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The truma will fire up just enough to keep the water inside the unit above freezing. From the factory it will do this with propane, or you can buy the electric antifreeze kit which does the same on 12v, which is great when traveling through freezing temps. It doesn't do anything to protect your pipes, but it will protect your expensive water heater from damage.

I bought a set of RV Snappads and installed them with no trouble on the Oliver Stabilizers. Here's an install video I made to show you how easy it was. RVSnappad.mp4

We just got back (two days ago) from camping at mistletoe state park in Georgia. Nice park and we had a great site overlooking the lake with plenty of space. RV sites were about 2/3 occupied. South Carolina state parks opened today and Tennessee state parks are taking reservations for 5/15 forward.

If you run out of gas, the control panel will flash a warning light. And if you think it's cold enough to freeze, you gan go out and flip the drain lever open and go back to bed.

We use the Davy Crockett, it's small enough to carry around, runs on 12V or 120V. We used the tote to keep it in the SUV so any pellets or grease don't escape too far, will probably keep using the tote with the truck. I also have the thermal blanket for it, it helped with temperature stability and pellet usage. It is big enough inside to do a rack of Ribs or a modest brisket but small enough that finding a place to put it is easy. It can also be a little noisy so overnight smokes in a smallish campground can be harder. None of the pellet smokers will sear as good as hot grill, so we pan sear if searing is desired and then grill/smoke. The pellets you use are important, and sometimes expensive. We've had good luck with CookinPellets and Lumberjack. Generally look for ones that are 100% of what you want (ie 100% mesquite) and don't have other fillers in there. It doesn't smoke as well as my UDS smoker, but it does pretty well on its own. Great smoke ring on the brisket and flank steaks I did. Also was able to do enough pork butt for about 40 people with it (two or three batches).

In summer temperatures you can just leave the regular heater running most of the time. It keeps the water at around 140 degrees, I think. That is not a very big temp difference (“delta T”) compared to the average outside temp. In cold weather the delta T can be huge and that poorly insulated tank will chill down really fast, so it cycles often and you are also sucking propane into the furnace. In summer I just leave the regular water heater running during the day, even while towing. If it’s cold out, or a 30 mph crosswind at the campsite, I shut it down when not in use. (It can sometimes send smells into an open curbside window....) . At bedtime I shut it down because the igniter snapping sound and “whoooosh” wakes me up. I just reach up and flip the heater on when I start to wake up around dawn... The switch is easy to reach from that side bed. For cold weather camping I might pick the Truma to save gas. But I don’t know how that version prevents freezing. Maybe somebody can comment on that issue. Some Trumas auto drain when it gets near freezing....? The regular heater must be left on, or drained and bypassed. John Davies Spokane WA

After dumping the grey tank and hitting the road, the next time we stopped there was a strong odor in the camper. Normally there is not much of a rush of water wen draining the grey tank but under the right circumstances like fullness of the tank and tilt of the camper you can get a pretty good flow going. What I thought was the big flow might have caused the water in the pea trap in the shower floor drain to be sucked out allowing the odor to come up and into the camper. Another time my wife accidentalIy sucked the water out of the shower p-trap while vacuuming the floor. That could cause odors to infiltrate the cabin as well. I filled it with water and had no further issues.

Ok, that last post cinched it for me, I’m going with the standard water heater. Lower cost, easier/cheaper to repair, can run on gas and electric, fairly quick heat up time. Sounds good to me.

A hobby- We have owned our Traeger pellet smoker for over 5 yrs and have smoked baby back ribs, a few 9# briskets, chicken, trout, wings, plenty of wild game. Venison, wild turkey and bacon wrapped pecan smoked wild dove pictured, my wife’s favorite. We have been extremely happy with our Traeger and would not hesitate to replace it with another Traeger. I use apple, pecan, hickory and mesquite pellets depending on what I meat or game I am going to smoke. Ours is the Little Texas model, not for travel. We may consider a smaller Traeger scout grill or the Traeger ranger for travel. We really have enjoyed our Traeger. I also pecan smoke our own 12 hr marinated jerky. I need to determine if the scout or ranger is compact enough to carry in our TV- https://www.traegergrills.com/pellet-grills/portable/scout Edit 06/11/23 - we have owned our Traeger 8 yrs now. 👨🏼‍🍳

I would like to thank the Oliver service department for posting those maintenance videos on youtube. They will assist me and many others greatly. Job well done!!!

I am about 99.9 percent sure they are using our camper for some of these videos. Dark blue and dark grey color scheme, and all of our chosen options. We have been waiting for months to finally see our Ollie and the shut down did not help. Getting to see our camper on the you tubes has got our excitement amped up to the next level. We are to excited to pick up our trailer Monday and thrilled it has been well serviced and taken care of during its time at the factory/service department.

We got the traditional hot water tank because apparently the Truma wasn’t invented yet 🙄 and we’ve been happy with it. Works well on propane and on electric when we have hookups. I clean it out every year or so and have replaced the anode just once. I did have to replace the on/off switch this year. It was a $5 item on Amazon that took 5 minutes to replace. I like the idea of automatic awnings but I think without the support poles they can’t be used when the weather gets breezy. We use a sun screen that slides into the awning frame and then gets staked down with bungees. It is able to withstand quite a bit of wind and is easy and quick to drop if it gets too windy. The hand crank isn’t as exotic as a motor but it has proven to be reliable and durable.

In other words - "get a bigger hammer OR do more drugs". 😇

I believe it was John Davies that did a post about first aid kits a number of months ago. Perhaps he will chime in on this topic. Back (way back) when I was a life guard I was jealous of the couple of other guards that got a chance to use their training for CPR. All I ever got was the chance to swim blankets out into the surf in order to provide a cover for those ladies that had lost their tops in the waves 😁. Bill

The Oliver Travel Trailer family has once again demonstrated their commitment to all OTT customers by increasing the knowledge base available to not only today’s owners, but tomorrow’s as well through their YouTube channel. I wonder how many RV manufacturers would post a YouTube video discussing the possibility of their RV's leaking! And then providing guidance to prevent and or correct such an issue. Wow, it’s refreshing to spot a bit of frankness in the world today. Thank you Oliver Travel Trailers! Mossey

Very nicely done to all involved! Who do we have to bribe in order to see the out-takes and/or bloopers?

Just wondering why I would need those, my wife gets down on her hands and knees and put those pads under the jack as I push the jack button. trainman

Just to say I remain a HUGE fan of the Werner convertible ladders. If you will be on the road a lot and have room in the bed of the truck this is a great choice. I quit carrying mine when I switched from a pickup to an SUV. I replaced it with a less bulky cheap telescoping ladder in the closet. There is no comparison in quality, features and most importantly stability. I continue to use and enjoy the Werner around the house. You wouldn’t regret this one..... https://us.wernerco.com/products/ladders/multi-ladders/MTIAASeries/MTIAA-13 The box stores have them on sale for 20% off every now and then. Home Depot has it now for $115. If you decide to remove that pesky water seal under the awning, you can lash the extended ladder to the awning cover with rope, with a towel for padding, and it makes for a rock solid roof access. No more nagging worries about going up top and hearing your ladder fall over .... ! When used as a step ladder, the blue plastic knobs protect the side of the trailer from scratches. John Davies Spokane WA