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For us "old timers" with the mostly indestructible Blue Sky solar gear, there's a new, easier GUI available for our old school systems. More info available if you buy the unit with the shunt. I haven't read any reviews yet, as I just got the email from Sunforge yesterday. I don't think there's any bluetooth remote capability, but it looks like a relatively easy install. https://sunforgellc.com/product/protouch/ Ten per cent off coupon code in the first photo. ProTouch_Manual-Rev-1.0_AP.pdf

June QST magazine is out, with THe Wonder Egg on the cover! This was my setup during field day last year.

2021 LE2 Below are pics of the thermostat in my Ollie. The second pic is with the face plate removed....it just pulls straight out. You will see that there are three male terminals (encircled with yellow pads)...these are operating like touch contacts rather than buttons. With the face plate attached you are pushing the face plate to make contact with the terminals. You can touch these terminals with your finger to verify they operate the thermostat. If so, it is working fine. The back of the face place has some material at the thee points that mates with those three male contacts. Check to insure they all appear clean and uniform...no grime build up on one that would interfere with or effect uniform applied force. When reattaching the face plate insure it is pushed flush to the thermostat body. When I reattached mine, at first it was not flush all the way around so that I had to push harder to reach the terminals. (You might want to verify "flushness" to start with....accidentally hitting the face plate could possibly cause a gap). Steve

There’s a small cooling fan inside the plastic cover/vent grill of the Progressive Dynamics Power Control Center under the dinette. My bet would be that a motor bearing on that small fan is going bad. You may want to remove the cover and check for dust buildup on the fan, but it’s likely a bad bearing.

Blast those modifications that the factory makes at times. Sorry to hear that you found out the bearings were wrong. That's a nightmare. Guess the silver lining is that your trailer has heavy duty parts. \\\\ For those with 3500lb axles read on //// A way to save time (and $ over timken) on standard 3500# axles. Dexter (and eTrailer) both sell complete pre-greased hubs with new bearings / seals and caps for many of the dexter hubs for about $95 each. When compared to new timken bearings and seals this is a pretty good value. https://www.dexteraxle.com/results/184/pre-greased-hubs I found this out after I spent several hundred dollars for 4 sets of genuine timken bearings, races and seals. The Dexter Pre-greased-hub likely has the Chinese bearings that come from the dexter factory. That said, you would be amazed at how fast it makes the service, when you have all the parts pre greased and pre-installed capped off ready for installation. Again...this may not work for your particular Oliver trailer, as hubs and axles are known to have been swapped a bit by Oliver in the manufacturing process. One sure way is to check the label on the axle and then confirm parts with Dexter online. Here's the label for our 3500# axles on Hull 505 made in 2019. Size of Hub and depth 4 (backing bolts) RACES DEXTER BEARING TIMKEN BEARING/RACE Applies TO: Timken Parts needed for each end of each axle. 4 each are needed to do the trailer. Item QTY PN Timken seal, 4 473336……or you can use a National seal....Or SKF 17144 Timken Set 17. 4 L68111 (inner race cup) and L68149 for the inner bearing (Cone) Timken Set 4, 4 L44649 (outer race cup) and L44610 for the outer bearing (Cone) Timken Seal Dimensions for 3.5K hubs. Shaft Size 1.718 in 43.637 mm Outer Diameter 2.565 in 65.151 mm Overall Width 0.5 in 12.7 mm Housing Bore 2.561 in 65.049 mm Brakes - Maybe buy the whole assembly. Our trailer has about 35K miles on it and the brakes still have plenty of life left. What I learned is that tearing down a self adjusting brake set is a pain. So I've decided if I ever need to repair/replace the electric brakes, I'll purchase them as a complete assembly as well. The assembly includes a new backing plate, all mounting bolts/nuts, the new magnet, new brake shoes all pre-mounted. This makes it a snap to quickly replace a bad brake assembly. Unbolt the old assembly removing 4 bolts, cut the 12v wires (make sure to disconnect batteries first). Then bolt back on the new assembly and connect the two 12v wires. DEPENDING on your trailer/part they are about $90-$100 per assembly from E-Trailer or Dexter online. The part number can also be referenced as Dexter 23-469 for the right side and 23-468 for the left side. http://www.dexterpartsonline.com/page/399600496 C Short

We had a Blue Sky charge controller in our previous SOB - bombproof

Thanks, Steve, Indeed they are top notch. I do not suspect any short cuts. I know all will work out . OTT service is one of the determining factors in our purchase! Thank you very much for the time you took to provide me with all that reference material!! John

