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When I had my Ollie built, I think (according to Oliver) my Ollie was the first Ollie they built and installed the built - in Progressive Industries unit. Soon after I picked up my unit I drove Route 66 as a retirement celebration. I stayed at a state park in OKlahoma halfway through the trip. When I plugged into the 30 amp power outlet, my unit immediately issued a loud click. I could tell this was not business as usual so I looked at the monitor attached to the Progressive Industries unit. I then called Peogressive Industries and the electrical engineer told me the code I gave him indicated the polarity was crossed, posited to negative / negative to positive. I looked at the box and could tell someone had recently tampered with the unit. I opened the box and indeed I could tell from the wiring colors that the wires were crossed. I did not have access to turn off the main, so I reported this to the ranger station. They sent a repairman and he corrected the wiring. The cost of the surge protector was certainly worth the preventative cost of a Oliver camper catching on fire ! I will never have a camper without the Progressive Industries unit.

Yesterday I installed the micro air "easy start", when I finished and plugged in my power cord, the air conditioner would run for about 5 minutes and shut down, I have the built in surge protector and I checked the voltage on it while it was running. It had 120 volts on startup and when the ac compressor would kick in it dropped to 102 and the surge protector would trip just like it should, turns out I had a bad outlet on the exterior of my 8year old home. Moral of the story is, the progressive dynamics surge protector save me from potentially burning up my ac compressor!!!

Last month we were at Costco and saw the Outland Mega Propane Fire Pit for $99. Amazon has this model for $160, although right now it is $130. I had not seen these so I read about them when I got home. The reviews are impressive. You don’t get smoke in your face and clothes with these. The flames are pretty to watch and it gives off good heat. So we bought it, brought it home, and I carefully unboxed it. This is the Mega model with a 24 inch diameter, and we decided it was too large for our needs. So I boxed it back up like new and returned it. We then bought the 18 inch model from Amazon for $130. LOL, we paid more for the smaller version! Go figure, this 18 inch model is currently $160 at Amazon. (I can’t figure out Amazon price changes, but if you want to follow the price of an item over time check out https://camelcamelcamel.com, where you can also set up alerts for price drops.) We used the Outland Propane Firebowl on our trip last weekend, and it was great. You can sit fairly close to get the warmth, closer than I would with a regular fire. I swapped out the propane hose for one that uses quick connect. I think the propane firepit takes up less room in the tow vehicle that the box of firewood we took to Moab in April. There is one major advantage to the Propane Firebowl over a regular fire. We made fires every night when we were in Moab last month at a BLM campground without water, and we had to use water to make sure the fire was completely out before retiring for the night. We were boondocking, and water is a precious commodity to use for putting out a fire. David

We left the Oliver Rally and headed for Helen, GA. We had a nice site at Unicoi State Park just 2 miles from Helen - a very nice park. While there we had a very friendly camping neighbor. He asked where were headed next and I told him we were going to a COE campground near Boomer, NC just north of Wilkesboro, NC. His reaction was the same that we got from Topgun when we told him. Not the best area and not much to do there. Our Helen neighbor lives in Banner Elk, NC. He offered us a parking spot next to his business on the edge of town. 50a Electric and water, he sometimes parks his RV here. After a night in our COE campground, we drove up to Banner Elk and are now camped next to his business. What a great site! Banner Elk motto: "Ski Capital of the South". You do meet interesting folks while camping! Mike

Hey Bill... and Everyone, OK.. I have had the trailer back at Ford. They checked everything out and found nothing. NADA. No codes indicating problems and they checked the wiring at the plug and all looks good. Yeah Right. I have received the Towready from eTrailer but have already put the trailer back up at storage. So, I wont be able to check it until next trip. Not sure when that will be. I will have to bring her home at least sometime in July to Wax. So, unfortunately for now I have nothing to report. I will try the Towready and if that does not do the trick then will run a jump ground wire. Good Luck, Scotty

Thought this might be a good place to collect mentions, made outside of our circle, to see what others think of our purchase decisions. http://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f51/toured-the-oliver-travel-trailer-factory-in-tn-wow-79932.html Direct blog link http://www.twopluslu.com/oliver-travel-trailers-review/

We've been getting a bunch of great feedback out here in California at the Rally's we've been to. Out here, seeing an Ollie is really rare and people are really loving it. One of our friends is considering trading in her Casita for a new Elite. That was a great article, Thanks Randy :)

Good article. We learned about Oliver on the Airstream forums! I still visit Airforums and Fiberglassrv forums regularly. Good info on both. Mike

http://olivertraveltrailers.com/milestone-larry-mountainborn-harmon/

Hi Sherry, Thanks for the help. After searching around on the internet, I finally found the fastener that I was looking for. It is a Norcold 617772 Latch, and fits a 620505PW NORCOLD Service vent door. The vent door was about $25 and the fasteners were about $5 each. While looking around, it seems that this door is prone to falling off frequently, so I have decided to remove the broken fasteners and epoxy a nut on the back side of the bracket and use a screw for a fastener. It will be cheaper and the door won't ever fall off. Thanks again for the help.

Had an issue with the IPN Remote display not showing any data - See picture #1. Was advised by Ryan at Blue Sky to unplug the data line at the back of the remote for a few seconds - See picture #2. Problem solved with a screwdriver and a phone call. My kind of problem. :-) Posting here in case anyone has the same issue. Easy fix. Scotty

How'd ya like Helen? Of course you can not say that you've been to Helen back. How'd you like those roads around Banner Elk? Generally they are not very wide and most have a few curves in them. Anything north of Interstate 40 gets a bunch more snow during the winter as compared to places like Brevard. However, it is really the ice that causes problems and the fact that many of these mountain towns do not have appropriate snow removal equipment. Depending on the direction you are heading next, Mount Mitchell (the highest point east of the Mississippi River) is worth a quick stop. Boone is a college town and Asheville is called the "Paris of the South". If you "do" Asheville and have the time and money (it will take you virtually all day and the admission fee is something north of $60 each), the Biltmore house is the Oliver of homes. Bill