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You guys were asking these questions and were not getting any answers. I took it upon myself to call Rodney Lomax, the sales and service manager. I asked your questions and these were the answers he gave me. Sorry, I was trying to help.

Hi Everyone! We haven’t had our Ollie out for over a year. Picked her up in February 2020 and took her out for a spin. We went out West and when we came home Covid hit. Two weeks ago we had her tuned up at the factory and now we are near Red River Gorge and Natural Bridge State Park in Kentucky. So far everything is going pretty good. A few hiccups but we are working them out. Planning on doing some hiking and fishing. Susan Barnes Hull #590

SOLAR ROVER - Photos/video below IMG-8491.MOV IMG-8491.MOV The Rover (patent pending) is a unique lightweight portable inexpensive ve of Happy Camper Solar’s initial Solar Tracker (patent pending). Both the Solar Tracker, (rooftop mounted) and Solar Rover (ground mounted only) will be debuted at the 2021 Oliver NOT Rally at Lake Guntersville State Park, Guntersville, AL. The rally occurs May 13-16. However, the Solar Tracker and the Solar Rover will be on display for only one day during the rally. The Solar Rover is: ENERGY EFFICIENT- The Solar Rover works like the Rooftop mounted Solar Tracker. It will move both vertically and horizontally all day from sunup until sundown by AUTOMATICALLY tracking the sun, picking up the solar panel and pointing the panels directly at the sun all day. Using this system, your panels gain maximum exposure to the sun all day long. No more adjusting panels, tilting them or crawling up a ladder. The wheels are angled to move the Solar Rover in a tight semi-circle. The Solar Rover is ground based use only. GREATER USAGE. I have camped in campgrounds, especially state and national parks that have little or no hookups but nice shade trees. The park ranger insists on parking on the pad that is in the shade, NO SUN!! . You simply take 2-3 minutes to set up your Rover on the ground and in the Sun, attach the leads to your battery and begin charging. HIGH TECH- The Solar Rover, much like the Solar Tracker, has a lot of advanced technology built in. With a GPS, computer database and other instrumentation, it will sense the direction of the sun and adjust the position of the Solar Rover AUTOMATICALLY, both horizontally and vertically continuously until sundown. PORTABLE. It weighs barely 9 pounds, folds up for storage and set up time is about 3 minutes. Using a semi flexible solar panel (100 watt in photo) will make the entire unit more lightweight and easier to store. ACCOMMODATES DIFFERENT SIZED PANELS. The Solar Rover is adaptable to utilize various lengths and widths up to a 150-watt panel. There are adjustable clamps horizontally and vertically that are easily adjusted for various sizes. Larger sized panels make this unit unstable in a heavy wind. Development of another Solar Rover is underway to accommodate even larger panels. SECURITY- the Solar Rover can accommodate a lock to safely secure it to your trailer. It can be staked to secure it from high winds to keep it from blowing away. BATTERY MAINTENANCE. The Solar Rover can be used to maintain your batteries when your unit is in storage, if in the sun and the cord length is not excessive. This is not a replacement of the Solar Tracker, rather it is designed to augment the rooftop mounted solar configuration. It can be operated jointly and easily with the Solar Tracker at the same time. There are many additional features of both units. Please feel free to post questions. I or one of my engineer partners will answer you. Coy E. Gayle

John You are correct, we need to update our website. if you look carefully at the top of the Rover, there is a double T . This is intended for two purposes. The first is to stake the Rover down. It can tilt over if a high wind hits it. I have a 150 watt suitcase model. On mine, I put a long metal tent stake in the ground .. Also, I put a bicycle chain inside the double T and secure it to either my truck or my trailer. I have a long security cable that I have used and it works quite well. The Rover is amazingly strong. I tried to upload a video showing it crawling over obstacles, but poor bandwidth. The tires are for lawn mowers and has tread/ cogs that firmly grip. Because the sun moves very slowly, the movement of the Rover is also slow, just an adjustment every 5-7 minutes to gain maximum sun exposure. Regarding delivery. We are in discussions with a few manufacturers for this product. We will have someone making the frame , mountings, and do all of the assembly. We will make the “Brain”, the component that houses all of the technical components, and database. It will be stored in a weather sealed box that should never be opened. Our goal is to begin retail sales of our products by this fall. For our rooftop mounted tracker it must be approved by National Transportation Safety Board. This takes time muddling through federal bureaucracy. No such requirements for the Rover since it sits on the ground, portable, never to be mounted anywhere. I hope this addresses your questions coy

Enjoy watching and listening to Videos at "Norman's Rare Guitars".

