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Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/15/2018 in all areas

  1. Our Oliver LE2 is stored in along side our house and is subject to rain, oak leaves, pine needles, bugs and whatever else Mother Nature throws at it in Lutz, FL. It is a constant struggle to keep it clean and off-site storage is very expensive. And until the finance department approves a storage solution, I’ll just have to try to keep up with the maintenance. Florida is called the Sunshine State but we also receive a fair amount of rain. After a 5” rain one day this summer, we found the curbside bench cushions to be wet. I found some ideas about the cause of the leakage in the Oliver forums and determined that cause of the leak was dirt and crud blocking the weep slots. ScubaRx/Steve offered some detailed thoughts about cleaning the window tracks which included the weep slots. So I tackled that project which included removing the window seals covering the fixed glass track. Then removing the sliding window track seal and finally removing the screen and it’s seal. With those items removed I was able to clean the tracks pretty well. I have attached a poor picture of the 3 tracks of the window frame and the weep slots. And in an effort to be clear, the picture does not show the slots very well. The weep slots are between the outside of the window frame and the fixed glass track and between the fixed glass track and the sliding glass track. There aren’t any weep slots to the screen track. So if the weep slots become clogged, the water overflows into the sliding glass track and the overflow runs down the inside wall. This can happen to any of the windows except the door window. The Norton’s had told me about draining the the window tracks by placing a finger at the bottom of the weep slot and creating a capillary effect to drain the window tracks. The window weep slots must be fairly clean for this to work. It’s very effective if you are around your Oliver when it rains. And now my helpful tip. I cut pipe cleaners in half and place one in each weep slot. The slots between the outside and middle tracks line up, so push the pipe cleaners through the outside track and into the middle track. It requires about an 1-1/4” of the pipe cleaner to reach the middle track. I find that the tracks dry out much faster with the pipe cleaners than without. The pipe cleaners also travel pretty well as we didn’t lose any on our last camping trip which included some interstate driving. We hope this proves useful for someone.
    1 point
  2. hobo's question was Which Generator? There have been a lot of good advice in this thread about the trade off between generator power and generator weight, and what you need to run the AC. There is another long thread on generators HERE. But there is another question I want to address. Gasoline vs propane as generator fuel. My story. We got our Ollie with solar and AGM batteries, and I did not think we needed a generator. In 2017 we spent ten days camping in Olympic National Park, which was lovely. However, we were camping in a rain forest. Our solar panels were not working well camping under trees, and at one point after 5 days in the forest our batteries were getting to the danger point. This forced us to change our plans and find a campground with electricity. So we decided a generator was needed as part of our gear, at least on some trips. Based on my research I bought the highly recommended Honda EU 2000i model. I got it new for under $700, in part because Honda had introduced the new EU 2200i model, and the dealer wanted to trim his inventory of the older 2000i models. I wanted propane, and I did not want one of these unsightly conversion kits where the propane components hang out from the generator. I really liked the reviews of the GenConneX Honda EU2000i Propane conversion kit. You remove the gasoline tank from the inside of the generator, and the propane components fit in the available space. The GenConneX propane conversion kit is an impressive example of engineering. At the time they did not have a conversion kit for the 2200i model, but it appears from the web site that that is now available. Why propane? Two reasons. One is the hazard of carrying gasoline in your vehicle in either a gas can or the generator. For me, the major negative of a gasoline generator is that the gasoline goes bad over time, whereas propane does not. This is not a problem if you are using the generator regularly. However, I anticipated taking the generator only as a potential backup on trips where we were without electricity. For us the generator has been a magical insurance policy. In the past year we have not once needed the generator. Our solar panels have provided all the electricity we needed on these trips. I call it magical because I am convinced that had we not brought the generator we would have had clouds or trees that would have hindered solar panel efficiency. If we had a gasoline generator, the gasoline would have gone bad. And we always have plenty of propane. One negative for propane is that power output from a generator drops when you are using propane instead of gasoline. If your generator is only for occasional use, propane may be a better option.
