Leaderboard

We were told no on a couple of simple request too. After seeing some crazy mods going on when we took the factory tour and talking about them with Brent I fully understand why they stopped. They were holding up the line big time and had to do something. The Oliver is a great trailer the way it is offered and with the options list they offer it is over the top. Escape also used to do almost any request you could think of and stopped just before we ordered ours for the same reason. They cannot be expected to hold up the line for custom requests that will affect production so for now they have stopped all custom work to concentrate on quality which was fine with me. I was able to get the bath mirror lowered 6" for my wife. :-)

Two weeks from this moment we all will be enjoying a toddy & saying, "DAMN that was awesome!"

OK, so, here we go! I just called the Zipline people and for Saturday May 5th we have a "reservation" for 1pm. If we can get a total of 10 people to take advantage of this "reservation" we will each receive a discount of 10% off the standard $99 fee. In looking at those that have expressed interest, we do have a total of ten, but, Mike and Krunch have already made a reservation for Sunday at 10am. In order to not interfere with any Oliver related presentations, the Saturday afternoon at 1pm is about our only choice. Two other stipulations on getting the discount is that we pay with one check or credit card and that we confirm the reservation (with payment) no later than Sunday (April 22) at 2pm. I would be happy to be the "banker" and everyone can simply write me a check or pay me cash. Either PM me or simply reply directly here. Bill p.s. the people at the zipline told me that from start to finish we can expect to take between 2 and 4 hours.

Certainly I feel your pain. When one reads the story about the Outlaw Oliver and the "custom" work that was done there (and elsewhere) and compares that to what appears to be the current situation, I'm sure that it can be a bit frustrating. Even what appear to be fairly simple requests are met with the same response - "no". However, it seems to me that this looks like a case of "be careful of what you ask for". We, as a group, clamored for better quality and subjected the Company to a fair amount of abuse/criticism (justified or not) over these types of issues. Then, when the Company decides to concentrate on quality by limiting the number of deviations from the norm (custom work), once again we find ourselves in the position of not liking the result. Hopefully, one day, the Company will once again find itself in a position where they can accept custom work. I believe that I have a better, more comfortable and enjoyable camper because of the suggestions of the owners that came before me. But, in the final analysis, I'd rather have a quality unit that I can then modify and or customize later than a lesser built unit with a bunch of bells and whistles. Bill p.s. cool logo!

Due to the propane enclosure and the main trailer body being separate I could easily see the relative movement between the two. When the trailer stopped, I could see some flexing. I would expect to see a little but, what I saw was way too much so I looked under the tongue area.

Thank you for being our financier! I'm still in & will have cash for you. Chris

Thanks Bill, I'm in for level 2 on Saturday, I'll pay you cash when we arrive on Friday.

One thing we noticed the first few nights sleeping in the Ollie was that there's not a convenient light or light switch that can be reached from the bed. If you're on the curb side, you can sit up and flip a switch if you remember which one to flip but otherwise you have to get out of bed to turn on or off the lights. I loved the cool table lamp that @scubarx installed in the Outlaw Oliver, so I added a lamp to the list of to do's. My list of requirements for the lamp were: that it be 12 volt so that I didn't need to be plugged in or have the inverter on to use it; that it be securely mounted but easily removed; that all the wiring should be hidden and everything look completely built in; that the bulb have a nice warm temperature (I'm a believer in having only low temp lighting on for at least an hour before bed); that it have a switch that's easily accessible while lying in bed; and that the lamp itself should be high quality, able to withstand bumps and vibrations, and last the life of the trailer. So, with all that in mind, I first picked out the lamp. We went with the Petite Candlestick Lamp from Restoration Hardware. I would have preferred something a little bit more modern, but this one was the right size and has an Art Deco feel to it that I think goes fine with everything else we've done and with the trailer itself. It's way too tall as it comes, but dismantling it and cutting it down to a reasonable height for the trailer is pretty straightforward. I've gotten several lamps from Restoration Hardware, and they've all been super high quality and this one is no exception. They have a yearly or twice yearly half-off sale on lighting, so if you get one from them, be patient and wait because they're arguably overpriced at retail. Secondly, I found these bulbs on Amazon, which you can get in warm white or daylight, whichever you prefer. That's really all you need to convert a lamp to 12 volt these days, apart from swapping out the plug or direct wiring it to the trailer. I went with a lighter plug since I wanted to be able to remove the lamp. You can get those anywhere, but I highly recommend a locking marine style plug because the quality difference is substantial. Third, you'll need a socket for the plug if you go that route. I was fortunate in that I had asked Oliver to provide us with USB ports on the nightstand, so I already had 12 volt power run. If you don't, then you'll need to tap into the wiring behind the breaker panel on the right side of the attic and then run your wiring down to the basement and then up through the base of the nightstand. Shouldn't be too difficult but I can't say for sure since I didn't have to go that route. But I did need the socket, and while I was at it I wanted to add some USB ports inside the nightstand as well. (That's actually what I'd asked for, but Oliver placed the outlets on the side of the nightstand instead. Easily accessible, but otherwise you've got to deal with cords getting in the way of bedding and a little green light shining in your eyes.) So I ordered a combination outlet panel by Blue Sea off Amazon. It has a pair of dual USB sockets and a lighter outlet, and also has a switch and circuit breaker inside. It's a really nice panel. Finally, I decided that a little chrome push button mounted to the table top in front of the lamp would make for a great switch. This one was perfect. So, how to mount the lamp to the table. Steve and Tali had the genius idea of glueing magnets to the base of their lamp and to the underside of the table top. I experimented with that but just couldn't get it to work. Maybe the table tops are different or thicker, but I just got a really weak hold even with some super strong magnets. So instead, I decided to bolt through. Since I had the lamp apart anyway, I just swapped out the threaded rod holding it together with one that was a few inches longer than what I needed. (The way the original rod was made it couldn't be cut down.) When I put the lamp back together, I left the extra rod sitting out the base at the bottom. Then carefully drilled a ½" hole where I wanted the lamp, put the rod through the hole and screwed it in. I got the biggest washer I could find to distribute the load on the tabletop. Then I drilled another ½" hole just in front of the lamp and mounted the switch. The switch is just a tad mushy for my taste, but it's acceptable and I like the way it kind of disappears in all the reflections on the top. Underneath, wiring it up was a simple task and the only tricky part was that I had to solder the connections to the switch, and I've never developed good soldering skills. But it works. I added a few zip tie mounts with VHB tape to hold the wiring in place out of the way and keep it from vibrating too much. The switch connection is a bit exposed, so I think I might paint some plasti dip on the leads. Finally, I added the lighter plug, leaving plenty of slack in the cord, and covered the cord with wire wrap to protect it. In the nightstand, I removed one of the little shelves that hold the tray in place and mounted the outlet panel there. The panel is a bit too wide, but it's a good spot for it, so I cut a little notch on the bottom of the tray for it to fit back. I just unclipped the wiring from one of the USB outlets Oliver had installed and clipped it to the new panel. I'll probably run a jumper back to that outlet even though I doubt we'll ever use it now. I don't like the angle of the wire coming out of the plug, so I'll need to add another zip tie mount or something there, but I was down to the two I used on the top so I'll need to get some more. I then cut a scallop out of the back of the tray to run the wire, and any other cords we might have for charging stuff in the tray. You'll also notice in the pics that I drilled a hole in the back of the nightstand for USB cords to run, and ground out a little notch in the bottom of the top for the cords. I think I need to grind out a notch along the back as well, since right now I have to pull the top out a bit for the cords. And that's it. Pics...

