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In the village of Norstead a 54 foot replica of a Viking knarr which sailed from Greenland to L’Anse aux Meadows in 1998 with a crew of only nine men, reenacting what the Vikings did during the Viking era (790-1060 AD) The rudder was on the side near the stern of the vessel held on with a couple ropes.

John, I hope this doesn’t offend but you will be in my prayers.

Made it to the Yukon. First problem on trip. At Watson Lake turned on pump and heard splashing sound under bed by pump We had been in bad washboard roads which broke the PEX connection at the T out of the water heater. Thanks to previous posts I knew of this trouble spot and had replacement parts on board. Took 30 mins to fix.

Well, after a year or more of using towels to soak up rain water, I finally got the nerve up to take off the walk-in Lippert door from the trailer. The sealant putty behind the door frame, where the screws go in, had failed and leaked bad. This was an easy job! It only took me three hours and most of that time was prep-work and clean-up of old butyl tape (putty). I have a bunch of video clips to put together to make a YouTube video of the process, but I'm finding it difficult to organize everything. I need to re-shoot a better intro. I'm still learning. Anyways, the door & frame came off WAY TOO EASY. It appears that someone before me attempted to repair the leaks (left & right sides), but they did not cleaned off all the original butyl sealant/putty. Don't be lazy. Clean everything like new. Also, I used two layers of butyl tape in the middle area of the door frame, on the left and right sides of the door frame, due to the distance between the yellow straight edge (see picture) and the curved pieces of hull and where they meet up. I used a plastic scraper to take off the heaviest of old butyl tape from the hull and the door frame itself. I then used 3M adhesive removal and a rag to get the surfaces perfectly clean. (Wear gloves) Everything went back together quick and easy, no issues at all. I waited 18 hours before performing a leak test, to ensure all putty had warmed up in the sun and "squished" around as needed. I've done a heavy, heavy leak test and it's gone through one heavy, blowing rain storm and another lighter rain since completion, all without a single drop inside. YAY ME! You don't know how happy I was to see that I did it better than the last guy. The original putty(s) looked really bad and it did look like someone attempted to address the issue before I purchased the trailer. What a crappy job they did. Shaking my head. Also, in those middle sections of the hull, where I doubled up the putty, I noticed that old putty was not even remotely "squished" in by the door frame, indicating there was air gabs between the putty and the frame, or the hull. THIS WAS NOT A DIFFICULT JOB. I should have done it sooner! Many of the screw holes were too large for the screws used. Really, there were about 10 of the 23 screws which could have been removed by hand or simply pulled straight out of the holes. I Epoxied the worst of the holes and re-drilled. I also added a handful of new self-tapping screws to ensure the door frame snugged up tight to the trailer where needed (not in the middle sections of the left & right door frame). Remember, the door frame will not really "bend" towards the hull due to the door frame itself being so stout and with right-angles, hence the need for doubling up the putty in the middle, where the hull was too far way from door frame's edge, where the screw holes are located. As some of you know already, this door, I think, is custom made for Oliver, as my door did say Lippert, but the sticker essentially said, made for Oliver, mine was from a lot of 10 doors. I looked on the Lippert web site and I did not find the same dimensions of doors as Oliver uses, or I'm measuring wrong. The fan in the attached picture is where I was drying up the spray foam between the floor and the outer hull. Oliver used foam as a filler, likely to reduce movement, but my foam was soaking wet with rain water, so it sat and dried while I worked on everything else. Again, if your door leaks, but is not damaged and does not need replacing, this is a super easy job, and likely if you did need a new door and might be able to have it shipped from Oliver, it would still be easy. I say that because someone on Facebook just mentioned their door got damaged in a wind storm recently. This is a one-person job too, unless someone wants to help clean up old putty from the hull or door. That would save a lot of time.

