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All: well I got it! So much to do today - LEARN. Newbie, 2000%. Hellva time backing in and park empty but a couple finally came along and he helped me back in. HE said it was not the easiest place to back in. I need to learn everything. Only hooked to elec so far. But restroom right across from me with SHOWER, which is now the most beautiful word in the English language, in my book. I am so glad I booked a week here to figure basic things out! Here is the Ollie (it’s 6:30 AM CST).

Went from 4 Trojan 6 Volt AGMs to 4 Battle Born 100Ah GC2s. Mounted a BMV-712 Victron in close proximity to the negative post of battery Mounted main fuse in close proximity to the positive post of battery Mounted main battery disconnect in close proximity to the positive post of battery Added a positive and negative bus bar and moved all cabling to inside the basement except for the 2 main 4/0 cables. (I was able to exchange main fuse with a positive bus bar using the same mounting area, then moved the fuse out to the positive post of the battery) I used bus bars to connect the 4 batteries in parallel A strip of flat PVC was used to insulate between bus bars

The Bulldog collar lock and padlock is 99.9% fine. The only issue is, somebody theoretically could drop your coupler onto a smaller (1 7/8”) ball and drive off. The yellow lock is designed to insert up into the coupler before you close it and install the other one. I personally would not bother with the yellow one, ever. Well, possibly, if leaving it in long term storage or in a really sketchy location, like an inner city RV park in Detroit.... Normal commercial or park campgrounds, or even remote BLM ones, do not attract felons, they tend to hang around the neighborhoods where they live. In your shoes, I would store it away for now and only pull it out when the situation warrants a little extra security. Everything is fine. Go shop. Don’t worry about people walking up to you, they just want to chat about that cool trailer..... or the cool truck😬 John Davies Spokane WA

Best of luck! Whether you know it or not you've sort of created a small fan club based on your laugh out loud posts and your genuine humility...Your questions and the answers you've received have undoubtedly benefited many others including me. You've been given great advice most especially the feedback about going slow and that doesn't mean just driving or backing in. You can now breathe and learn at a pace that is comfortable for you. Your rig looks awesome and, as far as I can tell, you parked perfectly! Keep the pics coming and enjoy!

This is the sketchiest character I have seen this far. I am reporting him to the rangers. APB issued. Outstanding warrants. Bad egg. Prison tats, too.

So I will ask this question: Do you think most MaxxFan failures are water/moisture related or is it an electrical supply issue? I know from the reading I have done on RV forums, most of the blame is placed on moisture. And as far as I know, MaxxFan has done nothing to change people’s opinion on that theory. A true test of the voltage question will be when new fans are installed with a voltage regulator from the start. And we will see where the data on fan failures lead our thoughts. By the way, within my support email chain, MaxxFan stated that the fan bearing break in procedure was to run the fan at 100% for 24 hours when the motor is placed into service. How many of us did that? I did with my new motor, but I didn’t with the original. My OTT was used so I really don’t know if it was broken in properly or not. Mossey

Hi John - This receiver is aluminum and I fabricated it out of a solid piece. I wanted something that would mate up to the cross member that already had 4 holes drilled for the factory 1-1/4 inch receiver. So, my receiver has holes drilled through the length of the wall and I added 2 stainless steel plates at the bottom and top which the bolts are threaded into. The receiver sits at 17 inches and the cross member of the trailer is at about 14 inches, so plenty of room. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the old hitch. It consisted of 2 pieces of aluminum square tubing, 1 sliding inside the other with pins to secure. Now the 2 inch solid takes the place of them. The cross member was mounted on top which hampered you from pulling the spare tire cover off, so you had to remove the pins and pull the hitch before you could get to it. These were difficult because they would bind when pulling the hitch off. I mounted the cross member below the 2 inch so now no interference getting the spare cover off. The only negative is when you flip open the door to access the sewage pipes you have a little bit less room to reach in, but very do-able.

How long are you staying in your current spot? Sat weather looks interesting - would you like a visit - my SO needs to get out for a brief trip. (ok, so would I , and the dog - Harley) text me - 615 six 0ne three two four23.

Do you know which way your tanks are set up? It's been pretty cold today in Lewisburg, according to weather.com, but I doubt your furnace ran much your first night. It was much warmer. My guess, not being there, is you are good for tonight, even if you are on the one tank setting. At the very least, if you're actually set in the 55 to 60, and the heat didn't kick on a lot during the day, you should be good for tonight. Maybe tomorrow. The only way to really tell is to remove the hood, and slide your fingertips down to feel the temperature difference, which is actually really hard to do when it's cold out. It's easier to feel the difference in warm air. Or, loosen both tanks, lift and feel weight difference. Assuming you don't have a propane guage, which we don't, either. You can extend the life of your propane by using a small electric heater, when you have hookups. Make sure it has tipover and overheat protection. We put ours under the small dinette, facing out. The furnace rarely kicks in, and we can use free electricity for auxiliary heat. Sidenote, we never leave the electric heater on when we're not physically in the trailer.