When I first got my Oliver I would have liked to put up a paper towel holder like the one I have at home, that has tension that makes it easy to rip off a single sheet one handed. But at that time I was afraid of drilling into the fiberglass. For a paper towel holder I got a simple white plastic unit and attached it with double stick tape. But the one at home is much better. Then, one of my projects this winter was to relocate the TV using the excellent strategy outlined by Mike and Carol. Not only drilling thru fiberglass, but a hole saw! So now I may put up a new paper towel holder. Rather than the SimpleHuman model recommended by Overland and John Davies, I will get the Kamenstein model that I have at home that I like so much. Both models have great reviews, and both have a tension system to allow you to rip off a single sheet with one hand. However, the SimpleHuman model is $26, while the Kamenstein model is $15.

Here's a pic of just the lamp on. This makes it look slightly dimmer than it is, but it's definitely a low light level which is what we wanted. They're supposed to be 2W, but the battery monitor can barely detect them. In fact the amp draw went down 0.1 amps once when I turned on the lamp, so maybe they're magic bulbs.

My pump actually runs at a lower pressure than it's specs say too. No big deal assuming you don't want to firehose something and you don't have the tankless WH. It doesn't matter where you measure the static pressure in the system as long as it's downstream of the pump, but a long restrictive pigtail connector before the accumulator will make the pump stutter as it tries to shut off. You are adjusting the tank pressure in the right way. Matching the pump's actual pressure settings and allowing the accumulator to partially fill before the pump shuts off. There is no problem with the bladder and you are doing it correctly, but you will never get anywhere near two gallons out before the pump cycles. A 2 gallon tank will only yield a few cups before the switch differential is reached. It's not there to hold a lot of water, but to stabilize the pressure and reduce the number of cycles. If the bladder presssure was at zero, the tank would not work at all and if the pressure was above pump shutoff it, again, would not work at all. It should be set just below the cut-in pressure. This gives you a fairly large amount of water in the tank, for fewer cycles, and it allows for the expansion of the water caused by warming of the water heater. A good test is 1. install a 100 PSI pressure guage on the pressure side of the pump (a good plce for this is a T on the pump outlet or a T on the accumulator inlet). 2. get all air out of the water system by running the water until no air is present. 3. run the faucet to turn on the pump, shut off the faucet and allow the pump to reach full cut-off pressure with no water running. Don't run any more water. 3. then turn on the water heater and monitor the pressure on a guage. This will cause the pressure to rise. The more air volume in the tank, the less the rise. If you start a test about 40 PSI (the cut-out pressure), you should reach about 60 PSI or less as the water heater comes up to full temp. With no accumulator, the pressre will go up over 100 PSI and pop the relief valve. Overall, just find a happy medium tank pressure that allows minimal pump cycles and keeps the pressure as steady as possible while the water heater goes from cold to hot. This will be somewhere just below the cut-in pressure. All piping between the pump outlet and the accumulator should be short and relatively large in diameter. If not, the pump will stutter as it approaches the cut-off point.

I'll play Saturday & Monday... Play to a 2-3 handicap but don't mind playing with higher handicaps.