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Tonight we’re at another COE campground in Mississippi near Starkville, just outside of Columbus AFB. We picked it at random due to location but are pleasantly surprised. It’s a very nice campground and we have FHU (not that we need that for one night). We’re only about 170 miles from Lake Guntersville and the rally, so we will have a short drive tomorrow. Nostalgia - 60 years ago we lived here in Starkville where I went to 2nd and 3rd grade while my dad went to Mississippi State University.

New owners trailer in foreground and the other two trailers in the background. This was the first time we have camped with other Oliver owners. We had fun talking about our trailers and our travels. I'm taking the picture!

Eclipse viewed from Grand Teton National Park.

A key and sometimes informative step in checking on what's up when plugging in to shore OR generator power and you're not seeming to get any of that power through into the trailer is to check the EMS (surge protector) remote display pane. In my 2021 E2 it's in the attic cabinet (the cabinet above the rear window) but I know they've moved this remote panel at least once so yours may be in a different spot. At any rate, if all is going well, that panel will show you the voltage, current, and cycle rate (hertz) of the power that's coming in from the external source. If it has decided that there's something wrong with that power and it's blocking it from getting into the trailer (the function of the EMS, with the goal of protecting the electrical components in the trailer) it will show and error code, which can be deciphered with the table of error codes in the EMS unit's manual (which should be bound in with the other manuals in the "standard features" book that shipped with the trailer (and which can be found on the Oliver site under Owners:University If that panel is not showing anything while you're plugged in, it either means the EMS is toast or more likely that power isn't making it there - i.e. a tripped circuit, a bad outlet, a bad cord, or a bad connection between the power plug on the outside of the trailer and the EMS.

I chose the SE version in rough black. Installation was a bit difficult, but straightforward. The panels weigh 35 lbs, but because of my height, removing and installing requires a second person (I can't see the hinges). The following morning, I noticed that there appeared to be a gap in the newly designed hinges on the tailgate panel. So I opened the lid and gave it an easy test push. The panel came right off the hinges while still attached to the shocks. The panel fell crookedly and warped. I called, and DB was very responsive, offering to replace the entire cover or to send new hinges if I would prefer to try that. He said that the cover could easily be straightened by me. So I gave that a try and also sent back the failed hinges for evaluation. All went as he said it would, and the cover is still in place with good hinges. A thoroughly inspection after the straightening showed no damage to any welds or support structure, nor any flex marks in the cover, i.e., it appears undamaged and brand new. For my trouble, DB gave me a substantial discount off of my purchase price. It's great to be able to walk on it as it makes cleaning my truck easier. Regarding utility, I can now access the front of the bed without having to climb into it. I carry a 20lbs propane tank for our CampChef stove, and this allows me to store it all the way forward in the bed and to lift it out by only opening the cab side cover (no ladder required even though this is an F250 with 20" wheels). The locks are Medeco with restricted keys. They will not be easy to pick. It also looks really cool. Speaking of cool, thus far I have not noticed the surface temperature to be too hot. The downside: No matter how you cover it, you're still packing a truck bed. The more you carry, the more shuffling you will have to do to get at the thing you want. Accessibility of the DB does help make this easier (when the middle section doesn't interfere). We are at the rally on site F62.

We like the green lushness of this area but would like to be driving through and camping in Montana…

I'll tack on to this thread since it includes a lot of suggestions for tracking down leaks. I have one to add. I had a small leak under the curbside window the first time it rained on us and have been trouble shooting the last week. I may have found the problem. The track that the window slides in has a black fuzzy strip that the window pane slides on. There are holes every inch or two that allow rainwater to flow underneath and out of the inner weep holes in the window frame. At the end of the black fuzzy strip near the stove there is a screw and rubber/plastic sort of grommet that serves as a stop for the window at fully open. Well this screw goes right through the bottom of that drainage channel/window track. So there are 5 ways for water to escape: the four weep holes and this screw hole. I verified that a small amount of water poured into the window track would flow out the weep holes, but also could make its way over to the screw hole and then run out underneath the window, down across the belly band, and onto the seat above the water pump area. Oliver Service said that there should have been a butyl rubber strip laid down by the window manufacturer before the screw was put in. They will be sending a rubber strip out for me to install. I’ll also assess using a dab of silicone instead. So add this to the list of potential window leak causes. I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar problem or if other windows have been constructed differently through the years. It seems like a bad design on the part of the window manufacturer to put a screw through the bottom of the window track that doubles as a drainage channel.

