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Thanks to our salesman (Colton Laidlaw) & the folks at Southland RV, Norcross, GA for making the purchase of our new trailer a seamless transaction. I’d also like to thank our neighbors Steve & Tallie (hull #50) for stopping by to say hello. 😊 IMG_3726.mov

Back in 2018, Anita had called me and wanted to know if I'd show our trailer to a couple from Tupelo. Johnny, his wife Juanita and their daughter came to visit us the next day. After talking with them for a couple of hours, Johnny stated that when he retires he's going to buy an Oliver. Today, six years later ... Tali called me and exclaimed that "...there's a brand new Oliver parked at a house right around the corner from us..." So naturally, I went to investigate. Today was his last day of work. A few days ago while visiting with his daughter (who is now a Nurse Practitioner that lives and works near Atlanta), he realized that about 2 miles from her house was Southland RV in Norcross, GA, one of the new Oliver dealers. They apparently took a ride, went in, fulfilled their six year old dream and are now the proud owners of Hull # 1525. I could not be happier for them. Welcome to the club @josmith68, Johnny and Juanita Smith.

Finally got around to upgrading the 12v sockets to USB-C 65W for charging iPads and MacBook. This socket also has an On/OFF button so you don't have to stare at blue lights with the cap off. Cap also closes securely much easier. It is the little things. Amazon link: https://a.co/d/01MrDdX7

There has been at least one owner (edit: more than a few owners) who forgot and left their black tank flush running. The water filled the black tank and then flowed over and filled the grey tank through the venting under the bathroom sink. The water then came back up through the shower drain, filled the shower pan, then flooded the cabin. If this has happened to a trailer I don’t see how you would ever completely eliminate the smell. I would ask the previous owner if this happened to your trailer. Read this thread https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/3447-left-black-tank-clean-out-hose-on/

I was putting off the work of insulating the opening. I had never done such a task or worked with ceramic insulation before. Turns out this material worked well: Amazon.com: CeraTex 3180 Blanket with Aluminum Foil Facing, 8 LB Density, 1/2" x 24" x 60" (5'), 2300°F High Temperature Insulation for Kiln Stove Furnace Glass Fusing Pizza Oven : Arts, Crafts & Sewing After cutting the main section, top and rear in one piece, I used 3M spray adhesive to get it started and it worked better than I had expected. I finished with a power staple gun with 3/8" staples to secure it. I was afraid that the staple gun would pierce the foil layer of the insulation, so at first I used some electrical tape to help and then realized it was unnecessary (red tape at bottom). Then I cut the two side pieces which had a curved rear, following the curve of the Oliver upper shell. I placed these in position and used a Sharpie to mark the vent holes and cut these out with scissors. Glued and stapled the left side and went without glue on the RH side, since the thermostat cable is behind that one and I may need to service that with an A/C upgrade. Really happy in how it turned out, which is often the case after days of contemplation! I have one trim piece to fabricate which will hide the 2x4s below the oven and then remount the bezel from the original microwave, and she's done! Last step and pics tomorrow.

Congratulations, it looks great!! What a great retirement gift. Hope to meet you out on the road soon! Mike

Well, as many of you know, the converter/charger upgrade is easy. I had no issues with mine. Step one "check". The cricket noise may or may not have gone away. I cannot tell with Tinnitus - same sound. I checked basic functionality of the charger/converter with my Jackery 3000 Pro. Everything seems fine. Even ran the A/C for a while.

Nice. Placing the vents at the upper portion of the space makes sense, after all, hot air rises. Did you consider a switch activated 12 volt miniature fan to increase cooling when using the air fryer?

Same here. We're getting 2, also. We've got iPads, iPhones, and MacBooks - no more "wall warts"! Thanks, Mike - good call!

I would like to make a correction to my above statement; an inverter will draw 1A if left On with no load and zero draw when Off. I recently realized I did not have my inverter in the Off position at both the Xantrex and wall-mounted remote. The VictronConnect app now shows -0.24A Current, which is in line with your results.

Great recommendation to @NHBoomers! I second the OdoBan, has a pleasant smell and more importantly, it works to eliminate bad odors. Been using for years in my skiff to rid fish and bait smells, and coastal grunge! Buy it by the gallon at Sam’s, sometimes sold with a ‘bonus’ spray bottle.

@jd1923 My power draw is <1400W, perhaps the difference being in the 11,000 vs 13,500 BTU units. I too had my Xantrex 2000 shut down once when the batteries, under load, dropped near 12V; a ‘red’ triangle was displayed on the remote panel, yikes! I never really paid attention to the display voltage reading until that happened, just relied on the SOC per the VictronConnect app; lesson learned! I’m still thinking the Atmos 4.4 will be a satisfactory replacement unit. I know of two owners that have planned installs, awaiting their initial impressions.