Like this:

The part numbers you have listed are for the 5200 pound axles. The Double Lip Grease Seals for the 5200 pound axle is 10-36 (22333TB, Spindle D42, 2.250'' x 3.375'')

When troubleshooting your thermostat, you may want to take time to plug the large hole on the wall behind the thermostat that the three conductor wire comes out of. You can see part of the hole in the picture above. I found that in colder weather, cold basement air can exit this hole directly into the thermostat and trick the thermostat into thinking the cabin temperature has fallen causing it to start the furnace when in fact the cabin is still at the preferred temperature. Once the furnace starts, the airflow reverses as warm air comes into and through the thermostat and into the basement through the hole, causing the furnace to shut off in short order and then the short cycle repeats itself. Merely covering the hole with a piece of tape is a quick and easy fix. This hole is not necessarily a design issue with OTT but rather a poorly designed thermostat. Well designed thermostats have sealed backs with the wire terminals located on the back of the thermostat. The Dometic has a hole in the back of the thermostat with the wire terminals located on the inside of the thermostat. Cheap design. I swapped my Dometic thermostat out for a "Easy Touch RV" thermostat from Micro Air, primarily to allow me to monitor cabin temperature and adjust the furnace remotely via wi-fi because I store my LE II outside many miles from my house and unwinterized. The Wi-Fi feature allows me to turn on and/or turn up the thermostat from home when a freeze event is forecast. I am also alerted if the propane runs out. Unlike the Dometic, the Easy Touch has a sealed back with terminals on the outside back of the thermostat. You may want to consider the Easy Touch as a replacement if in fact your Dometic thermostat continues to be balky and ultimately needs to be replaced. Micro Air makes a model that is an exact replacement for the Dometic thermostat in the Oliver.

Well here it is, indeed 5200 lb axles. Just crawled underneath found the Dexter label and lo and behold! How on earth did this not get mentioned at delivery. Does anyone know what the bearing kit parts are for the correct Timken seals, races and bearings are for this set of axles? Thanks in advance if you do

Inquiring minds just want to know - where is the biggest ham of them all - Bosker?

See this thread. Since yours is an older hull, you should strongly consider just replacing the entire charger (converter) with a new one that is capable of charging lithium batteries. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/4812-how-to-progressive-dynamics-pd4045-lithium-upgrade/ Even if you don’t add lithiums, the next owner will appreciate the converter upgrade. This shows the fan in question (not my pic). John Davies Spokane WA

If I understand you correctly, yes. Both my cell phone AND a dedicated cellular hot spot, both from Verizon, see improvements, albeit not drastic or magically drastic. Again, if there's already a signal worth boosting. Now I cannot speak for the improvement for all carriers, mileage may vary. My WeBoost might only help LTE & 3G. Newer WeBoost models, like the Drive+X "says" that all WeBoost products support 5G, but I'm not sure. 5G technology has a relatively short distance and is only line-of-site as I understand it. Also, 5G, if very close to a large antenna is quite dangerous. That's why it's so important for these companies to position the transmitters correctly, where humans are in the way of the signals. So not sure if we'll see an internal antenna boost a 5G signal. 🤷‍♂️ This weekend, here at Petersburg Campground in Appling, Georgia, I would have nearly zero Internet activity if not for the WeBoost. I would have had to read a real book or something. "I shutter the thought". The only book I have with me is my Security+ certification book, which I need to study for once again. I swear I retire before I another Security+ certification... after this one. LOL

Yeah, from my experience, I get one, maybe two bars of improvement, BUT, ONLY if there is a decent enough signal to start with, say a half to one bar. Can't boost zero signal. Zero * anything is still zero. LOL I pretty much have to put the phone on top of touch the internal antenna. I like the idea of Star Link, but I don't camp enough for that yet.

I get about the same gain while sitting at the dinette. Sometimes an additional bar if I hold it close to the booster antenna.

Not difficult to set up at all. The receiver sits on a ground mount positioned with a clear view of the sky. There's a mobile app that's used once you select where you wish to position the receiver (which is a rather odd looking white rectangular planar array about 10" x 15"). When the antenna is selected to come out of the "stow" position it takes maybe 10 - 12 minutes to do its scan and lock on to its correct signal. We used it while boondocking in a FS campground near Hopewell Lake (9,500+ feet MSL) in NM last October - way out of range for any mobile signal and we had great internet access with SL.

My dad always said, "the worst they can say is, 'no'. Be polite,ask, see what happens." Happy for you!

