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We will be picking up our trailer in July. The support from all the folks on the forum is so very helpful. Thank you to all that do participate. You guys are part of the reasons to buy an Oliver. Donna and Scott

Another Dometic "power lawnmower" AC bites the dust... Created a temporary skylight. What a nice, sturdy, double fiberglass hull with PVC board in between for strength! And a few pics of the outside of the unit since the first two pioneers (katanapilot and seadog) included different parts... All in all, it took me ~3.5 hours. I had two helpers to remove the old unit and put the new one on the roof: John Deere and my son. I ended up using Butyl tape on the outside frame because I had some high quality stuff on hand, I'm familiar with it and that's what OTT had used on the Dometic Penguin II I removed. Now only time will tell how these things perform and last. Some of my notes / observations so far to add to what has already been observed: 1. It's a lot quieter. I only measured sound at the bed where our heads are with high fan and compressor (about 5' away). With the Dometic it was ~80 dB (as loud as a power lawnmower) and with the Houghton it's ~60 dB (as loud as a normal conversation). Definitely will be able to sleep better. 2. AC and Heat Pump both work on either batteries (Lithium) or the Honda 2200 generator without the EasyStart. On battery power through the inverter, it ran smooth / fantastic. However, with the generator there were a few hiccups as the compressor didn't start a few times and the surge protector (I think) made some "strange" clanging sounds. A 2200 generator alone may be borderline and may need either the EasyStart (if possible) or a pair of generators to be safe. 3. Fan alone takes 1 Amp on 120V and 8 amps on 12V. Fan plus AC compressor takes 9 amps on 120V and 90 amps on 12V. Fan plus heat pump takes 13 amps on 120v and 130 amps on 12V. I think I'll still be carrying my small Vortex space heater in the winter, but it's nice to have another all electric option when power is available. 4. The exterior cover is nice, but it's not pure white like the Ollie or the MaxAir fan. It's a bit of an "off white" I think. 5. The AC compressor and the heatpump both cycled about every 7 minutes. I think that's expected since the thermostat is in the unit itself and there's not a lot of air circulation up in the back of the Ollie ceiling. An additional fan may help. 6. It's 3.5" shallower than the Dometic on the outside. Thanks again to katanapilot for researching and finding this alternative and to both seadog and katanapilot for sharing some additional tidbits that helped make my installation painless! Now I will try to sell my old unit to subsidize this upgrade so we can afford diesel for the next camping trip. 😬

As I prepared and was planning my two month fly fishing trip to Wyoming for this summer, I found out that I could not get reservations in one of my favorite campgrounds. This particular campground had always been a bit of a problem in that it only has eight sites and only four of those are reserveable. A day or two later I found out about a "free" reservation service available at Wanderinglabs.com. I went to that site, opened an account, filled out a form stating the campground, camp site and the dates I wanted to reserve and then waited. This morning - some four weeks later - I received an email stating that reservations were now available for exactly what I wanted. I clicked on the link to Recreation.gov and got the site reserved. Simple as that! All without having to check back every day to see if something had become open. This service is free unless you want to pay for "premium service" (more frequent checking for openings) or if you want to "donate" because of the amount of time they saved you from having to do this checking yourself. Bill

Just to add to this thread... On my 2021 Elite 1, I also had the Norcold Code 10 issue, exactly as decribed above. My cord had become completely unplugged (not merely loose). I had a heckuva time locating the outlet box and getting the plug inserted into the holes. On my rig, the plug goes in facing aft (towards the rear of the trailer). I highly recommed a small mirror and light and some patience. Also - please disconnect shore power when you are blindly feeling around the outlet box to find the holes. After re-inserting the cord into the outlet, I secured plug with some duct tape. I tried the best I could to get a decent picture to share with this forum, but I was unable to get anything that looked decent. I reported the issue to Mike at the Oliver Service Desk who helped me along the way. He seemed familiar with this common issue and was ready with the trouble shooting steps. He also indicated there were screws that could be removed to gain access to this area behind the galley, but I was never able to locate the screws and so I was forced to reach back there and feel my way through it. This issue is very simple to resolve, but it is a booger to get the fridge plugged back in.

