Jump to content

All Activity

This stream auto-updates

  1. Past hour
  2. We leave it out at night. One exception, we stayed at a sketchy campsite one night where I did not have a good feeling re the neighbors (van life types, living out of cars). So I brought it in before going to bed and we left next morning to find a better campsite! I bring it in every time we leave for the day. In fact 90% of the time we use the truck mount, so we have to pull it down. I put it in the Starlink travel bag ($40 option includes a dish frame and bag) and it with the 2' pole extension sits in my truck tool box. Most of you have truck caps. I believe you could easily side-mount the 2" PVC pole to the side of the cap. Paint it to color match and have it there ready. Ron and others have tall poles, mounting suction cups, etc. I just don't want the hassle. If you can move the dish 10 ft up to avoid trees, you can also move it 10-20 ft over to a clear spot. How far? Ours has never been more than 30-40 ft away. You wrote "WIFI to WIFI." I believe you mean what MobileMustHave.com calls "WiFi as WAN" (check them out, they have videos explaining everything). I have a Pepwave router which is capable of this and so could your router. Just recently I created a hardwire solution for my truck mount (30V power and Ethernet LAN). So now I have the Mini wired to the Pepwave router directly which allows us one login. You should have up to 50' distance with Wi-Fi as WAN. When I cannot park our truck in clear view of the northern sky, I will use the portable stand with battery and change login to the built-in Mini Router. I installed our router in our truck for a number of reasons; 1) our Internet connection ALWAYS travels with us, day trips too, 2) The Oliver will be parked in the shade more often and the tow vehicle can be moved some, the trailer not so much, and 3) when I travel for business without the Oliver I have our Wi-Fi, no need to use hotel wi-fi and backup to the conference room connection. Very often with our router setup and T-Mobile Business 5G Cell SIM card ($30/mo) we do not need the Starlink. Boondocking in a canyon? Then Starlink is required. More info here. This link will go to my final post in this thread, re the Starlink hardwired. =>
  3. Today
  4. Thanks JD. We are weighing all of our options for replacing the Dometic. The Chill Cube is certainly getting a lot of play with people. And Inverter Service Center, the place where Steve got his electrical upgrade done, recommends the Chill Cube and may actually start installing it at some point. Thanks again!
  5. @jd1923 that’s a clever solution! I’d rather not be internet connected all the time (boo!), but since I need it for a ‘retirement’ business with my son it’s a business expense writeoff (yay!). Anyhow this looks super simple and clean, couple questions … Do you put it away at night in case of a two legged wildlife? Also if you leave the trailer, seems like there might be a lot putting it away and out again, or not? The reason for a tall pole seems (to me) obviously not satellite distance but rather to get above obstacles including the Oliver, for better line of sight. Thoughts? I have a WIFI on the trailer, so this would be the upstream WAN, either hardwired if on the trailer or as a hotspot (e.g. WIFI to WIFI), how far away do you usually place the dish? Non related question - you always carry an extra 35 gallons? I like the idea, we’re testing it this week on a trip to our relatives. I filled the tank and have 30g in the truck bed, and we’ve made it last nearly a week. Water is our biggest constraint so I really like the idea of always being prepared, just wondering how that’s worked out for you?
  6. We placed rug gripper pads under the cushions, but they still slide off. We're going to try a different brand and hope we have better luck.
  7. I've added the Texas Rally info to the new rally map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1dsUQmPEsXOhV3KgTIkwI1QzIeWChkCw&usp=sharing
  8. Yesterday
  9. We did the same thing years ago. Has worked great. So well I forget it was an issue.
  10. Scotty is camping and he might not have a pic before he filled the holes. I filled mine too but have this picture from before. You can see two holes in front and look closer to see two more on either side. The Dometic P2 was twice as big inside and out. There are two more in back 6" beyond the much smaller Chill Cube. Notice the headroom too! Another reason it's quiet is the air handler/fan are not hanging down into the cabin interior like ALL the others! Scotty got his installed at summer end, and he was only able to test the A/C minimally. He got the newer Heat Pump version and we hope to hear about that function soon. The link below goes directly to page 2 of my Chill Cube post which shows the installation. Pages 3-4 have some of my reporting on its efficiency. We ran ours all summer (all of 2026) and we just LOVE it!
