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Bill, Beautiful work! I think you still may have another step to go. You may want to consider anti bird nest proofing your structure by eliminating every flat level or shelf area where birds can build a nest. Once they start nesting and flying in and out they will make a terrible mess bird poop 💩 bombing your Ollie. Just a thought. I went to great lengths to eliminate any possible flat surface nesting areas in my Ollie Hangar and so far it’s working perfectly. No feathered renters and no bird 💩bombs on our Ollie. 😅 -Patriot 🇺🇸

Update: Service got back to me awhile ago and agreed this was a problem that occurred during assembly. They gave me the option of bringing it to the factory when convenient, or giving it a try myself. They requested pictures of the interior so they could alert Quality Control. I opted to try myself, as a factory visit isn’t in the plans. I opened up the bath vanity, and disconnected the duct from the bath vent. I gently tugged and twisted the duct, stopping to take pics frequently by leaning down into the dinette locker space and under the floor. Eventually I was able to get it untwisted. I sent service the pics and advised them to close the ticket. This may be a one of a kind issue, but then again, perhaps not.

Perhaps its in the eye of the beholder - but (pun intended) - the new owner has done a very nice job of putting Humpty Dumpty back together again.

By the way, I turned on the fridge and it didn’t work off of shore power. Reconnected shore power and it worked great. Disconnected shore power and it didn’t work. Called Oliver and they said look at the back of the 12 volt fuse panel under the dinette seat. As they predicted the top wire barrel connector was not hooked-up. Reconnected it and voilà, it’s working great off of shore power

Indeed, I'm really glad the red one, jellybean, was adopted, and named,, by such great owners, @Bshafferalong the way. The very few of us who are still original owners (15 years later) have mostly kept up, and added mods. I'd say refreshed, as opposed to restored, as the frame and hull as are as good today, as they were on 2008/9. Brandi and her husband have had to catch up, but they've done such a beautiful job. Jellybean is not only adorable, but a great little piece of Ollie history . (And, so very cute.) (Ps A good number of the original owners of 2008/9 are still friends. It's an amazing kind of thing. Just got off the phone with Ollie friends in Minnesota. They are hull #30something. We sail and/or camp together, every year. The original lower 48, like me, Pete, Scubarx, are still hanging in there.) You never know what life brings, but it's often really great, if you are open to opportunities. I could write a much longer post on how my life has been enriched by camping, especially camping with our Ollie, and the friends we've made along the way, but I'll save it for another day, and another thread....

I spent this summer working on Olies winter home and just finished it this morning just before it snows tomorrow.

As far as I know, there was only one black one made, and it is sitting in my neighbor’s yard in Smith Valley, Nevada. It has been out here for years. BTW, I have posted about this several times and even mentioned it to Scott Oliver.

It was not the black trailer, but I agree it was cobbled together and butt ugly.

The red Oliver (aka Jellybean) is owned by Brandi Shaffer and her husband who live here in San Antonio. She has posted pics, they’ve done quite a bit to restore it. Mike

Nope - its just the lighting - all black, all red. I don't know all the details on the restoration of the red one - but - I do know that there was sun induced fading on a fair amount of the Oliver - not the fiberglass though. Things like the air conditioner, roof fan, etc. were sun faded but now look great. You can see them all in the photos above - with the exception of the white ones! Bill

Wow! Nice job, suitably classy home for a classy Trailer!!

I am slowly learning all the systems on #1290. We have a new ORBI router that has a main router in the basement and two satellite routers that communicate with the main router. We did a signal test inside the house and outside and there's a good strong signal now. The Vizio TV recognizes that the ORBI is available but when I put the password in during TV set-up it doesn't connect. No internet connection. Anyone have an idea what needs to be done? TIA John

If I figure it out I will let you know what worked. John

The fan suction vent would be under or near the dinette somewhere, and draw warm cabin air in and push it between the hulls. If on shore power, an electric space heater could be placed near the fan vent, drawing warm air and saving propane. You’re right, this wouldn’t be a good idea on the new designs with a return vent in the bathroom, and seems like it’s not needed with the Truma VarioHeat. John Davies has already done this, I’m just thinking about a slight variation on his design. Check it out here. Lithium Powered Vent System Overland had some good ideas along these lines, can’t find the link. Just brainstorming here, I am not ready to cut any holes any time soon!

I recommend the stainless steel spikes available through the link below: https://www.amazon.com/Spikes-Pigeons-Small-Stainless-Coverage/dp/B085CBNQFX/ref=asc_df_B085CBNQFX/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=475793236502&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11280687831360435102&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9029558&hvtargid=pla-1063130179122&psc=1 Why? We have an open truss design similar to your "winter home" on the front portico to our home. Those trusses have attracted nesting birds. We installed plastic bird spikes, like this: https://www.amazon.com/Deterrent-Outdoor-Pigeons-Squirrel-Outside-Brown/dp/B09WJVZ34X/ref=asc_df_B09WJVZ34X/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=598365509249&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=11280687831360435102&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9029558&hvtargid=pla-1677722735497&psc=1 Last spring, a clever robin built her nest right on top of the plastic spikes, using them as structural support for the nest! So, next spring, I plan to replace the plastic spikes with stainless spikes. Lesson learned.

