Leaderboard

Some nights, after a long day of adventures, I don't feel like slicing and dicing. One of my favorites is Idahoan Red Mashed potatoes, as a side for something on the grill. Two cups of boiling water in the tea kettle, a big dollop of sour cream and a bit of butter, stir, cover, and stir again, good to go. So easy, and tasty. I also love the microwave rice packets, though I don't have a microwave. I just add a little water, and heat. Both store in the pantry, and require no refrigeration.

Thanks…after service contacted me they said the new design has hose come in from side port, then all the way up under the sink to a valve. If you have the flush system where the lines run around the front of the tank then it has a vacuum break under the bathroom sink. That is where it is most likely leaking. You would need to remove the bath vanity insert (4 screws & caulk). The system runs up to that break which keeps any tank water from flowing to the inlet. The hose continues as a loop back from the front of the tank back to the flush input as you’ve shown. Vacuum break valve located under sink now used on newer trailers. I’ll tear into this when I get home. took this out our rear windo this am at Meziadin lake PP BC We had been sitting out there the night before!

Hello all, We made it home safely, and have been recovering physically & mentally. I am currently working on 3 articles for the forum, one of which will be about our suspension issues.

For years I've used dark colored towels that had seen better days for camping. Obviously, the color was to hide any real dirt they might come into contact with and being a bit fraid around the edges or having a couple of small holes really didn't hurt the function or my fashion sense. Unfortunately, even when camping in the relatively dry western mountains, these "normal" towels would tend to "sour" and during the occasional periods when it might rain for a few days in a row, they might never get dry. In talking about this with Shallowgal it was recommended that I try towels like THESE. I was warned that these towels would not be as soft and fluffy but that they would pack down to a very small size and would dry me and wouldn't "sour". I don't know (and really don't care) if it was the pups or the humans - but - Shallowgal was right. These towels are exactly as advertised. The smallest of the three in the set linked above I use in the kitchen. The middle size is about perfect for the Ollie bath while the largest size is good for the beach, campground bath houses or my shower tent. Bill

Micro fiber for the win! They dry fast on the back of our chairs, and are super absorbent.👍🏻

A piece of small pool noodle does the trick for us.

This is an exemplary, and prompt, response from Oliver Service. Such responsiveness is one reason we chose an Oliver.

That’s quite a change.

It was quite painful to sell, but this was the correct move at this stage in my life. For privacy I won’t say who bought it, but he is a member and if he wants to announce it, that will be on his dime. I emptied out the RV bay for the first time in six years, washed the floor using a push broom and Dawn detergent, and lots of water, and moved my LC200 over to that spot. I now have a vast area to park a vehicle or do workshop type projects, and my wife now has a big corner dedicated to gardening, with two big workbenches, power, light and pegboard. A happy wife is a happy me… Plus I have even more room for my indoor 10 meter airgun range. We will continue to travel and explore the back country at times, but we will stay primarily in motels or B&Bs. But if we encounter a splendid isolated pull-off overlooking a great vista, we can pop the Maggiolina Grand Tour 360 Carbon and rough it for a few nights. It takes about a minute to crank up, and three minutes to put back down. It is pretty darn crude compared to an Ollie, but it is a simply stunning tent. I was really afraid that there would be a big mpg hit from the tent, like with the Yakima RocketBox Carbonite Low, but I was delighted to discover that I got 16 mpgs going to the dealer with bare round bars, and 17 coming back, and no noise at all at 72 mph. That is good mileage for a Land Cruiser with LT tires, they are gas hogs. It’s way better than the 10-12 I got towing “Mouse” at 62 mph. I may install wimpy Geolander AT G015 tires after our next big trip, they will save 52 (!) pounds of rotating mass and I expect to gain another couple of mpgs. They are great “tweener” tires for an Outback, RAV4 or LC200 that isn’t doing lots of rocky stuff. I have had two sets already on other vehicles and I am impressed. We plan to attend the Total Solar Eclipse rally in Fredericksburg next April, but we will be forced to sleep in the ground due to stupid CG rules. If anyone wants a dirt cheap big heavy Eureka! tent and fly in fine condition, come by and talk to me on Tuesday morning after the crowds have departed. After the eclipse, we will head home via the Utah parks and hopefully spend a few nights on the delightful White Rim Road in Canyonlands NP. I will continue to hang out here on the forum, but my posting will be dramatically reduced. The members here feel very much like family, I can’t just go away. John Davies Spokane WA

