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FYI - Found this attachment for Lithionics specific storage procedure for the batteries now being sold with Oliver's. It's attached as a PDF bud also at the bottom of this Service Article page: Path: https://support.olivertraveltrailers.com/portal/en/kb/articles/lithionics-battery Lithionics Storage_Procedure_Rev_03.pdf CS

Jordan, I recently had R-Villa ceramic coated. The work was done locally by an auto detailer / son of a friend. He normally works only on cars and trucks, but did the Ollie as a favor to us. The ceramic finish cost $1,400. The cost to buff it first was $600. Total = $2,000. I must say, his work was spectacular. I thought the Oliver had a great finish right from the factory; it was amazing how much better it looked after this treatment! We just got back from a trip from Illinois to Hohenwald, Laura, Ms, and then back home to IL; the Ollie was really dirty from nearly constant rain. It was amazing how easy it was to wash and especially how the bugs did not stick to the front! Some may say that is a lot of $$$. To me it was well worth it. At age 70, I am not interested in climbing on the roof, making it MORE SLIPPERY, and then trying to get down without injury.

I would think inspecting any caulking also - particularly in spots like around the Oliver logo'd light on the rear.

Everyone needs to evaluate their personal situation. Storage, camping, recharging options . And, cost and budget.

While camping in Arkansas in May of 2019, I found a fair amount of water running off the rear curbside roof while the AC was running. I figured out that if the lowest point of the Ollie was the curbside, then the condensate water rain off the curbside roof. If the low point was the street side, the condensate drained through the internal drain tube and out under the Ollie as it should. That allowed us to manage the condensate water drainage as needed. When I finally got around to troubleshooting the actual problem I found out Oliver had installed a Dometic accessory drain kit which consisted of 2 white plastic cups and vinyl tubing and 4 screws and 3 or 4 hose clamps. There is an accessory cup on both sides off the AC unit that receive the condensate from the steel drain pan built into the the base of the AC. The drain kit tubing connects the accessory drain cups to Oliver’s internal drain tubing. I could see the internal drain pan after pulling the AC shroud and a few other parts off. Without the accessory drain kit the condensate would exit the drain pan and onto the roof through a drain hole on each side. So RV's with the Dometic AC but without the accessory drain kit would experience water running off the roof under normal conditions while running the AC. Some Oliver owners on the forum have replaced their Dometic AC's and report that the condensate runs off the roof and down the low side of the trailer because there wasn’t a option to connect the new AC to the internal Oliver drain system. After an initial inspection of the drain system, I leveled the Ollie side to side and front to back and began adding water to the condensate drain pan. The result was that some water ran off the roof on the curbside and some drained through the Oliver internal drain on the street side. That result caused me to consider that perhaps there was a blockage in the curbside drain tube, so I disconnected the curbside tubing at the tee fitting that separates the accessory cups and used a can of compressed air to verify the tube was clear and it was. Then I lowered the curbside side and plugged that tube and then added water to the main drain which resulted in water leaking onto the roof. The accessory drain cup and tubing connection is not really visible with the AC unit mounted but it did seem to me the water was leaking from that connection. So I ordered this kit and a second AC mounting gasket because the kit comes with one and two are required to raise the AC unit high enough to allow clearance for the drain cups. I then sat on the repair parts for months waiting for an opportunity to obtain access to an air conditioned shop a friend has access to. That happened this month and the repair is complete and the drains work as they should. It did require removing the AC and flipping it onto it’s back to remove and replace the old gaskets and drain cups and that did make the broken cup connector visible. Here are few pictures for everyone that stayed awake during this dissertation. This last picture makes the original break visible by the discoloration on the bottom and sides of the connector. The lighter portion of the break was on top and still connected when we flipped it over and snapped it off completely. Mossey

Hammers are good. I got this short sledge at Home Depot. Works great for pounding stakes for the awning and Clam. Very short, easy to store.

Yes, and also with the help of my trained octopus!