Ten years for PERFECT looking tires seem very reasonable, but, like so many have said here and else where, we just can't see what's going on under the tread. Dang it! I better not hit something on the road to the OTT rally with my new tires. I could have done that with my old ones and felt okay about it. LOL In regards to rim sizes going away, nothing will happen over night, and I suspect we'll be able to get 15" and 16" in decades to come. I have NO doubt.

From Michelin Service Site for those owners with Michelin Tires. ———////——-////——-/// A few milestones and tips: 1. Keep five years in mind After five years or more in use, your tires should be thoroughly inspected at least once per year by a professional. 2. Ten years is a maximum If the tires haven't been replaced 10 years after their date of manufacture, as a precaution, Michelin recommends replacing them with new tires. Even if they appear to be in usable condition and have not worn down to the tread wear indicator. This applies to spare tires as well.

I had one. Great generator. Only ran it on propane. HEAVY. I sold it an opted for a smaller Champion that’s easy to lift and doesn’t take as much room. Mike

Yeah if it is under warranty Oliver should resolve it. They are easy to work with whether you can take it to them or have them approve a mobile tech. Steve

So, addressing the 800-lb Gorilla in this thread would be "highjacking" - apologies in advance... But, how many folks out there have made the disk brake conversion?

I can't answer for GreyGhost but when I replaced my tires about 1.5 months ago I only replaced the four on the road. I had never rotated the spare into the mix. Having said this - I will no longer use the spare for anything other than a very short term spare only on the road long enough to get me to a place where I can repair or replace the damaged tire. Certainly I would not rotate it into the mix with my four new tires. Bill

I am looking at this guy

Are you guys planning on coming to the OTTOR in May? Edit: Sorry, I remembered just now that you're the keeper of the list.

@Steve Morris @Bryan in NC Were you guys staying over in Camp Oliver last night? It was a wild night with tornadoes all across SW TN and we saw Hohenwald got hit but not sure what part of town that was in. We had one touch down several miles from the house but all is good here. Brian & Brandelyne

And for added embarrassment, Aaron Wolters from Oliver just finished filming us for one of his owners videos. Hopefully, the memory chip gets lost… 😂

Congrats on your beautiful Ollie!!! Really like the nose art! Speaking of Paul Harvey, we were on the flight-line at Oshkosh in the early 80s when Paul Harvey and General Jimmy Doolittle walked by. Took a photo of both of them together!

Paul Harvey mode on: “And now, for the rest of the story!” The inspiration for the came from a video by the “From She To Me” YouTube channel, which is the travels of a couple our age in their class B van. The voiceover for a recent trip was “Every one of our journeys begin with curiosity. What will we discover? What challenges might we encounter? What will be the lessons we learn?” I paused, replayed that scene, and paused again. Epiphany moment! I turned to Deb and asked how “Curiosity” sounds for a name for our new Oliver, and she was all for it. Then I looked at various images for graphics inspiration. I saw the corporate logo for Curiosity Software Ireland, and thought I’d fiddle with something along those lines. On a whim, I wrote to them asking permission to use their logo. Surprisingly, not only did they approve, but enthusiastically so, offering original graphics files and their endorsement. They plan to tell our story on their social media blog. Crazy how both events happened!! Serendipity! (which was my original thought for a name.)

Congratulations ! Have some fun, Safe travel’s

@topgun2, Back in the day when our sailboat "playlist" was a collection of songs recorded from our lp's to a cassette tape, Southern Cross was one we played every trip.... And then, there's this great song by Pete Seeger back in the Byrds days. Seems appropriate today. It is, a time to mourn. Rip. David, and Pete.

Having come into musical maturity listening to the Rock N' Roll of the late 50's and all through the 60's, I can attest that I've never been a Country music fan. By the mid 70's I was rather oblivious to what had become popular and I drifted thru the 80's and 90's really not paying much attention. One evening in mid 1999 as I was leaving to go home from work one of our technicians asked me if I had ever heard of a new internet site called Napster, I told him that I was not familiar with it and he explained that by using it, a person could (for free) download any song ever written. Being of a different ethnicity, I assured him that none of the music I would be interested in would be available there. Later, at home, I decided to look into the program. I downloaded the software, installed and then ran it. I don't remember the interface being too difficult asking only for an artist and song title. All of a sudden I could not think of a single song to download. Then I remembered one of my favorite songs from 1965, Bob Lind's Elusive Butterfly. I typed it in and hit enter. Almost immediately, a list of selections to choose from came up. I chose one and hit the download button. Well, this was still in the dial-up days of the internet and it took several minutes but it finally completely downloaded and I pressed play. Oh my goodness. It was at that second I had a sudden, intuitive perception or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, initiated by the simple, homely, and commonplace task of downloading of a file (or as some might say, an epiphany.) It was at that moment I realized I wanted more songs, in fact I wanted all of them. So began a quest to download and catalog every Billboard Hot 100 song from 1940 to 1999. It took me 10 years. I now love the songs from the 80's and can tolerate most of them from the 70's. The 90's not so much. With a few exceptions, I skip virtually all the songs of the last two decades. This is one of my exceptions...

