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Camping Prep reminders! Hull #634 is offically dewinterized. Woot! 😄I think it took my wife and I about 15 minutes to dewinterize our OLEll. A special thanks to Service Manager Jason Essary for his excellent video tutorials. It really makes this task seamlessly easy. We also did the annual decalcification process of our Truma which takes approx 2:15 hrs after installing the decalcification tablets. Super easy with the Truma. Pro tip - 😎 we place a dog flea collar in the Truma (pic) and refrigerator compartments. Along with screens this mod really does help keep unwanted insects out of these areas. We will soon sanitize our fresh tank, go though all of our systems checklists check all fasteners and get ready to roll! Happy Camping Oliver family! The white coiled up plastic strip is a flea collar. Along with mesh screens It has proven to keep spiders 🕷️ 🐜 and other flying insects out of our Truma and frig compartments. Happy Trails! Patriot🇺🇸

Congrats patriot! And thanks for the flea collar tip. Where are you heading first? We are retiring 4/21 then two weeks at Anastasia State park and one week at Davidson River in Brevard in a SOB (Airstream BCX 16). And then, pick up our LEII 5/22, and we are off and running! Cant wait for our delivery day.

Short term, Lithionics' stellar level of customer service will be unchanged. During my 35 years of law practice, I represented many senior execs when their smaller company was acquired by a "big fish." Long term, expect Winnebago management to impose their corporate culture on Lithionics, which usually results in senior management turnover at Lithionics. And, relevant to those of us who own Lithionics batteries, one usual, eventual, casualty of acquisition is reduction of customer service staff to cut costs and improve the bottom line for the parent company. Do not be surprised if, in a year or two, when you call Lithionics instead of a real person answering the phone, you get one of those hold messages stating: " We are experiencing an extremely high call volume. Thank you for your patience."

Yes, just inside the outside access panel to the fridge. Mud dobbers especially don’t like what ever repellent that is used on the collars. It has worked well in our experience.

Installing another switch isn't very difficult. Access to the wires that supply 12 volts to the light are easily accessible and all you have to do is use splice a switch into the positive side of the supply. If you are going to do this you should also think about getting some additional lighting like THIS or THIS (there are a bunch to chose from) and install these lights toward the back of the basement. This will allow you to see back into the bowels. If you wire it properly the new switch will control all of the lights or you can control each light separately. Bill

Amen. That's the corporate world I'm familiar with... Charlie.

ROGER, THAT!

Just don’t get this one! https://www.aboutlawsuits.com/seresto-collar-investigation-181486/

I know you meant this in a positive and supportive way, however, I don’t think people are doing that. We are just discussing how these M&A’s are happening all over the RV industry and how it “may” impact one company to another. OTT has their own relationships to manage and I would not suppose to tell them how to manage them. Just having some healthy dialog around a growing phenomenon. In my opinion, Lithionics is one of the better choices out there today. I am very impressed with them so far. They even invited us to tour the plant when we are in FL this fall. Thank you for the support. Brian

I live fairly near the Davidson River. Drop me a PM if you need any help while you are there. Bill

The Lagun hardware packet came with a 3/8" thick piece of plywood for the backing bracket. I chose to use a piece of 3/16" aluminum plate (same width/length dimensions as the plywood piece) as the backing bracket. It's a bit bigger than the backing plate used for the TV mounting hardware, FYI.

These bolts are important to at least look at when servicing our propane tanks. Thank you for the reminder! These bolts, are among many hundreds on our travel trailers. Should they loosen and fall down, they likely will escape the confines of the Dog House. Their dropping to the pavement could do some damage as they bounced around and exited the area . Most likely the TV operator would not know when this happens due to having two rubber security straps still in place. However, finding the now lost bolts along the highway could certainly be a PITA. Should this happen, I would have wished that I had been reminded of a very simple way to ensure at least that these bolts didn't run away from home. So, again I thank you for bringing up the topic of loose dog house cover fixing bolts, and now how to avoid their roadside loss as well. Mahalo, GJ

