Leaderboard

My SMEV cooktop gave me fits for a bit. The front bigger burner started throwing a yellow flame, sooting the bottom of thectea kettle, and made a funny smell and hissing noise. I turned it off. Tried the small back burner. Which gave the customary clean blue flame, but takes forever to boil water. So, likely not bad gas, since the other burner worked fine. Probably not the regulator either,, since that would affect both burners. Probably was not the proper air to gas mix, so emitting soot and yellow inefficient flame, and Carbon monoxide, as well. Searched all over the net for a few days, looking for a service manual or a youtube from someone with a similar problem. Came up mostly empty-handed. Searched forums, and finally found a few suggestions. Remove the cap and clean the jet and orifices. (Cap screws are stripped, and immovable ) Or, adjust the air slide, to improve gas to air ratio. (Smev doesn't have one.) I was about to give up, and spend $90 on a new burner, which, surprisingly, is still available, for my old unit. Tired of waiting forever for the tea kettle to boil on the small burner, I got out an old toothbrush and ran it around. Got a bit of carbon, but still a yellow flame. Turned off the propane,, and burned it off. Got out a can of compressed air with the straw, and went around the whole ring. Took a long time to clean up the carbon mess, but got my lovely blue flame back.

One of those annoying little failures of RV hardware. One of the battery spring contacts in the RVLock keyless lock battery compartment broke off after just over 2 years. Red arrow in first photo points to where the missing spring should be. Out of warranty, and I tried contacting RVLock but received no reply. Fortunately I found replacement AA battery contacts on Amazon. An easy fix. The upper contact plate just slides out. Second photo shows the old contact plate on the left (missing the spring), and the new one from Amazon on the right. Although the Amazon sourced contact plate is a slightly different shape, the contact spacing is standard for AA batteries and the plate fit into the compartment perfectly. Lock working perfectly again.

Here is the board I used. There are two styles of this board; one with a blade connector for the igniter, and one with a stud connector for the igniter. For my 2018 I got the one with the blade. They are available from many suppliers, including Amazon. HTH, Ken (Out camping right now. Enjoyed a warm shower just this morning.)

Glad ya got your flame back! I always carry a small can of compressed air with me in my tool kit. A few years ago a small piece of "stuff" (most likely rust) just happened to settle on the igniter sensor of my fridge. This "shorted out" that sensor therefore not allowing the burner to ignite - so - no cooling in the fridge. Being careful to NOT blow back into the gas burner jet I used the compressed air to blow out that entire area and it has worked fine since. Now, every year after Twist sits in storage for more than a month I do this "blow out" as a part of routine maintenance and all has been good. Bill

These are what the pros use to extend chain lengths. Do a web search for "tow chain repair links" and you will find them. They can't come apart unless you take out the cotter pins. You should use one that has (or exceeds) the rating of your chain. The quick links typically used to extend the chains on the Anderson system are simply the wrong item for the application.

You might also want to check those water pump mounting screws. They looks as sketchy as the wiring job.

I guess I assumed the light functioned as a brake alert. Mine is definitely an LED strip. I will test when I hook up to go home to see if the light is illuminated when lights are turned from Auto to ON.

We were 40 miles into the Arkansas back country down a gravel road and it was pouring down rain. Even if we'd had the proper caulk with us at the time, everything was too wet to fool with it. The photo was actually part of a video we shot claiming that this was the "...new, optional Oliver rainwater collection system. With enough rain it can supply all your freshwater needs..."

Thanks for sharing that John. Indeed this is our white horse 😉. We had printed that for our camper binder / log book also. We are towing through the hills of Tennessee and Kentucky with a 2021 Ford F 150 5.0L V8 coyote engine and doing well so far. Our biggest challenge has been getting the Anderson hitch hooked up - it’s more sensitive to lining up than we anticipated.

I'll second this with the exception that I'm fairly certain that I maintain something more than "light chain tension". To date absolutely no issues with these links, my hitch ball nor my frame brackets. Bill

Maybe because if it fails you will say very bad words and have to fix it by the side of the highway, or in a rainstorm…..? That is assuming you even carry a spare one. If you don’t have one, then you have to limp along and find a hardware store and hope they have one. Like electrical fuses, who cares? Until you need one…. John Davies Spokane WA

My son has the same No Bo, only he left the wheels on.

Ralph, the set screws were pretty tight when I used it. There are still indentations on my frame where they bit in. As I recall, the brackets were never at 90 degrees to the frame, there was always a slight angle. Mike

I like your new name, Wayfinder!

How does something so simple get so much attention?

