Leaderboard

Pat, the vast majority of postings on this forum are courteous and helpful towards other members. On the rare occasion someone establishes a pattern of departing from the proper decorum, a moderator will step in and resolve the issue. Thank you for inviting Ginger to share her knowledge of this oven. I am sure her inputs will be welcomed.

I think the limit is more the batteries than the inverter. I mean, if the Atwood can be run on a generator rated at 2000 surge watts then it should be fine on an inverter rated at 3000. Unless of course one of those has been very conservatively/liberally rated. The Trojan T-105's however are rated at ~10 amps and if you're asking 100+ from them they won't be happy. I'm sure this is why Trumpetguy wasn't able to get his AC cranking with batteries before he added the soft start - well, kinda sure, technically they should. But even with a soft start, the running amps even on the Atwood is 100+, and that's probably too much if you want your batteries to last. Probably O.K. in the middle of a sunny day if you're supplementing with tons of solar. But over the long run it can't be good for battery life. An hour or so, as was Trumpetguy's desire, is probably not as harmful, but still a strain. Lot's of probablies. I think if you really want to run the AC off batteries on any regular basis, then you need to consider lithium and then up your solar to 640w and maybe even supplement that with portables. The successful battery operated AC systems like the Wynn's or Technomadia's have over a kilowatt of solar and 400 useable Ah of lithium batteries, and even they'll tell you that their systems are limited to a partial day before recharging with a gen or plugging in. You can do this in an Oliver, if you're willing. IMO, the primary selling point of a soft start is in letting you run an existing Penguin or Coleman AC off of a portable gen like the Honda 2000. Quieter, lighter, easier to store. If you're just getting started though, I think just speccing the Atwood is probably the better choice, though there are reasons you might still prefer the Penguin + a soft start.

LOL, you got me. I did think for a minute that it was posed, but posing didn't make sense. Good one. Keep them coming, and now we know about your twisted sense of humor. John Davies Spokane WA

Matteo, You might consider sending a Personal Message (PM) to "Hardrock", (Coy) who is the owner point person for the Rally, and/or "Essary17",(Jason) who is the Oliver Travel Trailer point person. Buzzy

I have used a front receiver by Drawtite. A Swagman rack works perfectly. I had to use an extension bar and anti rattle device but was happy with the setup. I have changed tow vehicles and will add the same setup to my Ram. I heard a story of an Oliver owner whose GPS took him down a narrow road into a dead end. He was able to unhitch the trailer, turn the truck around, and using his front receiver push the Ollie back to a place wide enough to turn around. So Many uses for a front receiver.

Not to take this topic off-track, but I'm looking at your 2nd Annual Rally at the beginning of May in TN (thanks to a tip from donbob3). I see many vendors will be there, including our largest OEM customer Dometic, to which we sell marine A/C controls in high volume and have for many years. Thanks to this topic here, I'm thinking that a lot of Oliver owners might be interested in hearing more about EasyStart at what looks like quite a wonderful event. I would really like to participate to perhaps give a demonstration and/or a technical seminar, but I realize it may be too late to get in. From reviewing the rally web page, I cannot quite tell who the best person is to contact about perhaps joining in with the vendors and seminars. Does anyone know who I should contact? Thanks in advance.

rideandfly Bill you were the closest :) John! We're still laughing cause that was funny right there :) Mike, Bill, Pete, you guys are great :) Walt and Buzzy, thanks for the thanks :) The truth is, I took my ML in for service and this GLA is the loaner car they gave me for the weekend and it's not an AMG. I'm going to be going to Yosemite next week and there's some steep hills that we're going to be towing on, so the guys at Mercedes are going to go thru the brakes on Monday and make sure everything is ready for the mountains. We will probably have snow and I may be chaining up the trailer tires for the first time while there. So the guys gave me a choice of a C300 or this GLA 4wd Airmatic with a 2" available air lift and low range... and I always choose the GLA 4x4 when available. Mercedes charges us $10 a day for 3 days and then it's free after that and it had 3/4 of a tank of gas, so... I can't lose when I take my cars in for service. The old 2012ML has 92,000 miles on it, and this week I'm driving a new car with no limits to what I'll be doing with it that had 1200 miles on it when I started. There's no way that the GLA could tow our trailer, but it looked great, so I backed it in and Karen snapped some pics for me to fool around with here on the forum, I couldn't resist. I took the car stats from an SL65AMG that does have a V12, just cause, you know... It's a guy thing... Lol. I've always thought that the best summer TV would be a convertible, but there's no such thing these days, so I let my imagination do the driving on this post just like Lucy and Desi from their old movie because I do really love my convertible.