Thanks FrankC . I hauled out that section of water line and blew it out as you suggested. No big plastic chunks, so it seemed ok. In the end I ended up bleaching then flushing water through the system a bunch of times, cleaning the filter repeatably. Water pressure to both sinks has improved both from city water as well as the tank.. but the toilet was still just a trickle. It turns out there is a screen in the intake valve, and I dug a lot of stuff out of it with a screw driver ( gently) .. i don’t know what the material was, sort of a grayish paste.. wet fiberglass dust? Whatever it was, getting it out of there did the trick..

I sent Donna a PM, and yes still love my Durango, taking my first long trip to Florida this week as a loner, be really missing my late wife Carol and my late dog Gunner.

I'm thinking a few lifelike rubber snakes - If they get over the fright - after lifting the hatch, well, have at it I say. Course a lock of some sort may also work☠️😳

AT $84 for the above lock I opted to go this route. Well it took a few minutes to drill a pilot hole and then again a little larger to accommodate the cable lock. (I happen to have few firearm cable locks handy😎). Will it prevent a random snatch and grab hopefully and possibly. Will it stop a determined thief?...absolutely not. But this is what I am rolling with. And the price was right. 😄

the state of minnesota is developing a new campground on superiors north shore. please see link: Split Rock Lighthouse getting new 'drive-in' campground as area gets new mountain bike trails (msn.com) 10-q dan

I almost signed up for Starlink a few weeks ago when they finally opened up their beta to anyone, but it was quickly made clear that it wouldn't work at all for mobile use. That is, they specifically prevent you from doing so by tying your dish to a specific region. I wondered if that was a limit of the technology, but apparently it's just a temporary restriction due to the limited number of satellites in orbit right now. And it looks like that's changing already, with the announcement yesterday of a dedicated mobile product in the works - https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2021/03/spacex-plans-starlink-broadband-for-cars-boats-and-planes/ Very cool. Also, the download speeds are looking pretty darned good. About 150mbs now, and they'll up that limit to 300 later this year. I'm lucky enough to get fiber where we live, so it's usually above 900, but I could get by with a third of that even at home, and certainly for the trailer. Pretty neat how quickly this is moving. Just a couple of years ago, this was a 'someday in the future...' thing that got mentioned every now and then here, then in just October it became a real product, and now it's looking like within a year it will be a true option for us - cost aside, probably the best one.

I am considering this mod to help add a little more security to our propane tanks on our Ollie. The TorkLift lock has been around for awhile. Is anyone using anything different or more robust? Recently I have read on other RV/camping forums that there is a little up tick in propane tank theft grrr! It seems like a decent cable lock would slow a thief down or maybe force them to move onto a less time consuming or easier target. This lock appears like another possibility. I need to check our Ollies tank mount thread size 3/8 or 1/2”? Thoughts, suggestions welcome and appreciated. here - https://www.etrailer.com/RV-Locks/TorkLift/TLA7702.html A vid review- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrJs_fq9yQg

Just wait until you meet some of us! 😇 Bill

Make yourself a martini and melt into your camp chair. 4 hours being the coolest cat in the campground.

A friend sent this to me recently. I think it's clever. And no, I don't have any harmonica CD's!

David, Looks good!

I'd second Bill's suggestion to call service. Gel coat color match is tough. We've had Oliver repair a few spots in ours, and I can't tell you where they are, now.

