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From a Medical Point of View... Doxycycline is an antibiotic in the tetracycline class that is used to treat many different bacterial infections including acne, urinary and respiratory tract infections, eye infections, gum disease, gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis. It is not a new drug having been on the market since the late 1960's. It can also be used prevent malaria and treat infections caused by ticks such as Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF). Even though RMSF and Lyme disease are both infections you get from tick bites and can be treated with Doxycycline, they're different illnesses. Warnings... Keeping doxycycline “on hand” just in case you get a tick bite is not wise because taking expired tetracycline type drugs can lead to a form of kidney damage called Fanconi syndrome. You should not take doxycycline if you are allergic to any tetracycline antibiotic. It is unsafe for you to take doxycycline, if you have or have ever had: liver disease kidney disease asthma increased pressure inside your skull (could be caused from a severe head injury or stroke) if you also take seizure medicine, or a blood thinner such as warfarin (Coumadin). Doxycycline can make birth control pills less effective Using doxycycline during pregnancy could harm the unborn baby or cause permanent tooth discoloration later in the baby's life. Doxycycline can pass into breast milk and may affect bone and tooth development in a nursing infant Do not take iron supplements, multivitamins, calcium supplements, antacids, or laxatives within 2 hours before or after taking doxycycline Avoid exposure to sunlight or tanning beds. Doxycycline can make you sunburn more easily

Been through Patrick many times back in the day when it was an AFB! Passed through there during a spring break once - that's a very interesting downwind leg over the beach with all the coeds, if you catch my drift. Lucky draw on your seaside site at the "space port"... Here's a pic from our Key West trip while snagging a sandy waterfront site in Pensacola - perfect for the standup paddle boards:

A couple folks had asked about the stops we made for Alaska 2023. Here's an updated map with the list of stops spelled out on the map. We share the number of days we stayed at each stop in parenthesis each way (Outbound, Return) Red stops are the ones we made down the Casiiar HWY as our return route. We had a couple of Alaska Commercial RV parks we wouldn't suggest staying at: 1) Trapper Creek AK - Don't bother with the mudpit called Trapper Creek RV park, there are free sites or State parks all around that are much better. We were simply looking for a dump and that was the suggestion from RV apps. 2) Northern Nights in Glenallen AK....is now under new ownership...and it's chaos there. There are other State and National Parks near there which are much better. If you have specific questions DM me on the forum. Craig - Hull 505 - Galway Girl

Last Spring while upgrading to Timken wheel bearings, I noticed some of the rubber neoprene runners Oliver places between the aluminum frame and fiberglass hull were out of place. After remounting all of the wheels, I crawled under the trailer to further examine in order to devise a fix. I eventually made use of some trigger clamps to help force the runners back, with varying degrees of success. I had similar issues previously with these ‘cushions’ at the tongue frame and was able to use cable ties to hold them in place. However, due to the tightness at the underbelly supports, the best I could do was attempt to reposition them with thoughts of continued monitoring of future migrations overtime. I did find these runners secured on each end with a screw, which lessened any concern of them falling completely out (think added rubber road debris for motorist to dodge!). This is what I found. Note the smudges made first trying to use a rubber mallet to force back in place. I began by attaching a clamp at the outermost points of concern. Then used additional clamps to work the runners moving inwards. Easy, right? Not so much, very little clearance tolerance! Retainer screw at each end. It would have been nice if Oliver would have used adhesive, as well, to keep these runners in place! Cable tie used at frame tongue. No further a problems there at the three points! To conclude, although I don’t perceive this a ‘major’ problem, these runners were factory installed for a purpose and thus, I feel obligated to maintain them to ensure proper support of the hull’s underbelly.

