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I would have to say that the only thing that makes 200 an anomaly, is the bathroom door cracking. I think everything else has been experienced by others on here. I would guess Reed's was just one of the ones manufactured at the height of all the factory changes, personnel, locations, processes. I think they probably would have been better off to have taken a 30-60 day hiatus, rather than try to keep up with production. That coupled with the fact that Reed, as he says, is a sharer of information seems to highlight it all. Otherwise, a lot of the issues are with parts that all RVs use, bad jacks, bad water pumps, noisy AC, etc... The only real Oliver quality issues I remember are stripped screws (not the drawers) and behind the scenes cleanliness, oh and that ground issue, but that seems more of a design error as they were all pretty much built the same. The same can be said about the water tank, this has been ongoing since they first unit in 2008 and everyone lived and dealt with it, until someone didn't, and voiced it and "outside the box" thinkers came up with a solution, which Oliver has now adopted as standard practice. The only "real" problem with the drawers is that Oliver doesn't have a locking mechanism, the old style slide didn't need one, the new style slide is an "upgrade" for both soft close and visually, I installed them for years in high-end kitchens, airstream also uses them and their forums are full of strap, bungee and pillows talk of holding them closed too. The screws that come with them are not "incorrect" they are the screws that come with them, it's the application that's incorrect and has to be modified to work correctly, ie: locks. Anyone reading this forum, who decides not buy an Oliver because of it, would be someone who is only skimming it and not doing thorough research, in most of Reed's post he still emphasises that it is the best trailer he's owned and has no regrets. I would also like to know what trailer they finally decide on, based on what the forums said, I never found one that was built better or I would have bought it instead. For those that "walked away" seriously what fantasy land must they live in, I think I remember the mention of one and even then reading it thinking it was someone who was caught up in the "WOW" of things and wasn't a serious camper/RV'er, waking away from a $60K purchase because of a couple small issues. Okay, that might be a little more than $.02, but I'm get tired of the hyperbole and sky is falling doom, "I don't like the way the wires are run, so it's a piece of crap" B.S.

We are going into our 4th week of no house phone or internet. We did get back our electric about a week ago. The windstorm that came ashore sure uprooted a lot of trees and infrastructure. Sure glad for cell phones, but think we will have to bump up the data plan. Amazing the contacts we had with the house system. Looking at VOIP system, but not sure after some comments on here about them. But, we are alive and well...

Tommy and Jason took care of issues as warranty when our Ollie was out of warranty. That was much appreciated, too. We've had a couple window leaks, the issues are now corrected. Ollie is our favorite of all campers we have owned.

Mike, That is all good input relative to warranty support and help from Jason et. all. Thanks, george

Just one quick suggestion put weather alert on your cell phone and you will get warning where ever you are on the road as long as u have cell service, Tornados, snow, wind, etc what ever the national weather forecasts put out. Thanks Gary

Just outside of Rocky Mountain NP on the Grand Lake side in September. Rainbows seem bigger there! Camera can’t really do justice to the scenery. Mike

Have we really had that many problems? Most of it seems normal or no big deal. The first thing tomorrow now that we are South and out of the weather at my sister's is, I'm going to pull the light off over my window and check for moisture because if it's there, then it's the same seal problem all of the 2016ers had that we were talking about last year. We've had this trailer for 9 months and we've been in it most if the time with beautiful weather; with only a few days here and there between trips until we moved into the new house after it was finished. We picked it up in February in the rain and we were in it full time until the end of July, when we got moved in to the new house. Everyone says that it takes a few months for the bad seals to start leaking, and being that we didn't have a problem until now, looks like a no brainier to me now after seeing the responses... At least it gives me a good place to start... Others here this year, have had so many problems that they have parked their trailers and walked away. The major problem was the water tank and every single Oliver trailer ever built had that problem before ours and that equals - 200 trailers and then some... We just lead the way to the fix with the videos on how to do it. Then the new drawer slides that allowed the drawers to slide out and fall on the floor. We were the first to post about it here on the forum but there were 4 trailers with that known problem before us and then many trailers after. The reason that you are hearing about all of our problems, is because I post about them. Like this one, the water leaking in the tops of the windows... Once again, I was the first to post about it but now, look how many have chimed in with the same problem and this isn't counting everyone on the black streaks thread... Same with the bad ground issue, it was a quick easy fix... Ummm... that I haven't heard back from Jason on for the permanent fix yet, but we're talking. I wasn't the first to post on it, but look at how many trailers had or have that problem going back to 2015. We find the problems because we use our trailer and you hear about these problems because I talk too much :) Basically I love to share what I'm doing, I love making videos of the important stuff, and we've been using our trailer pretty much every day since we picked it up February 13th, so weve been in it about 260+ days so far this year. But we didn't buy it, to leave it sit in storage somewhere, we bought it to travel. So when you look at the amount of time that we've been in it, compared to so many other trailers that are just sitting unused and empty somewhere in storage,,, you get the picture. The problems were already out there, we are just bringing them to light and then fixing them for all to see. Oliver's a good company that has been hit hard with their self induced growing pains, everyone of the owners and workers that we have met are flat out good people. A lot of people take their trailers to Howenwald and things get fixed before people even knew that there was a problem in the first place, then many others take theirs in to a repair shop. Goldilocks is still under warranty, most all of our parts have been paid for by Oliver, I would just rather fix the problems myself. I love this trailer, bottom line... especially now that I can pull the water level down to zero without having to tilt it at all :) Reed