Very pretty structure? Got power? “Mouse” is as always safely out of the weather, and there has been snow on the ground non-stop since mid November, I could not even get the leaves up or cut the grass and fertilize 😤😤😤 . I do not normally have to clear my back yard for the dogs to run, using the snow thrower, but I did it once already and it is not even winter yet… What is your typical snowfall in MA? John Davies Spokane WA

I've experimented with this quite a bit. Non scientific but I can absolutely feel a difference between my tires with different air pressure. As I use the Anderson weight distribution hitch, I run the same pressure in all tires. Name plate on the door suggests 35lbs. Max pressure, as printed on sidewall, is 55. I have tried towing with everything in between and found that 45-50 is the sweet spot. At 35, feels to mushy and looses responsiveness. At 55 feels a bit sharp and gives a chattery ride.

@SeaDawg Yes, I agree “refreshed” is a better choice of words. I think it’s wonderful many of the “lower 48” are still original owners and friends. I love hearing stories about the Oliver from owners that bought back when they started producing them and the fact that you still have your Ollie’s just attests to its quality. I also love seeing those photos of recent owners picking up their new Oliver’s, it’s such a happy day, seeing those smiling faces!

Brandi and her husband have done a lot of work with Jellybean. (Red trailer.) She's on Facebook more than here, but I am always interested in following her progress. She is very creative and artistic. Jellybean looks great!

I remember only seeing two colored trailers... the red I loved, The other, deep blue, maybe blackish, in 2008. One had a route 66 interior fabric, the other cards, gambling, etc. fabric, as I recall . Destined for a Vegas show. We only peeked inside, didn't really pay much attention. My memory could be wrong, and the lightingin the factoryin the early days wasn'tgreat, either. I'm thinking I saw them when we picked up, February 2008, but I could be wrong. Could have been January, 2008, when we ordered ours..It's a long time ago, and I was (likely) more interested in my own trailer. The red one I loved. My favorite color. I do remember telling my husband if I owned it, I'd put spot decals on it, and name it ladybug. He, of course, laughed. We still love our white/absence of color 2008. Steve/scubarx might remember better. He lives closer to the factory, and spends more time there. He was in the office, ordering, when we picked up in February, I think, that's when we met.

Like our tf130, I think the new isotherm is the same capacity. The National Lunas have some users and fans here. Big size for true interior capacity, probably due to extra insulation. If I turned my 130 liter truckfridge on its back, it would be about the same size as a 90 liter nl, I think. Maybe, mine would even be a bit smaller. If I had the retro to do over, and a thicker wallet at the time, we might have chosen drawers. Like the nl chests, but easier to use. Overall, I have no complaints. The danfoss/secop compressors are very efficient, in all these units.

We recently sold our 30' Airstream Flying Cloud, it had two Dometic A/C units, one 15,000 and one 13,500. They have ducting called "Quiet-Stream" and it is generally very quiet. If it's not too hot out, those a/c units will freeze you out of there but the challenge in an Airstream is that they are all metal (inside and out) with a thin layer of Eco-Batting (essentially wool insulation) between the skins. We were a bit disappointed when we first got our Airstream and the dealer told us how to cover all the windows from this inside with Reflectix and said, when it gets hot out, that's the only way to keep it cool in there... We also noticed the wild price increase over the last few years. Three years ago we saw the 33' Classic (top of the line) at the Hershey RV show and it was $145,000. The 2023 retails now for $199,000!! Looking forward to getting our LE II in March 2023 so we can get back to camping. Brian

I’ve been thinking along the same lines of having a cold (<30F) weather configuration to heat under the floor, but not moderately cold conditions. How about putting a quiet 12V fan with a switch in the wall somewhere up under the dinette? Leave the main furnace intake vent as is. Turning the fan on in very cold conditions would push warm cabin air under the floor and bunks, and warm the battery box as well. Extra vent holes inside the compartments could be created to facilitate flow. This mod would use extra propane of course, but would be turned on only when needed. One advantage of a suction fan is that if using shore power, an electric space heater could be placed near the dinette. Warm air would be sucked into the lower spaces, without using the furnace and propane. Another advantage might be a cooling effect on batteries in high temps. John Davies has already done a variation of this mod with the focal point being the battery box. Ideally, the 12V fan would be powerful enough to move the air effectively, but reasonably quiet. This might be the challenge. May take more than one fan, and could be mounted inside the hull space to help reduce sound. This seems too easy, what am I missing?

Sure am glad that I live in a place were it is not necessary to have that much of a "pitch" on the roof of darn near anything. However, I sure would like to have one of those winter homes for my Ollie! Bill

Classy!

