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Reed, Checked/tightened the hose clamps on the black and grey water lines under the dinette seat this morning. Saw a couple drops of red RV antifreeze under the grey water line and a clamp was loose. Guess this is a good reason for using red RV antifreeze in traps and pressure lines, making it easy to spot leaks. Thanks for the tip,

We're planning a trip in January to southern NM (Carlsbad/Guadalupe Mt NP) and then to southern AZ (Sierra Vista/Tombstone/Bisbee). I anticipate temperatures in the mid to high 20's at night and then 40's/50's during the day. If I get a heated water hose or heated tape for my current hose, will that be enough? Do I still need to turn of the water and disconnect the hose at night? I don't plan on driving in freezing conditions, but if for some reason I end up on the road with temperatures below 32 (you never know in west Texas) are there any issues with running the furnace while towing? We already keep the fridge going on propane while on the move. I know there are some experienced cold weather campers out there and would appreciate your thoughts and advice. Mike

Wonder if having the owners manual, sent to the new owners, a few months ahead of pick up might be useful. It might let the new owner to be more familiar with the pending product. Let them generate intelligent questions and just maybe eliminate some. It wouldn't need component manuals, maybe something like a quick start guide. Also a list of what will be provided and what the new owner will need to operate and hook up for the first time..

Canoe12, Not a bad idea and you should probably mention it to the Sales Staff at Oliver. I'd be willing to bet that at some point down the road this manual will be available online. In the meantime, most of the information that a new owner could want can be found here either in the form of a search or by simply asking a question. Having said this, I still find that every now and again I actually enjoy thumbing through the owner's manual either to refresh my memory on systems that I don't use very often or to stumble over something that I never knew. Certainly a "quick start" guide would be most welcome. However, even this is not as easy as one might think given all the options and widely varying owner experience levels that come with each Oliver. For me, first came the research that led me to the point of ordering my Oliver. Then came that loooooog wait from the ordering day to the delivery day. I must have watched Ron Merritt's YouTube video 20 times during that stretch just trying to glean as much information as I could to prepare myself for the delivery. Would the owner's manual have helped me during this time? Probably. But, it still would not have made the wait any shorter. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year! Bill

I have ALWAYS blown out lines, and then added RV antifreeze. I just make sure we have the waterheater on bypass and we will make sure the Oliver freshwater tank has a bypass too. By running antifreeze from one point it saves condensation, in the lines from the compressor, and as the faucets run red we let them for a few to put antifreeze into the plumbing traps. When the pressure has gone from the lines, we open all by pass lines, and its ready for spring. In the spring we open all faucets till the red is gone, fill the water heater and we are ready to go...

I plan to leave Iowa on January 16 for Big Bend NP, Guadalupe Mountains NP, Marfa, TX, Palo Duro State Park, etc. I had the same questions about road chemicals and the Oliver frame. Here's some information from Jason at Oliver: Hey Don, Under normal conditions, aluminum will react with oxygen and water to form a coherent surface oxide which protects the aluminum from a breakdown reaction. This being said there are chemicals that react differently to the aluminum which can stop this from happening and will actually start to form rust. You typically see this with swimming pools as the chemicals are harsh and will rust all metals over time. It usually takes years for this process to show but I would rinse the frame every chance you get if you are driving through deicer chemicals but it will depend on what the chemical is. I would contact the road dept. and find out what chemical they are using. Thank you, Jason D. Essary Thanks, Jason. Here’s what I found for Iowa. I assume this is similar in other states that use a brine deicer in addition to the mixture of sand and rock salt: Brine is defined as any liquid saturated or nearly full of chloride. This could mean that any dry chemical, freeze-point depressant containing chlorides, such as magnesium chloride, sodium chloride, potassium chloride or calcium chloride when mixed with a liquid would be considered a brine. For the purposes of this discussion, the information provided will concentrate on a brine made from the mixture of sodium chloride (rock salt) and water. This is the brine most often used in Iowa for prewetting and anti-icing operations. What do you think of driving through brine like this or the dry residue from the brine? Don Hey Don, The different chemicals may react differently with the aluminum but based on tests that I have researched it shows that these chemicals react more harshly with steel than aluminum compared by a gram of corrosion on steel versus a tenth of a gram of corrosion on the aluminum. Overall the best thing would be to wash it off when you can. Thank you, Jason D. Essary Thanks, Jason. I bought the Ollie in part because it is a 4-season camper. I’ll take your advice and find a car wash whenever I think I’ve encountered any of these chemicals on the road. Don

If you're staying in a campground they will generally require you to unhook the water hose before you go to bed and make sure that your tank is topped off. But because we have a 4 season rv, topping off your tank at night will not be an issue. I've seen the heated water hoses for sale but I've never used one and on the Olli, we have plenty of water on board. Personally I wouldn't want to be hooked up to a waterline in 20° weather because frozen hoses just keep freezing farther inside. Generally during the day or after 7 to 8am the temps will be above freezing and running the heater isn't needed while driving, but... I'll be trying it out myself come February just to see. I haven't looked at the specs on the Olli heater yet but they are generally enclosed and the pilot is behind a window. I would say try it, the most it could do is get blown out and have you vent some fresh air back into the trailer. Honestly though, as long as your not driving when the temps are below 30°, there shouldn't be a need to run the heater. I really like your idea and installing an indoor outdoor thermometer with the outdoor down in the hold is a great idea :) You could run it but the heat is needed under the floor, so running the heat strip or just running a small heater in the trailer won't add any protection under the floor for the pipes. When the time comes, I will definitely try running the heater itself while driving. The last time, when I had a heater in my motorhome, it worked flawlessly every time. I can't wait to pick up our Olli in just over a month now :) Driving in snow means having 4WD with posi or limited slip differentials at least in the rear, good snow tires and good chains for all 4 tires on your tv and at least 2 for the trailer. I've always liked the diamond pattern cables or chains for the tv when pulling a trailer, they're a little more expensive and a lot harder to put on but the smoothness of the ride with the diamond pattern always on the road, makes driving in chain control areas no big deal.