So I guess Oliver needs to start including tarps with their send-off kit! Maybe white with their logo on it. Seriously....what is going on here? Dave

I've not been all that bad during 2017, so, I've been thinking about what to put on my Christmas list. One of the things that comes to mind is a Weather Alert Radio. My Oliver has the radio that has weather band radio, but, it does not come on automatically when there is a weather alert issued. So, anyone got one of these that they can recommend? I'd prefer one that operates via solar, USB and/or battery and not 110 a/c. Bill

Dave, the anode rod has a steel core so it is unlikely to fall off. Even if it did, it would be easy enough to drag out of that big hole. There is nothing else at the bottom of the tank - the heating element is further up. Be sure to clean the threads on the anode and also inside the hole before reinstalling with new thread sealer. John Davies Spokane WA

Dave - Good suggestion on that flush of the tank. I have the same "wand" that you do and I kept moving it back and forth - up and down for about ten minutes before the water ran clean. Bill

Thanks Bill, I didn't want the anode to break off from the nut! Mine is two years old as well. Guess I'll give it one more year and see. I also recommend anyone doing this to flush their tank out with a wand made for the task. A lot of junk came out (the ring of granules in pic). Be sure to close the bypass valve behind the tank first so as to not accidentally blow any debris into the valve. Dave

Dave -looks good to me. Rule of thumb (from what I've heard) is change it when 70% or so is gone. Mine looked a tad worse than yours after two years! Bill

You can read up on this one. Midland WR-120 NOAA Public Alert-Certified Weather Radio with SAME, Trilingual Display, and Alarm Clock On Amazon, it has 2000 reviews and 4.25 out of 5 stars It comes with an AC cord, but that knocks it down to 9vdc and takes 3AA as backup, so you can certainly retrofit it to work in trailer and it's only <$30 everywhere. It does civil alerts too, so that probably includes fires and is rated for 93% of the country.

John - don't think that "older" has anything to do with it and change is most always good (in my opinion). I do always carry two Spots - one is always in the Oliver to track where it is at all times and the other is with me. I too use a tablet for when I'm in the back country. In fact, I probably use "Back Country Navigator" more than any other single app and, as you point out, if one downloads maps prior to a trip then they can navigate just about anywhere on earth. My wish for a weather alert radio has little to do with my need or lack thereof for a cell phone. For my purposes I believe that it would simply be much easier to have a small radio in my sleeping quarters at all times without having to worry about where is the cell phone - is turned on or off - is it fully charged - is that app functioning - will some bozo call me in the middle of the night... Glad that it works for you though. Bill

Bill, As an older person I understand your reluctance to depend on a cell phone, but often change can be good. Just leaving it turned on might allow rescuers to find you if you are alone and become incapacitated. There are many more uses for a tablet than a phone, but you still have to have that darned signal for much of it to function. I would never go off highway without my iPad and its several nav programs, for example. But I do download maps so I can use it anywhere. Would I ever consider turning off my phone or tablet? Never... they have too much value, even away from reliable cell coverage. I might not have a signal for half an hour, then I get a bar as I approach a saddle, and I am back in touch again, so I can send a short “I’m OK” text to my daughter. With it turned off I would never know that I even had a connection. I do carry and use a SPOT but that is a whole other subject. John Davies Spokane WA