That’s fabulous!!!😍

Beautiful work!

You may be ruling out a return air obstruction but there is still the supply side that is more likely to be a problem with these installations. Since the LEII duct restriction is right at the minimums for proper furnace operation, be sure the dampers in all the warm air outlets are fully open. Better yet would be to totally remove the the damper disks from at least two of the three outlets. A significant air flow imbalance could cause the sail switch to flutter, intermittently shutting down the burner and re-sequencing the operation.

A long-shot but the stats above suggest to me that you may be experiencing a furnace air circulation problem in addition to any thermostat issues. I am guessing that you have the standard bed option and that you are testing your furnace with the bed made up. If this is not the case, please disregard this post as it isn't relevant to you. However, for others with the standard bed option, understanding my experience may be helpful. Your furnace is running about 66% of the time and is off only about 34% of the time. This seems like a lot of furnace on-time when it is 26 degrees outside. Off 4.04 On 9.36 Off 2.59 On 8.53 Off 5.41 On 7.42 Off 5.34 On 9.33 Off 3.49 On 7.55 Off 3.17 On 9 Off 2.23 26.27 51.19 34% 66% I experienced a similar problem with my LE II with the standard bed made up, although the outside temperature was up in the 40s. The problem was the furnace was running hard and short cycling, having trouble raising the temperature at the thermostat to merely 60 degrees. After getting out of bed, I realized that the temperature in the space under the bed was at least 85 degrees. I diagnosed the problem was the location of the single return air vent in my LE II that is located in the rear curbside corner of the trailer way back under the bed. It turns out, all of the hot air coming out of the two supply vents was being immediately sucked under the bed through the singe air return vent and back to the furnace and was not mixing with the remaining air in the cabin. Not only did this result in the rest of the trailer heating up very slowly, but the air from the furnace supply vents became very hot until the temperature over-limit switch in the furnace shut it down. Given the above stats, and assuming you have the standard floor plan and the bed is made up, it would be easy to test if you are experiencing this problem. Just rerun the test above, but remove a cushion on the front dinette and open the hatch wide. (also make sure your supply vents are angled forward so the warm air is not directed under the bed). This test condition will result in most of the return air to the furnace traveling through the open hatch and not under the bed, allowing the warm air from the furnace to mix with the cabin air (and thermostat) before returning the the furnace. If you experience a more balanced operation of the furnace on-off times resulting from this test, you have found at least part of your problem. This could actually be causing the problem with your thermostat as well. The Dometic thermostat anticipates when it needs to come on to maintain a temperature at no less than 2 degrees from the set-point. It actually remembers how fast the trailer cooled off previously and adjusts furnace restart time accordingly. If you have the air circulation problem I describe above, then the temperature around the thermostat is going to fall fast when the furnace turns off, even if the area under the bed is still a balmy 80 degrees. The thermostat "learns" that it needs to run almost constantly to maintain temperature within two degrees of the set-point at the thermostat. The clicking you hear may actually be coming from the furnace and not the air conditioner (mine was). This can happen when the furnace shuts off originally due to overheating of the heat exchanger, and the furnace igniter tries to restart the furnace before the heat exchanger has cooled sufficiently that the safety cutoff switch opens to allow the furnace to actually ignite again. This will generate a continuous, noisy clicking noise.

As a born child of the South I found this amusing... A lawyer from the Big City comes to Mississippi to hunt ducks. One day he shoots a duck and it falls in a farmer's field. He figures no one will ever see, so he ignores the "No Trespassing" sign and sneaks over the fence to get the duck. But before he can collect it an old farmer rides up on his mule and asks him what he thinks he's doing. He says he's retrieving his duck. "Well, now," says the farmer. "This is my land and that sign plainly says you may not trespass. I think that is MY duck!" "Listen, you stupid, ugly, inbred hick" says the lawyer, "I'm a rich and famous trial lawyer from the Big City and if you don't let me have that duck I'll sue you and wind up owning everything you have!" "Whoa, now young feller," says the farmer. "We don't go bothering the courts down here over something small like that. We settle it with the Mississippi three kick rule." "What's that?" asks the lawyer. "Well, we take turns kicking each other three times. The man what don't give up, wins." The lawyer thinks the old guy looks pretty feeble and figures he can easily take him. "OK, old timer. You're on. Who gets the first three kicks?" "I do," says the farmer "'cuz it's my land." He gets down from his mule and kicks the lawyer right in the...uh...right there. The lawyer folds up on the ground and with his second kick the farmer removes the lawyer's nose and upper lip. The third kick ruins his right kidney. The lawyer struggles to his feet, barely able to move. "You ready for my turn, you old cretin?" he croaks. "Oh, no need, " says the farmer. "I give up. You can have the duck."

I'm probably mis-remembering, as I tried reading just about every post on this forum back in June when I joined. Wasn't the black trailer converted (poorly) to a truck camper for a while, and then sold and put back on its frame? I tried looking for photos, but was unsuccessful.