Looks like a nice campground. Another bit of nostalgia and coincidence, I went to high school in Guntersville, know the area very well. Y'all have fun

One other potential problem is if the house/external circuit has reversed polarity at the outlet, the Oliver will not accept power unless you use the protection override switch. BTDT. (rewired the outlet).

@viola, congratulations on your new to you Ollie, and welcome to the forum. We've enjoyed our Elite so much, now in our 15th camping season! You said that you were afraid the lit leds were running down your batteries. What readings are you getting on the zamp solar monitor and the seelevel? (You should be seeing something at or slightly above 13. 2 in full sun, and something like 12.6 or so at night, even if you're not getting shore power, if you're not running any other loads like fans,, fridge, etc. Those led tail lights don't actually use a lot of power.) Even if you're not getting a charge from the house circuit, imho your solar should be enough to keep the batteries up, if you're not using a lot of other things in the trailer. Tell us about the house circuit you're plugged into. 15 amp? 20 amp? Anything else in your house using power on that circuit? Anything else running in the trailer? @John E Davies is correct, if your connector is corroded, its best to replace. However, we've also had new owners who left the pigtail up in the rain or condensation, and moisture caused the "ghost" lights. Their issues disappeared when the connector was allowed to dry out, by hanging the connector so the openings are down, out of the rain. A photo of your connector would help. As John said, you may have tripped the house circuit breaker or its gfci, or you could have tripped the gfci of the trailer. When you plug the trailer into the house circuit, you should hear a "click" inside the trailer when the transfer switch kicks in, and the microwave (if you have one) makes a chirping sound. Sometimes, all it takes is disconnecting the trailer, and reconnecting, with someone inside the trailer listening. Guessing you've already done so, but first step is to check the house circuit breaker, see if it's tripped. If there's a gfci on that circuit, test and reset that. Make sure you actually have good power coming from the outlet you're plugging into . And, check that outlet for proper ground, and reverse polarity. I think you have at least two separate problems here. Possibly three. Best to just start from the beginning, and rule things out.

Weird outside lights are a classic symptom of corrosion inside your 7 pin trailer connector. The gunk is conductive and it shorts out the battery wire to one or more light wires, voila, dead battery. IMHO it is best to just install a new one, once it gets that bad there is enough damage that cleaning doesn't make much sense. This pic is an example, there is way more gunk inside that cleaning the outside doesn't fix. https://liveworkdream.com/2021/06/02/trailer-tail-lights-not-working/ Your "no shore power" problem may have many causes. Did this just happen or has it been dead always? Maybe you have a problem with your home outlet, like a tripped breaker or GFCI button.. Normally everything is transparent, you don't have to turn on the solar panels for example, it all switches automatically. Did you get an Owners Manual? If not you can download one at https://olivertraveltrailers.com/oliver-university/ Once you get this figured out you need to check the condition of your batteries, they could be damaged enough to need replacement. John Davies Spokane WA

Well, the 4 new Bright Way AGM batteries are installed, and the MPPT controller reprogrammed. Ryan at Blue Sky Energy clarified the questions that remained from Wanda’s helpful documentation. I wish I were better suited for this work. But great help from ScubaRx, SeaDawg, and Topgun2 made it possible to be successful. Thanks so much everyone.