In the Spring, when we bring our unit out hibernation, we plan on sanitizing the water system. First we will fill our fresh water tank with fresh water, and then drain it. Hopefully this will remove any antifreeze that might be present. We will close the drain valve, and then turn on the pump (the water heater should fill, as we turn the bypass back open at end of winterizing schedule.). Starting at the kitchen faucet we flush first the cold, and then hot water faucet until there is no more pink, and then the hot. Next is the bath faucet, shower, toilet, and outside shower. We hook up the city water and run for a few minutes to remove any antifreeze that might be there. Next we will go to the short hose connection by the back bumper and suck about two cups of Clorox into the holding tank. We then run each faucet again until we smell the bleach. Shut off each faucet and leave for a couple of hours, or even overnight. The next day we drain the tank and refill. We flush each line until we can no longer smell the Clorox. Refill your tank and Bon Voyage. The easier than it sounds...

Not sure about other owners, but I have had a few return for a second visit. The first can be over whelming with all the info and enthusiasm. On the second visit they come with a list of questions, realistic expectations, and are a lot more relaxed. Of course that all depends on the distance required to travel. You will find most Oliver owners are nice people with a lot of pride in the quality and vercitalty of their unit. Good luck with your research. The hardest part is waiting for delivery, after writing the check. See you around a campfire sometime...

I will repeat again you can not look at any window seals because they are installed with sealant you can’t imagine how much water can come in with no signs of voids I’ll bet that the light are fine I also found some minor seepage at the Oliver logo light one way you can test for this is to tape a piece of plastic above the window a one drapevit down over the window do not try to run tape around the window frame these windows come out easily and reseal is straight forward (do not use a permanent sealant) Marc

When I bought my Oliver I was hoping that the camper was what my research said it was and, more importantly, that the company building it was what I thought it was. Each and every time that I've had an issue with the camper, the company has more than taken care of the problem. I'm not a Pollyanna and I do realize that Oliver, like virtually all companies, has limited resources and sometimes it simply takes a bit of time and/or persistence to get things done. Having said this I do think that it is a bit unfair (in ANY relationship) to expound on a situation or problem without giving the other party in that relationship a fair chance to help solve it. Once the situation/problem is solved it can be helpful to disseminate both the problem and the solution so that others that might find themselves in the same situation will know how to proceed. Or, if a reasonable amount of time has gone by without appropriate response then "outside" assistance just might be needed in order to get a solution or to get the wheels moving in the right direction. Certainly I have learned a lot from all of those on this Forum and hope that this will continue. But, fair is fair. Bill

Bill - I've been told that the main stream in Stone Mountain has trout in it - true? Mike - Several years ago I was attending a graduate school course at University of Colorado, Boulder. One weekend four of us went up to Grand Lake and while we were there decided to rent a boat to go water sking. Even with a wet suit I can attest that the water in the lake is COLD. Pretty place. Bill

Interesting that most people just assume that everyone has a cell phone these days. Well, yes I do have one, but only use it for emergencies. Therefore, I do not have it on all the time. Actually, I hardly ever have it on - hence the "need" for something that I do not have to remember to turn on. However, thanks for the input - so far. Bill p.s. The wild fire issue does remind me of a time about 4 years ago. I was fishing up a 22 mile long one lane dirt road out of Meeteetse, WY fairly near Amelia Earhart's unfinished cabin. A nice sunny day until I noticed that it wasn't so sunny anymore and those were not clouds. I never did smell smoke but thought that I just might want to start back down that road in the event this was what I thought it was. Well, as I got to about 5 miles from civilization an army of forest service guys and fire equipment met me head on. Just got to give those people a bunch of credit - nasty work and there basically is only one way in and out of that place.

Well, none of the above have made it into my trailer, but, then, I try to keep things simple at home, and on the road. I carry two or three good knives, one or two small cutting boards. One pot, one fry pan, one lid. (Aluminum foil can always be a 2nd lid, if necessary).A teakettle and a pourover funnel make great coffee. My goal is always to carry only daily essentials, leaving space and weight allowance for parts and tools. Doesn't always work that way.... Where I probably tend to go overboard is not in the kitchen,( though I am a pretty fair cook, according to my family), it's is in "what ifs and spares, ".... particularly cold weather gear. I hate being cold, and take way too many jackets, layers, blankets, etc., most years. And, too many towels. And, I don't think I will put the little electric heater back in the rear storage compartment this year. I have carried it for five or six years, and haven't plugged the trailer in, so.. kind of useless. Sherry