Just buy four self locking stainless nuts at the hardware store, they can’t ever just fall off or loosen on their own…. If you feel ambitious, buy some 2’x2’ square project boards of the Dow Corning R5 (1” thick) foam board insulation and add some much needed barrier there. Note that I left holes for those nuts, and taped over them. I also cut off about four feed of duct and added an adjustable 3” steel elbow, much neater and cleaner than the factory installation. And if you don’t have the flush toilet, disconnect that unneeded water line. John Davies Spokane WA

The "center mount" TV hardware arrived from Oliver (thanks to Ryder!) last week. So, we removed the curbside/aft corner vertical TV mount on our rig a couple days ago. We mounted the new hardware just aft of the LED light over the nightstand. I've still got the power & HDMI cables routed through the original hole, but thanks to mossimi, I'll cut a new hole aft of the TV mount (less conspicuous) and use moss' 2" plug that he sent me to cover the original cable hole. I was amazed how random the wiring was behind the bulkhead in the aft storage compartment. Cleaned a lot of that up. Also, the wiring set up had 2 massive (L, R, Video) cables from the TV through the original hole - one of which ran back to the Furrion controller - we removed them both, not needed. Quite a mess back there. We ordered a new 27" viewing size "Smart TV" to replace the original Furrion model (which the DVD player was INOP). Tucked up nice and neatly. I've got some white wire/cable loom ordered to replace the black mesh that Oliver uses. I think the white loom will look more appealing than the black stuff... IMHO. We've also ordered a 12VDC Furrion subwoofer which can connect to the Furrion AV/Radio Controller which should liven up the tunes a bit whilst sipping on a nice chilled margarita...

The protective tape Oliver uses around the pantry edges would be a good choice - haven't looked for it but I bet it's available on Amazon. Charlie.

I think you misunderstood this post. No bolts were buggered or replaced, just tightened. 🙂

Thanks for posting, did you take any pics of the flush toilet water line that you can share? I plan to disconnect mine eventually, but so far I never had a need to go digging around under that sink. If you did not already cap the black tank rinse through-hull fitting, do so, in case somebody tries to hook a garden hose up to it and floods the interior! That could be quite a geyser! John Davies Spokane WA

While scooting around underneath my Oliver on my creeper greasing the chassis, I did a quick inspection of everything I could see. I noticed one of the the two 3/8” stainless steel bolts that secure the propane tank enclosure to the hull was loose, had backed out about 1/2”. Both of the bolt heads could be turned by hand, but could not be tightened externally, there are nuts on the other end that were spinning. I turned in a service ticket and asked for DIY instructions. Jason got back to me right away with 2 local RV repair centers that would fix it under warranty. He also gave me step-by -step DIY instructions, which were easy to follow. I prefer to do it myself, it was an easy task. It involved removing the bath vanity to get to the nuts on the ends of the bolts. The SS nuts had flat & lock washers, but obviously had not been tightened during production. I replaced the 3/8” SS nuts with SS nylon lock nuts, and all is well. While I was in there, I removed the toilet water supply line and valve, and capped off the tee it was connected to. I have the NH composting toilet. I also removed the black tank flush lines and back flow preventer, will save for a future owner that might want a flush toilet. I opened up the black tank drain and found it had quite a bit of RV antifreeze inside. Apparently the factory had added it to the black tank during the winterizing process. This was obviously not needed, but perhaps they do them all the same, regardless. So if you are underneath your trailer, you might give those bolts a quick check.

Anyone run into this problem. I get into the basement storage area during the day...then crawl into bed during the evening. I turn out the lights in the trailer. Then look down at the basement access door and see that the basement light is on. Depending on my mood (and/or weather), I get up go out and turn it off or roll over and go to sleep. I'm thinking Oliver should relocate switch.

We have not had any concerns with the switch location. My concern is about me actually forgetting to turn it off. 🙄 😅 Fortunately this has only happened once. That said, you might be able to rewire it to a location of your choosing. Patriot🇺🇸

That wasn't me. It was Patriot's idea.

These two locations used to be an OTTO secret! I guess the cats out of the bag! Mossey

AND - now back to our regularly scheduled topic of de-winterization and flea collars! Sorry for the hijack. Bill

Thanks. It should be a great week of fishing, biking and beer.