Well, it's 16 seasons later, now. Three years ago, we upgraded our 2 x 100 watt panels to 2 x 200 watt bifacial panels, made in Michigan. Great upgrade. Now, I see Renogy has introduced 220 watt bifacial panels, with perc tech, plus half cut cells. We're happy with what we have, for now, but I do love the concept of this new product. (No size listed. We have a 2008 elite,so, limited space, even with our custom sidemount.) Think of the watts generated bouncing off that glossy white hull? We think we get extra, but have never tried to measure, with our bifacials. I'm glad to see manufacturers continue to upgrade the status quo. https://www.renogy.com/bifacial-220-watt-12-volt-monocrystalline-solar-panel/

It's this stuff here, Dicor BT-1834-1 1/8" x 3/4" x 30' Butyl Seal Tape Here's my YouTube comparison on the two sealant tapes I had on-hand.

John - My wife and I rarely follow any form of social media, but regularly check in to the Oliver Forum in large measure to see whether you’ve added another post. Your posts on modifications and maintenance are the gold standard, and we thank you for your detailed explanations and thoughtful replies to questions. I echo others in the hope that you remain active on the forum, and that your health improves.

A lot of forums like to post music video threads and I am one of those people that has music going all the time. Here's what I am listening to: What are you listening to? Post your youtube video link below.

Years ago, our friend Chuck talked about his plans to (maybe) make window awnings from solar panels. This company is planning to go bigger, and better. A flexible solar awning that can supply 1200 watts when deployed.... Novel idea. Create shade, and use the sun to create power. Wonder how well it will hold up? https://www.rvnews.com/xponent-power-partners-to-produce-solar-awning/

Hull 505 - Galway Girl Made it to mile 0. Updates later.

We're very happy to be new owners and part of this Oliver Community. Just one month ago, we had no idea! What is an Oliver? We started (part-time) RV life about 5 years ago, with hopes to travel the great American West! We started big with a Class A diesel-pusher. Sold that one a year later, then tried a Class C. By the way, RV manufactures have no business mounting a 30' box on an E450 chassis. Sold this one in May, wanting something smaller, likely a travel trailer, that would make it up and down the dirt roads prevalent in Arizona. We were very lucky to find a used Oliver listed locally for sale online, and it was right down the road from us. I wanted to see it, thinking there is NO WAY we would spend that kind of money on a TT! We bought it a few days later. Haven't been out yet, but planning to leave Monday, heading north to Kendricks Peak Wilderness Area for a few days dry camping. We do not usually summer-camp, down here in the SW climate, but hoping up at 8K feet elevation, it will be cool enough without hookups and A/C. So far, I've replaced the old corner TV, with a centered 30" Samsung smart TV, got the Dish Satellite working. Filled, cleaned and drained tanks. Pulled the regulators off our grill and fire-ring and purchased quick-connect LP lines. Thought our 2008 Lexus GX 4.7L v8 might pull it, and it was OK around town, but not climbing steep grades in the Rockies! So, another great find was an older Dodge Ram Cummins, not as powerful as the newer ones, but perfect for this trailer, and there it was in excellent condition, white with gray lowers and black moldings and it looks perfect with the Oli in tow and should pull fine up the mountains (will post pic soon). We're likely have a lot of questions and will post improvements. Glad to see so much info here and with a decent search engine! Thank you, ahead of time for your help!

Maybe. But so are are fixed panels. The advantage of fixed panels are that they charge as you travel. Rolled up solar does zip on the road. I'd want at least a combo.

Steve, back in April we camped in our son's driveway. It was cool and we didn't need AC. However, When I plugged into his outside outlet, I was tripping his breaker. I called Oliver and they had me lower a setting on the inverter. We weren't really using anything, but still had to adjust the inverter. Re-set it when we got ready to leave.

Another beautiful tune by Molly and Jay…

A foggy day of hiking at Fishing Point Municipal Park gave way to a beautiful sunset

I just did this mod. I used the silence hose kit too. As you can see in my picture I put the accumulator to the far right and chose not to move my pump. Tested it today and seems to be working, although won’t know until I turn the water on/off a few times. I set the pressure at 25 based on input here because I think the pump is 30psi.. Thanks for the instructions.

FWIW, I run Dometic AC on 20amp circuit at home without any apparent issues.

Ah yes good question, like you said, would be great if it splits the load across shore and batteries like the Victron!

