  Welcome to the Family - glad that you are here.

I see that you have used the "signature" feature.  But, if you could add a bit more information about your Ollie it might help you to get better and quicker answers to questions you might have in the future.  Information pertaining to your Ollie's options such as type and number of batteries, toilet, water heater, etc.

Bill

[Dave and Kimberly]

Welcome to the family!   I didn't see if your set up included Lithium batteries or not... but I'm betting,  based on your description, that you do.   We have the 390Ah lithium battery pack... and when we plug in (especially when capacity is low), the system draws a lot of energy fast.   It's called "bulk charging".   I have discovered that it will trip the electrical breaker on any standard 15 amp outlets.    I have to plug it into one of my 20 amp plugs to charge the batteries. 

  As a side bar: watch your EMS (Electrical Management System).  It will first make sure all electric coming into the Oliver is "clean" (meaning correct voltage, Hz) it will tell you what, if anything is wrong, with the incoming electric.   If it sees anything wrong (low voltage, high voltage, bad ground, etc) it will stop the flow of electricity to your Oliver (protecting it). It will show an error code indicating what it found wrong.   I keep a copy of the "error codes" posted right next to the EMS.   This helps you know immediately if there is a problem at the electrical source.   If all is good coming into the Oliver, then if anything is still not right... you can start checking fuses and such.

[Steve Morris]

Welcome!

There is an option on the Xantrex app under "Settings" that allows you to change the input Amp draw. When plugged in here at home, I set mine to 15 Amps, and have never tripped a circuit breaker. I'd tell you the exact steps, but mine is not plugged in, so the Xantrex app can't currently see the settings. But the name of the setting is something like "Grid Load" or similar. It is likely set at 30 Amps. Just remember to change it back when you go to a campground with 30 Amp supply.

[Ollie-Haus]

15 minutes ago, Steve Morris said:

Welcome!

There is an option on the Xantrex app under "Settings" that allows you to change the input Amp draw. When plugged in here at home, I set mine to 15 Amps, and have never tripped a circuit breaker. I'd tell you the exact steps, but mine is not plugged in, so the Xantrex app can't currently see the settings. But the name of the setting is something like "Grid Load" or similar. It is likely set at 30 Amps. Just remember to change it back when you go to a campground with 30 Amp supply.

@Cindy TownsendThis is most likely your solution. I've made this system change back and forth a few times. With the Xantrex app on your phone it only takes a few seconds. You have to be in the camper and connected via bluetooth. The change is made in the settings menu. You can change that setting pretty low as you are only float charging the batteries all winter. 

Sometimes a shore power GFI doesn't like what it sees when plugged into an Oliver charging system. I've not experienced this personally though. 

[Cindy Townsend]

32 minutes ago, topgun2 said:

Or slowing the rate of charge - if possible.

Another Ollie in NC - yeah!  We're located in the mountains of Western North Carolina.  Welcome to the Family - glad that you are here.

I see that you have used the "signature" feature.  But, if you could add a bit more information about your Ollie it might help you to get better and quicker answers to questions you might have in the future.  Information pertaining to your Ollie's options such as type and number of batteries, toilet, water heater, etc.

Bill

Thank you Bill and nice to meet you as well.  I will get our signature updated, good suggestion.

[Cindy Townsend]

1 hour ago, LeBill said:

Welcome to the club!

We are also from NC (near Boone) and originally hailed from MI (Kazoo), and got our Ollie (Yogi) last March.

Depending on the electrical package that you got in "Pearl" the Inverter/charger/batteries could require a hefty current to bring the batteries up to full. This current demand could last a couple of hours or more. You mention that it takes several seconds to trip the breaker, so I'm guessing it is a circuit overload, not a short or fault situation. The fix may be as simple as charging the batteries prior to storage to alleviate this current demand.  The previous information is only an educated guess.

 

Bill G

Thank you Bill and nice to meet you.  Boone is such a beautiful area, one of our sons attended App State.  As for Michigan, my husband and I grew up in Lansing and now have a home near East Jordan up north.

We just picked up our Ollie on Monday so the batteries are still over 90%,  we may just be that we had the wrong adapter or accidentally left something on inside.  Thank you for the thoughts though.  We have a lot to learn about our new Ollie 😉 

[Cindy Townsend]

3 hours ago, Dave and Kimberly said:

Welcome to the family!   I didn't see if your set up included Lithium batteries or not... but I'm betting,  based on your description, that you do.   We have the 390Ah lithium battery pack... and when we plug in (especially when capacity is low), the system draws a lot of energy fast.   It's called "bulk charging".   I have discovered that it will trip the electrical breaker on any standard 15 amp outlets.    I have to plug it into one of my 20 amp plugs to charge the batteries. 

  As a side bar: watch your EMS (Electrical Management System).  It will first make sure all electric coming into the Oliver is "clean" (meaning correct voltage, Hz) it will tell you what, if anything is wrong, with the incoming electric.   If it sees anything wrong (low voltage, high voltage, bad ground, etc) it will stop the flow of electricity to your Oliver (protecting it). It will show an error code indicating what it found wrong.   I keep a copy of the "error codes" posted right next to the EMS.   This helps you know immediately if there is a problem at the electrical source.   If all is good coming into the Oliver, then if anything is still not right... you can start checking fuses and such.

Thank you Dave and Kimberly.

Clearly we have a lot to learn as my husband read your post and said “where is the EMS?”  We will get there for sure, it’s been less than a week.  On another note, I love the town that you live in.  We drive through there often when driving from NC to MI.  Thanks again.

