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As our community of owners grows, I can see the need to examine our topic headings to facilitate easy retrieval. That realization hit home when Jason created a separate heading for the Oliver Technical Service Bulletins. What a great approach! No need to dig through multiple topics or engage the search function. Are there other headings needed? What about a separate heading for videos, Word documents, etc.? Not sure if our Forum Moderators can create new headings for us. Seems we are constantly welcoming new owners, which is a good thing, and they frequently have the same questions/concerns as previous owners. I am not sure if our headings or subheadings are as helpful as they could be. As a contributing member on our Forum, I struggle to find my own previous postings which might help new owners. The postings are all there, they just get buried under a topic heading which is not always what would be my search topic. Oh well, maybe it is just me. Buzzy

I think there are several things that will improve this forum. First, kudos to Matt Duncan and Jason Walmsley for moving the forum to a faster platform. Pages load much faster, and searches are better. I think an improved search function would do wonders. Many forums, such as FGRV, have a granular search page. You can search for a keyword within the post, and more importantly, you can limit your search to Titles of the posts. You can also search by User Name, to search for posts written by a specific person. Finally you can search for both criteria simultenaously. Suppose I vaguely remember something Buzzy posted on Solar, and I wanted to find it. Search for User Name: Buzzy and Keyword Within Title: Solar, and I might find it. If I did not find it, I could repeat the search with Search for User Name: Buzzy and Keyword Within Entire Post: Solar. Other useful search features include date ranges, and the ability to sort the search results by specific criteria. Auto-complete is a term used in web site design, and we have all seen it at Google or Amazon. I noticed that the User Name field at FGRV has auto-complete, so that if I type in b-u-z, all of the user names beginning with buz appear in a drop down menu. This is standard technology, and would be useful here. Finally, I think it would be good the forum offered the user the ability to subscribe to a periodic summary (weekly or daily?) as an email. Thanks, David

[attachment file=20170420_183455.jpg] I just completed the installation of a 14 gauge 304 stainless counter top. BTW I've posted this twice before and it never showed up here in the forum?

Reed, I had them balanced because of the extra weight of the stems and TPMS sensors. It's not a lot of weight, but they had them off the trailer anyway and it seemed prudent. Mike

When we picked up our Elite II on September 1, 2015 the tires had been balanced. Also I had them balanced when the metal valve steams were installed for the TPMS.

We have the oldest drawer slides of any Elite II on our 2014 Outlaw Oliver and we have never had a kitchen drawer to come open during travels. We do not have any magnetic catches on any of the drawers. Some of the dampeners on the self closures have played out, but they still close (with a slight bang) and they stay closed. I have several new drawer slides to replace them with but I'm always doing something "more interesting!"

I do not believe the tires are balanced prior to delivery. During a recent visit to the factory, I met an owner just picking up his trailer and he took the tires off and had them balanced prior to leaving.

The 4 1/2" grinder with a cutoff wheel goes right through it. Just have to be careful around the corners and to get the cutouts just right. Probably took an hour to cut it out after getting it sheared and bent. Then another hour or so to dress the corners and drill the screw holes to get the final fit. All 10-24 stainless screws and nuts. Easy access for all the nuts from behind. I bent the backsplash at 90 degrees, but the wall leans in a bit, so it is kind of pressing against the wall. Then it is all glued with white silicone. The screws take the load off the glue and push it to the exact spot. This surface is much more durable and heat resistant than the original fiberglass surface. The vulnerable factory surface was one of the things I noticed when I first looked at my Ollie. I didn't want the faux granite either, as it is another resin surface. The stainless will acquire some character with use and that's fine. Only weighs about 8 or 10 lbs. I'd guess. The cabinet is really well built from the factory. The top is thick fiberglass and has a honeycomb structure under the stove. Very strong surface and surprisingly flat and square. I'm very happy with this upgrade and it's not very hard to do.

