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With most of us having a substantial amount of money wrapped up in our TVs, I thought this gentleman’s testimony in his short YouTube vid might be of interest. If anyone is using a faraday pouch for your fob or iPhones please post up with what you’re using. Due to the larger size of my TV fob I opted for this pouch. I will post up my review when I receive it. I am interested in our groups thoughts, suggestions and ideas. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01H1C21O2?SubscriptionId=AKIAIBX4MGJBG42TO3NQ&tag=productsbestrv144763-20&asc_source=google&asc_campaign=077&asc_refurl=https%3A%2F%2Fbestreviews.com%2Fbest-key-fob-faraday-bag&#customerReviews

I think your plan is very sound. On the other hand I tried a similar metal box from some other product and it was only marginally effective. If you got right up against the door handle the touch door locks would still unlock. Also even though the fob was in the box, with the box sitting on the console arm rest the truck still started. On the other hand the pouches I got from Amazon are nearly a year old and the truck still will not respond in any way with the fob in the closed pouch regardless of where you put the pouch in the truck, including placing the pouch with the fob right in the tray of the console near the receiver. The fob rolled up in a few layers of aluminum foil is just as effective. I think every item on Amazon has at least a small percentage of negative reviews, no matter how good the product is. As long as an item rates 4 stars or better I pretty much disregard the negative reviews as spurious, or even the competition planting the negative reviews in hopes of bolstering their competing products. Whichever method works to your satisfaction, I think it's well worth the trouble for the added security and peace of mind considering the cost of vehicles and even the difficulty of replacing one these days. I just edited my previous post and added the Amazon link to the pouches I bought. I'm pleased with the overall performance of this pouch to date.

We ordered a box and two pouches that we’ve been using for some time. Car thefts are up around here, they get close to the house, do a scan for the key inside the house then drive your vehicle away. Our car and truck are in a locked garage, but the faraday box is extra insurance. We use the pouches when traveling. Mike

I too am on board. I bought two of THESE - I keep one in the console of the truck and keep the other in the Ollie with the spare key. I find that the hinged lid makes it easy to get the key in and out. When I'm out fishing I don't want to carry my fob with me in the event I get wet. Therefore, I almost always leave the fob in the truck and use the key pad on the door of the Ford to gain entry when I come back. The obvious "problem" with this before I had the metal container was that someone could read the Fob, smash a window and simply drive off or duplicate the key and use that duplicate to gain entry. Either way - its usually a long walk back to the camper! Bill

So after listening to all of his (guy in the video) points... and considering the "how" its done by thieves; it seems to me that the moment you take it out of that faraday pouch the signal can be picked up. If you are at the grocery store and they pick up your key fob RF signal as soon as you take it out and use it... then they already have you even if you then hide it back in the faraday pouch. Lock your truck up in the driveway at home and if they can do this from up to 300 feet away... then isn't this like closing the barn door AFTER the horse has already left? If this is really such a problem it seems that the manufacturers have some responsibility to resolve this? Insurance companies won't want to keep paying for some thing that as it turns out... wasn't really "locked" after all. Seems to me that the convenience of an always on key fob is the culprit.

As far as our tow vehicle 2013 F250, back in 2014 I had a Ravelco anti-theft system installed. As of a year ago they had never had a vehicle stolen. They can't hot wire, or start the truck unless the Ravelco FOB is plugged in. Back then I paid around $400. They are headquartered in Houston and have install dealers across the country. They would have to pull the truck onto a flatbed. Our 2019 Ford Edge is a different story. We keep our keys in the house on the table or on my wife's purse, and may get a metal box, or just wrap them in foil. As far as push button starts, not sure whether Ravelco can install in these late model vehicles. I will be following this.

Well, I'll be .... Sure enough, the metal box continues to NOT allow the door to be opened - there is simply no response from the truck with the doors or lights or automatic deployment of the step - no matter how close or in what position I place the box. However, as with Patriot's safe in the console, the truck started! I placed the metal box inside the console, outside the console, in the back seat, and under the seat - all with the same result. Interesting! Bill

1504 😍

Faraday pouch is probably a good idea-- the latest Ford key fobs have a motion sensor that will turn them off after 40 seconds of no motion, so they don't respond to relay attacks. But, of course, thieves are smart and always outsmarting defenses. Because so many parts of newer cars have micro-controllers, those vehicles basically have a built-in local area network for communication between components. There have been some thefts of newer cars where thieves break a headlight and use the connection to hack into the network to unlock the doors and turn on the ignition. Security reminds me of surviving a bear attack- You don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than the guy running beside you! If your car is harder to steal, thieves will move on to an easier target.