  11. LAST CALL! These are at the Rally now, so please write me if interested. Thanks, JD
  12. There are number of brands in the market that refer to products as "extended season" campers. Lance is one of those but there are few others and this is where at most I would categorize the Oliver, although admittedly one can get by for a day or so in some rather cold temps if you can put up with the noisy furnace if not plugged into shore power with AC heat source which we have also done a few occasions.
  13. Hey Scotty. Would you mind posting a few pictures of the air handler unit in the cabin after your new Chill Cube was installed, especially with holes you filled? As you mentioned above, there is a bit of difference between the Penguin and the Chill Cube inside. The Chill Cube is intriguing and seems potentially like a good choice, especially for energy management. And have you had much of a chance yet to try it out? I’d be interested in further reports. Thanks.
  14. We all use our Oliver's differently, in different environments, with differing expectations, and we all measure standards to those expectations. Four seasons does include "winter" and in this huge continent we can be in south Florida or North Slope Alaska and still be winter- with vastly opposite conditions. I would not expect any Oliver to adequately handle Ice fishing conditions unless modified to do so, nor a Montana winter on a daily basis. So, definitions matter, and four seasons means to me, in stock form, the Oliver (2027 models) will handle a few very cold days below zero, off grid. Late fall, at elevation, its 20 degrees at night - warms to low 50's in day - we get out hike, fish, whatever, and at night we are warm and secure. Snow, rain, ice, in moderation, not an issue. After a few days, we head out to the next spot, similar low temps and warming days. My expectations are met. If you need more - then a specialty product is needed. Yeah but 4 seasons? Ok, got it. I have enough experience in really cold weather - RV, tent, backpacking, - or otherwise to know matching equipment to the conditions is key. My two cents - Oliver within reason is more 4 season capable than most, but it is not a Montana winter home, nor an ice fishing platform in Wisconsin. Perhaps it is a 3.5 season RV? RB
  15. I don't know how the newer models are designed, but our hull 45 is certainly not a 4 season camper. No ductwork at all to heat the basement and minimal insulation under the tanks. We have camped in the 20's and our heat pump kept the cabin as warm as we wanted but I'd be making some mods if we ever planned on camping in lower temps. I'd probably run one of those portable diesel heaters and install ductwork that branched to heat both the basement and the cabin.
  16. Made it to Arches and Devils Garden Campground. First time here and this is a great campground and a stunning area.
  17. Well, I guess I jinked myself, or at least proved why having a TPMS is valuable. On the trip from Utah to Grand Junction (to get us some new leaf springs), our TPMS went off, and my wife said, "One of the tires is down to 35 psi... now 30... now 25," all in the matter of 30 seconds. We pulled over, and sure enough, the tire pressure was dropping fast. The valve stem had ripped and started leaking. We did enough of a patch-and-fill job to get off the side of the freeway so we could change the tire. Glad we had it, so this stayed just an inconvenience! Also, so glad I had done dry runs of changing tires at home so whenever this day did come I was confident we could get it addressed. The next day I went to Les Schwab and got some nice steel stems put on all the tires!
  18. Correct @BackofBeyond and just as importantly this thing is built like a tank ready to go anywhere. We have a local dealer nearby and they are the real deal. Their claims are not smoke and mirrors either based on the conversation I had with the dealer. While I don't doubt many have been sold to people with half ton trucks the reality is you need a much heavier duty vehicle to tow them safely and legally. Their frame, hitch and suspension does NOT allow for a WDH. Don't recall the specs on all of them but am fairly certain the tongue weight on all of their models exceeds 500lbs.