I've had good luck with products from Spectrum for fiberglass ding and chip repair work. Would still suggest a call to service first as Bill mentioned. https://spectrumcolor-com.3dcartstores.com/

You might want to try giving the guys in Service a call. They have the materials (and knowhow) for these kinds of repair. Perhaps they can steer you in the right direction with the proper "color" of gelcoat repair material. Bill

I've always used a cable that is just long enough to feed through both bottles and then down and around the frame. All of this is secured with a decent padlock. Certainly the cable could be cut with a hefty pair of cable cutters but the thief would first have to figure out that the bottles were locked down and then have to take the time to cut the cable or lock. Having said all this - I've never noticed any sign of tampering with anything around my Ollie to include the dog house. Bill

Finally finished having all 5 of my "new" (11/20 Ollie) tires balanced. The first one took 3.25 oz as I mentioned in a previous post and that one was the worst. The other tires required the following: 1.25 oz, 1 oz, 1.75 oz, and 3 oz. All in all not too bad given the size/weight of the tires. I think this indicates pretty high quality rims and tires being used by OTT. Now I hope OTT added "make sure tires / wheels are balanced" to the quality checklist so future owners don't have to go through the hassle of getting it done post-delivery. 🙂

WandR, So glad to hear this worked out for you. John Halter the owner of Zarcor was a pleasure to do business with and I highly recommend his company. He really made things seamless for us when we ordered. Maybe Oliver will offer this as option or better yet a standard feature. We would have gladly selected it. @Topgun2 as mentioned was instrumental in our pursuit of this very useful mod, so to his credit. 👍🏻 Happy Camping!

The majority of trailer owners who own a trailer capable of Boondocking off the grid... have no idea how to find or locate a Boondocking Site. Western States were once defined as being west of the 100th Meridian. These States have the majority of 'Public Lands'. These are Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Forest System (NFS), State Lands (usually School Section 16 in each 36 Section square miles and of course National Parks, Monuments, Historical Sites, etc. Boondockers looking for Public Lands have some very good references available. The most detailed are those sold by the United States Geological Survey as Quadrangles. Some outdoor sporting shops sell them as well for local needs. These are for very detailed maps for small areas. For myself, I find the Delorme Atlas and Gazetteer very handy for States we are exploring. They will indicate in colors various land ownerships. City, town, Indian Reservations, BLM, NFS, School Sections and Private Property within public lands. The scale on most are one inch covers 4.7 miles. Some vary and the scale is printed on each map. Roads are consistent as to Highway Interstate and State, County and all season, improved and unimproved BLM and NFS to jeep trails. After exploring an area, you will understand there are differences from those who mapped New Mexico and those who mapped Wyoming. So... experience is learned by actually doing some unplanned side trips. These 'side trips' are where you set up a Base Camp with your trailer and drive further into a remote area to discover those... hidden Gems that you may visit often over time. Often campsites in public lands are marked on a map. One may be displayed on the map, but ten may be located on the way. It appears to be random, but if marked on the map, the campsite may have a water pump and a pit toilet. Some have a picnic table. Some have... nothing but pullouts with gravel. An Oliver can manage about any of these easily. Once a trailer is longer than 25 feet it becomes more difficult as these older camps are intended for smaller trailers used before 1980... or 1950. Often there are 'hunter camps' that have open areas that the largest trailers can easily move around and find ample room for one to twenty trailers. Experience is 'King'. There are Geological State Maps sold by each State if you are a rockhound. The BLM and NFS sell maps of their area offices and sometimes in the general area with their road marked with a number system. The longer the number, the worse the road... kind of plan. At times the smaller roads no longer have a sign. It fell apart decades ago. But, still the maps are very handy. Always mark your camping spot on the map. We add the elevation, as well. Describe the location and if you liked it... or did not. It can come handy if you want to quickly stop on a trip through the area years later. We use our previous locations, frequently. Some locations we revisit often. What are your map preferences? How does it work for you? Has a map taken you to lakes, rivers and creeks that you would have not visited? Early explorers recorded their travels before roads and maps. They made accurate maps and sold them to those wanting to travel west. Much like the Oregon Trail... many discovered better routes and sold maps. Technology has improved maps. GPS is wonderful... if you recorded the location for future reference. Great for get togethers and reference.

Did a search on the forums but didn’t find anything. Anyone have a recommendation for a DIY gel coat repair kit for fixing some minor gel coat scratches? A few encounters with campground tree branches have left some minor scratches. Not huge gouges, just a little too deep to buff out. A few kits available on Amazon. Just looking for recommendations on a good kit that works and has a good white color match with the Ollie.

