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The switch could have been turned off and just not turned back one when the new batteries were installed as the panels would need to have their power feed to the controller interrupted to avoid damage to the controller when the batteries were removed and new ones installed.

The guys from CGI Detailing "camped" in our lower level last night for the first night of a trip around North Carolina. After a quick breakfast this morning we were out the door headed for the storage facility where I have to keep my Oliver. After a quick look and some elbow grease it was decided that Twist was back to looking as it should. The guys then headed off towards Charlotte but made a stop at Mount Mitchell (highest point in the east at 6684 feet) located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway. Not only do these guys do good work, but, they also stand behind that work and they are fun to be around. Very much in what has become the "Oliver Tradition". My only regret is that I didn't have them do the ceramic coating sooner. Bill

I've been banned from shopping at one of out local Walmart's here in town. About 6 months ago I was in Walmart buying a large bag of Purina dog food for my beautiful Doberman, Reacher, which weighed 110 lbs. I was in the check-out line when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog. I wondered what she thought I had. So, because I'm retired and have little to do, on impulse, I told her that no, I didn't have a dog, I was starting the Purina Diet again. I explained to her that it was the Perfect Diet. Dog food is nutritionally complete and contains all the nutrients, protein, vitamins and minerals to adequately sustain a large carnivore for a lifetime. I added that the last time, it had worked really well and that I'd lost 50 pounds. Since I had gained back some weight lately, I had decided to give it another go. I told her the way that it works is, to load your jacket pockets with Purina Nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. Further, I told her that I knew I probably shouldn't do this, because the last time, I ended up in the hospital. I explained that I had awakened in the intensive care unit with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IV's in both arms. (I need to mention here that practically everyone in the checkout line was now enthralled with my story.) Horrified, she asked if I had ended up in intensive care, because the dog food had poisoned me. I told her no, I had stopped to pee on a Fire Hydrant and a car hit me.

@Ollie-Haus What a great idea and very solid mounting solution for Old Glory! 🇺🇸🇺🇸 The saddle clamps work excellent, a very well thought out mod. The flag pole and base base are rock solid. Despite the oppressive heat this afternoon, the install went seamless. Thanks for posting up! Patriot🇺🇸

The LED is wired across the fuse and will light when the fuse is blown AND a load is attached to complete the circuit. There must be a load applied and the fuse must be blown for the LED to light. As far as reading a voltage with your meter on the load side of the fuse ( when no actual load exists ) this may cause your meter to falsely read a voltage because your digital meter is completing the circuit between the LED and ground. Because your digital meter has high impedance inputs the LED may not actually light but it is completing the circuit between the LED and ground, thereby drawing a small current, and as such will indicate a voltage. You can think of your meter as a very high value resistor in this application.

@Ken_Judy: John is spot-on regarding "loosening of ancillary running gear nuts." We recently serviced our zerks and decided to also perform preventive maintenance on the 3 jacks - only to find that the curbside rear jack head set-screw had loosened over time and the entire motor/head assembly rotated clockwise. Had we not found this condition before it progressed into something really serious, it could have been a major safety accident. Getting your eyes up/around/inside/down everywhere on the Ollie periodically really pays off. Just perform your inspections with good planning and forethought while doing it safely at the same time. My $0.02... Cheers!

Oh, I do all that the same way you're describing; apps in groups, groups placed where they are easily found. It's still easier for me to glance at a dedicated read-out mounted in the trailer than to jump through all those hoops.

I routinely drive with the fresh tank drain open if I want the tank empty at my next stop. It won't cause any problems.

Thanks! That's good to hear as she has taken good care of it. We've found another trailer, though - it's newer and more expensive but is in superb shape. 🙂

Success!! Found the breaker in the 'attic' - the storage comp right next to the Zamp controller. It had flipped to 'Off". Turned to to "On" and the controller reset and said I'm solar charging!! Thanks for the help! Geoff IMG_5153.HEIC

This is way too much grease. Usually there will be more at one side of the bushing than on the other, but once you see any on that second side, stop. Somebody anal will wipe all that grease off anyway with rags. The more you apply, the more you have to wipe off, if you decide to… The oil separates from the waxy carrier and dribbles all over. It doesn’t hurt the steel parts, other than looking messy, but the rubber cushions of the EZ Flex should not stay oil soaked. Bravo for doing this yourself! It is important to also INSPECT everything while you are greasing. This means going underneath. That lets you find a problem early, for example a blown shock or cracked spring, or worn bushings from lack of grease, or impact damage from a big rock, before it turns into a major headache at the side of some remote highway. You should also check all the hardware for tightness periodically. With a brand new trailer you will definitely find loose u-bolt nuts, and possibly a few loose suspension ones. And the jack hardware always seems to get loose! John Davies Spokane WA

Hello from Amanda, Brent, Claire, and Sarah. We recently purchased hull #976 and can’t wait to put it to use. This is our first “Travel Trailer” kind of as we also own a Turtleback Expedition we are selling. I consider the Turtleback to be an overlanding trailer and it definitely has a different set of instructions. We have been gleaning tons of information from the forum and Facebook group and really appreciate everyone’s efforts to document their upgrades, ideas, and solutions. We look forward to meeting some of you in our travels. -Brent

That looks to be the correct part, but if you call the service department I'm sure they would gladly give you the part number and explain anything involved in the replacement process. They are very willing to help with information.