If both tanks are open and one empties, it will automatically switch to the other, once the primary is empty. You should be able to cover all of your propane needs for at least a week, on two tanks, even if the outside temperature is well below freezing. Andrew

I have never seen or looked for the 24 hour break-in instructions in print on paper or a soft copy. It was a comment made while discussing the intermittent problem I was experiencing. Mossey

This campground does not look sketchy - hardly anyone here - I won’t gone but a couple hrs. I will trust it is ok! Thank you!!!!

Another point and/or suggestion concerning that valve. Yes, they can be a bit hard to open from time to time. It helps if you "lubricate" these valves by using something similar to THIS. I use this lube a couple of times per year. Leave this valve closed (in) for when you drive. With it in the closed position, any grey water that is in your grey water tank will not flow back up into your shower when it is closed. As you now know - any water in your shower will not flow into your grey tank when this valve is closed. Like most of us - you will forget to open/close this from time to time. After a few episodes of getting wet feet or finding the floor of your shower a bit messy after a drive, you will pay a little more attention to this issue. Bill

Great picture and glad you finally have your Ollie! Backing with a single axle is a little trickier than with a double. Just remember that you can’t go too slow when backing in. After 5 years I still go very slow which allows lots of time to make corrections. Try hooking up water sometime today to make sure your faucets and toilet work. If it’s going to be below freezing tonight unhook your hose and store it until tomorrow, just use your water pump and fresh water tank. Good luck! Mike

Last August my MaxxFan started running at various speeds. It would start out running fine and then slow down after several hours. MaxxFan support help me conduct some testing and one of the things they noticed was the high voltage on the fan circuit. I installed a similar or same voltage regulator when I replaced the motor in September. I placed my voltage regulator in the attic after the fan breaker. And of course this happened after I installed the Battle Born batteries and the PDI lithium charger. It kinda like an 18 year old rebuilding a perfectly good motor to go faster and the rear end or transmission fails under the strain. And I think it reinforces my appreciation for the products Oliver Travel Trailers produce. When I as an owner decides to change any portion of the product they engineered and built, I can expect it to change something I didn’t anticipate. I think the best we can do is to continue to share our experiments, learn from our failures and celebrate our improvements. Mossey

If I'm not mistaken the basket is the first thing you'll collide with on either model (if you have that basket on the tongue) if you are jacknifing. I'm still teaching myself with my new E2 to know how far toward jacknifing I can go (i.e. how small/sharp an angle I can have between trailer and tow vehicle when backing up without having the two touch (i.e. in this case bumper to basket). At least in part it seems like a matter of knowing how the trailer looks in the mirror - i.e. how far to the outside of the mirror does the outer edge of the trailer go). And btw at least with my tow vehicle once I'm anywhere near that sharp an angle while backing, the angle keeps decreasing as I continue backwards (i.e. the tow vehicle keeps pushing the hitch further sideways as I continue back). It's a funky thing to learn - there's a sweet spot where I can maintain an consistent angle between the two but it's easy to get past that and it will just fold right up at that point if I don't watch out, which would be no bueno.

Several "other brands" do offer the midpoint. At a weight I can lift. (Champion, Westinghouse, etc.) Not sure if anyone offers dual fuel at that range, though. Someone eventually will. Because it's so often asked for.

Two full 20lb propane tanks should last a week or more in those temperatures. When you have the energy, take a look at the regulator in between your tanks. There is a black lever that can point to one tank or the other. I point mine to one tank so that when it runs out I know it. Then I point the lever to the other tank and get the empty one filled. I second Sherry’s suggestion about a small electric heater. We have a very small Vornado that we use when we have shore power. It is quiet and keeps us plenty warm on low. Mike

Congratulations @ lots of missions accomplished, today! Your trailer looks great.

Welcome back "home". Can we assume that all was good when you got back from town? James looks like he is just a pup - how old is he? Bill

Note that the threaded side of the u-bolt is on the keyed side of the housing, otherwise the u-bolt will slip out.