Howdy from a fellow Texan! We're up near Ft Worth but love the Hill Country. Hope to meet you on the road someday. A few of us Texans have been discussing the possibility of a fall meetup possible in the Hill Country. Cindy

Fun...brings back fond memories of watching Charlie Brown specials as a kid....Vince Guaraldi was an amazing pianist and to hear one of his classics played on guitar is pretty neat IMHO.

Reviving this thread, mostly because I just learned how to transfer iTunes playlists to Youtube, and I'm curious how those then show up here, as opposed to individual videos. But also because it's a good thread that didn't deserve to die. I consume a lot of music - meaning I add a few thousand songs to my library every year. About half of that is typically new to the world, while the other half is new only to me. So, playlists are good since I could post individual videos here for days. And days. And judging from the posts above, very few of you would like them, lol. Just kidding, but I do listen to a lot of new music rather than older stuff, which isn't always appealing to people outside their 20's. And I've also never cared much for popular stuff - after claiming my sister's Bowie albums for myself, the first one I bought on my own was Devo's New Traditionalists, and you can intuit the course that my musical taste took from there - punk, new wave, post punk, trip hop, EDM, IDM, etc... But one thing about maintaining a love for new music is that your tastes inevitably expand over time - so these days you'll find ample jazz, singer songwriter, hip hop, classical, world music, etc. in my library as well. About the only things you won't find is much in the way of pop, rock, or country music. So with that, here's a playlist, if it shows up correctly, of songs released this past year that warranted a full 5-stars in my library. It's about 100 songs, everything from Bossa nova to experimental, so hopefully there will be something in there for everyone. Edit - evidently a playlist shows up like it's a single video, but if you click on the button on the top right, you get a list of all the videos - pick something at random and enjoy. You can also press shift-N and cycle through them.

I saw this recent review today. Campbell River, so probably Surrey, BC. https://www.loveyourrv.com/starlink-satellite-dish-internet-first-look-setup-test-on-the-rv/

In addition, you might call Oliver and have them send you a pint of their resin, that way you will start off with a good match. You can use any polyester resin hardener once you get the resin. Steve

Make 100% certain your repair material is a good color match. There are pigment kits for polyester resin, but use care, you can easily end up with a muddy grey. Be certain to check your color match after drying is complete before moving on to the actual repair. In the past I have repaired gel coat to an acceptable level by spreading a small amount of resin directly into the damaged area, then lay a piece of Saran Wrap over the material and carefully spread out to fill the area and blend into the adjacent area. After the material sets up you can peel away the plastic wrap. Your repair will most likely be very shiny and smooth. If you feel you want better leveling and blending, then take some 600 grit wet sandpaper on a block or wrap around a nice flat paint paddle, and wet sand the area smooth and level. The repair does not have to completely harden or cure before you remove the Saran Wrap. In fact it works better is the repair material is at about half cure...the Saran wraps peels away easier. Try it out on a sample part to get the hang of it. From that point you can use rubbing compound to polish out the 600 grit sand scratches. With some experience you can get acceptable results with just the clear Saran Wrap. Try to use the thickest grade of Saran Wrap you can find...it makes the smoothing process go much better. Steve

The spare tire sender wakes up by itself after driving a few minutes and it stays working like the other four. You can also wake one up by flicking it with a finger (imagine flicking a booger, sorry for the perfect analogy🙄). First thing in the morning while doing my walk around inspection before leaving the site, I wake the display and then flick the senders to get “today’s” pressures, not the ones from when they last went to sleep (when they were warm from driving). This is in case one happened to pick up a nail and was quietly deflating over night. (You would not know until after driving a few minutes otherwise.) I never use a tire gauge unless one of those morning readings seems odd. They do not indicate super accurate numbers, but they are very consistent. John Davies Spokane WA

Good points....it is pricey. If you find a SS version let us know. An Oliver owner on the Ollie FB page recently had his tanks stolen. I think the cable lock may be enough deterrent for a snatch and grab thief. 👍🏻 Thanks!