It is possible that the "issue" has nothing to (or little to do) with water and the possibility it froze. These Shark Bite fittings are great for emergency repairs but they have been known to "loosen" due to the vibration caused by an RV simply going down the road. Also, these fittings are subject to improper installation which can cause "issues" as time goes by. On the few occasions that I've had to use Shark Bites I have always made what I believe to be a more permanent repair once I got home. Bill

I have heard the empty altoid peppermint boxes last longer than the cinnamon.😄 Please post up your findings.

Those look like Altoid containers, I'm going to try using one of those first and if it doesn't work I'll go to one of the other suggested items. I looked up the pouch mentioned in the video and then looked up some of the other pouches Amazon has listed, After looking through the reviews on all the ones I checked there are multiple complaints that they either don't work or only block the RF for a few weeks or months then stop working which makes me a bit gun-shy to spring for the fancy pouch (I know the guy in the video said that after months his still worked, but even the one he recommended had the same complaints). The Altoid container on the other hand is simple enough and you get a free supply of Altoids and it's cheaper than the plain boxes offered on Amazon. I think I'll try a cinnamon container first, if that doesn't work then I'll try a peppermint one. a.

David, Ordered a two pack from your link. Thanks, Bill

I don't know who will be at that show representing Oliver (if anyone), but, be sure to stop by and say hello to both the dealer and Oliver staff (if present). I know that at the last two shows (held on the same weekend) Rodney Lomax was at one while Scott Oliver was at the other. Bill

I assume that you are NOT seeing any water coming out of the "scupper" holes in the bottom of the Ollie? More than likely - you have a small air leak upstream of the water pump. A few blue shop towels will come in handy in wiping around all of the pipe that you can get your hand on. Pay particular attention to the areas near all fittings. Good luck! Bill

This video was also part of my research that convinced be to also use faraday pouches for our key fobs. Interestingly, rolling a fob up in a piece of aluminum foil is very effective as well in a pinch. Our spare fobs are stored in a metal safe that is very effective in that application. Until I discovered this topic, I had no idea a person with a scanner could walk past you in a parking lot, steal your fob's radio codes and than drive off with your vehicle as soon as you are out of sight. Amazing! Edit - The pouches I bought: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071KVWTYZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

I may have misunderstood your question about the upper and lower vents. I first assumed you were talking about vents inside the trailer. The vents outside, I had to block them off. I kept them removable so that I could work from outside as well as inside. Oliver sent me some old obsolete cabinet doors of white plexiglass. These can also be seen in the older forums about the installation along with commentary.

To remove the old fridge I removed the fridge door and the refrigeration unit from the back. As you get into it you’ll see what needs to be removed. Just keep the unit upright and be careful with the heat transfer putty and it can be reassembled with no issues. The NovaKool install, I removed the trailer screen door from the hinges and taped the lower hinge in the closed position. I also removed the NovaKool door and hinges and it went in sideways with 1/4 inch clearance. I also added a strip of painters tape on the entry door frame to prevent scratches. I would highly recommend that you make your own measurements before you even buy a new fridge as I think but don’t know for absolute certainty that Oliver has used slightly different door designs and maybe sizes as well. The NovaKool fit my trailer perfectly with two inch top and bottom openings. You’ll see the stages of the installation in the forums. I did however have to make two sets of upper and lower grills for the two openings. The first set I made at home out of aluminum but I didn’t like the difference in color between the aluminum grills and the stainless steel bezel around the fridge. I later had two more grills laser cut out of stainless steel.

Actually "restored" to BETTER than new! 👍👍👍 Bill

We're going to the Springfield, MA RV show next weekend, which we do every year, but this year there will be an Ollie there! That's great! This is the largest RV show in New England. Really happy to see OTT doing this.

Both our phones have the Lithonics phone app and we have checked the batteries from both phones, not at the same time.

This can also be the case with the Lithionics battery Bluetooth connection and their app. There's suppose to be a safety built into the batteries that once they have been connected to a phone via the app, they cannot be connected to another phone without deleting. I don't know if the batteries are even visible to another phone once they are connected to yours, but regardless setting your own password for that Bluetooth connection would be a wise step to take. Now that I think of it, I may do some experimenting to see if a different phone will indicate the presents of the Lithionics batteries when I pull up the app. Even though the batteries may not be able to be connected to the phone, it would be an easy way for a thief to target a camper for stealing the batteries if they are able to use the app to pinpoint campers that have these batteries. Geesh this all makes my head heart. 🙄

When I tested the metal box lined with aluminum foil, the lid was also lined with aluminum foil with overlap of foil from the lid and box. A few years ago my testing was with a cell phone's ability to receive calls and messages while in a unlined metal box that failed, but with aluminum foil liner the phone could not receive calls and messages. Not sure if that test is relevant with a FOB, but that was my test a few years ago. One of the things that got me thinking about this again (not Faraday cage related) while on a camping trip last January, I could pick up someone's Victron Bluetooth signal (guessing 50' away) with my Victron Shunt app. Highly recommend using a different PW other than the original multiple 0 PW with the Victron app.