Since we brought the Oliver home, I clean the interior, and once a year, wax it with the same 3m wax we use in the outside. Maybe it makes no difference. I don't know. But the interior still looks shiny and nice after almost ten years. I (think?) it makes in between cleaning easier. Just one of those habits . Sherry

Oliver owners should know that warranty issues can either be addressed by the factory or a local repair facility. I had a plumbing issue repaired locally and was fully reimbursed by OTT. I had an issue while on the road 1,000 miles from home and Jason told me to find the closest facility I could find and get it fixed, OTT would pay. Oliver owners are not on their own, unless they choose to be. From what I have seen and heard Hull 200 is an anomaly. Wouldn’t we all like to know why they have had so many issues.... Mike

I applied the Capt. Tolley's solution today and time and rain will tell if it worked. The porch lights are directly over the windows and with known defective seals around the lights that sure seems like the highest point where water can penetrate the hull and run down onto the window frames and into the trailer. The seals around my window moldings looks really good with no visible voids or cracking. (So far we are not aware of water penetration but for sure are getting streaking and the rubber seals around the lights are garbage!) To get the volumn of water that you got there should be evidence of its origin. In any case I am NOT pleased with the porch light seals or the Oliver company's lame response to not get us some remedy to the problem.

Reed, I just hate the idea of having to reset the windows in a brand new Oliver. What!!! Sheesh. You have taken some serious abuse by that trailer after going in with the best of intentions and a lot of cash. It's just not right to have problem after problem, especially with something as seemingly straightforward as setting the windows properly. And even more, with a trailer manufacturer that keeps telling us how great they are. This is another check in the wrong column. I wonder how many people are reading these problem posts and changing their minds about buying an Oliver? At this point, if I was in the market, I'd be questioning the idea of paying so much for a trailer with a very limited practical warrantee (so far to the only repair station), a series of problems that should not have occurred and an attitude with some problems that they don't really exist. As I sit here shaking my head, I just don't know what to say. But I do feel that I'm on my own if something comes up, instead of being "in the family" as Oliver claims. Maybe the "family" is the group with problems, when all along I thought it was the family of happy owners supported by the factory. Hmmmm.

Bill, you are correct. The programming is done thru the IPN Pro Remote. I just set up my new Blue Sky system using values that I found in the forums. These values came from Trojan for the flooded cell T-105’s and are input into the IPN in levels 2 & 3. I think there about 5 or 6 values in each level. I don’t have my notes in front of me but, the IPN programmer is straight forward and not too difficult to work thru. It should only take just a few minutes to input all the values.

I can’t recommend a particular radio, are you looking for something that will work outside of cellular coverage? For times when you have a signal, there are apps that are very useful, for example... http://www.nixle.com My real fear is getting trapped at the end of a dead end forest road by a forest fire during summer camping season. I don’t know of any way to stay informed about those other than logging into the wildfire websites, or waiting until a sheriff’s deputy comes screeching past yelling into his bullhorn warning folks to run for your lives. It would be comforting to have push notifications for fast moving or shifting fires... but then again, with no cell signal you are screwed. John Davies Spokane WA

Here is another thought on the window leak situation. A number of us have the black streaking from our porch lights. It has been suggested to use Capt. Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure to make it stop. I picked some up this morning at West Marine and am about to use it on our porch lights. Maybe it or a similar marine grade silicone would resolve your leak issue without having to take the windows out for reseal. I know the way things typically work for me, whenever you take something apart to fix it there are usually other issues that come up - often not good... If you do the window removal/reseal process please take some pictures and offer your usual informational comments. Thanks, george

Sherry - yes, you are correct - do not equalize AGM's Bradbev - Even though I have the older solar controller, it too has the automatic equalize function. However, I've been told that the 320 watts of solar simply do not have enough "juice" to perform the equalize function and when trying to use mine the voltage never gets above just over 14 volts. Thus the original question. Bill