Ok... I love these forums! Nothing like great ideas shared by a group of common minded OTT owners. I'm thinking I stole this one from a comment that @SeaDawg mentioned a while back regarding his "LED-lit" Shower Fan. Well, Diane read his post and thought it would be a good upgrade - so, the new MAXXAIR w/LED unit arrived yesterday via Amazon (Happy Wife - Happy Life category). This would be the short story of its installation... First off, the original VANAIR Ventline fan assembly operated perfectly - no leaks, no bearing wobble, smooth actuation, but alas, no LED. It's the exact unit we had in our previous SOBs. BTW: Its up for grabs - a "freebee", I'll cover any CONUS shipping costs for anyone needing a Ventline. There was major brain cramping involved to plot-out a list of instructions for the R&R drill, especially the Removal phase. The first "R" was straight forward - using a plastic "razor" scrapper to remove the butyl tape from the gelcoat. Cleaned gelcoat with a fresh microfiber cloth doused with an ounce of rubbing alcohol. 2. Filled original mounting holes with clear silicone, they will be further sealed with the butyl tape attached to the new fan housing. 3. Cut-to-fit the included plastic sleeve that fits between the top flange and bottom (shower side) trim piece. Applied clear silicone around circumference of plastic sleeve and upper gelcoat. BTW - the OTT factory fan hole was exactly the correct diameter - no additional cutting was needed (WHEW!). 4. Mounted new assembly up top, carefully pre-drilled/chamfered 8 new holes in exterior gelcoat. Lightly torqued-in stainless screws enough to "push" butyl tape out from flange. Trimmed tape and applied clear silicone around perimeter of flange. 5. Rain guard: The new unit included a "rain-guard" which may be helpful if operating the fan in a heavy downpour. Applied butyl tape on the RG flange and carefully pre-drilled/chamfered 6 new holes for the RG. Trimmed tape after torquing screws in and then applied clear silicone around perimeter of RG. Attached fan cap with the provided 2 white screws. 6. Applied clear silicone to the trim piece groove where plastic sleeve seats. Carefully pre-drilled/chamfered 4 new holes for the trim. Connected 12vDC power to fan motor and LED - used solder and heat-shrink for connections. Tucked wires inside trim piece and mounted it with 4 screws. 7. Unlike the Ventline unit, the MAXXAIR has a locking mechanism when depressed allows the fan lid to open/raise. Its raises/lowers smoothly. Fan and LED each have separate switches. And as, I believe, @Patriot has recently said, "Let there be light!" One and done... Happy Wife.

My wife and I rarely use the Jensen TV and DVD so we have learned about it as we experience issues along the way. I have a couple of things to share with the group. Most of us have had to use the reset option on the Radio/DVD to correct anomalies. We recently ran into an issue with play back of a DVD movie, actually two movies. We set the source to AV on the TV using the TV remote and we had sound right up until we hit play on the DVD menu. After trying multiple times, and trying another DVD, we finally remembered to do a reset of the Radio/DVD player and Voila, everything returned to normal except I lost all AM/FM presets and the time setting. Another issue I ran into awhile back was not being able to scan for channels. After much trial and error, I realized that the source needed to be set to TV before that item on the menu would be available to select after hitting the menu button on the TV remote. Finally, I sleep on our twin bed with my head adjacent to the aft. The TV power LED is always on when the TV is off if it has power. The blue LED is quite distracting so we simply unplug the power cable on our TV and only plug it in when we need to use it. I shared this with an Oliver owner at the Maine Oliver Rally in this year and discovered on the older units that have the Jensen TV, the power is on the back of the lower right of the TV as opposed to our TV where the power cable can be accessed on the upper left of the TV. One less suggestion, the Omni Antenna isn't only used for the TV. It also improves reception on FM on the Jensen Radio. If you get an intermittent weak signal, and can afford the power usage, turn on the Omni the attic and see if it improves reception like it does for our 2019 LEII.

We roll up a hand towel and insert it. Ours was leaking a bit on our last trip in some heavy rain, it’s not sealing right when we close it. I decided to go ahead and order a maxxfan with the LED light. I’ll install it in the next week or so before we head out to TN and KY in Sept and Oct to see some leaves turning. Mike

"No refrigeration " and "quick and easy" is sometimes for the win! I remember one really cold, rainy, and windy night in Canada, when we tried repeatedly to start a fire with wet pine. It was a no go situation. Although late summer, it was really cold. We had dried soup mix, on the stovetop. Satisfying and good. And hot. I always have some in the Ollie, and I carry it in my luggage when we fly and camp... Iceland, Scandinavia, Australia, etc.. There's always water, somewhere. Stores may not be open. Especially landing on Sunday. Made freeze dried chili in Norway, in a dry cabin, one night, after landing in Bergen, and driving an hour and a half toward my cousins. No real stores open, en route. Good to have, as backup. Not our usual meals, but they are great in certain circumstances. Tonight's camping dinner, everything fresh. Vegetables from my neighbors ' organic garden.