A bit of quick "Google" research gets some answers. Apparently a "tin" box simply isn't as good as a box that is constructed out of a "heavier" metal - think lead here. Also, tin boxes have one or more seams from which signals can "leak". And, the lid on the metal box must fit VERY tightly in order to prevent signal from getting out. Now, why, in my experiment, the fob in the metal box could not be "seen" by the sensor(s) on either the driver's side nor the passenger side doors while it was easily seen inside the truck - I have no idea other than guessing about the strength of the sensor. This would indicate that the metal box used inside one's house could be effective in preventing a bad guy from stealing the vehicle's codes which would allow them to drive the vehicle away. I'll re-try the experiment with a box (I'll use the same one) lined with aluminum foil to see what happens even though this foil wouldn't stop signal leakage from the lid. Bill

To my knowledge - Oliver does not use Shark Bite fittings. So, is it the fitting or the Shark Bite that has the leak? Also, please use the "signature" area to fill out details on both your Ollie and Tow Vehicle so that it is easier for members to respond to future questions. Thanks! Bill

Experimented with a small all metal cookie box as a Faraday container a few years ago and found it would not work well unless lined with aluminum foil. That's why I wanted to test the Faraday Pouches from Amazon, should arrive tomorrow.

Bill, I have a locker down console vault and when I placed my spare key fob inside the vault, the truck started normally. I post this to only point out the console vault will not ghost the RF signal. My faraday pouches should arrive today. I will post up my review.

Actually, I tried the Altoid box but it wasn't big enough for my fob to fit in it easily. We used to place our fob's in a ceramic bowl in the breakfast room but stopped that when we first heard about this "new" way of stealing a vehicle. So, we now use a simple metal can in the house versus the bowl. I opted for the hinged lid for inside the truck because it was easier to get the lid on and off versus prying a friction fit lid off a regular can. Also, my issue with the foil was that it would get "wadded up and I'd have to get a new sheet. I did test my metal box and the truck would not open from the outside when I placed the box on or near the handle. But, I did not try to start the truck when the fob is inside the metal box inside the truck - that gives me something to do today! Bill

Same here, good call, @Patriot, TKX!

It happens. I'm just wondering why you have damage by the water heater. If the pipes were winterized that area shouldn't have frozen, even with water in the fresh water tank.

Bill, I will be interested to hear your review. David

Aside from not draining the water tank, did you winterize the rest of the water system last fall?

“14 years later…” 😳 Mountainborn and Technomadia no longer have their Olies, although Bugeyedriver Pete still does! We have also boondocked at 9,000+ feet in State Forest State Park, CO. Dometic fridge, Suburban furnace, hot water tank and cook top all worked fine on propane. Weber Q and Outland firepit also did fine. Mike

You might try hooking up a hose to the city water and test for leaks that way. Maybe be prepared to turn off the water quickly. If you don't see leaks, then run the water from a faucet and see if it gets rid of any air pockets? Sorry I am not coming up with any other ideas at the moment.

Thanks for the tips. Did the mod today in < 30 minutes. I used a 5/32" bit instead of the 11/64" the instructions suggested as having a bit more metal for the self tappers to bite into was needed. Here's my blog post including details. https://4-ever-hitched.com/ggs-blog/f/adding-friction-door-hinges-for-wind-protection Craig

Insurance - of most any kind - can serve purposes other than the most obvious budget buster protection. Making sure that you have enough financial resources on hand in order to cover the expense of whatever it is you're trying to insure. In the specific instance of a roadside assistance issue, there just may be a situation in which cash works a bunch better than credit cards, checks or even that "dreaded" insurance company. Or, you simply do not wish to carry as much "cash" as you might need to cover whatever expense that comes your way. So, you chose to "off-load" that cash carrying risk onto an insurance company. Peace of mind is another area that can be helped by having insurance. Simply having someone to talk to can help calm many people during what they might deem an emergency. And/or it is possible that the insurance company on the other end of the line could also assist in getting law enforcement/medical to the location if needed. Indeed, in the example I mentioned in my post above - even though AAA could/would not help with towing, they did ask if I needed police and/or medical assistance. Not knowing who to call or who might be the best for your particular situation is yet another area that can be helped via the insurance route. This is certainly true when you are out in an area of the country that is totally unfamiliar to you. It can also be true for those of us that feel they do not have enough knowledge about the Ollie or their tow vehicle such that they can tell a tow company and/or other service tech what they might need to get out of the situation they find themselves in. Different strokes for different folks. Bill