Those repair links are great and I would definitely use them on trailer SAFETY chains, but I would be reluctant to put them on the Andersen chains. IMHO each of those chains needs an inexpensive mechanical “fuse” that will fail before the actual chain does. If you drive over a really severe dip, like a 20 degree driveway approach ramp, the chains get super tight. The red bushings are supposed to take care of that situation, but if you already have your tension set tight, which I personally don’t, then the chains can get extremely loaded, especially if your speed is too high. I would rather pop one of those than split the red spring bushings. IMHO….! It is too bad that Andersen does not talk about this. I think they chose these for a valid reason, but they are not used at all with the standard length kits…. How confusing. BTW I think the cost of Andersen spare parts is obscene…. Like ONE red urethane spring for $35. These are no different than the suspension bushings or bump stops that you can buy for $10 a pair… https://andersenhitches.com/collections/weight-distribution-hitch-parts-accessories I don’t use loctite and I do use a wrench to tighten them. So far neither of mine has showed any sign of distress, with very light chain tension. John Davies Spokane WA

Actually, it is fairly amazing that it took five years for that wire to become detached enough for it to stop working. And, it does not appear that there was any "arching" on the end of that wire. Bill

@AriesBarb, I was reminded of your thread today, when poliver posted the almost all electric 2009 link in classifieds. As scubarx said, if you always camp with electric hookups, it will never be an issue, no matter the brand you choose. Enough electricity, you're golden. Just don't ever fill the tanks, get an induction burner, run the standard water heater on electric, only. Swap out the three way fridge, maybe, someday, for a more efficient dc secop/danfoss fridge. Or, not, if you will always have 110. Definitely. Get a small electric heater, or get a heat pump ac, or both. If you primarily, or accidentally, camp without electrical hookup, you'll need sufficient battery and solar to make it through. And/or, a small generator. Which means carrying fuel. Some/most people design their trailers for ideal and optimum conditions. Others for the worst. (We're in the latter category, as it often happens to us ) Living without propane is certainly possible. But, it will require planning.

SeaDawg thanks for letting me know, at present I believe that we have all the nights booked. Thanks again, GaryW

Last season our Suburban water heater didn't always light on the first try, or even second. Once from inside I heard it light with a startlingly loud WOOF! Not good. On the second trip this season it quit working altogether. This past week I started troubleshooting and found that they aren't that hard to work on. This is what I found. I checked the gas supply by trying the stove and furnace. Both worked, so it's not a gas supply issue. Watched and listened for the gas valve to open and the igniter to cycle. I could hear at least one of the gas valves clunk open and could see the igniter try to spark. I pulled the orifice and orifice tube expecting to find a spider web or mud dauber nest like I did in a previous camper's refrigerator. All clean, so not the issue. There is a high and low temp cut off switch. Neither was tripped. I don't believe the water heater will cycle the ignition circuit if either are faulty or tripped. Mine was still trying to light, so I didn't think this was the issue. On-line reading said to suspect the coils on the gas valve. There are two side-by-side. Both need to open. They are redundant for safety. A local RV/Propane service shop gave me some used coils out of their junk box to try. Swapped out the coils. Still didn't work, coils were not the issue. Early on I should have tried lighting the gas coming out of the orifice tube with a camp butane lighter as the furnace went through its ignition cycle. Finally did. Lit just fine. This would have eliminated any issues with the gas valve, coils, orifice, and orifice tube from my trouble shooting. Learn from my mistake and don't jump ahead too fast. By now I notice a weak to non-existent spark. Early on I thought it might be weak, but now it's not even present. I now believe the spark got weaker as the ignition board warmed up during testing and cycling. All that was left in the ignition circuit to eliminate was the spark igniter and the igniter circuit board. I ordered a both spark igniter and a Dinosaur Igniter board (Model # UIB S w/spade connector) off of Amazon. Since it was the least expensive and the easiest to get at, I Installed the new spark igniter first. Still no love. Unplugged old board, plugged in the new Dinosaur board, turned on the heater switch, the water heater fired right up. The igniter board was bad. Old board wasn't hot, but was warmer than expected. One of the traces on the old board looked a little warm around one of the transistors. I'll have to look it over under a magnifying glass when I get a chance. Might be good for a spare if I can fix it. The existing cover won't fit over the new Dinosaur board. Dinosaur sells their own cover to fit their own boards. I'll put one on my shopping list for someday. The old board was held in with double stick tape. The new board is now in place with some VHB tape I had on hand. That's it. These aren't too complicated. Though I wasn't interested in scheduling an appointment, the local RV service center was booked 6 weeks out. Minnesota summers are short and I enjoy hot water in the camper. Maybe this will help someone else troubleshoot and save a trip to the service center. Ken (Safety disclaimer - Follow at your own risk. Beware of gas, high voltage from the igniter circuit, sharp edges on the water heater sheet metal, and the pointy end of the screwdriver.)

For Harvest Host or boondocking nights I plan to reheat something on the stove, like chili. I also usually freeze ahead several meals (for 2) in small flat rectangular take out containers and then they fit well in the freezer. (chicken pot pie, casseroles, etc.) These I heat up in the microwave. One night we always have hot dogs on skewers with the fire pit.

Some other Ollie folks here are just starting Keto. Just scanned some of Debbie's recipes and emailed them. Good idea about vacuum packed items!

Yeah, not cheap, and we have a National Luna, which is definitely not the bargain brand. But, I wanted something that I knew would last, and the National Lunas have been used for decades in very harsh environments. If it helps, ours has come in handy outside of traveling - not just for grocery runs, but we've used it in the house a great deal for freezer overflow.

Looking at that wiring, I could tell you exactly who wired your trailer.