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That is a scary story, especially the reader comments, but it is no surprise to anybody who has every looked in the hidden areas of a stick and staple trailer. I had a 1988 Nash that was an unmitigated disaster and I vowed to never buy another RV. After that I had a 1990 Sea Ray 270 Sundancer boat, a “premium” brand, that was way worse. I bought “Mouse” after reading about Ollies and seeing them in the flesh. No regrets at all after five seasons. OTH Oliver still uses mostly the same crappy, built to the lowest cost appliances and suspension parts, though they are beginning to transition to better stuff, gradually. But I doubt that they could sell very many units if they ditched the propane appliances and the base price went up by at least $20k…. The only way to get a truly high quality, trouble free RV is to spend $300k on something like a Terranova or a Nimbl. The latter was originally XP Camper, and like so many other niche manufacturers of very high quality RVs, they went bankrupt after three or four years with no warning. It is really really hard to sell real quality here in the USA. Most buyers, bring uneducated and for the most part unmotivated to research the details, want cheap units, three slideouts and electric faux fireplaces. Nothing else matters. Then they cry in the forums when the water pours in and they disintegrate before their eyes on the first trip. What the RV industry does not want is consumer protection lemon laws and motorhome crash safety standards. It would literally destroy it. I don’t understand why they are completely exempt. Yay Oliver! I will replace the crap as it fails with better marine grade stuff. The bones - the hull and frame - are top notch. John Davies Spokane WA

Cool. That was my pic from last week's question. I was wondering what that box did. Now I need to check it and that wire. Love you guys. You're the best. Chris

(FYI they service the old XP Camper models.) “With 60 some campers in the field we find ourselves doing quite a bit of service and upgrades. One of the more significant upgrades we offer is our comprehensive electrical system refit. We gut the entire electrical bay and install a custom Victron/Blue Sea/Sterling system with BattleBorn LiFePO4 batteries. It's a big, complex upgrade but ends up performing, and looking, amazing. The Victron Color Control consolidates all the controls and information into one easy to use intelligent display, making monitoring your electrical vitals a snap. You can also monitor and control everything by Bluetooth on your phone or even access and control it via the internet (great for monitoring when stored).” https://expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/nimbl-vehicles-build-thread.214598/page-3 One can only dream…… John Davies Spokane WA

I had 4 AGMs for 5 years, about 280 lbs. I replaced them with 2 Lithium’s, about 75 lbs, 9 months and 10K miles ago. I don’t notice any balance issues. The trailer sits level side to side. I do notice that the tray is much easier to slide in and out! Mike

Your furnace should warm things up pretty quick. I run the furnace with the fan on auto so that the AC unit remains off. I run the AC with the fan on Low to prevent fan cycling. Check under the bed to ensure the ducting is attached to the furnace and ducts. Mike

The original pictures I downloaded are higher res than the ones on the forum. Here you go…. I flipped and cropped it. I am not 100% sure why they chose that particular product, but the quality is top notch. John Davies Spokane WA

Yep, looks nice. Interesting bus bars on the batteries - looks like bent copper bar with plastidip? I kind of like that solution vs some of the other bus bar implementations we've seen. It seems like it preserves much of the flexibility of cables. That Multi looks like it could use a bit more breathing room though. What's that box on top of the batteries on the left?

I agree with Mossey, Here you go…. The plastic splash guard covers a small circuit board, the wire is the high voltage spark ignition wire. Obviously the WH will never light without that hooked up. It plugs in the side where the small opening is, below the round protrusion. There is a small possibility that it still will not work, the board might have been damaged by operating with it disconnected. Hook it up and try the WH, you should hear a fairly loud SNAP SNAP SNAP and then a whoosh as the gas ignites. if not, the board my be fried (quite common!). Here is what it looks like. Remove the two screws and lift off the cover if you want to look at the board itself. The board is held down with double stick foam, and it can overheat the parts. One of my resistors fried. It should be mounted in a way that will allow adequate airflow underneath. A Dinosaur aftermarket one is much better… read this. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2036-suburban-hot-water-heater-failed-a-dealer-repair-story-and-lesson/ If the spade connector does not fit snugly, you can carefully crimp the ears together a tiny bit with pliers, to add more grip force. Add a nylon tie wrap too, for strain relief. Good luck, and post a followup report please. John Davies Spokane WA