I ruled out trying to lift the hull in any manner for fear of cracking the gelcoat/fiberglass. Oftentimes when I attempt to do something “very carefully”, stuff happens! However, your suggestion to use soapy water to cleanse and lubricate is a good one. Also, I will take a look at the hull nuts, as well. Thanks for your response. I don’t know how commonplace this issue is, but other’s suggestions to open a service ticket may have some merit. It would be interesting to know Oliver’s thoughts regarding a lift to the underbelly or some other proven remedy for the fix. Since I’m a ‘huge’ DIYer (yet another thing that drives my wife nuts!), I’ve learned to be very resourceful and handy at making and fixing things over many, many years, thus reluctant to ask for help. That said, you will probably submit a service ticket long before I give thought to it. I transit mostly paved so I can rule out “wash-boardy roads” as the culprit in my case. My thought on use of an adhesive/sealant was to simply run a bead along the edge of the runners, rather than attempt to adhere them at the mating surfaces; not there yet. Did someone say ‘magic mushrooms’?

Ronbrink - I had the same issue, and have thought about what it would take to get our rubber moved back between frame & belly. Some areas i was able to do it by hand, although i suspect my efforts would be negated by the forces (wash-boardy roads???) that caused it in the first place. other areas, i could not budge it without having to raise the hull from the frame. I too thought (and JD validated it) of the 2x6 (or 2x8 to dissipate/spread pressure) for (2) hydraulic jacks on the hull, but have not done so yet. It should only take maybe 1/8 - 3/16" upward movement to get enough room to reposition the rubber. I may go a 1/4" to floss out the dirt/dust and apply the "3M Marine Adhesive Sealant 4000 UV " between the frame and the rubber. I guess I should also open a ticket and add pictures. B~Out

Sort of. The first blue sky Oliver system was originally designed by Technomadia, in early 2008, for their wonderful Ollie. I'm sure Steve's design follows their designs, as did we, with our spin. With their knowledgeable input, and permissions. We followed their component recommendations when we asked Oliver to install the side-mount system my husband designed, and Oliver (amazingly well!) fabricated and installed for us in September, 2008. 15 years later, with upgraded 2 x 200 panels, installed by us, and an additional slave blue sky unit, we are still thrilled with the rooftop solar capacity of our little Elite. Is Victron better? In the marine world, definitely. More exposure, more support, worldwide. More connectivity, with other integrated marine systems. Great customer support, according to my tech friends in the sailing and boating world. Better ip waterproof rating. Doesn't tempt me to change what works in our 2008 Ollie. The support we get from Ryan @ BlueSky is absolutely stellar. He spent hours on the phone with us, when we were doing our upgrade, and helped us select and program new unit. Like Jason at Oliver, there's no replacement for a dedicated and knowledgeable caring human at the other end of the line.

I certainly will. I lived here during the Space Shuttle era and especially liked the night launches, like tomorrow night. I have also seen several other types go up but never a Falcon Heavy! This is the one that has the thrusters return to the pad! It amazes me every time I see it on video. BL

Decided to move north a little ways. We are now at Patrick Space Force Base. Scored another waterfront site (river this time) and have already seen a Space-X launch and will have another, larger rocket go up tomorrow night. I will try to get some pictures. SpaceX Falcon Heavy USSF-52 DEC 10, 2023 08:14 PM LAUNCH COMPLEX 39A • KENNEDY SPACE CENTER Brian

I don’t know if any of you folks follow the Escape Travel Trailer forum. I’ve been a member there for 15 or so years and I check in a couple times a week to see what they are saying about Oliver. They’re generally a touchy bunch especially about Oliver’s. Recently Escape has put out an advertisement to drum up business (I suppose that is the reason for all advertising). Anyway, the members over there are not particularly impressed with their own trailer’s marketing attempt and have been lamenting the quality of their video. Here is the Escape video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgDnr4djkQU On the other hand, they seem to have be quite impressed with Oliver’s latest video. One saying, “Now that’s how a trailer video should look.” Here is the Oliver video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SSLCwOjg-I

Think I got it. It showed up above.🤞

Most likely as you stated. But, maybe not. When in troubleshooting mode, between Muphy's law and my spelling of "ASS-U- and Me" I try as best as I can to avoid both. 🙂 But, as you stated the odds are that it likely would have evaporated. More likely water got into the control board at the same time as on the heat exchanger. Water on the control board area would generally result in a unit failure. But then, I'm now making ASSUME's too. GJ