Mine where made on the 48wk of 2016. They are over 5 years old and will be replaced. Noticed this today. Just a reminder for others to keep on eye on your tire date. IMG_1835.HEIC

My wife and I pickup up our LEII, Hull 990 on 2/17/22. We spent the nearly a week at or near Oliver's operations in Hohenwald shaking down the systems before returning to our home in Dallas. Our Truma water heater worked as expected and we marveled at how it was "just like out tankless water heater at home". I winterized the trailer upon our return home, including installing the antifreeze option for the Truma water heater. Our LEII spent the next 6-7 weeks in our driveway while I made additions to it. On April 23, I moved the trailer to an enclosed storage facility approximately 30 miles north. We have three Lithionics batteries, for which I followed the recommendation to turn OFF the batteries during storage for 30 days or less. On approximatly May 8, I retrieved the trailer from the storage facility to prepare for departure on May 11 to South Carolina. Everything appeared to be in order prior to our departure, although I did NOT test the Truma water heater. After a full day of travel, late on the night of May 11 I discovered the Truma water heater would not operate. We had two full 20 lb. propane tanks, the stove easily lighted verifying the flow of propane. I verified the power switch on the Truma unit was ON, however, the interior control located to the right of the pantry did NOT display an amber light. No hot water. I contacted OTT Service the next day and was advised to check the fuse, which proved to be OK. I was also advised to check for 12 volts DC at the rear of the Truma remote control. Today I removed the access portal from the forward interior wall of the pantry to discover the Truma remote is apparently epoxied to the hull. A black cable with an RJ11 type telephone connector plugs into the rear of the Truma remote, making testing for 12 VDC difficult. I again called OTT Service, and after four hours have still not received a call back. I searched Google for "Truma service near me" (now Paris Mountain State Park, near Greenville, SC) and found the Truma Dealer Partner Locator on Truma.net. The first listing was for Retromodern Campers, in Pickens, SC. I phone them and spoke with Scott Whitmire, who indicate his company had recently become an authorized servicer for Truma and he had been installing Truma units in refurbished trailers, many from the 1940s and 1950s. After describing the symptoms of our Truma unit, Scott indicated he had encountered the same symptoms twice, once as recently as two weeks ago. He said he would call Truma for guidance. In about 10 minutes I received a return call from Scott, saying he had spoken with Truma and received the following directions: Power ON the Truma unit at the main power switch. On the interior mounted remote control, turn the dial to OFF Wait a few seconds, then turn the power to ON at the remote control The remote control unit should now display the amber light on the dial. I was pleasantly surprised the amber light came on. I went outside to the external shower (not wanting to fill the gray tank) and ran the water for less than a minute, when hot water began to flow. I then verified hot water was available at both the bathroom and kitchen faucets. Scott said as long as the power is not shutoff to the Truma unit, it should work just fine on the next trip. I point out that I expect it to be common practice for Oliver owners, many of whose whose trailers are equipped with lithium batteries, to power the batteries OFF between trips. This will necessitate performing the Truma re-boot process described above after each storage period in which the lithium batteries are turned OFF. I can find no reference to this re-boot process In the Truma section of the 2022 Oliver Optional Features Component Manual. I hope others with lithium batteries and Truma water heaters will recall call this procedure after they have turned OFF their lithium batteries during storage.

With the help of Mike Sharp at OTT, I think we may have identified why the Norcold control panel leaks outside air into the trailer around the upper front control panel . It is unlikely related to the combustion seal that seals the mounting fin of the refrigerator to the cabinet, nor is it due to an incorrectly sized cabinet opening. Norcold appears to have engineered an approximately one square inch penetration (hole) between the back of the trailer and the inside front of the control panel. Mike provided the following picture of what the backside of the control panel looks like before the refrigerator is installed. Note there is an approximate 1 inch square hole in the circuit board. This allows a direct path for outside air to enter the Oliver, basically negating the effectiveness of the combustion seal. Everyone's Ollie with this 3-way Norcold unit probably has this defect. A simple fix (hack) would seem to be to tape over the 1 inch hole on the circuit board. Unfortunately, there is no way to reach the back of the control panel to do so without pulling the refrigerator out. Mike was going to take this up with the engineering committee to see what, if anything OTT could do without running afoul of the Norcold warranty. Hopefully when Johnwen checks in with OTT next month, we will know more about what can be done about this, including whether Norcold will accept any accountability. OTT has gone to extraordinary lengths to make the Oliver a true 4-season (and safe) trailer. It is unfortunate that Norcold appears to have undercut OTT's best efforts.