Toby, I’m sorry to hear about your issues with your Dometic fridge. My Oliver is hull #208 built in 2017 and I experienced the exact same issues. Oliver went above and beyond trying to help me fix my fridge with minimal to no luck in doing so. I contacted Dinosaur and at the time they had just built a Dometic control board which I tried with no success as well. Being now several years later, Dinosaur may have a working set of boards. I know that they have great replacement boards for furnaces and water heaters and other fridges so they may be a source. Talking with the folks at Dometic, they didn’t even know how to fix the issue. In fact, they didn’t even know the correct part numbers for the main board or the eyebrow board and the fact that often they would have their boards made in many different Chinese factories didn’t help matters. Supposedly the two boards had to match each other in software design and update as well which further complicated things. I ended up with a new fridge under warranty which also didn’t work. The absolute weirdest part is that the replacement Dometic fridge would not work in my trailer but once I removed it would operate perfectly in my shop! I used to have the six months old fridge and several extra boards but recently sold it all. Maybe someone with extra boards/parts will chime in and supply you with a set of boards that will work for you. In 2019 I installed a compressor fridge and have been absolutely happy with the result. Others have also done this upgrade as well and I think that Oliver is now using a compressor fridge in new builds. You can find our installation process on the forums with photos and detailed write ups.

Updated as of noon Sunday, February 11. We're up to 52 contributors so far this year. There were 75 by the time the rally rolled around last year, so I'm hoping for more as it gets closer. Thanks for participating.

Sorry about Non-Faraday cage related content, but still security related. Believe it could be easy to find out where the Bluetooth signal is coming from by walking by campers and looking at bars of Bluetooth signal. In the case of Victron my shunt works with various types of batteries, so your PW is needed to identify type of battery in a camper, original default PW can be used to look at type of battery by anyone, don't know about other Bluetooth apps. Can't wait to test the Faraday Pouches tomorrow! 🙂

WE need - demand - pictures. If you can't prove it - did it ever actually happen?🤔

Will do! Thinking about this issue when camping last month.

Funny how we come full circle. Kids today can figure out (and, hack) anything electronic. Back in the day, it was just a few wires .. Thanks for the info. I have aluminum foil always in the trailer. Wrap it up. Simple Faraday cage, very cheap. Reusable.

Thanks for the time travel, and trip down memory lane, @MAX Burner. The early first gen trailers had different fridges. Even today, today some 3ways work better at altitude than others, and no one really knows why. Theory is it can be a problem with the propane mix in the tank. Anyway... Glad yours functions well. Very happy for you. I have had a dc danfoss/secop compressor fridge for 6+ years now, and it doesn't care what altitude, nor (out of ) level I'm on. It just works, flawlessly.

Here is a little interesting information on car insurance and what can happen if you use your roadside assistance. It might be worth asking your provider what happens if you decide to use your roadside assistance? Is it considered a claim under your current auto policy? The devil is certainly in the details. https://clark.com/insurance/car-insurance/roadside-assistance/?fbclid=IwAR02oGvp3QfVch9vp8Ys8dvzKWH30fZ3Pr1XWSsBS9H-BwGeVFd-fSxeYas

Well, did as Ray suggested and water was flowing out of plastic shark-bite like fitting in back of Truma Aquago Instant water heater. Hopefully it's just the plastic fitting and not the Temperature Stabilizer Tank. Now to figure out how to remove unit so I can access the fitting. Hoping this isn't a cascade of problems including air leaks upstream as topgun2 mentioned. The Truma manual does not describe removal of the entire heater so I'll call Oliver tomorrow. In the interim, has anyone remove the Truma unit?

Those two have got to get some training in how to relax!

Mark & Claudia, F44 Hull 1457, Northern Kentucky

When I purchased my Ollie I immediately bought and installed a tracking device, along with deterrence locks. (I did this because I had a utility trailer stolen from me. Now, everything's got a hidden tracking device.)

I'm adding rear axle and cargo/payload number to my original reply! Rear axle = 3.55 Cargo/payload = 1637 lbs. Mossey