And I wanted to post this separately: To show our appreciation for everyone's interest and Buzzy's kind invitation, like we did for Trumpetguy's AS friends and family, I've just added another coupon code to our webstore for all of you Oliver owners. Just enter "OLIVER" at checkout to receive $50 off our EasyStart 364 model. Please know that I'm not here to force the "hard sell" on anyone. I'm just a part of the product development & manufacturing team that wants to make sure you have all the right information. That way, each and everyone can make their own decisions and choices on how best to resolve their particular situations when it comes to A/C operation on generator or on inverter/solar power. Many thanks again for everyone's interest and consideration!

Hello everyone from Micro-Air! Many thanks to Buzzy for his noticing my sign up to your forum and many thanks to Trumpetguy for his long-standing support as one of our exclusive "repeat customers"! We're thrilled to be here and very happy to see the interest brewing in our EasyStart products. I'm going to do my best to abide by your forum's rules and not post any links, prices, and such since I don't want to upset your moderators. Most of you have already found our website anyway, and all of the important stuff is there. Speaking of which, we're in the middle of a complete website and webstore redesign that should be launching within the next few weeks. Trumpetguy gave a great summary. To address some of Buzzy's questions, I looked at some photos of Olivers from past and present. I see that they at one time perhaps used Coleman Mach and Polar Cub rooftops, later changing to the Dometic Penguin. I just saw on your Facebook page a trailer with a Dometic Penguin II. The good news is we have now had hundreds of end customers and dealers install EasyStart with success on all of these models, and pretty much the rest of the model families from Dometic and Coleman (Airxcel). I have a vast library of wiring diagrams that I have drawn and accumulated since last summer. I can post any or all of those here once we know which models anyone might need help with. The generic installation instructions that come with EasyStart are straightforward. I've attached those here. As far as power sources go, the big thing that EasyStart enables is operation of the largest rooftops, 15kBTUs, from a single 2000W generator or inverter. We have confirmation of this with Honda EU2000i, the Yamaha EF2000iSv2, the Westinghouse WH2000iXLT, the Xantrex Freedom 1800 Modified-sine Inverter, the Magnum Energy Magnasine MS2012, and a few other inverter models as well. The only 2000W generator that doesn't seem to work with EasyStart is the Champion 73536i, which I wanted to mention up front since it is half the cost a few have customers have had trouble with it. The other nice benefit for EasyStart that I don't believe applies to Oliver trailers (yet) is that it allows you to run two rooftop A/Cs on a single 30A utility hook-up. I'm here to answer questions, so feel free to ask away! Thank you again for the warm welcome and for everyone's interest in our EasyStart products. EasyStart-In-box-Installation-Instruction-Sheet.pdf

Hello to all my Oliver buddies. I am glad to see renewed interest in the Easy Start because it is a terrific product. I introduced the company to my AS buds and a number have purchased the unit. One thing first...if you do buy the product get the one in the enclosure as opposed to just the board. If enough interest is expressed they will allow a discount. I did install the Easy Start in my Atwood Air Command 13500 AC I had on the Ollie. Yes I did run the AC on a hot Florida Saturday for eight hours on battery only. Bear in mind that I was using six Trojan T105s, and that the Atwood has probably the lowest AMP draw of any RV air conditioner. Not sure how a Dometic will do. During the eight hour test the Ollie was in full sun so there was some benefit from PV that reduced the draw on the batteries. FYI. The extra two batteries were in a marine battery case attached to the generator basket. I ran 1/0 welding cable under the dinette seats into the battery compartment. The Atwood pulls 60 AMPS when the compressor is running but remember that the AC cycles on and off according to the thermostat setting so an eight hour test might only entail six or so hours of running. The Easy Start is not a capacitor so don't think you can do this with a $10.00 part. All modern RV AC units already have a Hard Start capacitor anyway. Easy Start is a computer. It "learns" the characteristics of your AC unit within five starts and adjusts the amount of assistance at start up accordingly. Start up is what gives inverters and generators a problem. The "Locked Rotar AMPS" (LRA) at start up will approximate 5X the running amps of the unit. Even the Surge watts of a 2000 WATT inverter cannot overcome this. Easy Start reduces the LRA by as much as eighty percent to enable start up. It only operates on start up. An additional benefit is to reduce the cathartic bump felt when most RV AC units start up. One of my first mods to our AS 28' was to install the Easy Start. I have one Dometic Briskair 15000 BTU. My off grid set up is 500 WATTS of roof mounted PV (5) Renogy Mono Crystaline panels, (4) Crown AGM 6V Batteries, 3000 WATT Magnum Hybrid Inverter, 40 AMP Blue Sky Charge Controller with IPN remote. One day I hope to replace the AGMs with 400 AMPS of LIFePO4 batteries, but right now the price is too high. One thing has surprised me about my Airstream...it is not as energy inneficient as rumoured. There is about two inches of "pink stuff" insulation between the inner and outer skin. We have camped in 90 degree heat and 20 degree cold and were comfortable at all times. The furnace is so good we don't use it. Just carry a Little Buddy and keep it on low. I hope to see some of you on the road as we tour this wonderful land. If you are coming to9 the upper Gulf Coast of Florida be sure to send me a message and we will have a meet up. When will Oliver make a 28' 8 foot wide unit? Maybe soon?