    1 point
  3. Use a PLASTIC scraper and you will not scratch the gel coat. If you can find a piece of thick plexiglass, that works extremely well. I used this method for many years while working on aircraft. I used pieces of a busted windshield, but you may not be able to find that product ;) .... You can sharpen it with a belt sander or file and it cuts very well but does not damage soft surface. Tip for finding a leak: use a blue paper shop towel folded up under the area. When a drop falls on it, the paper turns dark blue and it is super easy to see that the area is wet. Much much more visible than a cloth rag. This is a great method for finding plumbing leaks, you can leave the towel in place indefinitely and see any water seepage at a glance. Follow the directions on the tube closely if you use a 3M 4000 type sealer. You must use MEK, toluene or a similar solvent to clean, NOT isopropyl alcohol, which will prevent the stuff from setting properly. That would ruin your day. Since you are doing this outside, try to pick a mild dryer day, use a fast set product and allow a few hours at least. If you like, you can secure a piece of plastic over the area before you leave, AFTER the sealant is no longer tacky to the touch and the blue masking tape is removed. If you have access to a canopy, you might be able to rig it close to the trailer and tape a tarp to the Ollie (across the gap) to provide a dry work space. Tip up the nose up if needed to get the top a little lower. Be patient, do it right the first time. Take pictures! Good luck. John Davies
    1 point
  4. Ours did the same, it dripped down between the hulls, around the rear window dripping out of the window frame on the curbside bed. As far as time to do the job, it takes me 4 times longer than other folks, I would give myself a day so not to hurry and to do the job right. Once the sealant is removed, follow directions on the adhesive/sealant tube cleaning/prepping area before installing.
    1 point
  5. jhorton, We had the same problem. Probably better tools available than what I used. Used a wood paint stir stick sharpened to a dull point on one end to remove the sealant without damaging lens or gel-coat. Took my time being very careful. After digging out all of the sealant possible with the lens in place, used the same wood paint stir stick sharpened on one end to lightly pry the lens out placing plenty of cloth padding between the wood stick and gel-coat to prevent damage to the gel-coat/lens. Removed the lens twice because of leaks. Sealant used by Oliver leaked the first two times. Recommend contacting Oliver, they may be using different sealant on the Lens than sealant used during 2015. Last time used white Marine Silicone adhesive/sealant to stop the leak. Taped the lens and gel-coat with painters tape where I did not want the adhesive/sealant to contact. Placed the tape so it could be pulled off in one direction while applying the adhesive/sealant. Have not had any leaks since sealing lens last year accumulating over 12,000 miles on Ollie during that time. This is where the water dripped from the LED lens housing in the upper rear cabinet: Resealed lens:
    1 point
  6. I wanted to offer a few suggestions for removing the window seals and tracks. Please read the entire message first as my writing style is a little disjointed. And if you think it tough to read, you should be grateful you don’t have to think like this.? First off, only do this if you feel you can’t clean the tracks and drain slots with brushes, vacuums and compressed air. It takes me about 30 minutes to remove and replace the seals, minus the drying time for the seals. Removing the outside seal for the fixed glass track is pretty simple, I used a metal pick to raise the seal enough to grab it by hand and then pulled it out. The sliding glass track has a different seal that is actually 5 individual pieces. Without looking closely you would think that it is all one piece. The top and bottom horizontal pieces are straight and run the length of the track. The curved corners are two separate pieces with a short straight vertical piece between them. My trial and error procedure is to remove the window shade assembly first and then the screen. The screen has spring clips on the top. Slide the screen open enough to grab it on both sides and push up while pulling the bottom out. With the screen out, remove the sliding window rubber stop. I think a piece of masking tape on the window frame will prevent the sliding window from scratching the frame with window stop removed. Wish I had thought about that before scratching my frame. Working from the outside, remove the outside seal. Next remove the short vertical seal between the curved corner pieces in the sliding window track using something like the pick and a butter knife. The seal is U shaped and it is necessary to fold either of the side portions into the middle and then carefully remove the entire piece. Removing the short vertical piece first will allow you to slide the bottom corner piece upward into the space created by removing the short vertical seal. Do not remove the corner pieces as the are very fragile due the the cuts is the sides which allow the seal to fit the round corners. Now begin removing the long bottom seal by folding both sides in and lifting it out of the track an inch or so at a time. After you get about half of it out you can begin sliding it out from under the window. Now you can clean the seals, tracks and slots by which ever method you prefer. Allow the seals to dry if you cleaned them with soap and water. I treat mine with 303 protectant before reinstalling them. If you are any questions, please ask and I’ll provide any help I can. Mike
    1 point
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