Where’s Ollie? Ollie went on a trailer caravan trip to Olympic National Park with his cousin Casita! This was a long trip, two weeks. I now define a trip as a long trip if you need to plan a laundromat stop in your itinerary. My sister and her husband live near Bend, OR, and they have a Casita. We met up in Yakima, WA, where we spent a day wine tasting before heading to Coupeville on Whidby Island, where we driveway camped at my other sister’s college roommate's home. I sense that there are a lot of automotive aficionados on this forum. Our hosts are fans of Packard cars, and they have a number of old Packards that they have restored. Ollie and Casita then rode the ferry across Puget Sound to begin their adventure on the Olympic Peninsula. Ollie had to pay the 40-to-50 foot fee for the ferry, while economical Casita got away with the under-40-foot fee. Size does matter! Olympic National Park is truly spectacular! Mountains, rivers, waterfalls, lakes, oceans, rivers, and rain forests! We camped at Lake Crescent, Neah Bay, Hoh Rainforest, Kalaloch Beach, and Lake Quinault. Two nights camping at each location, mostly in National Park campgrounds without hookups. These are rain forests, with a lot of downed trees, and I enjoyed photographing the fungi. I even got black slugs lounging on mushrooms. We ate very well. We bought fresh salmon and black cod from a fisher on the dock at Neah Bay. Susan acceded to my wishes and we tried our authentic Paella recipe on our camp stove. Really delicious! Neah Bay was particularly enjoyable. The Makah tribe has an amazing museum there. The hike out to Cape Flattery is definitely worth doing. Cape Flattery is the northwest-most point in the continental US. It was fun travelling with others, and we each learned a lot from each other’s camping tools and tricks. I think Amazon is going to be busy with deliveries to my sister’s house… We had one major plumbing problem, which I will post in an appropriate thread. I have some questions which I will post later, and I already posted my trick for Cellular Boosters. I will end with some sunset photos: Happy Trails, David

2017 Colorado Journey - Part Two August 1st - so its time to head east and north. After visiting a nice little laundromat in Buena Vista, Twist found its way to a free creekside campsite on BLM land just to the west of Clear Lake Reservoir. Bigger fish can be found on a short stretch of creek east of Highway 24, but there are miles of Clear Creek to fish above the private land near the camp. Next up was a fairly short drive north on Highway 24 through Leadville to one of my favorite campgrounds - Gold Park. There is a very good coffee house/bakery right in the center of Leadville directly across the street from the city hall - and - they have a fairly good WiFi system for catching up on emails, weather and news. After Leadville, the remains of Camp Hale - this is where the US Army trained soldiers for alpine combat during WWII - can be seen just to the East off Highway 24 (when hiking in this area be careful in that there are still munitions here and there) . Gold Park is located about seven miles up Homestake Road. Situated on Homestake Creek all 12 sites in this camp are first come, first served. There is no potable water or electric but there is a pit toilet - all for $21 per night (half price - $10.50 for seniors). Get site 7 if you can! From this camp you can fish Homestake creek, day hike (or backpack) up to Missouri Lakes (my favorite), Fancy Lake or Holy Cross City (ghost town) and Cleveland Lake. These lakes are full of fish with Cleveland Lake holding many 20+ inchers. For serious "Jeep people" there is a jeep trail from right near camp all the way up to Holy Cross City. But - be prepared to lose you oil pan! What turned out to be the last fishing camp of the trip - Yeoman Park - was next. Yeoman is south of Eagle, CO - just head towards Sylvan State Park but take the "left" fork after the visitors center. There is a ton of hiking from here besides the fishing. Also, plenty of deer, elk and bear. Again, no potable water (if you stop at the Sylvan Lake Visitor's Center right near the end of the paved road and ask very nicely, they might let you fill your fresh water tank), no trash pickup, no electric, but they do have pit toilets and plenty of quiet for $4/night senior rate. The East Brush Creek is full of fish (and beaver) and gets relatively little fishing pressure other than very near the campground. What is usually an uneventful four day drive back to the mountains of Western North Carolina did have one pleasant surprise this year. Having left the Oliver factory fairly late in the afternoon I drove to Interstate 40 and began looking for a place to camp for the evening. North of Smithville, TN, Edgar Evans State Park is about 7 miles south of Interstate 40, 45 miles or so east of Lebanon, TN and about two hours drive west of Knoxville, TN. All sites have water and electric and most are on concrete platforms overlooking the lake. The bathhouses are clean and there is plenty of hot water. A couple of "final" thoughts - not surprisingly, the Oliver performed as expected all during the trip. This was the first time that I extensively used the furnace due to the amounts of rain and relatively low temperatures. Sure was nice to jump out of bed, hit the "heat" button, jump back into bed and get nice and toasty. Felt sorry for the "tent people". Also, another tip of the hat to everyone at Oliver. Virtually every person I've ever met in Hohenwald has been very nice. From the Office personnel to the Plant personnel they all go out of their way to make sure that things are the best that they can make them. Now to start planning next year's fishing trip in Wyoming. Bill