The Goodyear Endurance tires are well regarded in the towable RV field. I'd be ok with them on my Oliver. ST tires have strengthened sidewalls to handle the sideways scrubbing trailer tires endure in tight turns. @bugeyedriver We've had Maxxis on our previous 3 trailers with absolutely no issues at all. Very nice tires, too.

From their online manual: "If used in a wet bath environment, the Villa should be protected from directly getting wet as it contains an electric fan and high humidity will inhibit the drying of solid waste." Charlie.

Is it permissible on this forum to offer up our driveway for a couple of overnight stays to fellow Oliver owners who might be traveling through our area? We are contemplating being hosts on Boondockers Welcome but haven’t committed yet. We have a large driveway with 30 amp rv receptacle and water, and live 2 miles from an awesome beach.

Well, its raining, again, here in wnc. So, naturally, I'm listening to Annie Lennox. I love this song.

Thank you for the very honest and descriptive review. And it takes a very big person to admit a $900 mistake, kudos to you! I have a feeling about how frugal you and Paul are from previous posts on this forum and I know y’all put a lot of thought into your decision which must make it a bitter pill to swallow. I have a feeling that you will make it work in time even if you don’t share with visitors again. I still haven’t heard anyone talk about their mobile installation disposal methods which should be a different issue from a barn installation. Mossey

A Memorial Day Salute to those service members that served and sacrificed everything. Let us never forget, Freedom is not Free.

If you listen to the words it is obvious that it is about mother nature and the eventual demise of the human race by our own ignorance. We think that we are somehow more powerful than the earth and that we ultimately determine it's destiny. When in reality she can take it back at any time and we will be the only cost. Her love rains down on me easy as the breeze I listen to her breathing it sounds like the waves on the sea I was thinking all about her, burning with rage and desire We were spinning into darkness the earth was on fire She could take it back, she might take it back some day So I spy on her, I lie to her, I make promises I cannot keep Then I hear her laughter rising, rising from the deep And I make her prove her love for me, I take all that I can take I push her to the limit to see if she will break She might take it back, she could take it back some day Now I have seen the warnings, screaming from all sides It's easy to ignore them, God knows I've tried All of this temptation, you know it turned my faith to lies Until I couldn't see the danger or hear the rising tide She can take it back, she will take it back some day She can take it back, she will take it back some day She will take it back, she will take it back some day

Although I am not a composting toilet owner at this time it is something I have thought about. The big reason is probably that the Minister of Finance is not in favor of any expenditures for "the dog house". And of course her involvement in dumping consist of operating the black tank flush valve and adding Calgon and Dawn to the tank when dump and flush are complete. And since she is short in stature, the composting toilets all seem a little tall for her. I guess my biggest concern is probably waste disposal and that seems to be a dirty little secret that doesn’t get discussed much. SeaDawg's link for the Separett Tiny was very interesting and would certainly be a candidate for me. The Tiny's manual suggest placing the #2 bags someplace for 12 months and then adding them to my normal household compost bins. I always thought I would handle it like a dirty diaper and maybe place it in the trash, but I really not sure of the proper procedure. Anyone who would like to share their disposal process, please chime in. I am still partial to the Sun-Mar GTG which is very similar the the Tiny in appearance and footprint, but does seem to be engineered with less potential part failures in my opinion. Both seem to have an easier maintenance program than the Nature’s Head toilet, but I have never dumped any of these models, so I am not speaking from experience. What do actual NH owners think of their experience compared to the possible use and maintenance of either the Separett Tiny or the Sun-Mar GTG? And since I have only thought about the vent plumbing of the GTG and I am not fond of the NH vent appearance, does anyone have knowledge of the standard toilets vent plumbing and would there be clearance above the black tank for a vent running from a composting toilet to the vanity area? Mossey

I would have to agree a great alternative for a cabin tiny home or even a garage, The 3” pipe would not look very attractive in the small Oliver bathroom. And the redirection of the urine to the grey tank? Sometimes you can get some serious odor from a grey tank vent, add urine to that no thanks.