Yes, it does appear to be a residential style AC junction box. However, I don’t think there is any AC wiring in there. I don’t have the 30A optional connection up forward. I think it’s the junction box for the 12V DC 7 pin wiring harness, and the BAS. Regardless, a waterproof design would be an improvement, and it’s worth opening up and checking for correct wire glands and connectors. I think I did that but I didn’t take a photo and cannot remember. I’ll add it to the list. I like the way you added insulation.

Nice job, I did the same, so I no longer have to risk getting an antifreeze face bath when winterizing. A future owner can deal with the tee. Your hull 797 image shows an interior rated 120 volt ac junction box installed in a potentially wet location, underneath pressurized plumbing, it could get sprayed by water from the faucet connections or from a split hose. Has Oliver corrected this in current trailers? It should be replaced by a plastic waterproof box (gaskets on the cover) or at the very least wrap it in self fusing silicone tape. And open a ticket about it too….. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6722-how-to-replace-the-120-vac-refrigerator-outlet-under-the-galley-sink-water-lines-with-a-waterproof-junction-box/ Zzzzzzap. John Davies Spokane WA

Absolutely brilliant, Patriot! Already added it to our checklist, brother!

Correct! Our 2017 has the cutout/storage tray underneath the nightstand top. Funny story: Just yesterday, we discovered a cutout/storage area underneath the countertop just below the pantry locker. So guess what was stored inside of it? A (what appears to be) brand new Foy kitchen sink mahogany cutting board! SCORE!!! The sad part of the funny story is that I made a bamboo cutting board custom fit to the sink - now we have two! HA!

The cheapest ones I can find on sale! 😊

All good ideas about vice grips and whatnot, but the original post was not a request on how to do a repair, it is about loose doghouse bolts 😊. Vice grips are not the correct tool for this particular project. The purpose of the post was to suggest you check these on your trailer when convenient. A recent post from John Dorrer indicated he had the same problem with loose doghouse bolts. I submitted a service ticket (this was factory error), but repaired the problem myself.

Several friends and acquaintances here in Indiana have been effected by the tornadoes of the last week. We've heard the sirens go off numerous times already this spring. Prior to Friday's event no serious injuries. A friend of my wife was camping at McCormick's Creek State Park when this happened last weekend. The park rangers were driving through blaring their horns to warn campers to take shelter. Stacie's friend and here family survived by sheltering in the bath house, but lost their camper. The couple that died were in the same campground but apparently chose to ride it out in their camper. It's heartbreaking to hear this kind of news. We used to live near the town of Rossville where they were from. We didn't know the Kincaids, but in that farm community, everybody was considered your neighbor. Prayers for comfort and strength for the surviving family and friends. We have several forms of weather radio we will have along on trips. It's available over Sirius/XM in our truck, and we also have handheld GMRS radios with weather band. Plus if cellular service is available we have several weather apps on the phones to follow. We've survived two occasions while camping when tornadoes came within a mile of our locations. If you hear a warning, head for shelter.

Glad to hear you are taking the time to rest after stressful traffic. I see the campers at the Cracker Barrel at the Greenfield exit now and then and I'm very glad they are willing to accommodate. Never seems crowded and It's well lit and in a safe location. Funny you should mention second guessing ordering your KTT mattresses ahead of delivery. We had them on the list of upgrades on our order and a few days later we decided to back that option out and give the standard mattresses a chance. We may end up replacing them but it was a significant up charge and I figured it wouldn't hurt to try them, nothing lost. After all we've been tent camping on air mattresses for many years. 😄

We’re camping at Cracker Barrel in Corbin, Kentucky tonight! Storms rolled in, so we stopped. So another first for us. Over two hours to get 6 miles in Atlanta, then probably a half hour or more delay each in Chattanooga and Knoxville. Half the vehicles in the country must be on I-75! We will get home in northern Ohio late tomorrow, and then we’ll really get organizing. Plus swapping out the OEM cushions for the KTT mattresses waiting at home. (Although theses are really comfortable! Maybe we should have waited to try them before getting KTT mattresses.)

Winnebago, as I remember, was the first to use Lithionics, so a friendly partnership makes perfect sense. I'd relax on the hand-wringing, at least for now. Aquisitions happen all the time in rv component world. Me? I'm super happy lithionics was acquired by a friendly and supportive, smaller company, vs dometic or lippert.