If you have a Xantrex inverter, pretty sure you also want to change the AC input breaker (#28) setting from 25 to 15A, but I don't know if it will run your AC then! More experienced people will chime in for sure.

Exactly. She did say registering wasn't required. I had to get Oliver to send me a signed letter that our Oliver was a 2022 and we picked it up in March 2022.

We showed our trailer to some customers who came into our store because they had heard we had an Oliver and asked us to see it. so we had them come by on the following Sunday and spent a better part of an afternoon with them. We filled out the forms on line and never heard boo from Oliver and as far as I know the prospective buyers never got contacted from Oliver either. Don’t hold me to that but I never heard anything back from either party. About a month later I got a call from Oliver with a referral and we spent another afternoon with a nice couple from a nearby town. We told them to consider a new trailer because of the upgrades to the heat , ac and refrigerator in the 2023 model instead of a buying the used 2022 they had a line on in Florida. We thought the extra mods were worth the mob. But they ended up buying the used 2022 in Florida. . Anyway we did get the $50.00 added to our card for showing the trailer to the 2nd couple. We also found out that the rewards card that Oliver uses has a lot of issues from the provider, not Oliver. So as soon as we got the card we ran it through our credit card machine at our store and took the cash. Bill

I camped near a Living Vehicle last year. The LV has two levels of solar. One which slides under the other so there is charging capability while underway. When you set up at a site, the lower array slides out on rails from underneath the fixed array to form a shade structure over the fold down deck. This would be interesting for someone to do with their Oliver https://www.livingvehicle.com/2024-options#solar-awning-option-open-2

My experience with warranty work from oem manufacturers is that trailer manufacturers don't have to "register" for warranty. (Registration is actually not a legal requirement in many states.) Title date worked for me, in a couple situations. Pickup date in others, including an expensive charger converter panel in a motorhome also worked. 6 days before 2 year manufacturers warranty expired. It all depends. It's just worth asking. If, you need parts. Since I haven't had a norcold for 8 or 9 years, I couldn't say, but I had a two year warranty way back when, 2008. Glad it worked for you, @John Dorrer. Hope the op also gets help.

Sea Dog is right. We had an issue with our Norcold. We contacted a Norcold approved mobile RV company when we were in Texas. We also called Norcold and discovered that Oliver had not registered our fridge. We registered it over the phone The part that was bad was the AC heating element. It was replaced and everything worked fine for the first two trips. On the way home from the Rally the temps on AC went from 35°/2° to 44°/24° in less than 2 hours. Switched to LP. On our recent trip every 48 hours temps went through the roof Dropped it off for a week but they couldn't get to it. Call Norcold to register the fridge and find a Norcold approved RV place, www.norcold.com

The belly in their photo is ridiculous.

When we were looking for the perfect "for us" travel trailer, our dinner conversations rambled on about the 30+ brands and models we'd looked at and read about. Toward the end of those days, our poor little dog (who happened to be named Oliver ) spent the dinner hour whipping his head back and forth as his "name" came up over and over again. I was afraid he'd get whiplash, frankly.😄 Evolution. Last week, we discussed wiring with Ryan at Blue Sky during dinner on speakerphone. Tonight, we two solar nerds chatted with each other again about wiring and dual controller setup (master/slave, fixed/portable) and watched a couple videos from the Blue Sky learning center. After dinner, more research. I guess it's a good thing that we feel we still have a great trailer to upgrade, and enjoy, 13 seasons later. And, that it's worth the time and effort (and $) to do the upgrades. And, that we enjoy it.

https://robbreport.com/motors/aviation/alef-bonkers-flying-car-faa-approval-1234862248/amp/ Wonder what it can tow? 🤣🤣🤣

To my knowledge, neither the black nor grey tank are certified for freshwater. Even if they were, the way they connect in an Ollie would make them inappropriate for use for fresh. We carry 5 gallon jugs for longer trips, in the truckbed. A few have figured out a way to use the black tank (unused with a composting toilet) for extra grey water capacity. And, as Steph and Dub said, what would you do with the grey water, anyway?

