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Sounds like you may be inadvertently turning the air conditioner fan on as you’re scrolling through thermostat settings. There are fan settings for low and high and “auto”. You want “auto” mode.

Note, these pics are from Hull #218 delivered May, 2017. The big cables Oliver installs for the inverter are in fact 4/0 ("four ought") welding cable, with an abrasion resistant rubber coating, for dragging around a shop floor. Unfortunately they are NOT very chafe resistant. They need to be covered in plastic split loom to prevent this, which was due to it lying on top off the steel battery tray in back, when everything is pushed tight into its normal position. This particular damage happened after one camping season, and I subsequently covered the cables. I recently removed the cables entirely to rewire the batteries, and I cut a piece to show exactly what is happening. The insulation in the top pic is worn well over half way through! If the RED one wears completely through and shorts out to the tray, you will have a fire - the tray is steel, and it bolts to the fiberglass floor (which has a heavy aluminum liner inside it) and THAT connects directly to the main aluminum frame by way of its support post. If your cables are not protected, inspect them closely, and repair or replace any that is worn more than this one. If the conductor wires are not cut, you could add a couple of layers of thick self adhesive heat shrink tubing. And cover them completely! There is a big fuse (250 amps in my trailer), but it is "downstream" from this area and it won't blow if there is a problem here inside the box. FYI these cables also become damaged simply by hanging in the plastic "pass through" grommets, they are very heavy and they move around when towing, and the grommet compacts and chafes the insulation. The conductor cannot short out there because the surrounding area is fiberglass. NOT so with the main cables and the tray. John Davies Spokane WA

Here - plugged in to AC. Soon to spend its off season days here:

😩 As Charles B often said - "Good Grief" I remember a former "new" Oliver owner who shared on this forum, his many problems of initial Oliver ownership. He was not a happy customer, and after much back and forth, on this forum, and - as he stated - with Oliver - eventually - parted ways with his new Oliver. Despite a somewhat irregular - ownership experience -and with many numerous posts - I never observed any action -by anyone, Oliver included, that attempted to alter, influence, or diminish the negative posts. As forum readers we see the participants public comments and stated issues, but do not hear the other side of the story. Oliver's official response is kept between the parties. Thankfully we are spared the "Yelp review - he said - no - she said" - back and forth. I am inclined to believe - at times - moderators, and other folks of influence, have given Oliver a heads up - or actually asked for clarification. Us Oliver owners like to believe the mothership is connected to this forum for both good and bad, happy and sad. I believe they are. It is just good business! If I am in error here - well Oliver is missing out. If a tree falls in the woods and there is no one there to observe the fall - did it happen? Quantum mechanics questions the validity. If I was a disappointed, angry, or unsatisfied customer and I wished to share my experience, it would make sense to do so in a site that had participants who not only had an interest in the situation, but also had influence in the community. Rational people usually make rational decisions that lead to rational response. History shows Oliver to be more rational in customer concerns than most SOB's. However, regardless of where one shares the story - actual problem remediation can only be made through the customer/business problem resolution process. In the end - Oliver is the final arbitrator - if the customer remains unsatisfied, none of us on this forum can remedy the situation. However, the majority of people on this forum are eager to help with suggestions and experience backed responses to aid all that ask. Family helping family. I would not think to question the motives and integrity of this forum and it's participants - as my experience here indicates otherwise. Overall it is a civil and positive place to share experiences and provide feedback. I am done here. This thread to the dustbin of concern. RB

Thanks FrankC. That did it!

Update, I made some changes when I relocated the tray to the back. This shows how the front corner can be clipped back for truck access: This shows the new aluminum support structure, welded by a local shop. I added pins with clips to retain the plastic support bars, which give anchor points for the fabric. Plus I made new lower support bars with no collars (straight across) and I added stand-off tubes (1/2" white PEX) to prevent the fabric from "walking" out to the side during tight turns. The photo immediately above this post shows the old setup, which did not work well. This will be my fifth camping season, the system has been excellent, no issues except the original support bars were too weak (thin Schedule 40, replaced with Schedule 80), and the left SS flap continues to get scorched by the exhaust when turning VERY hard to the left, in spite of the factory down-turned exhaust tip. I try to avoid remaining in that position more than momentarily. The front of the trailer remains showroom new looking, and the rear of the truck has no rock chip damage. I do still have to remove dried bug carcasses, but they are confined to the very edges of the hull and the top third of the front. I still highly recommend this mod. I try not to tow in hard rain, but if it does happen, the back window of the Land Cruiser stays almost completely dry! And in normal conditions on gravel roads, it stays about 75% dust free. John Daviers Spokane WA