Bump, added a link in the first post to the Oliver Service page about this toilet. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6720-natures-head-compost-toilet-troubleshooting-user-guide/ John Davies Spokane W/

Somewhere in the dark hollows of my brain folds I recall that we have a lifetime warranty on our hulls. Assuming I've not inadvertently been feed some magic mushrooms on my pizza, is this the case and would it not be a warranty issue? PLEASE send OTT a service ticket on this. GJ

Interesting, I haven’t heard of this problem before. Thanks for posting the pics.., Could you use a big piece of wood, like a 2”x4”, and a hydraulic jack under the fiberglass to very carefully take the load off the rubber to allow you to push it back into place? Also, some soapy water, applied liberally to flush out the dirt, would act as a lubricant to perhaps help them move a little easily. Did you check all the big hull mount nuts to see if any were loose? They do loosen, the ones at the jacks especially, and below the propane compartment... I am having a hard time visualizing a situation where these rubber pads would drift out of place if all other factors were normal. This could just be a visual symptom of another problem that remains to be corrected. I suggest that you file a Service Report - they may have other cases like this, and the extra info might lead to a a new technical bulletin. John Davies Spokane WA

@topgun2 We contacted customerservice@teambmpro.com and one of their kind help desk people (in Indiana?) said he’s going to mail us a toolkit! FYI - The battery change tool we’re looking for is like the six-pointed black plastic item in the attached photo. Thanks for the tip!

That Escape add is a bit corny, doesn’t really highlight the trailers just the silly bear. Mike

I ‘bearly’ made it through the Escape video!

Thanks all, we are really getting excited.

Rally starts on Wednesday May 15th and ends on Sunday May 19th. As others stated you need to call the park, tell them you are with the Oliver Rally, book a site.

First thing to do is call Lake Guntersville State Park and reserve a campsite. Then wait for Oliver to open the web page for rally registration. Mike

AT this point the best thing you can do is to call/contact Guntersville State Park directly to reserve a campsite for the Thursday through at least Saturday after Mother's Day. Once you have your camp site then details of how to register with Oliver for the Rally will be published in early 2024 here on the Forum. At that point just follow the instructions contained in that notification. Bill

For anyone who has never been present for one of these launches - it really is something to experience. Please post those pics - if you can get any. Its always a thrill. Bill

Ha! OBTW: We spent a week in P-cola in SEP, we'll always love that place! We've got many friends that went to NG (Bethpage, NY facility) BITD, FYI. Enjoy your adventure - very jelly over this way!!! Cheers! A & D

When I was active duty, I was on the Joint STARS Test Team at the Northrop-Grumman facility at the Melbourne airport (tough assignment). Patrick AFB kept my personnel and flight/medical records but I worked over at NG. And, I do know what you mean...lol Brian PS - nice pic!

Thanks, @Patriot and @SNY SD UP Preventing the bites, and early detection, are key to both rmsf and Lyme disease. Unfortunately, the woods we love are where the ticks live, too. Long pants and sleeves, tucking in, and light colors help. If you are like me, and don't like to spray your skin, spraying your clothes after dressing for the day will definitely help. Ticks don't normally attach "immediately. " They wander, looking for the most cozy, warm and moist spots. A scrubdown after a day in the woods will eliminate most. Shower within an hour or two of coming back to your site. Do a body check in that big shower door mirror, just to be sure. (Or ask your spouse/partner to check.) If you do find a tick (especially unattached, or not engorged) you really don't need to panic. Not every tick carries disease. WASH your hands after removal and disposal. I kill ticks by wrapping them in a tissue and burning, or drop them in a lid with rubbing alcohol. Of I've removed an engorged tick, I drop it in a zip lock, with a short spray of insecticide, and save it for later examination.) If, however, it's engorged, and well-attached, you may want to start antibiotics, before signs appear. (The target doesn't "always" appear, anyway.) Doxycyclene is effective for both diseases, administered promptly. I think it's best within the first few days of discovery. Your gp should be able to give you a script , so you have some in the first aid kit, so you can start battling, until you can take the offending bugger, and yourself, to the local doctor. We camp in tick country every year. We do find ticks, but usually before they attach. None of us, nor our pets, have contracted anything, yet. Btw, protect your pets, as well. They're low to the ground, and need your help. We inspect our dog every day, at least twice, morning and evening.