Thanks Brian. I saw that but wondering if that is strong enough. I don't know anything about the strength of fiberglass so I guess I need to do some research on this. Don't want to damage ours when I install the lagun table mount.

Spot on. Impact during difficult times will be that OTT and other OEM's will be scouting for batteries and the price for their product will be higher than Winnebago's making the Winnebago travel trailers/campers less expensive by comparison. Would behoove OTT to set up a preferred supplier with companies like Battleborn and Victron. GJ

We look at the press release for WHY and HOW phrases: Winnebago is likely pitching this to the board and investors as something that not only Pays for Itself, but is an accretive move that generates incremental revenues and strengthens Winnebago's market position for the future. What type of acquisition is this: 1) Technology Boost for Winnebago Engineering 2) Secure the critical technology as a supply chain vertical integration move. WHY Statement from Press Release: "The addition of Lithionics will provide Winnebago Industries with enhanced technological and engineering capabilities to offer consumers more differentiated products with innovative electrical solutions, as well as bring strategic sourcing benefits and secure a critical area of its supply chain. " HOW will this be integrated and paid for in the long run from press release: A key phrase is: "Lithionics will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Winnebago Industries." Unwinding that means that Winnebago's business strategy likely had several elements at play: 1) Supply Chain Stability ...the current sagging sales in the industry could take out one of their key small but strategic suppliers. Often it's way cheaper to acquire a private company with key technology than to invest to build it yourself or seek a replacement supplier. 2) Existing revenue from OEM sales by Lithionics is immediately accretive to Winnebago. It makes their overall $ revenue higher This new revenue helps Winnebago offset the acquisition cost. 3) Strong signs that the eRV market along with auxiliary device market which require high quality batteries exist and is growing fast. Winnebago has tagged this the eRV2 market. They've got several cool prototypes running now. They all feature an all electric van chassis for driving...and of course Lithionics for the house batteries. This is an opportunity for Winnebago to capture a new segment of the OEM High Energy Density Battery market. ( If Winnebago was facing a BUILD NEW CAPABILITY or BUY OUR WAY IN decision ...this one clearly came out BUY.) All 3 of these strategic elements have immediate and lasting value to Winnebago. Result: A guess on how things will play out.... Short term - 1 YEAR Lithionics will be left to run the show as is for at least a year as Winnebago figures out how work with Lithionics management to segment the market, and then define Winnebago In House Brands vs. Ongoing Lithionics external brand. The longer term goal would be to create differentiated branded offerings in the market and continue to support and sell to other RV and Trailer Manufactures who can't afford to invent new battery technology. This could play out as an exceedingly good strategic move by Winnebago. Look at the 14:20 second point on the video below for Steve from Lithionics describing the new battery and charging system they designed "for Winnebago" as a proprietary design.

I'm hoping the order of the pix stays intact after posting. If so, each pic has a description below it, FYI. The Lagun hardware arrived here when I was on travel last week. We ordered it from Lagunusa.com directly. OK, so I started the Lagun Table installation a couple days ago. I installed the main leg mounting bracket first. Leveled rig fore/aft and port/starboard to get a good level on the bracket. My hardwood lumber supplier here was totally out of mahogany, so I decided to go with American red oak instead, I know - heavier and not as interesting as mahogany, but we've scheduled a long weekend camping trip this Friday and I wanted to get this table knocked out. We'll call the oak version a temporary bookmark for the time being. I glued/dowelled 4 pieces of 1/2" x 5.5" x 48" oak to get a tabletop dimension of 20" x 32", FYI. I used the extra wood for the table mount plate and cross spars (shown in later pix). The second pic above, shows the grooves on either side of the underneath portion of the table - the grooves are for when the table is in the "Puppy Mode." They fit over the twin bed lips to hold it in position when either towing or when Magnus is sleeping on it. This stage was for fitting purposes. This one illustrates how the grooves fit over the twin bed lip. Above shows fitting cross spars and mounting plate on underneath side of tabletop. Spars and plate are glued and screwed to keep table flat and reduce cupping as humidity cycles up and down. After a few coats of Watco natural oil/sealer, this shows the fitment of the Lagun hardware (in storage/Puppy mode). Ready to set up... In tabletop dining mode - height is adjustable to well above nightstand so tabletop can be swiveled either direction... If it turns out that we need more access to the nightstand drawer, we'll re-mount to the street side twin bed rail as described in earlier posts in this thread. The drawer is accessible in the Puppy Mode - so it can be opened at night for whatever is needed inside. I initially wanted to construct the tabletop with folding sides as described in another earlier post, but that wouldn't have allowed for the Puppy Mode. For now, the table configuration will get us thru this coming weekend trip! HA!