FWIW, I couldn't agree more regarding the implementation of solar. In over six years with our Ollie we have never used a generator ever, and only on a couple of occasions have we stayed at an RV camp with full hookups not because we needed to but simply because that was the only thing available where we were at the time. In fact I just sold my Yamaha Generator earlier in the summer because it was just setting around unused collecting dust for the last 6 years. Batteries now that's another thing. Other than the weight of wet cell units like I have, its just not clear to me what is actually gained by AGM or even Lithium. My understanding is LI-ON does not like either extreme heat or cold, wet cells don't seem to care one way or the other. If my perceptions are wrong please correct me, and help to understand the advantage of LI vs other batteries other than weight. Thanks

Whenever I'm asked this question, my first response is to ask what type of camping do you plan to do. If the answer is "we plan to always stay in established campground with full hookups", I advise them to go with the least expensive battery system even going so far as to forego the solar option unless they are worried about resale value. On the other hand, if the response is "we want to boondock as much as possible" my answer is to buy the best battery system you can afford and definitely get the solar system. We do a lot of boondocking. If I were buying a new trailer today, my choice would be Lithium. My way of thinking is that I would eventually end up with them anyway so why wait. Oliver offered a lithium option for the first time in 2021 and the majority of current owners never had an opportunity to choose so what we all did is a moot point. Prior to that the best choice was AGM's. Many of our AGM systems have reached the end of their life (ours lasted seven years) and we have switched to Lithium's. If expense is an issue, choose the AGM's, otherwise buy the biggest lithium package you can afford. It goes without saying that in either case you have to have the solar option as well, but I said it anyway in case you didn't know.

The new Oliver's with Solar and the Xantex Charger/Inverters are all set so you can drop in Lithiums in the Future. That means going with the 4 AGM's initially will save you $$ and you'll have an easy upgrade path to LI in the future. In our case, we didn't have the Xantrex Charger/Inverter so our upgrade process was more "invasive". CS

As I get close to 70 this is sounding good to me. Washing and waxing is the maintenance I don’t like to do! I’ve looked at buying some portable scaffolding. Right now I climb the ladder, clean, climb down, move the ladder, start again.

Were it me, I'd start with fla or agm, and move up if/when I felt the need. Definitely, get the solar package, so you have the inroads recharging, and wiring in place. Upgrading is easier. Imo

I got the lithium from the factory because we dry camp (no hookups) a lot including in darker wetter months here in the PNW and /or under dense tree canopies and I'd like to be able to not have to use a generator frequently,especially on shorter trips. I see the expense as worth it even just for that but it looks like the lifespan may also be enough longer that in the long run it may also pencil out well financially. When we're called with even a half day of sun during the longer days of the year the solar more than keeps up with our daily usage so if that were our only camping scenario the lithium wouldn't make as big a difference for us.

Not at all, routlaw! We are full timers and don't have much of a clue how the Oliver will open boondocking opportunities. I welcome the 4 season advantages and want to maximize off grid times, if we even go that route. Thanks for your help 🙂 ........we stayed over for all of July last year at a private park in Garrison, MT and were planning to be there this July but for family health issues. 50 degree temperature swings seem to be very common for that part of the state in the summer. John

Thanks, rideandfly. 5000 lbs...that's pretty light 🙂

Another favorite gizmo: a magnetic whiteboard calendar (CVS $7.99). Mounted on the closet door with Command strips. All pertaining info is written there. Also local reservation paperwork is held there. That gives local emergency numbers, as well as CG info (usually).

This screen door handle is the current favorite gizmo. The more I use it the more I appreciate it.

Yes inspection, washing and waxing!. My Elite II takes me 2 days. I do a few hours at a time and am happy with the slow pace. I do it all by hand using McGuire's. Wax on wax off!!! We just got back so Beacon is ready for a bath and wax. Our next trip is not until right after Thanksgiving when we head to the Mother Ship for a full service and check before we head South to Naples FL then west to the Grand Canyon, Utah and route 66. We plan to be on the flat almost 5 months.

The cicadas have been very loud this week, in wnc. I'm using them as white noise, as it's so rhythmic. I know it's supposed to be a big year for cicadas. 20210729_220723.mp4

Raspy doesn’t monitor this forum as frequently as when he had an Oliver. I’ll PM him and let him know he has a question! Mike

We also have the 30lb propane tanks. The quick connects are regulated. If you hood a grill or fire pit to the quick connects they should not have their own regulator. We usually use our Outlander in the Clam which is a little distance from the trailer so we use a separate 20lb tank for that. I have yet to connect it directly to the Oliver quick connect. I haven’t tried removing the propane hose from the Outlander, if it comes off all you need is a hose with a quick connect to attach to the Oliver and to the fire pit. I took the regulator off the Weber Q and use a non-regulated hose for it. But, I also have a regulated hose so I can move the Weber away from the trailer and use the 20lb tank. Some campsites are better with that arrangement. Same with the Blackstone. Check Amazon, if they don’t have what you’re looking for then Propane Guys will have it. Mike