Yea on our 2023 they were indeed 4”

I split the thread for you, GJ. Here's the new thread. Could you read through both and see the splits make sense to you? ps, No need to be contrite. It's your thread, after all. 🙂

Thanks for explaining that Patriot. We registered at the campground a month or so ago. The gal was very nice.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/08/health/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever/index.html I am guessing many of you are aware of this, and probably already do "Tick Patrol" when you return from hikes or at the end of the day. Do you also check your "Furies" when they come in and lay on the floor or bedding? Although this article references adventures down to Mexico, RMSF and "Lyme Disease" (a different bacterium) occurs within the boarders of the US. So far AK does not seem to have an issue with either at this time. (we were already planning to travel to AK 2024...) We have lots of opportunities to temporarily host "Ticks" up here in ND (where Lyme disease is more common than RMSF) even without getting beyond our yard. A family member did get a bite a few years back, we monitored the "Red Bite Ring" (never found the "bitter") and there did not appear to be any after effects from it. It just seems that some of the diseases and infections we are now subjected to, are more common but aggressive than they were 50-100 years ago. Yes, we have better medicines that can help if administered in time, but some of these illnesses are becoming resistant to some of the go-to medicines of the past. I am not trying to start a long thread of "war stories", but just a quick reminder to "Be Aware" and monitor, if you or your "Furies" do get the "Red Bite Ring"... Just like tire pressure and battery usage, another thing to be aware of, but not prevent us from going on our "Oli-ventures". B~Out,

What root causes can you think of for this problem? Change in the bedding material to one that is more dense. Softer material would crush on both sides of the frame thereby form a channel that would keep it in place. More dense could slide out. Your turn! GJ

Interesting out of the very many OE2's, the first two owners to mention this problem are both 2022 builds. Good move Ron and SNYSDUP!! I am guessing that before 2022 2020 there was somewhere around say 500 that came off the line. pre-Covid. Either we have a LOT of owners that don't crawl laps under their trailers, or something changed with the design, or installation, or both. Worth a question for sure. And I'll be inspecting mine this summer as well. GJ PS: Likely there will be a lot more of these. Question is how widespread through the fleet is the situation. Service Tickets all on this one. PSS: We need a catchy name for this syndrome. Covid Slip maybe?

but....but.... I like bears 🥲🤣

Disposing of old fiberglass boat hulls is a recognized problem, not just in the US, but around the world. A lot of research has been done, however, and hopefully before my Ollie is ready for disposal (many, many decades from now), more strides will have been made in recycling fiberglass, keeping old fiberglass hulls out of landfills. https://www.boatus.com/expert-advice/expert-advice-archive/2020/november/fiberglass-recycling We do have one company in Florida that does fiberglass recycling, and sells equipment to recycle fiberglass, as well. I think their focus is on manufacturing waste materials, however, not big derelict boat hulls. Another large recycling company, with branches in Florida, used to accept fiberglass insulation. Unfortunately, they filed bankruptcy a short time ago, so that may be gone. All that said, fiberglass longevity and strength does give it some points, as longevity is a key point in selecting materials for building.

THAT is great customer service and glad that it worked out for you. It makes me happy to know that there are companies in addition to Oliver that try their best to actually help their customers. Bill

It is not the fiberglass hull that is affected, just its connection to/ interface with the frame. My hunch is that the “forever hull warranty” applies just to the molded part. Have you noticed how old fiberglass boats never die? The attached parts rot off fairly fast, but the hulls themselves stay intact forever, which is a huge problem in terms of recycling. Ollie hulls are also forever parts, which is why they get that great warranty. John Davies Spokane WA

Something isn't working for you, John. We don't see your map, either. (And yes, it should be visible to you, too, unless you have viewing signatures turned off in your settings.) Sorry. I don't see any signature for you, whatsoever.