Same here! 👍🏻

And I've thought for the past several years that I was the only one that was/is so plebian.😊 I swore to myself after the time I spent in the Army that I'd never eat anything freeze dried again (especially eggs). But, these things are actually rather good. Bill

Actually - me too. However the towels that I referenced above are slightly different and even lighter than the "Absorber" jobs. While I'm here I should add that it was Mike that actually found the towels that I have since the ones that Shallowgal recommended were no longer available. So - thanks to both Mossemi and Shallowgal. 🥰 Bill

We use Turkish towels. Light woven cotton. Pack small, dry quicker than regular towels, but still feel like cloth.

We all have our tips and tricks! I started using Absorber Synthetic Chamois towels while motorcycle camping. And I still use them when camping in the Ollie. Then I finish with a small microfiber cloth. I usually cut one in half and make two towels out of one. Who cares if they dry out or not, they work better wet just like a real chamois. And it’s harder to drag on the floor using a half of one. Plus a half is easier for me to wring out. Mossey

Hi, and welcome! And, congrats on your Oliver. Which bath fan do you have? MaxxFan, or ventline? (The Maxx dome has a clearly visible fuseholder on the inside. The ventline doesnt.) As a temporary fix, i've seen folks use a piece of pvc or a rolled up towel through the handle to keep it from opening. Scroll down through about halfway, and you'll see some solutions. Your fan may have been installed incorrectly.

David & Paula - I'll add another "thing" to watch for: If you use a USB stick for music (and I assume for video), the older units are limited to something between 2 and 6 gigs before they can no longer handle any greater capacity. Yes, you can still use a larger USB stick, but, you can put any more than something between the 2 to 6 gig on that stick and have it work/load properly. To help get around this issue, I bought a bunch of 8 gig USB mini sticks (like THESE) and placed different types of music on each one (i.e. country, pop, classical, movies, nature, spa, etc.). Depending on my mood I get the music stick of choice, put it in and then hit the random button and rock on. Bill p.s. larger amounts of data will not actually "hurt" anything - they will simply not load thus leaving the player and TV just sitting there looking at you until you take that USB stick out.

Yep. It’s the dinette seat next to the bath, toward the front of the trailer where the black tank is. Mike

Do you know which Xantrex 2000W inverter you have? Oliver has used 2 versions of the Xantrex 2000W inverter. The original is a PROwatt SW Inverter. And they newer inverter is a FREEDOM X / XC Inverter. The original has a hard coded High and Low voltage cut off, which can not be modified by the end user to my knowledge. The newer Inverter can be modified by the end user. Is this the model you have? Mossey

Found that part, Cash Acme 1/2 Inch V-101 Anti-Siphon Vacuum Breaker, Brass Plumbing Fitting, 17383-0000 FYI it is about 6 ounces and designed to attach to rigid pipe like a house hose bib. It should be mounted with the diaphragm (plate) facing up, so water will drain out and not pool. FYI that white check valve will function in any position, but ideally it should be horizontal to rule out the effect of gravity and road bumps. If yours is vertical, you could switch the position of the 90 degree elbow to correct that. John Davies Spokane WA

I suspect that other owners were breaking the old style line by putting heavy stuff in that storage compartment. While you are in the bath cabinet, secure all the other loose parts that flop around. Maybe the next bad roads won’t break stuff. I bet that very heavy brass vacuum breaker doesn’t have a support bracket. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/9039-how-to-bath-sink-compartment-mods-duct-rework-insulation-disconnect-flush-line/ What tire pressures? I always ask when owners report this sort of failure. I towed over all kinds of nasty roads including British Columbia and never had problems at 42 psi and careful driving (ie slow down for those visible tire eating potholes and whoop-de-dos…) Please post lots of pics, this is informative. Thanks. John Davies Spokane WA

More than likely - so were they!

Well, that's another "potential " problem, not one anyone is likely to face with quality lifepo4 batteries, but it could happen. Fighting a lifepo4 fire is different from a traditional fire, from what I have read. Not unique to Olivers. Many manufacturers now offer a lithium upgrade. And, many owners have done their own upgrade, hopefully to a reliable source. Someday, near in the future, we'll likely see a requirement for a lithium hazard symbol. Everywhere. For now, my home is powered by solar and lithium, and one car. Tesla markings on the outside of our home, at the transfer switch, should help firefighters, hopefully, if ever needed.