Yes, and their framing hammer is a thing of beauty. https://douglastool.com/tc20-ds

That is intended for an automotive battery, with a tapered top post. All Ollie batteries have screw-on terminals, a completely different style. This is the type that Oliver used to use on their factory lithium batteries. This particular one is a Bussman, a medium quality brand. Not as good as marine parts, but definitely better than the Chinese clones... Why don’t you just have Oliver Service install one of these onto your AGM batteries? John Davies Spokane WA

Hi John, I'm a full-timer. I try to wash mine a minimum every two months, this seems to be plenty for me. Naturally, if under trees, etc. there's going to be more debris. I find it easy to do from my multi-function ladder and using an extension brush with my 2050 psi pressure washer, that I have with me all the time. NR

Hi mccrusn, My experience with the regulator on the Oliver is this; I run a Napolean TRAVELQ 285X BBQ. It came with an onboard regulator, but I got very poor performance due to the second regulator on the grill and could not grill! What I found is, I needed to remove the regulator on the grill and run a straight hose to my grill. I was able to find the right one at Camping World as shown here: https://www.campingworld.com/coleman-road-trip-conversion-kit-with-female-quick-disconnect-me66cp-115951.html#q=quick%2Bdisconnect%2Bhose&lang=default&start=2&cgid=maintain-your-rv%2Fpropane%2Fpropane-hoses-adapters After this modification, I can now run my BBQ no problem and get temps 400+ deg. You ONLY need the regulator on the Oliver, no others. Regulators are designed to allow a specific flow rate, adding another regulator will cause poor performance and not give you the desired flow you need. As you stated with your 20LB tank, you should be fine with the reg on that hose. I hope this helps! NR

You don't want to get one in the trailer. . . . . one found its way into our camper van when it came in on a box we brought in from outside. We had quite a time locating it. Found it in the enclosed shower that we were using as a closet. . . . . . the fiberglass walls magnified the noise ten-fold . . . . . . I expect the result would be similar inside an Oliver!

Mike... We ordered our Oliver with the two 30lb propane tanks and the two exterior propane quick connects. I anticipated using this in the same arrangement they had in the display room at Oliver... with one fire bowl hooked up outside and one grill. I'm understanding (from these posts) that the Oliver propane "quick connects" require a non regulated hose coming from Oliver to Weber Grill (we have Q1200). I believe I've found the kit (Torjik) that requires the Weber regulator to come off and thus be hooked directly to the Oliver (now with only one regulator in line). I also confirmed that my Outlander gas fire bowl has a regulator as a sub-assembly of the hose itself. Is there a quick connect hose assembly without the regulator that I can also plug directly into the Oliver quick connect... and is that set up satisfactory? I guess this is coming from the fact that you sometimes use a separate 20Lb propane bottle that I was hoping not to need to bring along, especially with my two 30Lb bottles.

Thanks, Mike 🙂

We also have a 20a 110v plug at our storage. With AGMs I kept the trailer plugged in all the time when being stored and they stayed charged. Now that we have lithium batteries I just disconnect (put in a battery disconnect switch) and don’t plug in. The Battle Born rep told me that lithium’s don’t like a constant charge. A few weeks maybe, but storing longer than that he recommended disconnecting them. Not sure what other manufacturers recommend. Mike

One of these warehouse roll around ladders makes the inspection, rooftop maintenance and wash and wax job much less miserable. I was going to say it makes the job enjoyable but that would be a stretch.

We are getting to this thread a little late; sorry! When we placed our order, I asked Anita if Service could install two grommets in the floor of the attic for our two CPAP hoses. My wife and I each have ResMed units. Anita said that had been done before. Long story short...it works perfectly. We simply unplug the television at bedtime and plug both CPAPs into that 110v outlet. That works on shore power or the inverter. The hoses fit right through the floor, and they are plenty long enough. I also use a short, "mini" bungee cord, which I wrap around the attic door latch and hook each end to the top of opening to keep the door somewhat ajar for ventilation. (I just don't like the door hanging down over my head.)