I will be going to the Hershey RV show next Wednesday just to make sure but, I think Ollie it is. I have a few questions regarding my set up and needs and I welcome your suggestions. My tow rig is a 2021 F150 hybrid with a built in 7.2kw power supply. As for battery upgrades, I have done many in the past on RV’s but frankly never felt the usage I got was worth the money spent. I will use my built in power supply from the truck when Boon-docking (which I will do almost exclusively) but I will use the house battery’s for standard 12v tasks like lights, blower motors etc. But is the 4 6v AGM battery upgrade worth the freedom from checking battery water hassle? I want the upgraded mattress’s on both sides for the occasional visitors but also want a couch, suggestions on couch back cushions? Any other must haves in your opinion? thanks! by the way, I live in the Smokey’s about 45 minutes from Gatlinburg, Dollywood, Pigeon Forge on 4 wooded acres, I have an Rv spot with full hook ups for friends and family. If anyone wants to camp for a night or two feel free to contact me and if the schedule is free, you are welcome to use my facilities. Brad

I have not posted in a while. My Oliver family has had me very busy in the shop. We are getting ready to go camping and then head to Greece for a 10-day vacation. I will be suspending my crafting for the month of August and will start back up the first week in September. I plan to ship all orders through August in the next week. New orders will begin shipping in mid-September. Below is my current challenge, a 35” x 22” x 1.4” Lagun tabletop in black walnut. While this sounds simple, the challenge is in the weight. Lagun Table Systems have a maximum weight of 50 pounds. It includes the top and any items you are going to place on it. My target weight of 15 pounds for the finished top leaves 35 pounds for day-to-day use. The walnut blank I started with 35” x 22” x 1.4” thick weighed in at 29 pounds. I decided to back cut the bottom in three sections down to ¾” thick, with 1” wide edges and two cross supports. It came in at 15.2 lbs. Beautiful to look at, light as can be, and engineered to be strong for a lifetime of use.

Spending our first night at the new Oliver campground in our amazing Elite II. Last September we toured the factory and made the decision that this was the RV we really wanted once we had retired this summer. The forum has been a great source of learning all about the Oliver Elite II. We are looking forward to many adventures and meeting new friends. So very excited!

Rain runs off the roof, down the sides and over the windows. With the Fiamma manual awning the rain runs between the back of the awning and down the sides. Initially, there was a rubber strip between the awning and trailer, but that came off years ago. We’ve found that the rain gutters we installed help during light and moderate rain to route the water around the window. Otherwise, if we need air when it’s raining we use the maxxfan to pull air through the bathroom vent or window. John Davies’ HOW-TO on the EZE gutter install is here. Do a search on “gutters” and you’ll find more. Mike

We had the same problem with very slow heat on our second trip. The heater just seemed to run all night and my wife could not get warm. I. Was very warm and then noticed the wall next to my bunk was hot. Turns out the ducting had come off the box and was blowing into the compartment under the bed. The duct had been cut too short and stretched too tight to stay on. I rerouted the duct and used a lot of duct tape. I was going to have Oliver replace it at the 2020 rally, but....

If you want to try sticking with your phone for turn-by-turn type directions but don't want the limitation of needing to be connected to the internet to get a route, take a look at the TomTom Go app - they have been a strong competitor of Garmin's (and other routing tool makers) since forever and they've basically taken most of what they do in their dedicated devices and put it into an app for phones that allows you to download the entire map sets per country (as well as for inter-nation ferry connections). AFAIK it doesn't include any option to set a height clearance and have that taken into account with respect to the routes though, so Garmin's RV unit seems to have a leg up there (see comment above on that not always being perfect though! I think one of those truckers' paper based atlases may remain a key tool in the arsenal).