You have to put the yellow ball into the Bulldog coupler and then close the coupler just like you were hooking up the truck. After you have locked the collar and padlock you already have installed, you can put the U-shaped part of the lock into the yellow portion. It should look like the picture when complete. Mossey

Google “rv appliance load chart” images, take your pick, print it out and study it. If you have the built in surge suppressor, you can relocate the “remote” display to a location that is easily viewed from inside. The display will tell you how many amps are being consumed through the shore power circuit. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2337-how-to-relocate-the-surge-suppressor-remote-display/ If your AC does not have the Soft Start kit, install one, that helps with the big surge when the motor first starts up. John Davies Spokane WA

We bought a dual fuel Champion 3500. Pros: Price is much less than comparable Honda or Yamaha. Running on propane keeps the units clean and they don't have fumes after running when stored. Noise level = noise level under load is the same a the Honda 3000 and unloaded just a couple dB louder. It has 3150 Starting for AC's and is plenty beefy to run both the battery chargers and other appliances while running AC. Built in 30 amp connector that matches our shore power cables. Con: Weight - it is heavier than the 2200 line but it has a handle and wheels which makes moving it pretty easy. Uses: We have found even with Solar, we sometimes need the generator when boondocking to charge batteries in cloudy weather. We can run the AC on this unit, and it also runs the on board battery charger at the same time. A standard size 20gal BBQ propane tank can run this thing for a total of 15 hours. We normally run it about 3 hrs/day so for a 20 gal BBQ tank, that means 5 days, or using one of our Oliver 30 gallon tanks for about 8-9 days. Link to an online review:

I am glad my qs help others! I am both terrified and excited. Fluctuates! Ha. Right now as you said just thrilled to be ok in trailer (furnace on - cold and going to be colder tonight), dog not sick anymore, and bath house shower awaits. Finally slept last night. Had been a week of packing to be FT all the driving to get to TN etc. Exhausted.

Those crimpers are pretty bulky, so if you want to keep your repair kit simple, a few small hose clamps will work as well as the crimps, and you can easily get a straight enough cut with a utility knife. The goal for field repairs is to get you going again - you can always come back later to do a proper repair.

Sher - You don't need to twist that handle - just pull it straight out towards the front of the camper. The actual valve that you are opening is located under your forward dinette seat. If you feel comfortable in doing so, you might want to open the "hatch" under the cushions of that seat and look to see if there is something "jamming" or "caught" in or around that valve. Bill

Wonderful. It is all an adventure. Soon - backing the Ollie into a spot up will be just something you do as part of the process, easy peasy. Enjoy. RB

So, now you are "officially" one of the family - welcome! After all the nerves, confusion and worry, you now have that dream of yours. I hope that you will find it much easier to get this new way of life moving forward. I've always found that if I can see and touch something, the whole idea of it is much easier to grasp. Yes, there is a bunch to learn. But, that is part of the attraction of the lifestyle. Don't rush (ever), slow down - you've got all the time in the world and as you have already seen, there are people around you that are more than willing to help. Keep those pics coming! Bill

Lots of best wishes. You got the Andersen, that makes your life quite a bit harder. Here is my big suggestion, if you don’t want to just use a simple $40 ball mount and ball: Adjust the chains loosely using the two big nuts under the tongue, the ones that are at the red plastic bushings. The big socket they gave you fits on a standard 1/2” drive ratchet handle, and also on the wheel lug nut handle they gave you, but a smaller ratchet is way more convenient to use. If you don’t have a ratchet handle, Walmart has them cheap or or go here: .... 1/2” drive ratchet Measure the amount of threads sticking out past the nut on each adjuster, make them fairly close to equal, so the front “whale tail” will be straight. Use a tape measure or just count the threads. Make the chains just tight enough that there is no slack in them when the front jack is off the ground when truck and trailer are level - kick one chain lightly with your foot to check - but they should not be “bar tight”. Just a little compression on those red things... You do NOT need them to be really tight with your full sized truck and small trailer. Having the trailer weight off the hitch makes adjusting them easier, but they can be moved with the full weight on them, it is just harder work... This should make hitching up a little less traumatic, and the chains will still give excellent control over bounces that happen, such as encountering the big dip at some bridge approaches, or simply an undulating concrete highway. Remember, if you don’t need to unhitch and the site is level, you can leave all those parts connected, but please do not drive off with the trailer jacks extended.... Hang in there. Try to enjoy it. YouTube is your best friend, if you can connect. Once the adrenaline wears off, maybe you can rest. Pictures, or it never happened! Of your doggie too. John Davies Spokane WA

In my case, I think it’s safe to say moisture. The first of my failures happened after a light rain with the fan open but not on. In that case, the keypad stopped working, though the remote worked fine. It required a new circuit board to fix. The second was just after a light snow, again with the fan open and on low. That was again a keypad problem but this time the up arrow would activate on its own, revving the fan to high and even turning the fan on after I turned it off. In that case, leaving the breaker off for a day and finding some sun allowed the moisture to evaporate and it’s worked fine since. So it’s possible of course that voltage could be a problem but I’ve yet to experience it. We rarely run our fan on anything but low, just to keep a little airflow going and to pull out the moisture, so we probably haven’t stressed the fan motor much. That’s the first I’ve heard of a break in period, and I doubt that ours has seen 24 hours on high in total since we got the trailer. Does the manual mention that? Do I have a manual? Do I need to read a manual for a ... fan?