The leaf springs are the same all around the trailer, side to side and front to back. The 4LF means four leaf ( four leaves on the leaf spring pack). There are other leaf spring packs with less leaves and some with more. The correct ones for the 3,500 pound axles have 4 leaves (1,750 pounds capacity per leaf spring pack x 2 per axle.

We use the cube style boxes from kleenex expressions tissues for our grocery bags. They get stored in the upper cabinets at the back curved section of the roof line. I start the summer with three full ones and add used ones every shopping visit. GJ

I respect your opinion on this. If the fire is in the Battery Box, inside is logical. So long as every occupant of the trailer knows where it is. On the other hand some believe that if there is a fire situtation, get all occupants out NOW and away from the trailer. Then once the family and pets are safe, kill the power source at the batteries or some other outside accessible location. Looking for a master switch hidden under the beds or in a closet somewhere is not time efficient. However fire fighters will go to the battery box and either cut the 4/0 cable or use the red master switch. That likely will be their first action once finding the buring trailer. Regardless, your comment begs having clearly visable signage that "Emergency Battery Switch Here" would be advisable for all locations where the switch is located. Personally I show my guests our 350 amp rated Blue Seas master switch as part of our trailer tour. GJ

This is what I measured back in April. "Panel indicated" is as stated, measurements recorded from the panel. "At terminals" were values recorded with a Fluke 8062A multimeter (calibrated) with respect to the common (-) buss bar except in the case of the actual battery voltage which was measured directly across the battery terminals at the battery ( for simplicity which does not include any drop across the shunt ). I haven't measured the drop across each segment of the high current DC line but the segment from the (+) terminal of the DC input to the Xantrex to the input of the circuit breaker accounts for approximately .27V with the remaining .24V being dropped across the segments preceding the circuit breaker. I don't know the specs for the shunt but it's probably not unreasonable to expect a .1V drop here given the load. I did speak with an engineer at Optifuse concerning the DCR ( DC resistance under load ) of the circuit breaker since their spec sheet did not disclose this information and he stated that he would expect those values to be in the "low milliOhms if not microOhms" region which would be insignificant. So I believe that it all comes down to the basics; is the cable quality, length, and gauge appropriately rated for the max load; is the surface area and quality of the crimps and terminals adequate, have the number of connections / crimps in the system been minimized ? Could be a 'bad circuit breaker' but given the fact that others are having the same problem, probably not.

Yes. Basicallly my goal is to be able to use our 300 AH of Battleborns and our 3,000 watt inverter to power up the Houghton A/C. Consensuss approach is to install a second power transfer switch next to the OEM. This does require changing out the 20 amp wire that feeds from the existing breaker to the second power transfer switch. Took about 6 hours to complete the job. GJ

I am just smart enough to understand why a reboot would allow the inverter electronics and capacitors to fully "Stand Down" overnight. Occasionally my fat fingers have typed in some inadvertent key strokes on my computer that put it into a tail spin and the reboot did the fix job. If you have no need to be in the trailer needing lighting or fans, you could just turn off your master DC switch (or pull the 300 amp fuse) and you will accomplish the same thing without the PITA of removing those massive DC input cables at the Inverter. Me: I would gladly sleep the night in the dark with the Master Switch off, and turn it on in the morning and fire off the coffee pot and microwave in the morning and thereby avoiding messing with those difficult to get to cables. GJ

The LED is surprisingly bright - 50 to 60 watt equivalent? I'll check the box it came in for the model number.... MAXXFAN Dome Plus w/LED - WHITE. Cheers!

We've had the maxxair for a few years now, with the led light ring. Best upgrade. (Our decade old ventline was leaking.) We installed the maxxair with butyl tape. Trimmed the outside with marine caulk. Love it, as you do. Love, love the light. Our handle release is more difficult than the old ventline, but we can live with that. It's a two hand operation. The fan is higher cfm. And very, very quiet. Highly recommend it.

Some add to help an back story, before being split off. Pictures are scrambled, chocks are on front wheels. yes we did break two leaf springs (on this trip) and replaced all 4 shocks with the Monroe’s 555001. And the leaf springs (should have been) “4-Leaf Double-Eye Spring for 3,500-lb Trailer Axles - 27" Long”. Mind you, repairs were done in Univik, parts came in air-freight from Edmonton & Whitehorse. and they worked us in with all their other customers prior schedule’s. we will be heading to Whitehorse to seek professional help. b~out