Do you mean the fan on the ac unit is running, or the heatstrip in your ac is running, along with the fan ? I don't have your dometic thermostat, but I've read other posts in the past about the ac fan running when the furnace runs. I don't recall the resolution, but I'll see if I can find it for you. That may be part of your problem. Edit to add: I also think I remember someone saying that the fan had to be turned off, before being set to auto, to eliminate the ac fan running along with the furnace, but I could be wrong. Better to check your thermostat manual .

Here's a good blog post I made about some good APPS: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/blog/best-mobile-apps-rv-camping/

Another pic from that thread shows a clear lexan (?) cover over those copper (?) battery bus bars, probably to prevent accidental damage from somebody thinking they are battery pull handles 😳. If it were my installation I would have prominent NO GRAB labels on all four of them. You have to build for the worst case scenario, which includes an owner who is tired, inebriated, and possibly standing in the rain at night with a flashlight gripped in his teeth. You can sort of see the aircraft Dzus quick release fasteners that hold it on. That is very high end design work.. https://files.southco.com/static/documents/brochures/201808-BR-Quick-Access-Fasteners_EN.pdf This illustrates that you probably are getting your money’s worth for the $250,000 base price (including $70k truck allowance and the aluminum ute bed.) John Davies Spokane WA

Are you vents open? Those little round ones on the curb side. One under the bed (I keep that half closed to force air into the rest of the cabin), and one in front of kitchen. Once the main cabin is getting warm we open the bathroom door so that the vent in there ( under the paper holder) is allowed to circulate air. The next thing to check is the cold air return vent (the rectangular one at the back on the curb side) is open so the cold inside air can get back to the furnace. I have gone from cold cold cold to comfortable in about 15 minutes. With the camper winterized I have used RV antifreeze to flush with, and carried a case (or two) of water in the tow vehicle which we move to the camper when warm. Hope it is something simple like this. Put your hand in front of those round ones to see if warm air coming out. If you get down near them you can see if they are open or close. The outside ring only changes air flow direction. The inside one regulates air flow...

Beth - Even though I think that Foy and Mirna have closed attendance for the "scheduled events" (Friday dinner, Saturday lunch and Sunday's dinner), I'm sure that there would be no problem in coming to the park to meet everyone and hang out. However, you might want to send Foy a PM (private message) just to make sure and to answer your other questions. Bill p.s. if you decide to come, you are more than welcome to stop by site 117 - would like to meet you.

Had a stainless steel box insert made for the oven and used the supplied frame from the original equipment.

Below is the finished project. GREAT oven and very versatile, if you done need a microwave!

If I have a 30a hook up I use electricity. In fact, before we leave on a trip I turn the outside switch on so that as soon as we have electricity the hot water is heating. Propane is only used when we have no electricity. I don’t know which is easier on the tank, it should be fine either way. Mike

SeaDawg: I'm reasonably mechanical and able to sling a set of wrenches; I've always been into antique/classic cars. I can get my head around 12-volt systems and I'm used to it. I saw the LE II wiring harness on an Oliver video; that was one of the things that sold me. Brilliant design is often simple and elegant. It seems that the boys at Oliver have it in spades. We need to figure out which generator to buy--got to have AC in hot weather. The Ollie should be much easier to maintain than a boat. I'm liking the idea of using gravity to empty those holding tanks. . .

oh boy! after i read this i thanked my lucky stars i have an Oliver!! https://www.rvtravel.com/pathetic-quality-rv-dealers-fed-manufacturers-producing-1017b/

@dewdev I'm so glad to hear that your wife isn't bothered by your Oliver smell this year. It must feel really comforting. Thank you for your tips about the mattresses- Humidity is something I'm very aware of when it comes to mold... and sort of worry about controlling. It's so nice that you can keep your camper at home and manage your levels with a dehumidifier. We would have to find a climate controlled storage facility. Thank you again for all your help. Best wishes for good health. RC

My 2002 Casita Spirt 17' had an awesome Coleman that was still going strong when I sold it last spring. ;-(. When you have to wear AirPods to watch movies with AC on....