What would you do with your grey water?

My gas furnace at home was doing this every couple seasons and it has always been the flame sensor. I just started cleaning it before I start to use it each year at home and so far no problems. I am not familiar with your furnace but it should have a flame sensor and it sounds like the exact same problems I was having. If you can find the flame sensor it is easy to clean. Sorry couldnt be more help.

Yep - since you've checked the air flow and it is OK then about all that is left is either you are not getting a "spark" for ignition (you know that this is also good because the furnace does ignite) or the furnace does not sense that you have a burner flame once it is ignited. If it were me - I'd try to clean the thermocouple - it will look something like THIS one. Even if you are successful in cleaning it and get the furnace to function, I'd strongly consider replacing it. Good luck! Bill p.s. NOTE! It is highly likely that the thermocouple on your furnace is different from the one referenced above - I only wanted you to know what it looked like, not that this one is a replacement for yours.

You may still be under warranty with norcold. Many components have a two or three year warranty, in our experience, via manufacturer

Looking closer at the picture of the yellow straight edge comparing the distance between the hull and where the door frame will be, you can see how Oliver offsets the outer seam from the inner seam. Now that's thinking!!! Well done.

What size Butyl Tape did you use? Great post. Thank you for taking the time to do so. GJ

And, Bosker is STILL embarrassed for you.🥰

Did your "Inner Viking" come out when you were there? The docents told me I could try on some of the items in that room. Soooooo. . .

I agree, cracks me up when I see a potholes ahead sign when you spent the last hour avoiding them. We spent today at L’ANSE AUX MEADOWS Here is the view from the Viking village

@Boonter Jeff, if you want or need help updating your signature, just pm me. Then it will show at the bottom of each post. It does help others when they know your trailer vintage, to offer appropriate comments. Thanks for updating your profile.

The smoke is gone and the sky is clear at Pistolet Bay Provincial Park, it amazes me how blue the skies and waters are here in Newfoundland.

Great National Monument and great campground. Amazing hikes.

More pic’s from Gros Morne I

I went to their website for better photos. As you said, more like a pergola. Looks like thin, slender panels that somehow stack up when not deployed. https://xponentpower.com/ Watching the two videos on their site explained a bit. Especially the comparison video of a standard awning, and theirs, in windy conditions. The "pergola " design offers a lot more time to use in somewhat windy conditions.

You said the propane was on and the fridge was set to auto and your Ollie was closed up tight for nine hours. One possible cause for the alarm could be combustion air seeping into the trailer through the Norcold refrigerator front control panel. I have evidence that Norcold has a design flaw that provides combustion air a clear path through the refrigerator control panel into the trailer. I am not the only one that has noticed this, which is only evident when the wind is blowing hard into the curb side of the trailer (In my case, the air was coming in hard enough to blow out a small candle). OTT has been great in trying to troubleshoot this with me, but Norcold claims it is not their problem and OTT has not been able to develop an aftermarket repair as Norcold claims that any modification would void the warranty. (It is definitely not a problem with the installation of the refrigerator by OTT as a repair shop told me that OTT's installation was far better than what they typically see). It is possible that there was a very slow seepage of combustion contaminated air (or propane) from the back of the refrigerator into the trailer over many hours. The Ollie is very tight when closed up and it wouldn't dissipate easily. You said you were on shore power so the refer may have been running on 120 volts and not propane. If there were a very slow leak in the propane lines in the back of the refrigerator though, this could also explain how propane got into the trailer. Propane is heavier than air and would immediately pool in the floor area under the dinette and even small amounts over many hours could have set off the detector. I would check for propane leaks outside the trailer at the back of the refrigerator. There have been numerous posts on this forum of the propane detector being too sensitive or going off for unexplained reasons. It is possible that the combustion air path through the front control panel of the Norcold refrigerator has been the cause of some of these false alarms. Maybe they are not all false. You may want to open a repair ticket with OTT so they are aware of your issue. In my opinion, Norcold should take this issue more seriously, because I believe Norcold may be selling a product with a safety related design defect.