Good point. I was writing for John Welte, who I know has a 2022 Elite II, because his is one Hull # before mine!

Ours is an SR5, without the TRD package. TRD is not a different Tundra trim level (like Limited or Platinum), but is an add-on to SR5, Limited, etc. trim levels sold for off-roading. The TRD add-ons include upgraded shocks, some extra skid plates and black wheels. I, too, will be interested to hear if some folks believe the TRD package makes it a better tow vehicle.

SR5 is a trim level and TRD is an upgraded suspension package.

I’m hunkered down in scattered showers at Camp Oliver right now. Ryan did a great job with the delivery and I’m completely overwhelmed! The big stuff I’ve got covered but the little details are just going to take time.

Yeah, that sounded like a good idea when I installed my EZ Flex system back in 2015 and I did it because all the YouTube videos suggested it. And it would have been a good idea if there was about 18 inches of clearance under the trailer. A year or so later, I swapped them to the outside and replaced all the bronze bushings, wet bolts with added 45 degree angle zerks. Now I can get to all the zerks from the outside without jacking up the trailer or removing any wheels. I can grease them all in about 5 minutes. Before it was a struggle to slither around under the trailer on my back and usually took an hour or so and a ruined T-shirt.

😁 That might help, but I think that acquiring Scotopic vision through the development of a human tapetum lucidum would probably be of greater benefit. 😁

Xray vision!

Only if you don't want it to freeze and possibly burst.

You're doing fine - the training wheels actually never leave (hopefully). There is always something new to learn and that makes it interesting. Given the way that fresh water tank overflow tube is constructed, it would be fairly difficult for "road grime" to get into your fresh water tank. For relatively short periods of time I keep that valve open while driving down the (paved) road (10 to 20 miles) or so in order to drain the tank as much as possible. However, as it has been repeated above, no harm will come to the fresh water tank by having a bit of water in it over the winter - even if it freezes rock solid since there is plenty of room for that water to expand (assuming that you have emptied as much as you can. It should be noted here that more than likely your black and grey tanks are not completely empty either. Of course each of these will have some antifreeze in them as a result of putting that pink stuff through the plumbing and toilet and drains during the winterization process. Bill p.s. be sure that you didn't forget to pump the pink stuff into the outside shower and the blank tank flush port.

The "finish" on each of these doors (including the black ones) is applied to the back of the door. Therefore, when anything rubs against that interior surface there is the risk that this finish will be rubbed and/or scratched such that the rub or scratch mark will be easily seen from the exterior side. To prevent this - it is easy to apply "clear" contact paper (like THIS STUFF) to the inside of the doors thus protecting the finish. "Clear" contact paper is actually slightly frosted but it really doesn't affect the look of whatever finish that has been applied to the doors. Bill

From what we learned from the Truma tech at the rally, dehumidify is its own feature only on the remote. When we want to rapidly reduce humidity we use the rain drop button on the remote. This has worked really well for us. The owners manual/instructions for the Truma being translated from German to English are not great.

I do, all the time. In fact, I spent about an hour under there today inspecting my springs, hydraulic brake lines and all the other various connectors.

This thread has been a great help to me. I thought I would share my problem and fix in case it helps others. My wife and I recently bought a used RV. The previous owner had installed a Houghton AC/heat pump. On our first trip, I noticed the unit was cycling on and off about every 4 or 5 minutes. A post above stated that the manufacturer said that this behavior is normal when the temperature is near the setoint. I hung a Govee temperature logger from the AC unit. My unit was cycling even when the temp was far from the setpoint. As a test, I set the setpoint at 60 degF. The unit cycled when the temperature was 78 degrees and cooler. Needless to say, the unit never brought the temperature down to the setpoint. After much puzzling over the situation, I discovered the trouble. My system is a ducted version. When I removed the control panel/shroud from the unit, I discovered that there were two 2"x3" openings on the sides of the unit into the hollow ceiling. The hollow ceiling serves as a cold air plenum to feed the outlets in the ceiling of the RV. These openings were allowing cold air to short cirtuit back into the return of the AC. This was artificially lowering the temperature that the sensor in the return air stream was reading. I cut pieces of rubber and used aluminum duct tape to seal the holes. Problem solved! The unit will now run constantly and can cool like a champ! Another tip: Get yourself a Govee temperature logger or something similar. The Govee stores 2 years of data and lasts well over a year on a battery. I have this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R586J37/ and a few other Govee models. Highly recommended for monitoring refrigerator temperture or anything else. The attached pictures may be enlightening. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of my finished repair. I had installed the cover and 8 screws before I realized it. Again, thank you all for this very helpful thread! Happy Camping! Illustrations of cycling and slow temperature movement: Cycling beginning at 78 degrees F when setpoint is at 60 degrees. Before fix - 6 hours to drop from 71 to 68 during the night: After fix - 2 hours to drop from 77 to 63 during mid afternoon: Pictures of holes into the ceiling from the AC unit: With flash:

I have spent a lot of time watching their videos. They are great! I haven’t seen their new trailer though. Yes, the transition from a tent is nice! I’m looking forward to spending more time in it. Having all 4 of us in it is tight but the compromise seems well worth it. Of course, we are only 1 night in 😅

He needs to be on Oliver's short list for service sites.

Got an issue of Food and Wine magazine the other day. Though we've traveled into Canda through Osoyoos, we haven't spent a lot of time there. (Did laundry in Osoyoos. Got gas and groceries in Kelowna at the Costco, many years ago.) As I was looking up the wineries, I was devastated by the fire reports everywhere along 97. (We don't hear a lot about it in Florida. ) Hoping folks are OK. I know it's a beautiful region. But, I also know, it's a dangerous fire field, with many fires. We do hear about the Yellowknife evacuations. Hope to revisit, another year. They must have ordered the ad a year ago.

IMO....at night I like turning on the cabinet lights with the frosted doors. It is nice gentle light at night inside the trailer...vs the other more direct lights.

Plus it doesn't show every finger print.

This gave me a chuckle!

Thought I would add to @John E Daviesfine original post. I purchased a nice flag pole with tire foot for Ollie-Haus and wasn't thrilled with the options to secure with camper tire or tongue jack, so I decided to mount it to the front storage box. The foot fits nicely between the box and trailer tongue so I chose to bolt it to the bottom of the box with four pan head screws/nuts. After that it still seemed slightly wabbly so I decided to add a couple of pipe saddle clamp mounts to the mounting post. This turned out to be very solid and adjustable for plumb. The mounts are all stainless with silicone protectors to keep from scuffing the mounting post. I'm very pleased with the results and the quality of the pole. The pole is anodized aluminum and is telescoping and removes in seconds for travel. This is a high grade pole sold by a veteran owned American company that accommodates two 3'x5' flags. Flag Pole Kit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BG6NBVC6?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details Light Kit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XH4M1SR?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details Pipe support brackets: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083FCV9FS?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

They only seem overly bright until you almost step on that snake that is trying to warm itself on that nice black asphalt.😵

Nice Ollie - nice truck. Did you stop into Tractor Supply to get one of these hitch pins? They make pulling and inserting that pin a bunch easier.

What fun. Take it all in as you can but enjoy yourself. It will become second nature before you know it.

I get that from Magnus all the time - he can only take so much about radios, especially antennas!

If you mean you ran the inverter, and just ran two small 110 fans, i think you may have an issue. Please complete your signature. Many lithium require full charge within a period of time to properly register "full charge" status. Even our Bluesky, with agm batteries, requires hitting 100 per cent charge to show proper readings after a disconnect. Kind of a "reset" situation. You may also have a wiring issue.

Original thermostat works fine, though it flashes E5 which is an open circuit code because there is no more AC unity to connect to. Just toggle to thermostat to heat when you turn it on and the heater works as normal. 6 month now using the Houghton and we love it! Its quiet, the Heat pump works great, as long as outside temps are above 40" F. Runs 5-6 hrs so far on the lithium 640 amp Hr batterys. Hull 1144 LEll, FORD F150 2014

So I had an old Bob Wills LP- and while looking for a video found this - never cease to be amazed ,,,

Ana and I spent our 25th wedding anniversary (actually on the 6th) at Bastrop State Park before the long weekend's mayhem. Had a little fridge issue with our Norcold 3-way (repair guys in the background of the video) that I'll post in the appropriate section. The reporter asked Ana what she would name a fire, should one happen again like the one in 2011. The artsy side of her brain must have given way to the mechanic side, and I'm sure her Marine ROTC training and being married to a Sailor didn't help either! She said, "Hot as Balls" fire. Needless to say, that got edited out. Enjoy...Steve & Ana's Legacy Elite I at Bastrop State Park

This reminds me of when we were visiting another couple in their camper while camping in South Carolina. They had left canned alcoholic beverages outside of the camper to keep them cool. Later that evening raccoons started running around chasing each other making making lots of noise. There were many pine trees in the campground and the raccoons started climbing and falling out of the trees, too. You could hear them when they hit the ground. We went outside and found holes chewed in all of the cans and realized the raccoons started acting up because they were drunk.