Forum Members, I noticed a new member, Micro-Air, joined on April 11, 2017. A review of his/her profile indicates a YouTube link to a variety of videos which can be helpful to our community. In the past, our Forum has benefited from vendor representatives, such as Sage at Andersen Hitches. Perhaps the Micro-Air representative will step forward? Have any Ollie owners utilized the equipment manufactured by Micro-Air? Buzzy

All of the wheels are balanced, but we purchased the 2015 Ollie used. Keep an eye on them while towing and they run very smooth.

Now there's a question that I haven't seen yet. Does Oliver balance the tires? Mike, did they need to rebalance them? Or, what did the tire company say? That could be part of our cabinet issue if they were out a lot :) I balanced the tires on my Casita but it never came to mind until now that ours may not have come balanced from the factory.

For those that desire to have Easy Starts installed on your Oliver, you may want to contact Jason Essary to coordinate the installation coy

Thanks to the leads from Buzzy, I spoke with both Coy (Hardrock), which led me to discussions with Jeff and Jason at Oliver. We're all set to attend the rally. I'll be there will lots of free stuff, EasyStarts, some test equipment, and perhaps a presentation. We're going to do a before-and-after demonstration, probably on Hardrock's trailer. Looking forward to meeting everyone in the Oliver community and seeing a part of the country I have yet to visit.

My TPMS instruction manual said "We recommend using a little Anti - Seize Thread Lubricant on the valve stem to prevent corrosion do [sic] to dissimilar metals. You can purchase the Anti-Seize Lubricant at most auto parts stores." I bought this from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002UEOLO/

Only if your putting in dirty water. We do have a good filter to use on bad water also but we never put bad water into the tank. https://www.amazon.com/LIFESAVER-Expedition-Jerrycan-Water-Filter/dp/B019G8U952/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1492983573&sr=8-1&keywords=lifesaver+jerry+can

Removed the flexible hose yesterday and ordered a new one, waiting on it to arrive. Will do some cleaning, too. Here's a closer look without flex hose in the bumper storage area:

The top photo is everything in place, the second photo is everything that I store in there, plus the hose end caps you can't see, there's still some room too. If you look you'll see the elbow. That the hose connected and that 90° elbow stay connected, this way I have more flexibility if the valve leaked beforehand. I think the always attached hose is 15 feet and the other is their 10 foot extension, so 25 feet total. You can also see the end flares which allow all the connectors to move in and out of the storage area. Edit - don't know what happened to the first photo when I clicked submit, oh well.

Yup, having the length fully adjustable makes the dip off of the bumper hold its shape. With the Valterra hose being loose, it has a tendency to fall off of the slinky, so the Rhinoflex makes the difference. We end up staying at friends houses a lot and having 30' gets us free hook ups a lot. Our sewer outlet at home is almost 30' and the extra 15' of hose fits inside the bumper with lots of room to spare. I actually have about 50' in ours, just not all Rhinoflex yet...