We're all very happy for you, @MAG! No one is born knowing any of this stuff, and there are always plenty of people here to offer help and advice from their experiences. And, Ryan at bluesky is one if the best tech support people I've ever had the pleasure to work with. You've learned some things along the way, and now it's time to get out there and enjoy some camping and relaxation time in your Ollie. You've earned it.

I’m completely confused also. If either the Blaylock or the Anderson drive-up type jack works with Dexter EZ Flex suspension, I want to buy one for roadside repairs. Several posts on the forum and Facebook have advised these types do not work with the Dexter EZ Flex, but apparently it worked for Mobiljoy. One concern I have is if the spring shackles have a tendency to flip. If Jason is referring to the Dexter EZ-Flex models, which I assume he is, then Oliver owes it to all us to make this high priority safety issue very clear. I was not able to attend the rally. Could one of you “experts” run this to ground with Jason and others at the rally and get back to us?

You said that you winterized the trailer when you got home and installed the Truma anti-freeze option. I am assuming you mean the 12 volt powered electric heating element into the Truma. I have installed the same option. If I am understanding you correctly, when winterizing the water system, you closed the water valve to the Truma and left normal water in the Truma to be protected with the electric antifreeze option (which is nothing more than the equivalent of a 12 volt dipstick heater). If that is in fact what you did, turning off the batteries would have cut power to the electric antifreeze dipstick heater in the Truma and it would not have protected the Truma against freezing. The electric antifreeze option in the Truma is really designed to protect the Truma while in transit during freezing weather when the propane is turned off while towing. To gain full protection from the electric option, you need to also install the provided plug into the exhaust port of the Truma when using the option, or cold air can enter the Truma combustion chamber while driving and potentially overpower the weak electric antifreeze heating element. If you later de-winterized the trailer and tried to start the Truma on propane before actually turning the propane on, and/or removing the plug from the Truma exhaust port, then the Truma would have tried to ignite a few times, and then it would have locked out. Just like the Norcold refrigerator, if the unit tries to ignite on propane when the propane is turned off, the unit locks out and must be turned off and then on again to reset the error codes. Same thing if the Truma senses a blocked exhaust port. When winterizing the trailer, it is probably best to follow the winterizing instructions in the manual that basically call for closing the water inlet valve to the Truma and then draining the water out. It only takes a minute or two. The electric antifreeze option will also work when winterizing, but then you will need to ensure that the batteries provide continuous power to the trailer over the winter to run the electric antifreeze option. Simply draining the water from the Truma when winterizing is a safer approach.

I've got the diamond back 270 on my F250. I really like the three water tight lids. also the bolt type locks are good. So far bone dry even going through the car wash. I can stand on it and carry cargo on top of it. Pricy but you wont be disappointed.

See the following for an update.

Fan failure! My fan just stopped working right before my fifth camping season. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6878-natures-head-fan-failed-the-day-before-first-trip/ An email to Natures Head resulted in their shipping ASAP at no charge TWO upgraded fan assemblies. My old fan on the right has unprotected solder joints and the tiny connector is open and corroding. The new one has heat shrink tubing over the connector and waterproofing compound applied liberally to it and to the main round connector. I highly suggest that if your fan looks like mine, go ahead and ask for a pair of replacements. They obviously saw that corrosion was a problem and took steps to eliminate it. Bravo. I tested the extra one to make sure it worked and added some paper towel padding inside and wrapped it all in stretch wrap, and I put it in the overhead cabinet in the bathroom for any future need. John Davies Spokane WA

As everyone has now has discovered, you should NEVER try to lift the trailer from in front of the tires. I tried that once just as George did and by the time I got the rear wheel off the ground, the front jack was at least 18 inches high. In the picture, if that jack had slipped off the sub frame, the jack stand would have punched up through the bottom of the hull. It might have taken out the right side bottom galley drawer as well. Best Practice would be to always place jack on the steel sub frame behind the tires. Keep trailer hooked to the truck with parking brake on. If it makes you feel better, chock the opposite side of the trailer. This will lift both tires off the ground and allow you to do your work. I recommend always using a jack stand (or two) under the lifted side. This way, if the jack slips or leaks down the jack stand will catch the weight without everything crashing down and ruining the rest of your day.

