BruderMaximus
New member
never had that problem and i used it to run my Truma heater. no alarms. You sure you don't have a leak, or some issue?
OBI Dweller Review and Discussion
- Thread starter gendlert
- Start date
BruderMaximus
New member
You gotta leave the top down and the back in, let the heat out, seal it up and run that AC on high and go for a walk for an hour, then pop the top and back. Only way in texas i've managed to get it cool by bedtime. but once there... it's cold
just takes a while
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BruderMaximus
New member
Where did you get that jerry can mount!??
My system is what every came factory from the Gen 1 D13's.I don't know you're system, so with a grain of salt:
I have the 3 100ah AGM batteries. I've been troubleshooting a DC switch panel issue (bad ground inside one of my DC panel switches by the door- there's a lot of good stuff in our campers, but those DC on off switches lights, plugs, water pump... are kinda crappy inside)
but until i suckled in the bad ground contact inside the switch, I thought I had a bad battery cell. So spent much time and almost bought one of the new Renogy 200ah Pro batteries with the BT and newer BMS. Until I found my real problem was the switch ground wire.
But in getting to this point- I learned a lot about LiFePo4 batteries.
BIG difference in wiring needs between LiFePO4 and AGM/Lead acid batteries. Best i've come up with - What shipped with our campers is 16mm wire which equals 6 AWG. Ok for a 100ah AGM battery. But a LiFePo4 will feed its rated amps 100ah could supply 100amps, 200ah 200amps. you need a battery to bus bar wire that can handle that. Me, id use a 1AWG for a 100ah Lifepo4 and 2/0 (not 2AWG) for a 200. And you'll have room to grow. Get Ancor marine grade or TEMCo marine grade wire, and you'll be good.
ALSO,
at least on mine, there is no fuse between my AGM batteries and the positive bus bar. Theoretically, each battery should have one to protect the wire (not the battery). Mine are in parallel with separate runs to the +\- bus bars. I guess if yours is in ' daisy chain' style you could use one fuse going to the buses. But i'll need 3. If you go Lifepo, lots of folks recommend using Class T fuses (they don't ARC when they blow as they are encased in silica) and LiFePO4 can feed a lot of current! $50 each for Blue Sea brand (don't buy cheap). I suppose some could say the BMS in a LiFePo4 has a disconnect built in........ meh. i'll do in the T fuse rated for the battery amps and sleep well.
all this leads to another concern. The provided Pos and Negative Bus blocks.... not sure they will take a 1 AWG or better yet a 2/0 wire size?? And if you want to add 3 Class T fuses, One for each battery, with its personal fuse block... now you're adding a bus bar before the one the inverter is going to now. I'm pondering what I want to do here as I would have to add a plate or something for all this to sit on. I don't want that down at floor level with our slide out kitchen and the sink drain hose that if you forget will be dumping water inside that area :/ (ask me how I know that)
So, a bit of a data dump.
all to say, meh, you could just drop in new batteries and fit as big a wire as you can into the existing fuse block and let the BMS in the battery do its thing. cost of some 3' wires pre made and you'll be ok (i'm not an electrician don't call if you burn it down)(and disconnect the solar panels FIRST! Or you'll cook your solar controller- or do it in the middle of the night when it's dark, but for sure, lick the wires first just to be sure there isn't any residual charge up there (see part about i'm not an electrician, these are all jokes
But i'd just beef up the whole battery side of the house to NEMA code while you're in there.
Add some 2 pole DC solar disconnect circuit breakers to the front end of your panels while your in there. Then you can easily disconnect them for your battery swap. There's room in there. ours are wired direct into the Solar charge controller. Guess what you have to replace when you disconnect the battery before the panels in the daytime - solar charge controller.
what else - Renogy has a new dual MPPT-/ DC-DC solar & vehicle alternator simultaneous charge controller, just came out this month. I'm going to wire that in and use the truck alternator to charge the camper while driving. 1/0 wire from vehicle to back bumper mount an Andersen plug, plug Andersen from camper into that. find the other end back there under bunk and redirect to the new controller and it will use both solar and your vehicle alternator to charge as you go. or better yet, repurpose that tiny wire they provided going too the hitch Andersen plug as an external solar panel in-wire (cut and crimp MC4 connectors on it so you know what's what, run that wire to your old Adventure Solar controller. then wire a while new 1/0 wire to the back from the hitch, and run that to the new Alternator charge controller (and you'll have no voltage drop on that line from your alternator and the charge controller won't have to work so hard to boost the alternator 13.8 volts to 14.7 that the LiFePo4s want for a charge voltage.
see- easy peazy!
that's it for now
nothing is ever as simple as drop it in is it:/ haha
Sounds like drop in, but upgrade the battery cables, basically?
I won't add a DC charger from the truck.
BruderMaximus
New member
From what i've read, make sure the cables size are matched to the max amps your battery of choice can provide. And then the guy who runs this expedition portal has a channel and highly recommends in line fuses between batteries and bus bar. But I suppose modern BMS's will shut the battery down on a short circuit. I think the thing to check is what size wire will fit in the existing bus bar connection where the 16mm wires that came with our batteries goes now. i'm not seeing a lot of room to go bigger in those three holes on the bottom of the bus. But maybe. We might be stuck needing a new bus bar for + and - that can take a 1 AWG or so wire. I haven't gotten that far yet in planning my upgrade so don't know. Food for thought.