I have a Truma Instant Water Heater so it is different than yours. But there was a recent post about a water pump problem and there was a picture that I believe might help. Mossey

Here are some photos of the new Oliver Campsites - plus a bonus of Mr Quincy waiting to see his new home.

Here’s a thread that discussed camping apps: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/3957-useful-camping-apps/?tab=comments#comment-38531 Are you interested in mapping and route planning or in campground locations and facilities? For campgrounds, I like the Allstays group of apps, Campendium and Ultimate Public Campgrounds. For route planning I like InRoute as well as Apple Maps and Google Maps. We also use the Harvest Hosts app since we’re members and like to use them occasionally for one night stops. Mike

This morning I realized that if I combined the total of people that perished on this day 20 years ago with those that have fought and died in the Middle East over the past 20 years, it would total approximately the same number of people that currently live in the small town where I presently live. It is simply difficult to imagine all these people just not being here. I worked in the investment business and had numerous occasions when I visited both towers of the World Trade Center and knew a number of people that worked there every day. Certainly I can not and will not forget and encourage every citizen to at least remember everyone touched by this tragedy. Bill

Not only can you stop by but you are welcome to join in the fun, hang around, get to know some owners, etc. All you have to do is reserve a site and let Foy and Mirna know you are coming as per their request. Besides, Mike is buying the beer! 🤣 Bill

Yes, it would!! If you can I would definitely stop by. I’m sure you’ll find folks willing to give you a tour, sales pitch and a cold beer. Mike

Would this be a good event for a perspective owner to stop by to look at an Oliver?

Seems a bit much but I’m sure that Steve has it all organized intuitively.

In trailers with the suburban 6 gallon tank the inside switch turns the propane on/off for hot water. The outside switch turns the 110v on/off (when available). If electrical hook up is available there is no need to turn on the inside switch. When there is no electrical hookup, the inside switch turns on the propane which cycles on/off as needed. You can use both the 110v and propane at the same time if you want hot water fast! Mike

Once schools starts up in Sept things quiet down a little, but then of course the leaf peepers start to arrive in October. I think that September through to Thanksgiving is the best time of year in Northern New England. It’s quieter, cooler, fewer bugs.. and absolutely beautiful. The trouble is a lot of campgrounds shut down by mid October. Spring can be pretty amazing too, again, fewer folks around, but the weather can be pretty iffy.. and at some point the Blackflies make their presence known with an obnoxious degree of intensity…… if it were me driving here all the way from Texas, I’d aim to be around here between mid Sept and the beginning of Nov. and Id focus on Western Maine, NH, and VT… it’s a pretty time of year in the hills and mountains of that neck of the woods.

Hi Mike/Carol It's Ron in Boston. Here are two nominations in NH. A. Pawtuckaway. This is geographically right between Manchester NH and Portsmouth, NH. 4.5 of 5 stars. Pawtuckaway State Park is a 5,000-acre preserve in New Hampshire, United States. It is one of the largest state parks in southeastern New Hampshire and is named for Pawtuckaway Lake and the Pawtuckaway Mountains. The park extends from the west shore of the lake to the west side of the mountains. 128 Mountain Rd, Nottingham, NH 03290. (603) 895-3031 B. Tamworth. This is 45 minutes north of Manchester, NH in the White Mtns. Also 4.5 of 5 stars. White Lake State Park is a 902.7-acre public recreation area in Tamworth, New Hampshire. The state park surrounds 125-acre White Lake, a typical glacial lake. 1632 White Mountain Hwy, Tamworth, NH 03886. (603) 323-7350. This park offers hiking, cycling, a lakeside beach. It is south of North Conway, which offers many scenic local venues such as Echo Lake State Park, Cathedral Ledge, Whitehorse Ledge, Diana's Bath which are worth a day trip. Suggest calling regarding availability for your particular dates.

Actually, it would be interesting to start a new thread, like "how many pounds of stuff do you carry." We'd be lower than some, higher than others, I'm sure. (Though we like to consider ourselves minimalists. 🤣) pretty sure the mobile garage guys with 2500s would be waaaay higher . The longer we camp, the less we take. Winnow out the excess at the end of season each year.