Mine is not quite 3 months old but I go with Meguiars — wash first and spritz with Quick Detailer. I’m a simple woman. Reminds me of the time (yes I veer off topic and it’s kinda my trademark) I went to a high-end spa for a massage and they talked me into getting a fancy facial. The “aesthetician” was amazed at my skin for my age. Asked me what my “skin care regimen” was. “What products are you using?” ”Uhhh. Oh. Irish Spring.” The look on her face. Like she’d stepped in something. But it did keep her from trying to sell me spa salon potions at $80 for like, an eighth of an ounce. She knew I was not a good “lead.” Heh.

John, If you haven't watched this YouTube video yet, it may help finalize your decision. The video is from Tom of Morton's On The Move. Andrew (2) Don't Waste Your Money On Batteries - The Shocking Truth I Discovered When Testing RV Batteries - YouTube

Love the shoes, Overland. And, thanks for the music. This one's not "brand new." From Norway's supergroup, Keiino, a mix of European, joiking, and rap. In Sami. Even if you don't love the song (which I do), you'll probably enjoy the scenery. The scenes filmed on Slogen (around 5,000 ft.) required a 7 hour hike, carrying gear, and an overnight stay in a cabin.

Well.... @ScubaRx, I do take exception to some of these comments. If "constant state of flux" is an excuse, Oliver shouldn't publish a LOT of things in the manuals, because there are many, many components that are in my 2020 owners manuals that are out of date or just wrong - they are in a constant state of flux too. If Oliver isn't serious about keeping owners manuals up to date, they should just stop giving them out and explain to owners why they are such a burden to keep up to date. There have also been a handful of recent owners asking for the electrical diagrams, so I'm curious what you mean by "A current one is available for the asking?" Sure, one can ask, but I've asked at least 3 times (including opening a service ticket for one) and been told no each time. Apparently, you can't even get one if your first name is Jason and you are part of the great OTT service team.

We showed our trailer last week and the party wanted some quick measurements after the visit to make sure the EII would fit beside his garage. What he asked for prompted me to do this extremely rough sketch for him...and I thought dropping it here might be useful. It looks at the EII from the FRONTAL view, with the door and steps open. Text that went along with the sketch: Here are the measurements you asked for and a bit more on the front view sketch with Steps and Door Open. The drawing is at a scale of 3” per square, or 4 squares / 1 foot. Height: (To see if it will fit under your overhang area.) Height from Top of Awning to Ground - 8’ 4” (102”) Height to Top of Solar Panels - 9’ 1” Height to Top of AC - 9’ 8” Width: (To see if it will fit between the house and the hedgerow.) Trailer Width Door Closed - 7' Trailer Width with Door Open - 9’ (Door sticks out 24” from belly band.) Steps - Stick out 16” from trailer when fully open). Solar Panels are 16” from edges of trailer on either side. Hope that helps you plan your parking spot. If anyone has an actual 2d drawing of the Oliver from Side , Front and Top Down profile (which is the floor plan I guess) it would be nice to have. Craig - Hull 505

Thanks SO much for this ! I sent it on to our son...thinking about mooch-docking in his driveway this summer.

I'll bet that your Ollie missed you just about as much as you missed it. Great time of year to be where you are - enjoy it! Bill

Glad to hear you are able to get out and do some camping! Enjoy and let us know if you find good spots to stay.

Andrew, Thanks for posting this video. Great information!

Wow, that is very cool, but for the average person I suggest you just watch from about 7:00 minutes to 15:00 minutes. The rest is tech talk and data crunching. His end conclusion is buy lithiums, but that decision does not take into account any extra (possibly very expensive) hassles like adding a smart shunt, changing the onboard charger, and adding a DC to Dc charger for the truck. Plus physical changes to the battery box to keep it more climate controlled. AAAAND labor expen$e$, if you can't do this stuff yourself. John Davies Spokane WA

Does this help you?