Since I figured that I had nothing to lose - I simply listed the campground and dates I wanted and then sat back and let Wanderinglabs do the work for me. Frankly I was a bit surprised when I got an email from them saying that reservations had opened up and even more surprised when making the reservation worked exactly as they claimed. Bill p.s. The campground that I reserved is a National Forest Service campground north of Cody, WY.

I extend my appreciation to all who provided their input and a special note of great appreciation to AndrewK who provided personalized input and exceptional assistance!

Custer SP Needles Eye: When you're at Custer SP, Devil's Tower WY is not too far away and they have Federal and KOA campgrounds:

Patriot, Nice work! You motivated me to do the same thing to my 2015 Ollie. When I called Zarcor (last week) to ensure I received the correct color handle I mentioned we had been discussing their window shades on the Oliver Forum and they gave me free shipping. Total cost (tinted window plus white shade w/white handle) was $129 with no tax and no shipping. For those of us with the older Ollies with the screw in window frame versus snap-in Mike also has an installation thread that was helpful. Just installed it today and it looks great! Really nice to be able to see outside while seated at the dinette as well as see who is knocking at the door.

+1 on Custer State Park! We had a Game Lodge electric campsite, close to the wildlife loop, saw many buffalo. Sylvan Lake is close and nice place for a walk: Badlands: Custer State Park:

@BillATX, I'd encourage you to open a service ticket on the fridge and door, if you haven't already. Even though you plan to fix it yourself, Oliver should be made aware if your problems. At that time, you could also ask best practices on battery disconnect, for your system and equipment. Glad you had a fun first trip!

Yes - De wintered today! It is always a mystery - what will go wrong ??????? All systems are a GO! Blastoff - T minus and 6 days, plus a few hours. RB

You can try a vinegar flush, to dissolve any deposits; use the winterization port to suck in a weak vinegar mix (1 gal per 5 gal water) through the plumbing and also into the (regular) water heater. Let it sit for a day, drain and flush well. Be aware that the vinegar water going onto concrete will etch it slightly (leave a very clean area). It won’t hurt, but if you don’t want to look at it for a year or two, do this where it won’t matter, or where it will hurt your lawn. John Davies Spokane WA

The best boss I ever had shared this advice with me, "Talk to your people ever day. And listen. You can learn something every day, from anyone. The newest and least experienced guy in your group may just have a new insight or a great idea." I tried to follow that advice. And, I still do. Personally, I welcome the questions from new members, even if the question has been asked before. I don't mind looking up old threads, and adding links, either. Some people don't have the same skills, or time, that others do. I also very much appreciate the input from older members, who are so generous and kind with their responses, time, experience, and expertise. All if this is why, in my opinion, we have the best forum. It's welcoming, and interesting. And quite often fun. I will open a discussion on FAQ on the moderators' forum. Maybe a group of pinned topics could be helpful. We'll see. Sherry

Cooper AT3s are good, I am a Cooper fan normally, has anyone thought about a different model like the AT3 XLT? https://us.coopertire.com/tires/discoverer-at3-xlt It has more agressive sidewalls and much better stone protection, plus it looks great. It will be my next choice for my 200. I think matching ones on “Mouse” would be nifty. I am transitioning away from mud tires, I just don’t need that ultimate offroad grip much any more. John Davies Spokane WA

FWIW - During a meeting back in September (2020), I was advised that Oliver was doing a couple of "new" things on the quality control front. First was a "tablet" based system that required all quality control issues/items to be inspected and approved at each stage of production along with another "final" inspection being done at the end of production. This system then allowed management to focus on any repeated "fails" or "exceptions" in a virtual real-time basis and be able to identify exactly where the problem occurred. Then, partly due to a TN State requirement plus the quality control issues, Oliver was using a system where any new trailer was/is actually "sold" from the production area to the sales area. Here, the sales area takes the form of the customer and does another inspection prior to "accepting" the product from production. Then, there is the pre-delivery inspection of the trailer. While this inspection tends to focus on making sure that the product has the options the customer ordered, it is also used as another inspection. Finally, there is the inspection that is done at delivery. This process may or may not be the entire process, but, I would like to believe that even under the most harried circumstances, virtually all faults and flaws will be caught. However, I like to believe that I'm not totally ignorant and as has been said many times before, as long as humans are involved then something is bound to go wrong at some point. I know that I was not happy when a couple of quality control type items became evident on my Oliver shortly after delivery. However, one of the things that has endeared me to this product and company is the way each and every one of these issues was handled. By far the best of any company I've ever dealt with. No, this is no excuse for Oliver and the fine folks that work there (particularly for items related to safety), but, I believe that the Open Letter from Oliver (dated June 9, 2017) still stands. Bill

