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Last time in an airport? Twas pre-Covid for me! 😎 Chris does an annual sister’s trip, to IL or FL. Me, last time I experienced the G-awful Planes, Trains and… I flew back to Chicago in 2007 for my Aunt’s services. Very soon that’s 20 years, God Bless. Started my current job teaching PMPs, 11 years ago and frequented airports every 2-3 weeks for 6 years, enough is enough! Now I lead our students via Zoom! 😎 You couldn’t pay me to fly to the UK or Europe for reasons other than airports. But I respect your interest and choice. We lived in Wiesbaden Germany for 7 years, back in the day. I have fond memories! It’s good to keep it that way! That’s the beauty of the Oliver. We can visit the best of places just a short drive away! 😂

God Bless our military 🇺🇸

I also agree with Steve on this. Oliver used to be flexible with build modifications. Even in 2015 when we ordered and our trailer was started it was possible to negotiate modifications to their normal build. A year or so later that stopped and they started standardizing their assembly line, then bundled individual options into packages, etc., even to the point now where there is a standard graphics color. It makes economic sense for them. Best bet for a stripped down model is to do what John did and get a “vintage” trailer and take out all the worn out, outdated things and start over. Mike

@ScubaRx Steve is right on this one (as usual), and NO, not everything is negotiable. I've been low-balled on so many items I've listed used 4-sale and I walk away, NOT negotiating with them. I don't respond to the questions, what's the lowest you'll go? I'll go, but not with that guy. Knowing when to walk is half the "Art of the Deal." I would have loved the stripped-down Oliver, because I'm an engineer, auto mechanic and restorer at heart. I was going to modify everything to my liking anyway and it would have been cleaner without having to remove the old, patch fiberglass, etc. OTT offering a naked Oliver? Dumb business model. Their product, their intellectual property is the Oliver as a "special package." If they sold a bare-bones model they would lose most of their margin. They would have legal and warranty issues, the list goes on. Ford sells the E450 chassis and 100 RV manufactures build on it. That's not OTT!

Looks like they modified a Turbro unit like I have and fixed most or maybe even all the features I don't like about it.

Great job Jason and Aaron!

FYI, a Brinkley owner installed/tested the new Chill 15k low profile inverter AC.

The wide outside seals can also cause issues. GJ

@Boudicca908 would you mind sharing your impressions of the Chill Cube A/C in our Oliver? What was the sound level like outside when we were working next to it. What was the sound like on low when we went inside, and then when I lowered the thermostat and turned it up on high? So far, Forum Members have only read my opinion. There must be a lot of Oliver owners running the Dometic P2 this summer wishing they didn't have to! Thanks.

I often have to travel there for work and try to avoid summer. All my co-workers who live there remind me that the unofficial state bird is the mosquito.

Our first year after a short 3-day trip, our Oliver was parked at home for 6 months. I needed that time to rebuild the suspension, replace all belts and hoses, brakes, etc. on our tow vehicle. Hard to travel with the TV up on jack stands! We're opposite than most. We travel the fall, all winter long and spring and stay home most of the summers. Summers by us are not too hot at 5440 ft elevation but as soon as we go anywhere it gets hot in the lower elevations of the southwest. Summers of 2024 and 2025 the Oliver was home for 3 months at a time receiving all our many upgrade mods. No big mods this summer since I'm done with all that. Now that we can run A/C for several days on inverter we'll do more summer travel. We've been parked since early May but leaving tomorrow for Walnut Canyon, just east of Flagstaff. Just going for 4 nights, off this week, working next. So, two months now since our last trip. We enjoy lots of short trips around Arizona. We go camping, boondock often just an hour to a few hours from home, more so now with fuel prices high it's nice to get remote after a short drive. In 3 years, we have never put our Oliver into a storage state. No RV antifreeze, blow out the water lines when needed. Last winter was so mild it wasn't necessary. After our trip this week, I have two weeks off Aug-Sept and are planning 2 weeks in SW Colorado. Then another 6 weeks if all goes well we'll head east for The Rally. Longest time between camping trips? Going forward, I'd say it will be +/- 6 weeks for us! 😎

As I suggested - everything is negotiable.

We’ve been hiding out here for the past two years as camp hosts. “Free” site with electricity for a month. All we have to do is play nice with the other campers, be helpful once in a while, liaise with the rangers - and make sure the washrooms don’t run out of toilet paper. We did have to buy an annual vehicle pass last year - $35 - so I’m not whining too much. Though “North” is usually cooler than South - think Texas - it hasn’t been so great this year with the heat dome. We actually would have preferred even further North - like Lake Vermillion SP in the Boundary Waters, but Glacial Lakes is who invited us. Being 35 miles away from the nearest decent sized town (Alexandria) means we don’t head out too often to spend $$$ at nice restaurants. (Yeah, we’re spoiled.) But there IS a winery pretty close (Rolling Forks) which is a weakness of ours. Now that we have a few weapons against the various flying, biting pests - we don’t feel quite so helpless.

About three months every autumn since 2021 - but we’re not complaining too much as we’ve been spending that time in Europe and the UK.

We usually take a trip every couple of months, but since moving to another home and getting the former ready for market it’s been five months and counting! Bummed as well, but occasionally run the a/c on inverter to exercise the batteries and enjoy my morning coffee in the Oliver, stress management!

I operate mine on the temperature auto mode regardless of the source of power/fuel being used. It’s generally set at 85°/50% fan speed, but in extreme heat I will bump the fan speed up. The evaporator fin fan in the fridge is turned on to run continuously whenever the unit is in use. These external and internal fans will indeed improve the cooling efficiency and likely extend the life of the unit. However, when stationary it is imperative to have the 3-way perfectly level to ensure proper cooling.

I am never going anywhere near MN in July. 😜

I run our fridge exhaust fan when it's hot regardless of how it's powered; AC, DC or LP. LP runs a little hotter but the real heat is generated from the cooling. We choose between DC/LP based solely on battery SOC. Of course, when we're plugged in we switch to AC. I can notice the heat coming out of the top vent when entering the cabin which reminds me to turn the fan on. Living in the SW, if the sun is on the entrance wall, turn on the fan. We also have Ruuvi temp sensors in fridge and freezer compartments to monitor cooling.

Question for the more technical people. Now that I have the Fridge exhaust fans in place, I know to use it when on propane in hotter weather. Would it be beneficial to use it on 120V and/or 12V in hotter weather? Maybe make the fridge more efficient and take a little load of off the compressor from running as much? Would this maybe extend the life of the fridge?

His first time camping.

Six months, usually in the Winter.

Late February 2022 until Mid October 2025 - 3 years 8 months no trips. Bill

Doing all business factory direct has proven to be a good business model for Oliver. Selling through dealers reduces the company's margin and in theory should increase units sold. If Oliver were my company, I would choose the be a specailty smaller company with a higher margin than selling more at a lower margin as long as your are able to reasonably absorb the factory and indirect overhead. The overhead has to be a significant number that rolls up into the cost when spread over only couple hundered units. I'd love to see their books "get peak under the hood" to truly understand the business puzzle. I'm sure they have an interesting challenge.

For 10 years we usually had 3 months or less between trips. This year has been different, also family health issues (not us!) and grandkids are keeping us close to home. Our last real camping was last October. I’ve got car seats and a wheel chair in the trunk of my car, kind of explains where we’re at. We did make a quick trip to Hohenwald in March for a maintenance item, not really a camping trip. Mike

Because they wouldn't build one like that.