FYI about AGMs vs standard wet (non-sealed) batteries. The only way to know if they are any good is to get them load tested. No other method exists, unlike wet ones with caps, where you can check electrolyte level, condition (clear or cloudy), state of charge and balance. You have to fully charge an AGM, let it sit at least six hours, then check it with a hand hold load tester. Any battery shop should do this free, they hope to sell you more batteries :). My four black Trojans were toast by the beginning of the third season. The guy at Batteries Plus Bulbs that tested them said they normally fail in a couple of years. I personally would never install a maintenance free LA battery in an RV. It is the worst of both worlds IMHO. John Davies Spokane WA

More guitar, and other stringy things -

The disappointment so far is that Andersen has not responded to emails or voicemails. No one has answered the phone. I took the link to a friend who is among other things a forensic metallurgist. His lab has an sem. He put the link under the microscope. There did not appear to be a failure of the threads which tells me that it was not properly connected. Someone forgot to screw it together. Basically, no harm, no foul. Nothing significant happened. The threads had not failed I am trying to verify with Andersen a source for the proper chain, tensile strength of the 3/8" chain. I've been told 2650#, but want to hear that from Andersen. I'll buy the proper length chain. I was also provided a too short brake breakaway cable. Extended the cable for the trip home, but made a proper length cable when I got home. I have to say that this sloppy, haphazard and unprofessional service and supply would not have been tolerated when I was working for my dad doing concrete and reinforcing steel or at McDonald's making hamburgers. Definitely not in the Air Force or in my civil service job.

This reminded me of a Sami album I had years ago and it took a bit of archeology to recover the name from my memory, and a song from it on the internet - Still strikes me how similar it is to Native American music. Of course, you also reminded me of the Will Ferrel Eurovision movie, which yes was dumb, but surprisingly better than it should have been -

A current copy of the electrical diagrams is not available for the asking.. at least not for me.. I’ve asked several times.. The answer has always been the same..... No....

I just LOVE this. And have watched it a few too many times. They are just having a helluva time and Joe is the MAN. My work here is done. (And there was much rejoicing throughout the land.)

The rationale behind no longer providing wiring diagrams in the owners manual because the wiring design is "in a state of flux" is plausible. It stands to reason that the Oliver engineers may be tweaking the wiring design so that the installation becomes more efficient in their efforts to meet increased demand. That makes sense to me. What does not make sense is hiding their wiring diagrams from the competition yet still allowing cameras in their factory. I have visited many facilities where photos were not allowed simply as a measure to protect their methods and processes. If someone at Oliver came up with some groundbreaking electrical milestone that would be revealed by a wiring diagram, then they should apply for a job at Lockheed or NASA. We are talking travel trailers here, not fighter jets. The service department surely has access to that information as it applies to each hull number or it would be almost impossible to troubleshoot electrical warranty issues. They could hunt for hours at their own expense without a diagram. That would be a very poor component of their business model, which at this juncture appears to be a smashing success. Waiting to update the currently non-existent wiring diagrams in the owners manual until they have completed their design changes is understandable. However, refusing to provide a copy at the owners request simply because they don't want to go through the effort would reflect very poorly on Oliver, and would be a real disservice to their customers who are paying a premium not only for their product but for their service as well. It is especially important that this information is available to the owners since they are spread out nationwide and there are no service centers except at the mothership.

Check it out, otters, I got some new dancin shoes yesterday. So let's not waste time, and get outside to do a little happy dance around our Ollies - it's New Music Friday! • Whew, that was fun. I hope no one hurt anything. Let's settle it down with something that sounds like a remake. You guys will know better than me - it's got a very 70's/80's rock ballad jibe. • This is an easy summertime song from Lebanese singer/songwriter/guitarist Roger Fakhr - • I know some of you are wondering why classic rock guitar is currently being preserved in the deserts of Northern Africa. The answer is because these guys know their strings - • My wife did like the Louisahhh song from last week, in case you were wondering. I'm certain that you all did, too; so here's another. Louisahhh is angry. • And no NMF is complete without some of my floaty electronica. Is floaty a genre? Sure, why not - • No, I can't leave you with just one. This one is a bit more experimental, at least on the lyrics side - • And finally, something calming to get everyone into a chill vibe for a spring weekend -