The fan problem I ran into was with the fan in auto mode and running at 80%. I noticed the fan running slower than I thought it should be, so I ignored it. And then I noticed it again and again, so now it was on "my when I get around to it list". I can honestly say that my fan voltage problem was not theoretical, but maybe it was a coincidence. And I can’t say it is a lithium charge setting either. What I can say is that I didn’t have a fan problem before replacing my PDI DC charger with the lithium charger and I did have the problem a couple of months later. I will also confess that I did not reinstall the original PDI charger and re-conduct the voltage test I did for PDI's technical support team. I will say that I am not very good at design or theory, but I am pretty good at fixing things that are broken. So once I have fixed something, I move on. And a voltage regulator fixed my problem. I don’t need to know why it was broken, it’s good enough for me that it isn’t anymore. I didn’t associate the PDI charger and my fan issue until JD created this post. And then Mike and mountianoliver the voltage regulator to the conversation. And I said "duh". I am plugged into a 120 AC circuit at home 24/7 so my battery cutoff switch is usually in the off position. So my running 12v supply is the PDI charger. Which is making some weird humming sounds these days, but that is a different subject or maybe not. And now that I have made a long story longer, Mossey Below is part of the email conversation I had with PDI, with the voltage readings I took at the output of the control board to the fan motor. From: Mike Mossey Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 9:44 AM To: RVP Support <rvpsupport@airxcel.com> Subject: Re: New form entry is submitted - 9-14-2020 Time Voltage at the 2 pin connector to the motor 2:20 PM 13.8 3:00 13.6 4:10 13.3 5:10 13.2 6:10 13.5 7:10 13.3 8:10 13.3 9-15-2020 7:20 AM 14.2 8:30 14.1 fan seems to be running slower 10:30 14.1 RVP Support <rvpsupport@airxcel.com> Tue, Sep 15, 2020 at 11:41 AM To: Mike Mossey Anytime the voltage exceeds the 13.6 threshold it can trigger the unit to shut down or do things it is not designed to do. The voltage is above that a lot of the time. Can we get a voltage regulator inline to keep it around 12.8? Mike Dickey Technical Assistance Coordinator RV PRODUCTS, a division of Airxcel, Inc. 3050 North St. Francis Wichita, KS, 67219 Office: 316.832.4357 Fax: 316.832.3417 www.airxcel.com

As considering buying options, I will try to count in Hymer gt touring if finding place to buy, while considering also Fendt-caravan brand as possible option. There's some clutter-rich design with the ones from eu - feeling less solid, less strong build, and feeling more as the kinds of Forest River. The ones of Oliver feel more like minimalist-design as of Tesla interior, where each part seems to have meaning of practicality. Would be great if Oliver travel trailer, with propane alternatives, could be purchased in eu. But if not, as I am going to self-modify after buying anyway, not ruling out Oliver yet. Have to consider the amount of work/time it would take if I'd go by the route of replacing propane parts of earlier version of Oliver.

If you still have your old PCB you can reflow the solder joints to determine if the problem is a cracked or cold solder joint. I have repaired a number of boards over the years doing this. Poor quality cold solder joints eventually crack resulting in intermittent or no continuity. Use a solder iron (with magnification if necessary) to touch each joint. You'll see the solder melt and flow. Don't dwell but a second or two...just enough for the solder to reflow. It's worth a try on hard to get or expensive boards.

I have to ask if this isn't a purely theoretical problem. Is anyone aware of electrical equipment actually being damaged by lithium charge settings? I've never heard of it until now. I mean, my truck alternator bulk charges at 14.8, and I assume that's the same across all of Ford's lineup, meaning all those transit van conversions would be subject to this issue. My Maxx Fan has had issues as well, but the common denominator was that it's happened after being open in a light rain or snow (once plugged in, once not). I'm more apt to assume that they just have sketchy quality electronics and that one cause for failure is as good as the next.

