OBI Dweller Review and Discussion

[RJWB]

Great Q. Anyone got any tips / guidance ? I want to add some external brackets for a starlink and other bits... assume a standard steel drill bit will just go right through the walls or an 1" screw with fix to the wall ? Will send photos when I tackle it ( including the mess ups )

I'm not necessarily a subject matter expert but I think you want to use a "RIVET NUT" and utilize a rivet nut tool.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

Great Q. Anyone got any tips / guidance ? I want to add some external brackets for a starlink and other bits... assume a standard steel drill bit will just go right through the walls or an 1" screw with fix to the wall ? Will send photos when I tackle it ( including the mess ups )

Don't drill holes for a unique bolt pattern specific to one appliance. If you ever want to install something else in that spot, you'll have holes that do you no good, and will need to drill new holes.

Instead, mount a short piece of L-track, like I did here, and then mount whatever you want to the track. Endless flexibility down the line.

 

[landy66]

I heard South Lake Tahoe got to 14° the other morning. My son lives there. You could always dry camp without water in the trailer plumbing system or toilet. Hopefully you haven't cracked any plumbing parts. You would need to add electrical tank heaters and water line heaters to camp in below freezing temperatures. The front faucet on the trailer A-frame would freeze first due to exposure to the elements. Many of the four season trailers require you to run the propane furnace 24 hours a day. There's usually a heat duct into the bottom of the trailer that's enclosed to prevent the plumbing lines from freezing. As you know the bottom of the Dweller is not enclosed. As far as your propane goes you probably could get away with insulating the propane lines and covering the tank with a couple of blankets or old towels. Low temperatures create low pressure issues for propane tanks.

yeah super cold that one night - I think I'm going to winterize the thing .. don't want to risk cracking my water lines... I can do without the luxury of running water ... my two 5 gal jerry cans of water should be plenty. I got a propane tank heating blanket but that's going to hog battery power when totally offgrid... so getting a diesel heater as a backup ....

 

[landy66]

Life is so much easier after I relocated my Truma control panel

 

[WillySwan]

Life is so much easier after I relocated my Truma control panel

Agreed!

 

[irishgrey]

Life is so much easier after I relocated my Truma control panel

Such a better location ... how difficult was this ? are the cables long enough to re-route or do all need extending ?

 

[irishgrey]

Don't drill holes for a unique bolt pattern specific to one appliance. If you ever want to install something else in that spot, you'll have holes that do you no good, and will need to drill new holes.

Instead, mount a short piece of L-track, like I did here, and then mount whatever you want to the track. Endless flexibility down the line.

good shout that.

 

[gendlert]

Agreed!

Show-off.

 

[landy66]

Such a better location ... how difficult was this ? are the cables long enough to re-route or do all need extending ?

very easy to do ... I had to extend the thin power wires a bit, but that was trivial ... the other 'phone jack' control wire is really long ... and you can route it alongside the heat ducts behind the cabinet.... I used an oscillating saw to cut out a square of wood in the panel ... and managed to scratch up the panel in the process....(hence duct tape... and if you squint... you can't really see it... but don't do that) ...
Oh also .. to get the CP panel off without breaking it ... watch this:

 

[landy66]

View attachment 861174
Agreed!

Very nice! I see you also relocated the temp sensor? Does it work better over there than by the door?

 

[WillySwan]

Very nice! I see you also relocated the temp sensor? Does it work better over there than by the door?

Yes I did relocate the temp sensor. It works so much better now.

All of the cables were plenty long for relocating with no splicing. This was the best upgrade that I did this season.

 

[landy66]

Yes I did relocate the temp sensor. It works so much better now.

All of the cables were plenty long for relocating with no splicing. This was the best upgrade that I did this season.

what are the two circular dials btw?

 

[WillySwan]

what are the two circular dials btw?

They are both Victron remote control panels. One is for a Victron MPPT solar charge controller the other is for a Victron smart battery monitor. The remotes are fine for backup, but I have found the smartphone app is much easier to use for monitoring and control.

 

[gtbike96]

I would definitely recommend relocating the temp sensor. I installed ours on the side of the cabinet at the foot of the bed. It does a much better job from this location.

 

[TonyJ]

yeah super cold that one night - I think I'm going to winterize the thing .. don't want to risk cracking my water lines... I can do without the luxury of running water ... my two 5 gal jerry cans of water should be plenty. I got a propane tank heating blanket but that's going to hog battery power when totally offgrid... so getting a diesel heater as a backup ....

You can actually run RV antifreeze in your toilet water tank - go w/o worries!