Looks like REI are no longer stocking it. It can be found at other sellers through a Google search, though. Years ago I purchased Cobb cooker. Great food, but the cleanup drain on the water supply was a downer. Then I found the Backpacker's Oven. It is cheap to buy, cooks well, but you need to make sure not to bump the hood if it is used inside the camper. After seeing this thread, I purchased an Omnia and cooked seasoned chicken breasts to perfection using the silicone insert. Cleanup was a breeze. It is already packed for this summer's wanderings.

This is how my Breezer Downtown bike will ride to Newfoundland this summer. I took it out for a test ride today and it is absolutely steady with no dipping or wobbling. I have a Curt front hitch for the Taco and use Swagman X/C carrier and an anti-wobble clamp. No ground clearance is lost for the vehicle (the skid plate is lower by several inches) Contrary to how it appears, there is no problem with visibility from the handle bars. The wheels do not extend beyond the sides of the truck, so there is no loss in maneuvering. Parking between vehicles at the grocery store was not a problem. The bike is secured to the hitch with a locking cable. After putting a topper on the back of the Taco, the previous setup interfered with opening the hatch. This was a good solution for me. I'm not too worried about bug splatter on the bike. As long as the seat is clean I'm good to ride. The chain is fully enclosed in a shroud, so there should be minimal issues with rust. My Taco has 218,000 miles on it and still runs like brand new.

The shaking out of rugs and sweeping routine works well for a while for us, but after a little time, the nooks and crannies seem to need a little extra. I thought about the Dyson, but after looking at reviews, I figured I can burn up three of these before I reach the Dyson price point. And it had the first decent review of a Black and Decker product I've seen in a really long time, so gave it a shot. Like Raspy, I have almost always regretted a B&D purchase, but so far so good with this one. ( knock on fiberglass)

That's a stunning looking combo . . . about as stunning as all those numbers on the speeding ticket.

My wife and I really enjoy cycling. We have this bike rack set up in our pick up truck. The bikes fit snugly without needing to remove any wheels.

Net, Net, I found that it was just easier to use two or three throw rugs (two down the main isle and a third on the short isle near the door and in front of the bath) and simply take them outside every day or so and shake them out. I also put a "rug" cover over the two steps at the front door that helps catch at least some of the stuff prior to going inside. Bill

That is a gorgeous combo. I am sure that engine is a beast, and it has great brakes. But is there sufficient tow rating at the back? I know nothing about the AMG vehicles other than they are of better than average build quality and horrifically expensive to fix when they break. Good luck finding somebody who can work on it if it has a problem out in the hinterlands. But I guess the owner could have his chopper fly out to whisk him away and leave a hired drone behind to deal with the repairs.... If I wanted that kind of power and luxury I would be shopping for a new Land Cruiser and put a supercharger on it. Then I would pay cash for my new Ollie and have an extra $100k left over for fuel. But no Cruiser says Wretched Excess to the neighbors as well as that Merc does.... and it looks very cool with the trailer. I hope the owner keeps the rig below 75 mph. Maybe he has upgraded the Oliver's brakes to Brembos. Did it have red calipers showing? LOL. John Davies Spokane WA

Reed and Karen, Beautiful TV! Is this the truth? AMG GLA 45: "Best in class: the engine of the GLA 45 AMG fully lives up to this claim, as a look at the figures shows. The AMG 2.0-liter turbo engine is the most powerful series-production four-cylinder turbo engine in the world. It produces 280 kW (381 hp) of power and develops a peak torque of 475 Newton meters. A power density of 140 kW (191 hp) puts the AMG high-performance turbo engine on a par with the world's most powerful super sports cars". http://www.mercedes-amg.com/webspecial/gla45/index_eng.php#press AMG S65: https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/model/class-S/model-S65C