Welcome from another Minnesota Oliver. I’m in the Stillwater area. Looks like you were on the North Shore. I’m going to guess Tettegouche State Park since it looks like Palisade Head in the background. Nice job scoring a North Shore campsite at the peak of leaf watching! Hope to see you around. Off the top of my head we’ve had our Oliver to Tettegouche, Temperance River, Interstate, Flandrau, Blue Mound, and Bear Head Lake State Parks since buying in 2018. The avatar picture of my wife and I was taken standing on the lake shore at Temperance River. During the summers of 2005-2009 I took our two boys to all 70 (at the time) State Parks in MN. It was a fun challenge. You’ve put up some really nice posts today. Well done! Ken

Shemrica, Just spent a the last few weeks travel NW to East through Texas. State Park system in Texas it terrific and I did purchase the Annual Pass at $70. You have to decided if its right for yourself... I used it not only for the camping discounts but no charge day passes for hiking. Capitol Rock great hiking and buffalo, Copper Breaks good hiking trails west of Dallas but both many not qualify for your distance to civilization. Ray Roberts north of Denton water front sites and Stephen F Austin Park west of Houston nature trails and new bathroom / shower facilities both close to civilization. I am take note of fore mentioned park for my return trip. Harvest Host also has some excellent options for over nights stops... stayed at an Alpaca Farm, Wine/Honey Farm, couple of breweries and museums... Tonight Lone Star Flight Museum for second stop with Tomorrow a Day at Houston Space Center. Availability gets tough on weekends at both Private and Public locations if last minute but there are lots of Cracker Barrel’s which make a better choice than Walmart for an over night. I have enjoyed Texas it is an awesome and diverse state. Enjoy!

Picking up an additional supplier is a good business move, especially if Lithionics also offers different form factors - ones that would also work in the Elite I as @SeaDawg eluded to. Thanks for sharing that info @Jairon. My stress level went down when I read your post that Oliver isn't ditching LifeBlue.

Just wanted to pop in a say that I hope you had a great first night as an Oliver owner! We're so excited for you and your new lifestyle. My husband has done all the towing and set up with our previous trailers in the past. I am planning to learn everything with our new trailer so that I can help with the driving on longer trips and be able to set up on my own if needed. I hope you have a great week at Davy Crockett SP! Where did you decide to stay in Texas? Cindy

Hi John, Like you, I was worried after reading everything out on the forum before we got our Oliver a few months ago too. Now that we have our trailer (for over 2 months now) and I've had a chance to really give it a workout, a lot of the anxiety was unnecessary. Of course the reality is that there can be things that need to be addressed even on delivery day. This is a "tiny house on wheels", so there's the fiberglass structure, the wheels, suspension and a whole lot of components that have to work together. To help with my anxiety while waiting, I also read other travel trailer forums and it was quite obvious that the issues owners were having with Oliver trailers were MINOR compared to other brands. I also developed a trust in Oliver service from what other owners were saying on the forum. I made a (large) checklist of things to look for and check before I left Hohenwald. I'm happy to report that just about everything mentioned by owners in this forum has been addressed by Oliver over the years. We've had a couple minor issues that have cropped up and I've addressed - no problem so far and Oliver service has been stellar as expected. Nothing has been serious enough to impair our ability to use (and thoroughly enjoy) the trailer and it's luxury. I enjoy fixing the little things that I can as it is helping me learn and become comfortable with our new vacation home. 🙂

John thank you, today I am trying to recover from stress of no sleep for a week and sick dog. I need this water out of here and cannot get handle to pull out. Tried twisting and pulling hard. Nothing. I am NOT hooked to water or sewer and will not for days if ever. Right now just need elec and to learn to hitch and unhitch and LOCK trailer tongue stuff with big yellow thing I bought so I can drive truck to Walmart and get food and supplies. Have nothing to eat etc. Will look for item you mentioned at Walmart if I get unhitched and LOCK coupler area stuff - have to leave dog alone in Ollie to do walmart.

So my wife and I had to go out of town. We had been living in our Ollie for about 7 months. Figured everything was fine with full tanks of.propane and space heater. Our stay was extended because of family death. Propane ran out and workers accidently unplugged us. It was freezing weather of course. Got back and our truma hot water had frozen and broke. Didn't winterize it. The kitchen faucet froze and broke. The bathroom had to have toilet repaired. The fresh water pump froze and broke. Hopefully we don't find anything else. Didn't have hot water for almost a month. Luckily we had the 12v tank heaters or who knows what. Moral is stupid newbies should have prepared for the worst and just fully winterized. These trailers are fantastic but not indestructible. It's been a nightmare since this is our home for the next 2-3 months more. Oliver has been great working with us. Can't say the same about Truma.