av8wife, We also have decided to replace our AGM batteries. While this option does not have all the benefits of Lithium it appears to be easier for me in terms of plug-and-play and cost for my 2015 (#104) Ollie. I purchased four Bright Way Group EVGC6 - 6V 220AH Deep Cycle Golf Cart Batteries (see attached spec sheet) from batterywholesale.com which is owned by Bright Way Group. The Bright Way AGM's have the same foot print of the Trojan T-105's and are currently what OTT installs as their AGM option. Total cost for me was $994.65 which included a 10% discount (look for pop-up while on site) and LTL delivery. I am currently waiting on the batteries due to the weather issues in the mid-west. The batteries ship out of the Dallas area and I hope to have them next week. I will update after installation. BWG_Spec_Sheet_BW EVGC-220A-AM Final.pdf

Imelda - I may be a bit confused - but - if you are plugged into shore power you do not need to be having your inverter "on" at the same time. Bill

Old batteries, meaning really really really old ones, were made with glass cells inside a wood box! If placed on a damp floor, the wood could absorb water, swell and break the cells. Later they used steel, which conducts. A plastic cased wet cell or AGM or lithium battery does not have this rather serious design flaw. Concrete is fine for very short term storage, such as under the frame where it is out of the way while cleaning the tray or fixing a cable. But if a plastic cased battery leaks, the acid will definitely etch and damage the floor. http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2017/02/storing-car-battery-concrete-floor-drain/ John Davies Spokane WA

Our Ollie at our home on Blueberry Hill -

Jim, you can easily add terminal fuse blocks to your positive posts. John Davies Spokane WA

Attached is a summary that I keep in my trailer. It has much of what is discussed above and may be a handy reference for the future. Timken Bearings and National Seals.docx As is apparent, much of my Oliver bearings and seal info is from John Davies. A great source of information and advice. Thank you John D! Geronimo John

For the less bearing experienced, the "Cup" is the running surface of the bearing housing. Some refer to this replacement surface as the "Bearing Race". They are the same part, and should always be replaced when replacing the bearings. The reason for buying eight seals is that you need to replace the seals at each surface. The Timken bearings will last many many years with good grease and service. The seals generally get damaged in their removal process. They are cheap and saving a few $$ is nothing compared to a seal failure allowing grease into the brakes! I disassemble, clean with brake cleaner, dry and re-grease at the start of each season. But then I am also covering at least 8,000 miles a season. The cheap Dexter bearings IMHO should be trashed at your first or second service depending on your use. For the bearings and seal face, this is the synthetic grease that John Davies recommended, and many of us are using. I also highly recommend it: Red Line 80401 CV-2 Synthetic Grease with Moly (14 Oz Jars) . It is available via Amazon. Some owners use a "bearing grease press" to fill the bearings with grease before installation. I have tried some, and found that I waste a lot of grease with them. So, like many older salts, we just use the palm of our hand and a dollop of grease, kneading the bearing into the grease from both sides. This works very well, saves grease, and gives you the satisfaction of KNOWING that your new bearings are well lubricated. From Dexter, here is the Bearing Adjustment and Hub Replacement process: Finally, having a pile of rags and a trash bag handy is really helpful. Good luck and safe travels, Geronimo John

And, if you change tow vehicles, you can purchase replacement flaps. Actually, most of the bits and pieces for rock tamers can be purchased online. We've used Rock tamers for over a decade. We don't travel enough gravel miles to justify John's stone stomper. That's the ultimate, though.

Jairon: I have been using Summit Racing for years, and also using Motion Ind. for bearings. I had not thought of Summit for the Timken Bearings. THANK YOU! GJ

The rubber flaps have molded cut lines and pilot hole locations to trim the top of them as needed to the correct length and punch through the holes to mount to the support arms at the length you’ll need. The top edge get trimmed and new holes punched since the Rocktamers have the metal logo plate at the bottom. The as-is length just happened to be perfect for my F-250.