Our 2018 E II had full set of diagrams - The electrical was fairly accurate/complete. Plumbing, etc., all there. Part and parcel of modern manufacturing is a thing called "standardized work" - the operator instructions for this are derived from detailed documented processes developed from the engineering spec's. To say that each unit is built in a manufacturing environment in a state of process "flux" would certainly explain the various mis-builds reported here in the recent past. Perhaps this is somewhat accurate, but I doubt it - well hope not - anyways. Keeping manuals, unit specifications, system diagrams, operating instructions and all - is a complicated and time consuming task, one that requires utmost accuracy - on a constant basis - and tied to build point breakpoints for changes. I could understand Oliver not wanting to publish in mass - but not acquiescing to individual requests. Interesting. To say the service department doesn't have the benefit of such material boggles the mind. Well mine anyway. So - to the poster out there headed to the plant for a tour - pay particular attention to the wiring station - ask them how they know what to do for each unit- your feedback would be interesting to hear. I could see the why not - If online documentation had some errors - this forum would be busy pointing out the inaccuracies , and making corrections - in an endless stream of posts and consternation. Trouble no manufacturer wants..... But to be the best - well, never mind. Good travels all. RB

John: You said "they have been included in every paper and electronic manual until model year 2020". Our trailer is a 2015 Elite II delivered on September 2, 2015 and there are NO electrical drawing and I have never been able to obtain a copy. This also goes for plumbing drawing as well.

Regarding electrical diagrams.... if they were never offered in the past, one could argue that it is unreasonable for an owner to ask for them. However, they have been included in every paper and electronic manual until model year 2020, so something must be behind the decision to eliminate them entirely. Not “flux”. Flux is normal in industry and every day life, you just deal with it. If they actually wanted to keep the info away from competitors (which IMHO is absurd, these are not space ships) then they would have purged the older diagrams from the Oliver University ebooks. Two years ago somebody there made the decision to alter that section from Electrical Diagrams to Battery Configurations. This is not a simple omission of the those images, but a policy change, which in effect says “we are no longer going to publish those”). Whatever the reason, it is not valid enough to keep this vital information away from owners and RV techs who require it to troubleshoot electrical problems. That they apparently keep them from their Service Department boggles the mind! The fact that no one at Oliver will give a straight answer is very concerning to me. Jim, please ask about and pursue this subject when you visit. Be tenacious. Take a box of doughnuts from Walmart. Thank you! John Davies Spokane WA

Made a VIN metal plate for another trailer using an aluminum plate and square punch. If I do it again, will buy one on Ebay. Found a company on Ebay that engraves VIN and number plates. https://www.ebay.com/itm/SILVER-VIN-Plate-with-Engraving-included-Free-Shipping/353075613328?hash=item5234f24e90:g:MfUAAOSwHv1evAbs https://www.ebay.com/itm/SILVER-CAR-Serial-Number-VIN-Plate-with-Engraving-included-Free-Shipping/362993462629?hash=item548418ad65:g:MvEAAOSwQXdevAf9

Paraffin wax does the trick.

dewdev, We use Meguiar's Flagship marine wax for cleaning and waxing. It will remove some stains/spots and make new spots & stains where waxed easy to remove. We had some water spots that could not removed by waxing. Called Meguiar's and they recommended using their #67 one step compound, then using their Flagship marine wax. This process took care of the spots. We purchased Ollie used and now looks better than when purchased.

It's raining here. Watching the swirling winds. At least it's filling the cistern. We're nice and dry on the deck, undercover. From my childhood. I hear this song in my head, when it rains.

Years ago I learned the hard way about metal hooks on bungee cords. John is right, please avoid them if possible.

We replaced our Duralast batteries on delivery, but I just checked and one of them is still holding the garage storage room door tightly shut. So, that's at least three years of useful life. Hoping to get at least two more.

Spray the slot with WD-40, work the step in and out a few times and you will be amazed how smoothly it works. Aluminum has a tendency to "stick" to itself when it is dry.