Thanks for responding, skyscrapers. I’m having a hard time convincing my wife that the Oliver is the solution to our problems in the long run. I can’t get her to understand how enjoyable and peaceful it would be to forget water and mice issues, while being able to keep my half ton and have an easier and more comfortable tow. Ugh. Yes, it doesn’t fit a family of four, but our kids are in college and will likely give two hoots about camping with us. I’d stick my neck out on a used popup for them to tow along. As for friends who would like to go, do I need to finance a rig for everyone else? Jeesh.

Well, things took another dump with the whole inverter situation. Today the inverter conked out. No screen readout. No lights. Nothing to indicate that it was active and alive. The remote also was lifeless. Talked to OTT service and tried everything they suggested, such as tripping the breaker, tripping the 200a and 300a switches in the wheel well, pressing and holding the little silver button for five seconds, etc. They were apologetic and said they check everything during production to make sure it works but there's not much they can do in with their shop in Tennessee and me in Idaho. I was not able to reach Xantrex. Their phone system didn't seem to be working today. I looked up "authorized service centers" and spoke to Mark Snyder Electric (Sacramento) to initiate the process the get the Freedom XC 300 replaced. Everyone agrees that it's very strange that a brand new unit would conk out. We're dry camping but haven't been using the AC. The temp was hot (89 degrees inside the trailer) but not excessive. The only draw was us charging phones and using the Maxfan. The Norcold fridge, when set to Auto, likes to go to AC so I keep having to switch it to LP when dry camping. Also, the the solar panels are charging the batteries no problem, and the batteries are powering everything that is 12v, so it's just the AC, TV, 120 plugs and microwave that won't work. Hopefully tomorrow I'll speak to someone from the authorized dealer who might be able to help me troubleshoot some more. Otherwise, it's no inverter for the rest of our vacation (9 days). It will be like when we rented SOB trailers in the past and didn't have the "extras" when boondocking. Not the end of the world. But irritating.

This is a very helpful thread. Last week we moved R-Villa to a brand-new indoor, private storage facility only 6 miles from our home. A 110v electrical outlet is included at no additional charge. I am eager to see if plugging in the shore power cord to the 110 via a dogbone adapter will charge our lithiums. As a side note, it is sure going to be great for indoor Oliver work during the Illinois winters!

Our Elite shorty has two 105 agms to clarify. Twice the energy storage of your original Casitas, at least.

Lol, it took me a minute to figure out what you were talking about…yup, I like hammers. Depending on what I was doing with it, any of the four with wooden handles in the upper left were my favorite.. They were made by an outfit named Douglas Hammers… I’m not sure they are still around.. somewhere on this forum there was a thread about stakes for tying down awnings (I think) and one of the suggested products came with a really cool looking hammer which I may need to pick up sometime… I bet Overland got one… or maybe two..

That 3rd light, beyond dirty/plugged weepholes, is the biggest culprit , ever . Yes, inspect caulking, but most types of caulking is good for several to many years. Butyl is good for longer, but I seem to be in the minority on that love affair with synthetic butyl. Put the rv eze gutters on. Clean the weepholes. Watch the 3rd light Wax on/wax off, with your choice of products. We've probably had 10" of rain in western North Carolina this season. My only problem was a heavily clogged weep in one window track. Easily solved . I'll never make light if the situation, as my husband knows. My spot on the bed is the back, three windows, and the 3rd tail light. I'm usually the one who "knows" if we're have a small leak. That's a rarity, and in the past, always a weephole, or that 3rd tail light

@johnwen, are you fulltiming now, and if so, what batteries do you have? That would give a good base. Fwiw,over the last 14 seasons, we've rarely had power or hookups, and, with a 3 way fridge and 200 watts of solar, 2 105 ah 12v batteries did fine, for us. When we installed a dc compressor fridge. That all changed, with the additional 60 to 70 ah of battery storage required. (Elite, smaller battery tray.) We added 200 watts portable, and an additional 200 watts fixed. Still not enough, if we camp in the shade. Generator comes in handy, two or three times a week. Even with that extra load, I'm still hesitant about the considerable investment in lithium, since we haven't found a solid "need." Just the want. And, if course, the luxury of extra power Were it me, I'd start with solar, and base batteries or agm, and see how it works out. Lithium keeps getting more affordable. And, I personally don't think it's a really big deal to swap it out. If you fulltime in a very northern climate, everything changes. See @Jim_Oker comnent.