First time I "quoted" my own post! It took 11 days to get an answer... I sent an inquiry through Epoch's Contact Us page and received no answer. I emailed support@epochbatteries.com with the same question and nothing... Three days later I called their support phone number and got a young guy on the phone. He did not know, but said they had one in the shop, and he could measure. After looking 5 minutes for a tape measure without success, he said he would find one and call me back soon. He never did. The article re LI batteries suggested buying from an American (Las Vegas, NV) reseller for US support. I emailed them today and they replied, same day and corrected their website page same day, the same mistake that Epoch.com has on their page and will likely be there for some time. Here it is now corrected, and it appears the better reseller: 12V 460Ah - Heated & Bluetooth - LiFePO4 Battery - Epoch Essentials ~ Current Connected The Epoch Essentials 12460ES battery is only 8.6" wide (as the User Manual stated, but the web page had width and height numbers reversed). This means two (2) of them can fit side-by-side in the Oliver battery bay with the sliding tray removed (I'm removing mine regardless to lose weight and gain height in the bay to get my arms in there for service). Great deal to get 920AH of LiFePO4 batteries for $2,798 total. The reviewer was correct in suggesting an US-based company to provide good local customer service. For many 460AH is quite enough and at $1,399 is an amazing deal! One of these does fit in the OEM sliding battery tray. Heck with the tray, I want two! Looking for Epoch to offer an additional 15% off like they offered for their Black Friday sale last year (coming soon)!

Apparently my installation offends some people’s sense of aesthetics but I had solid reasons for choosing the components that I did. After 2 years and many thousands of miles, I’m still very happy with the results. We continue to have very usable internet access in places where other people struggle to find one bar on their phones. In fact, when we’re at home, I run an Ethernet cable from the Oliver into the house and use the Pepwave router to supplement the marginal DSL service available in our area. (The 5G is much faster, especially on upload speeds than the DSL, I just have to be mindful of the data limits of the two cellular plans that we have). Oh, and no leaks despite NOT using two tubes of dicor… 😉

Thanks Mike, for sharing this. I’m buying two on your recommendation. Love the USB-C for fast charging! I always cut the caps off these outlets prior to install, like I already did to the ones in our Oliver that we use. Not enough time in my day to fiddle with these caps unless it’s on a boat or my side-by-side necessary to keep the dirt out!

AB Lifestyle has waterproof covers that fits our KTT mattress. They also have fitted mattress pads. I just replaced an entire cover on the latex due to mold I caused by not keeping the window tracks clean and clear of leaves. I was going to buy a new mattress but KTT recommended I save a lot of money by just cutting off the moldy cover and recovering the latex. We also like the comfort of the KTT latex mattresses.

I am also looking forward to replacing the original air conditioner with a quieter version. Still waiting to find one that works out of the box without me rigging home made fixes to make it operate as it should. A year or so ago I almost purchased a Houghton unit until I found out that they had changed the operating profile. I had wire that color matched the furnace wire, a manual thermostat, I had run a pull wire from furnace to the thermostat area, sealant, etc. all ready. I even had a hoist partially set up to lift the old unit off and set the new unit on. I’m still waiting and looking. The Freshjet unit is one that now looks promising.

For those interested, a short interim travel summary: So, we departed NM mid-morning, last Friday for Moab, UT. High winds and rain from Farmington to Shiprock slowed us way down, but the TV/Casablanca performed wonderfully. Moab and Arches were fantastic and we'll be staying there a few days on our return leg next week. We initially planned to spend about 5 or 6 days in Rock Springs, WY for an annual "Escapade Rally" -- but changed our minds after 2 nights there. Decided that the time away from home would be better spent exploring around the Tetons and Yellowstone. Dumping holding tanks and topping off fresh while the Knuckleheads wait for D to return... So we "pulled-chocks" yesterday AM and headed north on the US 191 (one of our most fav US HWYs) - stopped for a great lunch at a Brewery in Pinedale, WY. Smoked brisket nachos - OMG! Made our way to Jackson winding our way northbound on the beautiful US-19 following the Windriver Range and eventually the Hoback River into Jackson. The snow-capped Windriver Range in the distance below... Hoback River alongside the 191 - no wind and temps in mid-60s all day long: Harvest Hosted at the Jackson Hole Still Works - met some phenomenal young men that owned the distillery and they provided an interesting/educational tour of their very modern facility here. Our "boondock" location at the HH venue in Jackson, can you find Magnus below?: It's off to Coulter Lake, Teton NP this morning then up to Yellowstone this afternoon... More later... Cheers, All! A & D

It is very likely your model being less BTUs and a newer perhaps more efficient design. Our Oliver is a 2016 and the Penguin could be a 2015 model, nine years old. Mine started at about 1400W for a few minutes. It also had an easy-start install in 2018 at OTT. When it got to 1800W, 5 min and about 90 outside, I did see an error code a couple times at 12V, and our Xantrex is also older, and it only has the small LCD readout on the inverter, remote is the ON/OFF toggle only. Looking forward reading re your Atmos install and @rideadeuce Mike has a mid-July date for installation at the dealer. We'll also read soon of @Geronimo John adding final touches on his Houghton install. I'm going to wait out the summer re an A/C decision, in fact it could be as late as next spring. Even after installation of an efficient A/C system, we need LiFePO4 to make running on inverter a reality. Wonder if an inverter pulls more amps with LA vs. LI batteries? Maybe that's some of the wattage difference too.