[Cindy Townsend]

3 hours ago, Ollie-Haus said:

@Cindy TownsendThis is most likely your solution. I've made this system change back and forth a few times. With the Xantrex app on your phone it only takes a few seconds. You have to be in the camper and connected via bluetooth. The change is made in the settings menu. You can change that setting pretty low as you are only float charging the batteries all winter. 

Sometimes a shore power GFI doesn't like what it sees when plugged into an Oliver charging system. I've not experienced this personally though. 

Thank you @Ollie-Haus & @Steve Morris.  I am not familiar with the Xantrex app yet (so far we’ve only downloaded the Lithionics app.  But I will research that today.  Sounds like it would solve our issue for sure - thanks again for the advice.

[topgun2]

45 minutes ago, Cindy Townsend said:

Clearly we have a lot to learn as my husband read your post and said “where is the EMS?”  

Somewhere in your Ollie you should have a relatively small screen that (at least with mine) will scroll through a set of numbers - including the voltage coming into the Ollie from the external electrical source and several other single numbers that are code numbers for any "faults" that the EMS unit detects (like open ground, low voltage, etc).

I'm not sure where in your Ollie this screen is placed, but, I'd look in the rear most overhead cubbie first (normally called the attic).

Bill

[snakeriveridaho]

Welcome Cindy and Scott!

Congratulations on acquiring Pearl! Good luck on your adventures. I am jealous of your Kioti tractor, Dug.  I have too small of a lot to justify a tractor, at least according to my wife,  😂

Kirk

[SeaDawg]

Wlcome from #12.

I'd actually love to hear more about your Kioti. We're in the market for a subcompact or compact tractor right now, on our NC property with a lot of serious  hills.  We'd probably nickname ours "Leif," as we need it as much for leaf blowing as digging. I'll send you a pm. 🙂

[Cindy Townsend]

On 12/1/2023 at 3:40 PM, snakeriveridaho said:

Welcome Cindy and Scott!

Congratulations on acquiring Pearl! Good luck on your adventures. I am jealous of your Kioti tractor, Dug.  I have too small of a lot to justify a tractor, at least according to my wife,  😂

Kirk

Ha ha, I was SO against getting Dug as well so I”m with your wife.  But I will say, that my husband uses the tractor on a very regular basis and it’s come in pretty handy.  So I am “team Dug” now 😉

And thank you for the warm welcome regarding Pearl.  We are very excited and can’t wait to start our travels.

Cindy

 

[Cindy Townsend]

On 12/1/2023 at 4:32 PM, SeaDawg said:

Wlcome from #12.

I'd actually love to hear more about your Kioti. We're in the market for a subcompact or compact tractor right now, on our NC property with a lot of serious  hills.  We'd probably nickname ours "Leif," as we need it as much for leaf blowing as digging. I'll send you a pm. 🙂

Hull #12 - how cool is that!  And good luck with your tractor search.  We only have smaller size  hills so I’m not too sure about the inclines, but I will say that our tractor has been a workhorse.  Scott has recently been using it most for brush and dead tree clearing on our property in northern Michigan.  He did pay extra for the enclosed cab which he believes has been worth it, it gets cold up there.

And we both got a kick out of the possible name of “Leif” 😉

[Cindy Townsend]

On 12/1/2023 at 1:36 PM, topgun2 said:

Somewhere in your Ollie you should have a relatively small screen that (at least with mine) will scroll through a set of numbers - including the voltage coming into the Ollie from the external electrical source and several other single numbers that are code numbers for any "faults" that the EMS unit detects (like open ground, low voltage, etc).

I'm not sure where in your Ollie this screen is placed, but, I'd look in the rear most overhead cubbie first (normally called the attic).

Bill

Oh perfect.  That helps a ton.  

Thanks again!  

[John Dorrer]

Welcome to the family. Spent 2-3 nights at the Boone KOA in October, out last stop on the Parkway, before heading to New River Gorge National Park and back to Indiana. On the app change #28 from 25 to 15. GCFI's are a PA. You would have to make the change on the inverter remote panel, since you can't plug in yet. You have to be plugged into use the app. Not sure if you can turn the inverter on at the remote and pull it up on your phone. This is the phone app icon you want. Just don't forget to switch it back.

[MobileJoy]

Congratulations on your purchase, fellow NC'er! I'm sure you will enjoy your Oliver as much as we do ours.

Reading the comments above, it looks to me like contributors are thinking that the trailer overloaded the circuit, yet you describe tripping a ground fault circuit interruptor. I have an adapter that converts from the 30A connection to a regular 20A cord. In my driveway, I used this adapter with the proper gauge extension cord many times without a problem. Then one time I came home and hooked it up, and as soon as the energy management system (EMS) cut in the power to the RV the 20A GFCI in my garage tripped. I opened a ticket reporting this ground fault, and the short story is that it was recommended to me that I have a 30A circuit installed. Before I could do that, I removed the GFCI and replaced it with a regular 20A outlet. After that the problem went away and I was able to recharge my batteries with the Xantrex. Note the EMS takes some time to turn the power on to the trailer, so this could have been responsible for the delay you experienced.

I never tried changing the #28 setting on the inverter (i.e., 25A to 15A). I don't see what that could have to do with a ground fault (anyone care to explain), but it's worth a try.

Ultimately I did install a 30A circuit at home and have not had a problem since.

I also have trailer storage with a shared 20A circuit. With multiple bays using it, you have to limit the amount of current that you draw. I use a separate 20A charger that I connect directly to the batteries so the Xantrex is not seeing power.

 

[Jason Foster]

Welcome to the club.