Leaderboard

I hate to ass/u/me anything regarding someone's abilities in electrical trouble shooting. It is very good you are asking questions and trying to fix things yourself. This being said, I've added a trusted source of educational material to my post above. I suspect the following and of course without knowing your specific year/model it is tough to troubleshoot. Older units usually require more checking/maintaining: 1. As stated previously, a bad GFCI. Change it out as suggested. Pushing the button is one test...under load is your problem. Most GFCI found today are garbage and it is a hit or miss on replacements. 2. Improper resetting of circuit breakers or bad circuit breaker (CB). If CBs are tripping, there's a reason and you need to stop and figure out the reasons. Resetting a CB should be a simple deal. Aggressively turn off and then back on. Visually checking is not always the best practice as some CBs look reset but are actually still tripped. 3. Loose connections. Screws on CBs can and will loosen from vibration and the constant flow of electrons. Wire nuts are notorious for loosening with age and vibrations due to electron flow. Checking them is easy, IF you have the tools and knowledge. Digging around inside the innards of the electrical boxes and various connections can be hazardous to your health, including death, if you are not trained or un-skilled in the task. Loose connection result in heat and higher resistance. Both are bad and add to the electrical gremlins you seek. 4. Look on the label of the heater and look for the wattage or amps. Post the info here. If it is over 1500w, this is likely the problem. The CBs and wiring in your house likely more robust than your OTT. Keep in mind the golden rule of 80%. A 20a circuit should only be running loads at 80% of design---16amps maximum. Codes change over the years and this rule may have been tweaked, but it has been a rule of thumb forever. 12ga wire on 20a circuits and 14ga for 15a circuits. Finally, if you feel unable to further troubleshoot this, call a licensed electrician. A RV tech should be able to handle the job as well but good luck finding a qualified one. My suggestion...call a pro who can put eyes on target and get your OTT back to operational health. Mark, amateur sparky.

Here is a continually updated STATE by STATE guide of closures and restrictions, courtesy of Campendium (a great app)... "Some parks and campgrounds are closing or changing their procedures for camping due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. If you would like to add info or a place to this list, please submit closures here: Campendium Form. During this time, campground policies are changing quickly. It is wise to call ahead before traveling to your destination." Campground Closures and Responses by State There is a long Corona Virus (Covid-19) discussion in the GENERAL FORUM .... please post general info and chat there. ... https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/4016-sars-cov-2covid-19-and-travel/ Thanks, John E Davies Spokane WA

WhatDa - See rideandfly's post above. NLGI grade 2 grease is what is specified and is what Oliver Service uses. Actually, I believe that Oliver Service uses a brand called "Red N Tacky" by Lucas versus the WalMart brand shown in rideandfly's post. But as long as it is NLGI grade 2 it will meet the specs. John's advice above is good if (as he says) one tows in a bunch of wet weather. Bill

Finally had the heater repaired. The tech said that it was wired wrong and that since it had power going to it all the time the main board burned up. He installed a new board and replaced the fuse and all is working just fine. Thanks everyone for helping me with this.

Mike and Carol, you are so correct! So much has changed in two weeks. And with state and local campgrounds closing in so many states, there isn't a lot of options as to where to park and camp. Healthwise, for many it wouldn't be smart to be away from medical facilities. Unless small groups would agree to camp near...not too near...each other and watch out for each other, it is probably not safe anymore either.

We're in WA, happily camping away from our house in the Epicenter of this mess. My office is a stone's throw away from the retirement home where most of our deaths have been. I sold the tow vehicle just a bit ago, so trying to shop for a new one without actually going into dealers now. Sad how many are still sending emails "I see you are interested, when would you like to come in so we can shake hands and spit on eachother". One dealer that I worked with previously back east had it smart -- everything can be done online and they will deliver the car. I am in the middle of a tech hub and it seems the dealers still want to deal with carbon paper and impact printers. I may just order and rent an F350 from Enterprise. Once we have that sorted out, I'm thinking somewhere in Eastern WA to avoid allergy season -- which being coincident with this pandemic has me constant self evaluating myself. Second thought would be to head to Glacier and sit and enjoy the view.

We in fact have cancelled a month long trip due to our concerns. The trip was to originate in TN for a factory service and then from there, we were going to head west to spend time in NM and AZ. Then we were going to attend the rally in AL on the return trip back to VA. Our main intent was to visit some friends of ours in the Phoenix area that have two youngsters. Well, as a courtesy to them, and because we are finding more and more facilities, services and parks are shutting down, we are extremely uncomfortable being so far away from home under those circumstances. We'll do it later when we don't have to worry about anything more complex than how many bottles and what kind of wine to take along.

Caution before travelling. We had planned to leave Friday for a ten day camping trip to the Four Corners region of the Southwest. Mesa Verde, Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly. It would have been a great trip, and we planned to listen to Tony Hillerman audiobooks on our drives. But several days ago we decided to cancel the trip, and to remain at home. We made this decision before the National Parks (and National Monuments?) started restricting entry, as noted by Overland. Here is the reason I am posting now. Our NPR Utah radio station covers the entire state, and in the past several days they have had several stories about how Moab is discouraging visitors because their health care infrastructure, like in many rural areas, is minimal. No ICUs, no infectious disease physicians, no ventilators. They do not want visitors getting sick and the community not be able to provide adequate health care. It is surprising that an area whose economy depends on tourist dollars would be discouraging visitors, but these are exceptional times. Then tonight, Moab shut down the town to visitors. All restaurants are closed. All “short-term lodging (hotels, motels, condos, townhomes, guest homes, RV parks, and all camping on public or private lands)" in four southern Utah counties are closed to non-residents. In other words, unless you are already there, you cannot camp anywhere. More info here. It is nice to think that our self-contained travel trailer can go anywhere, but right now that may not be true. We like to camp in remote areas, and right not that may or may not be permitted. Check before you depart. Safe travels, everyone. And wash your hands!