Some of you have seen this mod I did on the microwave cabinet, but i thought I'd post it again in this thread. It was prompted by the microwave trying to escape from the cabinet several times. And the need for more function. I was able to keep a smaller microwave, and include a wine rack and utensil storage tubes. A pantry latch holds the door closed and the door also serves as a stainless work counter. We had an extra set of wood trim pieces that made a matching door.

We have the Mini Smart Oven we use at home all the time. It is great. Maybe doesn't bake as well as our big convection oven, but would be so much better than an RV microwave or Microwave/convection.

Yeah, that 3" pipe is pretty big but the fan pushes a lot more air than the Nature Head does. I found this answer from them for not using some kind of composting agent e.g. coconut coir, peat moss, saw dust etc. which sounds reasonable. "The Separett system holds the solid waste, separated from the liquid waste, within a compostable liner bag in the holding area. The fan is drawing air over the material serving to vent any odor and aid in drying the material. No other material is added as that would impede drying. No composting toilet on the market brings the material to a safe state within the toilet, as it take a min of 6 months for human pathogens to become benign aerobically. Therefore our feeling is why add additional material in the toilet and make it a mess to empty - when the material needs additional composting upon removal. So - upon removal from the Villa in the compostable bag, the waste goes to a compost area, approved disposal area (as in an RV park) or in an incinerator for disposal. With composting, the bag goes into the compost area in the tied off bag, the bag will compost down exposing the contents for composting with other kitchen and yard materials. Our system allows options and less volume for the method of disposal over other systems. More info on our company site at SeparettStore dot com. see less By Separett-USA SELLER on January 7, 2019"

I love the old music best.

So, I've kind of mixed up the threads on the cabinet and new fridge, but, they were done at the same time... We opted to forgo the complete cabinet inset box to gain more space. Paul epoxied some strips into the sides of the cavity after squaring up the odd shaped face of the opening. The nailing strips are just thick enough to protect the wiring runs and conduits running down the sides of the cavity. He made templates, and cut scrap 1/2 inch play to fit each side, then fastened them to the epoxied strips with stainless screws. We trimmed the raw fiberglass edges with truloc 3/8 grip edge, one side grip, automotive PVC trim in black. I painted the plywood sides, and fiberglass hull top, back, and floor with two coats of white enamel. Finished the floor with some scrap Ikea heavy drawer and shelf liner. Paul ran a 12v wire into the top of the cavity from the upper cabinet, and installed a switched led light in the area. I love that! We had one left over from a project on the boat last year. Finally, he installed the bottom lip face, a cutdown Ikea high gloss white drawer front. Then, attached the Ikea swing up hinges to the 12 x 24 drawer front and the plywood cabinet sides. We adjusted the hinges to be quite stiff, but hopefully that will keep them closed as we travel. An Ikea Blankett linear pull on the 12 x 24 door breaks up the big expanse of white, and matches the new drawer beneath the fridge. We more than tripled the storage of the interior of the old microwave... I used the microwave to store paper plates, aluminum pans, and a few odd items. I think I have about 2.5 to 2.75 cubic feet of storage now in the old microwave cavity. Sherry

We picked our trailer up on 12/19. We opted for the storage cabinet rather than microwave. The plan was for a toaster oven but none that I wanted would fit so we made a bar out of it. I love it! Here is a picture.

That's a good point - I didn't look at the photo. The door and frame Oliver uses wouldn't be nearly large enough to retrofit. Sherry, did you decide on the Isotherm? I'll add an update to the fridge thread that you might read if you haven't bought one just yet.

We got the door/cabinet option from the factory and use the smallest Breville toaster oven in there, which *almost* fits. We definitely have gotten more use out of the oven than we would have the microwave. I don't know how your microwave was wired, but ours just has a 120 in the cabinet above and a hole to run a cord through. I can measure the exact size of the door Oliver installs if you want. When you get the option from them, they build a cabinet inside that isn't much larger than the door. In fact, it's smaller than they told us it would be which means we got stuck with a larger oven than will fit. In fact, if someone is considering the factory option, know that I was actually given one set of dimensions early on, which was different from what's listed on the measurement pdf, which was different from what I overheard Heather telling a customer on the phone while I was picking up our trailer, which was different from what was actually in our trailer. So good luck, buyers!