Hull 688, delivered November, 2020 had split plastic loom installed at the factory. There's also no cable anywhere near the bottom of the battery box or tray - it's all up top - at least on this one which is full with the 2 LifeBlue's.

Thanks for the kind words FrankC, I see your Rock Tamers are rigged correctly - they should fly back at an angle, not straight up and down, so they deflect rocks down onto the pavement instead of back onto your rear tailgate and bumper. I had Rock Tamers before this mod, and they are OK, but they do not provide nearly enough protection for around here.... this part of the country has a gazillion unpaved roads, Spokane County alone has 4000 miles of them. FYI, an easy mod to help your RTs work better is to add strips of heavy mudflap material on TOP of the bars, trimmed so that they press against the chrome bumper. They will stop the few stones that do flip back up in that direction, and the rubber won't damage the finish. Plus they will dampen any side to side rocking of the arms. John Davies Spokane WA

The last I saw him - in 2020 - he was still happy with his Durango. A PM (private message) might be in order even though Commanche's Dodge is a bit older. Bill

The old "rule of thumb" was to have a minimum of a 20% safety margin. Bill

THANK YOU!

Coach and JoJo, I am sorry but I do not have a contact number for Toyota. I think that I may have used a link in the Toyota Owners App on my phone to contact them. I don't really remember. I am leaning in the direction of the app because they knew my VIN number (and I did not provide it). I suggest that you contact Toyota Customer Service to ask about your particular vehicle. I had read the tundra talk thread that rideandfly provided a link to while I was doing my research. I read many others on the subject as well. I contacted Toyota because I wanted a definitive answer straight from the horses mouth. I suspect that the Toyota electronic sway control feature has improved a bit in the past eleven years. Technology moves fast anymore.

Keep Ollie in an airplane hangar. Installed a battery master disconnect switch to keep batteries from running down.

I think the key wording is that using third party “mobile services” labor and fees for repairs aren’t covered, but if the Ollie is taken to an RV service center then labor usually is covered.

Interesting there must be more to this story. When I picked up my 2019 LE2 I had several issues that I caught before ever leaving the parking lot. Two days camped in the parking lot, all issues were resolved. While at David Crockett SP. two more problems all taken care of. They weren’t owner errors. One month later several more warranty issues. Oliver staff set me up with the closest dealer to me and all work was covered no charge. Your warranty should cover all items for at least the first year on non Oliver items ac fridge etc. and Oliver’s warranty is covered for two years. Which is one of the best compared to others. Unless this all changed.

BoB, I looked for a stock photo of the toaster we use on the boat, and I found this instead--"vintage, antique toaster pendant light." <sigh> I guess I'm beginning to resemble the vintage label, too.

I would be pretty distracted by strippers too...... John Davies Spokane WA

One of the things I like about Oliver is their willingness to make improvements on an already great product!

Thanks All - Very Helpful For those interested, here is the pricing I found from the below vendors for the Timken Bearings for our Dexter 3500 pound axle: Bearing SouthShore Bearing Summit Racing Equipment Motion Industries Outer Bearing & Cup $11.50 each $10.99 each $26.19 Inner Bearing & Cup $12.00 each $9.99 each $28.41 Seal $8.50 each $6.99 each $6.43 Looks like I am going to buy from Summit Racing. Richard

Our Houghton 2801 (9500) arrived today, via FedEx freight. As AC units go, it's quite sleek. And, at the same time, seems to be pretty stoutly built.. Between removing the old Kingdome, and replacing the taller Dometic AC, we should pick up a few inches of height clearance. Our 9500 is cool only, (no heat) unlike Katanapilot's bigger 13500 unit. We were ok with that, as we needed the rooftop real estate for the bigger solar panels we added earlier, and room to adjust them. Everything is a tradeoff in replacing equipment. I doubt this will move off the bench this week. We have sailing plans this weekend. We'll see.

Great observations . . . . . My opinion: awnings are a bother. Personally, I'd like to see an awning delete option. I only say this because we don't do a lot of extreme heat camping, nor do we spend a lot of daytime at the campsite. I know others feel differently.

The best choice for a hotspot device is somewhat dependent on the service provider. There's a lot of discussion about Verizon jetpack, but if you have AT&T, Sprint, or T-Mobile for example, the jetpack won't be the best solution. Here's a link that identifies the best wifi hotspot device for a given service provider: https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-mobile-hotspots