BruderMaximus
New member
does anybody know where the chassis ground is on these things? D15
landy66
New member
Batteries were 'drop-in' .. and then you have to re-program the Renogy Inverter ... which was pretty simple ... ROA had a blog post about the exact settings:
Lithium Battery Configuration for PCL Inverter Charger | ROA
In order to get the most out of your lithium batteries, you need to make sure that your Renogy Inverter Charger is properly configured.
www.rvsofamerica.com
The batteries I used:
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landy66
New member
what the heck is 'fingernail polish'? What aisle at Home Depot?
landy66
New member
Another Important thing I learned the hard way ....
My D13 has a front and rear tank for water.
Front meaning closest to the hitch
I had both filled up and shot off to the amazing deserts of Moab
Eventually my Front tank went empty.
Ok I thought .. so just use that lever under the bed to switch to the other tank ...
Water pump ... making all sorts of noise
No water coming out of faucets
Next morning called ROA support - long story short .. don't let your tank run empty .. air will get in the system .. and needs to be bled out ..
But how?
No easy way to do it .. unless you install a 3-way valve btw pump and water sources...
ROA sent me the valve .. and I sourced some PEX pipes/fittings.... inserted it between the pump and tanks ... then got a hand pump from an RV shop.. this connects to the 3-way valve and the other end goes into a bucket of water.
Now I can force water (or even winter antifreeze) through the system ... flushing out any air in the pipes that causes problems with the water pump ...
I think this should have been built-in from the get-go but alas no....
My D13 has a front and rear tank for water.
Front meaning closest to the hitch
I had both filled up and shot off to the amazing deserts of Moab
Eventually my Front tank went empty.
Ok I thought .. so just use that lever under the bed to switch to the other tank ...
Water pump ... making all sorts of noise
No water coming out of faucets
Next morning called ROA support - long story short .. don't let your tank run empty .. air will get in the system .. and needs to be bled out ..
But how?
No easy way to do it .. unless you install a 3-way valve btw pump and water sources...
ROA sent me the valve .. and I sourced some PEX pipes/fittings.... inserted it between the pump and tanks ... then got a hand pump from an RV shop.. this connects to the 3-way valve and the other end goes into a bucket of water.
Now I can force water (or even winter antifreeze) through the system ... flushing out any air in the pipes that causes problems with the water pump ...
I think this should have been built-in from the get-go but alas no....
Attachments
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landy66
New member
CowboyKyle
Active member
I would suggest two things to you:Another Important thing I learned the hard way ....
My D13 has a front and rear tank for water.
Front meaning closest to the hitch
I had both filled up and shot off to the amazing deserts of Moab
Eventually my Front tank went empty.
Ok I thought .. so just use that lever under the bed to switch to the other tank ...
Water pump ... making all sorts of noise
No water coming out of faucets
Next morning called ROA support - long story short .. don't let your tank run empty .. air will get in the system .. and needs to be bled out ..
But how?
No easy way to do it .. unless you install a 3-way valve btw pump and water sources...
ROA sent me the valve .. and I sourced some PEX pipes/fittings.... inserted it between the pump and tanks ... then got a hand pump from an RV shop.. this connects to the 3-way valve and the other end goes into a bucket of water.
Now I can force water (or even winter antifreeze) through the system ... flushing out any air in the pipes that causes problems with the water pump ...
I think this should have been built-in from the get-go but alas no....
1) you were told incorrectly
2) you may have other issues
I have ran both tanks completely dry numerous times and have never had an issue. Nothing needs to be bled. The pump simply starts sucking air. Move lever to other tank, and it starts sucking water. Also bonus tip: if you're gonna be using both tanks, pull from the rear tank first. It helps maintain proper tongue weight.
landy66
New member
Hey I'm just reporting my experience as it happened to me -
In any event, adding this 3way connector, even if you haven't experienced problems like mine, is an easy way to 'winterize' your Dweller with that pink anti-freeze fluid...
Hey I'm just reporting my experience ... maybe you are lucky with the tank switches but I certainly was not . These self priming pumps are only rated for a certain distance between pump and source ... so the distance between front/rear tanks on the Dweller might be an issue. Anyway, what I documented here is FACT. It happened. One tank empty, the other full .. pump not able to pick up. Maybe you have been lucky so far...
In any event, adding this 3way connector, even if you haven't experienced problems like mine, is an easy way to 'winterize' your Dweller with that pink anti-freeze fluid...
CowboyKyle
Active member
Are you suggesting it's more likely that I "continue" to "get lucky" than it is there are other issues in your trailer?
landy66
New member
I'm not suggesting anything .. just reporting my experience (and solution) in case anyone else runs into it ... I'm not the only one to experience this either - it's a known thing .. not sure it's a common thing though ...
That there may be other issues in my trailer I have absolutely no doubt
At any rate, the modification also serves as a great way to quickly winterize the trailer ....
I purchased my D13 in 2021. I've winterized and de-winterized for three seasons now. In addition, I have run the tanks dry on several occasions. It took a few times for me to get the hang of priming the water system. My D13 came with a Seaflo 42 series pump. I think that is what they are still using. These are self priming diaphragm pumps.
In my experience, the key to priming the pump is to crack open a faucet when doing the priming. If I don't open a faucet, the pump will run non-stop as you mention and never prime itself. Sometimes I find it works better to alternate between opening and closing the faucet as the pump is priming. Your mileage may vary, but this has always worked for me.
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