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  1. Today
  2. Prior owner left us a roll of this and more of it was under the cushions. This stuff works, Con-Tact Brand Grip Premium by KITTRICH Corp.
  3. Water would be "our biggest constraint" if we did not have our secondary fresh water tank. Yes, we always fill both tanks before leaving home; the 32-gal in the Oliver and 35-gal in the TV (a lifesaver): https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/horizontal-leg-tank-35-gal-2137324 Also, we do not use onboard water for cooking or drinking. So we also carry 10+ gallons drinking water in 1 and 2.5 gallon food quality jugs. And with cold water in glass carafes in the fridge AND truck fridge, we start with about 80 gallons total. Our Wisconsin friend @FloraFauna also always carries an extra 35-gal fresh water! Steve once wrote something like, "I wish it was larger!" The most we ever got out of our Oliver Fresh Water tank was once 28 gallons (measured when refilling). More often it's closer to 22-24 gallons when you can here the water pump taking air. Lift the front jack another inch and you could get another 3-4 gallons but it's time to refill the tank. With the TV hitched, 35 ft of hose (10+25) will connect the secondary tank to the Boondocking water connection. It's so easy with Eley hose quick-connects on all parts! When refilling the first time, I use about half (18 gal) so that we can refill again. Water in tow we can last 10 days, with quick showers every other day. So given we have enough water for 10 days and our 900 Ah with solar suitcase we can also last 10 days. It's the Black Tank that limits our travel. We can dry camp for 10 days, IFF we dump the black after 5 days (based on 2 of us). If you have composting then you would not have this constraint. I mounted our tank (special order mounting straps) and put a cloth cover over it to keep direct sunlight out (unnecessary with a truck cap). Put it in the middle of the bed, the area which is hard to reach for other items. I could not see carrying 5-gal jugs to the rear. What's 5 gallons, about a half day of usage? Gotta have water, the more the better and more so in the desert southwest! 😎
  4. Once you setup your Starlink the dish is locked to your account. So it is useless to someone who wants to just pick it up and walk away with it. Now, granted, not all thieves know this as many are stupid hence their trade. But we have always left ours out overnight and during the day (unless we need it in the truck to have a single).
  5. 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 and some 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. Takes 1 minute to mount or remove. Once camping outside of Durango, we drove into town and halfway there I realized the Starlink was still up on the truck mount, NP! 🤣 Most of you have truck caps. I believe you could easily side-mount the base-mount 2" PVC pole to the side of the cap. The second removeable piece of PVC pipe mounts above to provide height. 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, love the truck mount. 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? We've never needed the dish more than 30-40 ft away from the Oliver to clear trees, but we're not often in heavy woods. Where we camp, the Ponderosa Pine is our tallest tree. 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, though it will depend on your router antenna. We have the extremely capable Parsec Husky which in my experience covers 100+ ft radius in broadcasting Wi-Fi. When I cannot park our TV 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 we travel for business or pleasure without the Oliver we have our Wi-Fi, no need to use unsecure hotel or public Wi-Fi. My portable stand is large and clumsy. Next mod will be to remove the post and replace the large plastic tank with a flat metal base. A short pole and flat base will be much easier to store when not in use. Very often with our router setup and T-Mobile Business 5G Cell SIM card ($30/mo) we do not need the Starlink (80/20 rule). Boondocking in a canyon? Time to connect the Starlink! This link will go to my final post of the thread, when I hardwired the Starlink. =>
  6. 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!
  7. @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?
  8. 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.
  9. I've added the Texas Rally info to the new rally map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1dsUQmPEsXOhV3KgTIkwI1QzIeWChkCw&usp=sharing
  10. Yesterday
  11. We did the same thing years ago. Has worked great. So well I forget it was an issue.
  12. 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!
  13. LAST CALL! These are at the Rally now, so please write me if interested. Thanks, JD
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 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
  17. 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.
  18. Made it to Arches and Devils Garden Campground. First time here and this is a great campground and a stunning area.
  19. 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!
  20. 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.
  21. Last week
  22. 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.
  23. @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
  24. 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."
  25. 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.
  26. 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!
  27. My wife’s solution to the dinette cushion YMMV
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