Congratulations guys, glad you had a fun and safe experience. We're just two weeks behind you with hull 1373, just booked a hotel room in Centerville for the night before we pick up Ollie-Haus. Two nights following booked in DCSP also. See you at the rally!

Hello Bryan and Sondra - congrats on the Oliver and missing all the storms in TN on Friday. We have been to many Buckee's and have had the same experience. Down in TX, people don't seem to gas up, pay and then just leave their vehicle at the pumps like they did in the one in TN. Buckee's should post something about this. There is no reason for anyone to do this but they may think that there are so many pumps they won't be in the way. We all know that's wrong! What part of NC are you from? I may have asked before but I don't remember doing so. I am originally from New Bern and now reside in TN. Brian

Congratulations from Hull #1321! The Olly does track and tow very well. We were first-timers at Buc-ee's as well.

The inReach keeps trying if it can’t connect to send or receive a message, but the tracking, not so much. I had an old SPOT that I used when riding my dual sport bike, in case I crashed and ended up unconscious in a ditch, my wife would have some clue as to my location. In open terrain it would send one track point every ten minutes, regular as a clock. When in dense woods and valleys, sometimes there would be four or five missed track points. But that device was not as smart as the inReach. And the inReach plans were way more affordable a few years ago. The newest SPOTs have two way communication like the inReach, and flexible plans too. I have never used one. https://www.findmespot.com/en-us/products-services/spot-x John Davies Spokane WA

InReach reception varies by location - I've found that it can take a while to get signal in an out when in tight valleys or canyons - in these cases I presume that I'm only getting line of sight to a satellite periodically. The worse was at one of the camps in a tighter part of the Grand Canyon during a raft trip there. It took maybe 4-5 hours one afternoon/evening for my message to get out, and for me to receive the one my wife had sent. I've heard of some folks having reception issues in dense forest as well. So it's not magic - it does need a decent connection to a satellite.

No need to replace the bolt if you bugger the bolt threads, it is a simple matter to run a thread die down the bolt to clean up the mess. On stainless it is helpful to coat threads with an antisieze (I use lanolin) in order to help eliminate the galling that is common between stainless bolts and nuts.

Slight misunderstanding on my post. The threaded portion of the bolt is inside the vanity.

I changed my mind on this. Initially I intended to make it easy for a future owner to convert it back to a flush toilet. But I didnt like it so I eliminated the tee and put in a straight coupler instead.

Hello all, As you know, Lithionics is the brand of choice for lithium batteries for OTT factory orders. It was recently announced that Winnebago has acquired Lithionics primarily to address issues in their supply chain. Click HERE to read about the acquisition. I guess the question to ask is, if this is to primarily solve Winnebago’s battery supply chain issues, are these batteries going to be more difficult to acquire by other brands? I am very pleased with Lithionics, some of the best RV’s, Boats, and Homes use them and they have a great customer service model. What are YOUR thoughts on the topic? Brian

A very sad, and sobering, reminder to pay attention to weather conditions, and have a plan. Especially camping in tornado season. I remember the first time camping that my husband and I heard tornado sirens in the Midwest. He didn't know what they meant. I said, "grab the dog, keys, your wallet, and we're off to the bath house," a few hundred feet away. I'd scoped it out, earlier, as it was early tornado season. We were fine, but buildings and billboards flattened not far away. We had the "joy" of spending a good while with several dozen strangers and their pets in the small block structure. (I chose a shower stalls, extra stability) I sure wish these folks in the Indiana state park had heard, or heeded, the warnings. As a survivor of several direct tornafo hits, I'm extremely saddened by this loss. My condolences to their family. Please, be careful, and aware. https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/2023/04/02/indiana-storms-rossville-couple-dead-at-mccormicks-creek-state-park/70072924007/