Another thought - have you looked at the burner area? The manual mentions cleaning it as needed, and I've read of folks having this problem and gaining at least some extra altitude capability by cleaning carbon deposits off that area. Makes sense that this might shift the margin of error down a bit.

Hard to pick a favorite? Which of those hammers always seems to be the one in your hand?

How long does it take you to wax your car? Or, truck? Multiply by two, to safeside, as the roof is bigger.

My mom is really short, too. Paul ordered running boards for my Silverado, for my birthday a few years back. Really helps my mom. I still keep a stepstool in the back. Just in case... I still have to retrieve her walker cart from the truck bed.

Geez, am I out of date and old fashion or what? Still have 4 wet cell 6 volt Trojan T-105's and solar with no complaints. Have never even come close to running out of electricity and only once or twice dipped into the mid 80's percentile of available current left. I don't even take them out of the Ollie for long winter storage here in Montana and they stay fully charged to 12.84 volts ± a fraction even after 5 or more months of storage. This most likely does not help the OP in his decision however.

We had two AGM batteries in our Ollie and replaced both AGMs with one 100AH Battleborn lithium. Installing a lithium battery was a great decision for us. Our Ollie does not have factory solar package or inverter. We use a portable 100W solar panel, but decided not to take the solar panel on this mountain trip. Run a Honda Gen-Set about 60 minutes daily on this trip to heat water for showers and charge battery to 100%. Saving LP gas for refrigerator and cooktop use. Using one single lithium battery, it stays above 70% after 24 hours of use before recharging with Progressive lithium charger with gen-set. Really like how fast the lithium battery recharges, too! Saved weight using a lithium battery. Our LE2 ready to camp weight is under 5000 lbs, with other Ollie mods. Edited

I was on board until I got to this part. He is trying to rip you off. You can get an awful lot of regular exterior detail jobs for that money, a local shop charges about $250 for a small egg trailer (or similar boat). I would rather put that cash toward something tangible like 300 AH of lithium batteries….. The very best thing you can do to keep your Ollie looking great is to get it under cover, not a cloth one, to keep the sun, ozone, sap and critters off it. An extra $1200 annually might help pay for covered storage. How much does that cost where you live? Around here it is $350 per month, if you can even find a place, which is one (small) reason I had an RV Bay attached to our new home five years ago. It was a $30,000 option, but I got insulated and sheet rocked walls there and in the garage too. I have already saved over $20k compared to a rental, and that doesn’t include gas money and my wasted time driving back and forth to the storage lot. John Davies Spokane WA

Have to agree with Steve - I’m immensely impressed at the dexterity and patience involved there. Another route that people have used when making repairs in that space has been to cut access hatches in the bottom of the drawer cabinet. Oliver should really do that in construction anyway. It’s easy to do with a router, using the sides of the cabinets as your jig. They don’t lessen the cabinet’s structural integrity and will save you a bit of weight. Plus you save all that time of training the octopus. If you do that, though, just be sure to cut some ¼” plywood covers for the hatches since things in the drawers can bounce out and end up in that space, and you don’t want to have to search through the hull space for an adventurous fork.

This page lists the latest version numbers https://www.xantrex.com/power-products/inverter-chargers/freedom-xcpro.aspx

As our Oliver has the same type of marine gelcoat as our boats, we've stayed with the marine paste wax we use on the boats, 3M Marine Ultra. It's not inexpensive, but one can lasts for several applications, and it's formulated for fiberglass and the harsh marine environment . It's worked well on the sailboat ( now over 40 years old) , the powerboat and the Oliver. The wax lasts, even in the Florida sun. It's been one of the top two paste wax products in Practical Sailor's testing over the decades. Sherry

Yep - as far as I'm concerned Bruce and Cheryl get the credit for this one. I'm not sure just how they came upon these products from Duragloss other than the Duragloss Company is located in North Carolina. I'm also not sure how they came up with the detailer/liquid wax combination, but I do know that it really works on all surfaces (yes, that includes the mirrored surfaces) inside the Oliver. A light spray, wipe with a micro-fiber cloth, flip the cloth over and wipe again and you're done without streaks and/or haze- its so easy.

Just installed this nice faucet we found at IKEA. Easy to reach handle (right in front and on top) and it splashes less on the counter.