Leaderboard

At the 2019 Oliver Travel Trailer Owner’s Rally, JBC Technologies, one of several sponsors of the Rally, will be showcasing an exciting brand new product for the RV Industry. This solar tool is a unique high-tech solar framework designed to significantly improve the efficiency of your solar panels by: 1. Automatically raising and positioning your solar panels to maximize your solar capability all day. As the sun moves, the system tracks the sun’s movements as it moves up, down and sideways automatically to maintain maximum battery charging efficiency. 2. With the push of a button, the system will deploy, move with the sun and fold down when the sun sets. 3. It is built to automatically fold down when the outdoor wind rises above an unsafe windspeed. It will not re-deploy without an electronic signal. 4. All day long the tracker will automatically move to position your panels to gain the most energy efficient position possible. 5. At the end of the day, it will automatically fold down when sunlight is not available. 6. If the system senses movement of the vehicle, such as possibly being stolen or relocated, it will automatically shut down. It will not re-deploy without an electronic signal from your smartphone or trailer control panel. 7. The ”wash” mode will move the panel into an easy access upright position to allow cleaning or servicing of the system. 8. The system can be operated by a control switch in your RV or an electronic app on your smart phone. 9. The system has an app that offers many additional services such as: a. The turn“On and Off” mode is standard with the app. This includes the“Safe”mode that locks down the system b. GPS monitoring for safety and theft detection * c. Others as available FULL DISCLOSURE- I am co-owner with an energy engineer and an electrical engineer that designed this system. We will have the prototype available at the rally. I will post more information as we develop this exceptional camping tool. Coy Gayle

This is something that might be worth discussing (not to hijack the thread too much). We do like to make campground reservations, sometimes well in advance or sometimes the day before or the day of. We rarely stay at commercial campgrounds with high rates. Mostly NP, COE, BLM, state parks, etc. Our geezer pass (we got ours at $10 before the increase) has paid for itself many times over. Many of those sites don’t take reservations, so we show up a little early to ensure we get a site. While we didn’t decide to RV to save money (the cost of the trailer, storage, gear, maintenance is substantial) we do save a lot on the actual travel. A car and a motel are expensive, you have to add in meals, and limit where you can go. Our trailer allows us to travel to places where motels don’t exist. We were at Pinnacles National Park in February and it is literally in the middle of nowhere, not a motel within an hour or two. Plus, we have our own bed, bath, kitchen, etc. Hotels/motels have no appeal these days! Expensive camping results from commercial campgrounds and lots restaurant eating, which a lot of folks do and enjoy. Camping for free or $10 somewhere remote with a steak on the grill is where we’re at. Mike

The prototype framework is welded aluminum tubing. There are 3 layers. The first is bolted to the rooftop using the same configuration as the current solar panels. The second framework turns the solar panels left and right. The third framework lifts the panels up and down. The unit is expected to weigh between 40-45 pounds.

Some of the folks on our forum are new campers, so, to keep them out of trouble.. Before you dump grey water in a campground, make sure that it's permitted. In many campgrounds it's not ok, and can result in fines or eviction. In other campgrounds, it's entirely permissible, especially out west. Some campgrounds define grey water only as wash water. Other areas say if it has passed through a tank, it's not grey water, and has to be dumped at a dump station. Probably because grey water tanks often contain food particles from cooking and washing dishes.

We carry a couple of 5 gallon collapse-able fresh water containers and have never not found a place with good water. Using the freshwater dip tube we up-load the water into Ollie. When boondocking I try to park Ollie with the street side to the "Bush". This allows me to put on a swim-suit and have a hot shower outside. As such we save gray water tank space. Where and when we can, we use campground or restaurant facilities for the toilet and use Ollie's only at night. The above generally lets us stay about ten days at a site before we need to dump. One of the Owners mentioned putting a cup of Downy fabric softener in the black tank and half a cup in the gray tank. This with a single chemical pod from Walmart keeps our tanks really fresh, as well as the valves lubricated.