I understand, I'm also about 6' and there's no way I will fit back there far enough to see the plug and outlet. One thing that worked for us is a mirror to initially locate the outlet and plug without having to do contortions. Make sure there is no AC being supplied to your trailer (i.e. disconnect your shore power plug from the outside) to prevent a shock. Then you can reach in there to feel if the plug is disconnected and if needed put the plug back into the outlet. In the meantime and as suggested by someone else, you could run the frig on LP. Good luck! - Brian

Hi SherMica: It may help you to know that we experienced several code "10" errors very soon after picking up our Elite I. Each time it was caused by the refrigerator's AC plug coming unplugged from its electrical outlet. None of the temporary fixes we tried work until we simply (1) (gently) squeezed the plug's terminals together to create a snugger fit when plugging it into the outlet and (2) moved the plug to the other outlet on the receptacle. Not sure if the latter helped but it hasn't unplugged for several months now. There didn't seem to be any consistency or pattern . . . it would stay plugged in on bumpy roads sometimes and then other times it would be unplugged after all day on the interstate. As you've found out it's a tight squeeze to get back in there to see the refrigerator's AC cord and plug. I can't fit in there but my wife can and, with a good flashlight, she is able to actually see the plug and receptacle. You may want to try again to see if your refrigerator's plug is loose and if so, attempt the fix and maybe leave the plywood panel off until you're sure that the plug indeed is staying in. BTW Oliver maintenance advised me that the refrigerator warranty would be voided by swapping out the standard plug and receptacle with the locking type. Too bad, that would work perfectly I think. I hope this helps. Good luck to you. - Brian

We ditched our microwave, as I live easily without it But, now that you are upgrading to lithium, you may actually enjoy the convenience of the microwave, in short bursts. Nice to reheat soups or stews, without dirtying a pan you later have to wash, and then use water 💧. It's all a dance --boondocking. Water/power/solar, etc. I know I spend a lot more time and thought on power management, water management, chasing the sun with our portable panel, etc. and even simple tasks like cooking and cleaning, when camping. But, I actually enjoy that. Not everyone does.

Last month we camped with some friends in Castle Valley, UT, which is east of Moab, in our two travel trailers. This was socially distant camping – eating outside at separate tables and wearing masks when needed. We decided to have the two trailers antiparallel, so that the doors would face each other, and the awnings, rugs, and tables would be in between the two campers. The fall colors were really nice!

I have a couple of personal reasons to really dislike this new technology, though it is a game changer for rural folks and especially for emergency response teams moving into devastated regions. The possibility of space junk from collisions - they weigh nearly 600 pounds each, with over 4000 satellites planned, and there has been a very near miss already - and night-sky light pollution. This is what happens when a ground telescope takes a long exposure picture while a string of these satellites is passing overhead: These can probably be reduced, but not eliminated, by tech improvement. Starlink is planning to do this at other locations too, specifically our moon and Mars: ...https://www.tesmanian.com/blogs/tesmanian-blog/starlink-on-mars As a long time sci-fi fan, the idea of surfing the Web from Olympus Mons or Valles Marineris simply boggles my mind... And FYI Season 5 of "The Expanse" starts in a six weeks John Davies Spokane WA

Sounds like a "Better than nothing" solution . . . . . I expect there to be better options in the future. That being said, it scares me how dependent people have become on Internet connectivity. I have always embraced technology, but there's a part of me that will always be "Old School".

Crucifix for spiritual oversight and as a reminder to pray for our many blessings.