  19. Last week
  20. Sorry you won't be there, and I hope you feel better soon. It seems to me this entire year has been full of false starts and changes in plans. I sent you a message.
  21. @Olive2Roam and @topgun2 Krunch and I made it as far north as Murfreesboro on our 2026 OTTO Rally trip and while camping at Monte Sano SP in Huntsville, I had a recurrence of pseudogout effecting my hands, hips and shoulders. As a result of this, we headed back home and will miss the rally. Would you please find topgun2 at campsite E36 and handoff the Truma winterizing accessory and he will send it to me. Thank you for generous gift, Mossey
  22. Interesting that the Imperial RVs came out of the Ice Fishing market. Looking at the various models this is the design intent :"Four-season performance is standard. Nearly 3 inches of composite insulation, thermally broken windows, and heated water tanks keep the OB120 functional in extreme temperatures, with the cabin and systems engineered to perform down to -40°F. This cold-weather capability is no accident — it's the direct result of Imperial Outdoors' roots in building ice fishing structures designed to survive Wisconsin winters, applied to the most compact trailer in the lineup."
  23. That is a splice connector, specifically a Wago brand lever nut splice connector. Considered a good easy to use connector joining two or more wires together.
  24. No worries at all! Honestly, a loose battery connection is one of those things that's so simple it often gets overlooked. We've all chased complicated problems only to find out it was something basic in the end. I'm just glad you found the issue and got it sorted out. You definitely didn't waste my time. Troubleshooting is just a process of eliminating possibilities until the culprit shows itself. Great news that you're back up and running. Thanks for letting us know what the fix was!
  25. My wife’s solution to the dinette cushion YMMV
  26. Living in Montana I do NOT think of the Oliver as a 4 season camper. Yes you can camp in moderately chilly weather as most of us have done at one time or the other but 4 season no way. If you want a true 4 season camper look at Imperial Outdoors and a few others built to similar standards. On our 2015 EII we have the suburban furnace installed which is only 16K BTU but runs at 40-50% efficiency cutting that value in half, and believe it is considerably undersized and noisy to boot. Not sure what they install on the newer models.
  27. Thanks it does. It gives me some structure to start with. I will ohm on a cold baseline with several components before I try heating. I wish it would fail on the bench. It would make it easier to troubleshoot. Maybe decreasing the amount of airflow on the back and sides may simulate the Oliver environment and help to cause the failure. I can hold the cover and 2 shields in place with 4 screws. Try to induce the failure, and then remove the covers and have time to do the testing. Otherwise I will run it in Grill/convection mode for 20 minutes then remove the covers, and then use a heat gun on possible failure points. Question: If the cord was the failure point, would I feel more heat in the area in question on the cord?
  28. We will be traveling overseas in a few days and I may not be able to respond for a while. Hopefully we'll be returning with our daughter who has been waiting 10 years to get through the legal immigration process🙏 Anyway, you're on the right track now, only remember that a current leak does not have to be on the specific component related to the mode. It also could be related to the neutral which is common in all 3 modes. Albeit, a neutral ground fault needs to be lower resistance for current to take the ground path. Think of it like this; 1 ohm or less is a direct short, under 1k on the neutral could cause a ground fault trip, anything under 25k on the hot side will cause a ground fault trip, anything up to a meg ohm is not great, but it might not trip the GFCI, and over a meg ohm is good insulation. Your right to relate the problem to heat, only the heat is just exposing an insulation weakness that is causing a ground fault enough to trip the GFCI. Do your testing after the breaker trips when it is still hot, or try a heat gun all over suspect insulation. Test hot and cold, and remember the resistance will change a little with temperature swings. Look for more significant changes. Since the power cord might have been pinched the first time you removed the oven, the heat could be softening the insulation at the pinch point causing current leakage there. It might not be easily seen, so It's worth examining very closely or just replacing the cord as a cheap first step. Hope that gives you something to start with. Good luck!
  1. Load more activity
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information