We continued our meander across Texas today for another one night stand just outside of Texarkana. We’re at Piney Point COE campground on Wright Patman lake. We’ve camped at this lake several times before at Clear Springs COE campground not too far from here (see page 9 of this thread). I’d say Clear Springs COE is a bit nicer and is much larger. It has a lot FHU sites if that’s what you need. This campground is smaller. Lots of tall pine trees, not like Texas Hill Country at all.

Fellow Oliver Travel Trailer Owners and friends’ Earlier I posted that I and my two business partners of Happy Camper Solar would be at the Oliver Rally to demonstrate and provide information on our Solar MaXX products. Our plans were to show the Mobile Tracker and the rooftop tracker for the Oliver Elite and Elite II. Unfortunately, a family member of our business tested positive for COVID. As we discussed attending the rally, we quickly decided to do the right thing and not expose anyone to the possibility of being infected. This will be my first time ever to miss an Oliver Travel Trailer Rally. I was looking forward to again leading the Rally and being the MC for the Wednesday night Opening Ceremonies. My conversations today with Oliver Staff and sharing the itinerary and program notes should result in everyone having a great rally. I also posted earlier on Oliver Trailer Owners Facebook page and Oliver Forum that we would be offering a 3-year free electronics warranty if you contacted us during the rally regarding the purchase of one of our products. Since we are unable to attend the rally, if you contact us via the e-mail below, we will put your contact information on our waiting list for a no obligation purchase. Due to supply chain issues and manufacturing backlog, we are unable to provide a product availability date. However, if you provide us with your contact information we will put your name on our list, notify you when we have completed manufacturing the products, provide you with technical data and a price as well as honoring the 3-year free electronics warranty from the date of purchase. If you e-mail us with your contact information no later than June 17, 2022, we will honor the offer of a 3-year electronics warranty. We were looking forward to spending time with each of you at the rally. However, we felt ethically obligated to cancel our attendance for fear of a possibility of exposure to COVID. I look forward to next year’s rally and seeing each of you. Coy Gayle hcsolar3@gmail.com

We are meandering our way across Texas on the way to Alabama and the rally. We stopped this afternoon at Liberty Hill COE campground on Navarro Lake in between Waco and Corsicana. It looks like an older park, with some nice sites by the lake and some average looking sites in a couple of loops away from the lake. There are three other COE campgrounds on the lake, we can see all three across the lake from our site. I might try another one of the campgrounds if we come back through this way.

I know that Rodney Lomax and Jason Essary will be at the Rally next week. I'll mention your suggestion to them - goo idea. Bill

It would be nice if Oliver service department would make a video showing the right process of lifting up the Oliver for maint.

As has been pointed out on this forum in the past, it is not really advisable to routinely use the "Auto" setting on the Norcold 3-way due to the risk of accidentally drawing your batteries to empty accidentally. When set to auto and not hooked to shore power, the Norcold will automatically switch to propane. If propane is not turned on, then the Norcold will switch to 12-volt and you won't know. Even if set to Auto and you confirm that it is successfully running on propane, if the tank were to run out of propane and you didn't realize it, the Norcold would switch to 12 volt and once again, you would not know. The Norcold on 12-volt can draw up to 15 amp-hours per hour which puts a big draw on the batteries. If one manually sets the Norcold to gas but gas is not available, the refrigerator will generate an error message alerting you if the gas is not on, or if it runs out, prompting you to investigate why the Norcold is not getting gas. The choice of power source is best made as a deliberate decision. An exception might be if you were away from the trailer all day and wanted the security of 12 volt backup should the propane supply be interrupted to the Norcold while you are away.

I'm fairly certain that under the right circumstances condensation between the hulls can do the same thing. I had an occasional small drip coming from 2 of my windows until I started making an effort to keep the humidity down inside. Once I did, the dripping ceased.