I would stay away from the waste-master not only because I'm cheap, but because I really doubt that you could get the head to fit in the bumper even with Grinding and bending down the bottom plate. The waste is designed perfectly for the Rhino. And the Rhino comes complete with its own cap. It works fine just the way that it was designed, so don't try to over think it. You will want 30'. I have thought about wastemasters hose ramps but I've had my Camco slinky for years and it's been through a lot ... :)

Tomorrow Carole & I get to see a 2017 LE2 up close and personal. Thanks to the referral program and good hearted owners, we will be driving a couple of hours north of us courtesy of Stan & Linda, Hull#201. As I have revealed we began with smaller fivers, then looked at bigger fivers, found 1 or 2 that we loved but the lure of the well engineered f/g egg has brought us back. Whatever concerns we have can be addressed by a tour. At least we are settled on 1 thing. We don't want a large unit. We want mobility, ease of travel, quality, and flexibility. We think Oliver can fill our needs. Our short list is getting shorter and tomorrow will add much to the decision process. Thanks Stan & Linda!

Same here, put a clear 45° elbow and attached 1 section of Rhino, then I compress and store another section and I took one of those angled bridge supports divided it in half and both halves got in there too. There is enough room to work the Rhino connector so I would think there should be enough to get that camlock fitting on and clamped (I wouldn't undo it) and store it in there. If you noticed the ends of the opening are widened to allow the larger fittings to be pushed in and then they won't just slide out anywhere. They make the whole thing themselves, so if you want to engineer the bottom plate to be open in that area they would probably work with you on it.

We keep the hose attached all the time. After I drain the black tank I do two rinses and then drain the gray. Then, I cap the end of the hose (actually, the clear section added to the end of the hose), put it back into the bumper and away we go. Mike

Well it was awesome to get inside of an Ollie and see and feel one up close. I thought it would be very impressive and I was correct. Now for the really BIG NEWS....Carole Loves It!!!!!!!!! She had been doubtful (mainly about the size especially the bathroom) but being in one blew her mind! She was intrigued with the way it was constructed, the installed systems as Stan and Linda explained them, and even though the bath is a tad small, she saw how it has everything one needs. Her words to me: cute, easy to clean, purposeful, mobile,. She truly loved it. Now we continued some tire kicking about an hour away looking at Leisure Vans and other small rigs on Mercedes 3500 chassis. I figured she would like those more ... a little larger but not too large, nice banyas, etc. but she liked the LE2 more. The needle has moved significantly in the direction of Oliver for us. I'm so glad she got a close look, she was dead set against it, had a hard time visualizing, I think she thought it much smaller than it really is. Once again a heartfelt thanks to Stan & Linda for taking time out of their weekend to give us a tour, they are very nice folks.

One other thing about the Blue Sky system. Last week we spent four delightful days boondocking on BLM land on the Colorado River outside Moab. There would be no shore power, so before the trip I wanted to be sure that I understood the Blue Sky controller, so I could verify that it was charging correctly. Reading through the manual was tough, but I found the Blue Sky web site has good videos. http://www.blueskyenergyinc.com/faq/ The Programming Your IPN Pro Remote video was especially helpful for me. Note the Chapters button just to the left of the full screen button, that allows you to jump to the section you want. David

Issue: Galley drawers sliding out during transit Potential Models Impacted: 2016-2017 Information: The current blum slides being used were implemented during the 2016 model year. We have since seen three issues where a kitchen galley drawer has come loose during transit. The blum stays attached to the drawer slide and pulls loose from the drawer itself. Resolution: Process change in the way the drawer is built as well as longer screws being used to ensure this issue does not continue. What Should you do: At this time we have only seen or been made aware of three instances where this has happened. We have the same slides and design in about 127 units. If the issue occurs, please contact our service department at 866-205-2621 so we can assist with the resolution.

Even the AQtwood needs 60 amps on start up. A honda 2000 won't do it alone.

Locked in my reservation and my wife and I are excited about learning about our Oliver and meeting you folks!