Me, too! We have come such a long way! On a clear day, we can see the contrails from parts of the west coast of Florida. My husband and I drove over to the east coast to see the last shuttle launch. It was amazing. Please do post photos!

Here's a link to the installation manual. Might help, until you hear back from Oliver. https://www.manualslib.com/manual/327956/Norcold-N400.html#product-N412

Your best bet - just to make absolutely sure - would be to ask your sales agent at Oliver. However, historically the standard cushions have been 4 inches thick. Bill

I see it as a huge win for all of us. Especially for keeping the great Service Team and taking some of the work load off them as the number of new Oliver sales has grown so much in the past few years. OTT Service Department fields a huge number diagnostic questions every day. They also financially support this forum at no cost to the OTT owners. Their efforts is leveraged by the OTT owner Pro's who are some of the best in the country. Combined it is hugely beneficial to both OTT and all of us. By having remotely located Service Centers, informed owners using this forum and the Mother Ship Service Experts can get to a dealership pretty well informed as to what needs to be done. This is a win for everyone!

I looked them up. Great reviews, and a platinum InTech dealer. Local smaller company. Wish I'd known a few weeks ago, when I flew up to New England to surprise my college roommate on her birthday. Only a short drive away. Happy for the New England folks!

The dealer in Massachusetts is Tim's RV in Erving, MA

They flop around inside the unpainted inner diameter of the axle tube and eventually wear through the insulation. It isn’t anything that you can see without pulling them out completely. If the wires were protected by split loom in there, it would most likely be an OK practice. But not for loose wires… those axles hop around constantly and chafing is the result. Here is one reference. https://www.mortonsonthemove.com/fixing-the-rv-brakes/ John Davies Spokane WA

Darn, I've been found out.

I have found in the study of various Ground Planes on propagation, that the Turbo encabulator is an excellent device to employ. However ScubaRx's sugestions clearly have merit. 73's de W8CB George

Thanks @SeaDawg everything you have here is great advice. Thanks for the link. Had no idea there are videos available like these and yes, I've been into so much other maintenance that I've been dreading studying the Blue Sky manual. I was really good with our last Solar/Inverter system, because I installed it and understood every component. Not near yet on this one. You asked the question, "is it on or off." @John E Davies asked it first, but it was at the end of so much other stuff that I didn't see it, and after your post @topgun2 wrote it again. Thanks Bill, third times the charm! I hate to have to admit, that I simply had the switch off! What a dumb newbie thing. Sorry to waste everybody's time, but I do have other battery related questions to follow... First thing will be per @John E Davies suggestion, I should move the Blue Sky panel to head height! I remember about 2 months ago, reading a post about Inverter issues, needing a complete power off to reboot and I went out to learn some about this system. I had turned the big red switch off, then found out there is no battery disconnect switch, and after some interruption I forgot to return and switch it back on. It was summer then, connected to shore power to run the A/C when parked, set at 84 degrees. It has been disconnected from shore power 3-4 weeks now and I run the Exterior Courtesy Lights 24x7 to fend off the dreadful Arizona Pack Rat! So, over 3-4 weeks the batteries dropped from 100% to 78% as normal. Back to 100% this morning. Threw the main switch, input from the solar panels. The Blue Sky lights came on and with voltmeter measured 14.42V across both pairs of batteries, showing it's charging as designed. What a dummy I can be at times. 🙃

There was a lot of “stuff” around my brake issues. The main controller issue originally was that only the manual override was working not the brake pedal. Another cheap Curt controller and the brake pedal was working but the “boost” was high. I assure you that adjustments were attempted but the solution was the Prodigy controller, as recommended by Oliver. Yes there is only one wire coming for brakes but then the passenger side splits off. We bypassed the wires in the axle tube and replaced with new wires on the outside. Not sure what they looked like but knew there was potential for problem. Obvious problems by the brake connections. There’s some pictures somewhere. Part of our confusion was that the resistance, amps draw, and operation of all four brakes seemed okay superficially but still not working right.

I’m trying to understand how a bad brake controller can affect left to right side braking. I thought the controller provided a single wire output that was then branched to all brakes. Can someone elaborate and explain this to me please? Thanks.