Suggestion: Have you tried the OEM Sales Manager from Lithionics - Reuben Macias? Under Winnebago he may have a different email than what I have for him...so maybe contact Oliver service for their point of contact for service. Check your PM message from me. Sorry I don't have more. Craig

I had thought about your suggestion and thank you. Thought it would be difficult to implement. You'd need a fan and encased wiring to resist temps 400+ degrees, plus the power source. There will be air flow in front and both rear corners. Depending on air movement in the cabin, one side will take over with a chimney effect, pulling from the other sides. That and this insulation designed for ovens and kilns should do it. I need to wrap up a few details and will report back later after a good test. 😂

Nice mod for sure! I would keep the rubber cover/caps for sure, as the Oliver has plenty of night lights already 😄. Just me. 😎

Next step was to drill the vents. I went 1/4" or so down from the ceiling of the opening and as far back as possible. One the left side, you could only go so far back because the entry door area is further in for the flat door frame vs. the other curved walls. Both sides took careful measuring. Used a 2 3/4" hole saw from the inside first for positioning. After making the center mark, I drilled through with a 1/4" drill. This way I could place the hole saw mandrel into the hole and make sure the hole saw was in the best position. I used the vent on the outside, to also see that the larger outside vent surface had adequate room. Here are the results.

First step was to center the Emeril Air fryer. It needed to be raised about 3/4" or more, so I set it on two 2x4s with cutouts, hole drilled to hold the legs. This gave me the lift I need and a way to secure the oven. When I got the mount ready, I merely used some wood glue below and was able to then move the oven a little to get it exactly square. The next day after the glue had set, I added a couple wood screws to secure (the 2x4 in the rear was part of the original microwave installation).

Thanks again @bugeyedriver and @SeaDawg. I cut vents today and got most of the upgrade finished! I went with these which I had already purchased for my heat duct project to vent the closet and basement areas: 3 Inch Vent Cover, Hon&Guan 3 Soffit Vents Exterior Round Soffit Vents with Built-in a Fly Screen for Bathroom Office Home-2PCS - Amazon.com There were metal versions, but I thought metal would conduct heat and maybe scar the external fiberglass.

Yes, that is the same plastic box and I did remove about 2/3 of one of the dividers to mount the timer. I also cut two small slots on each side to catch the mounting clips of the timer. For your information, I have seen at least one YouTube video where someone removed and discarded the plastic box to mount something else in its place. This is a bad idea as the plastic box/spacer has a purpose. It is there to ensure that the air flows correctly over the coils.

We coulda paid double for a new one! I’ve been working on ours daily… And she keeps gettin’ betta!

We have the factory option Tocha upgraded mattresses and we like them. Might be worth a visit to a nearby oliver owner, dealer, or the factory to try them out. They replace the standard cushions. We use regular twin fitted sheets with elastic sheet straps underneath.

As original install, whatever you send to the battery, from the portable panels, thru the fused zamp port, needs to be regulated power (has to go thru an onboard controller on the panel, or a separate controller. ) Check the zamp port to make sure previous owner didn't change polarity. Zamp sets up their polarity opposite os standard sae connector. If it is original, you will need a) a polarity reversing adaptor, and b) a second controller for the portable that doesn't have one, or, ability to connect /daisy chain to the panel that has an onboard controller.

Odo- ban. Our dollar tree has a little tiny bottle. A little goes a long way.

You can use anything that one might use on any vinyl flooring. I've used - Simple Green, Ajax, 409, Mr. Clean, Fantastic, Awesome Orange, Spic & Span, etc.. Yes, I do know that at least one person replaced the flooring but I don't remember exactly who that was. If I were going to do it, I'd ask Oliver Service for suggestions regarding what to use for removing the old glue. Good luck. Bill

Every solar panel that I have ever looked at has a specification label on the bottom/underside of the panel that has the information you are looking for. Below are examples from my Renogy 100A suitcase panel. Mossey

All in all, with 540W solar, Lithionic batteries, and I'll assume a 3000W inverter (?) you have a GREAT solar/battery/inverter system! Just learn how to read state-of-charge (SOC), meaning batteries % full, and plug in your suitcases (occaisonally) when the rooftop solar does not keep SOC high enough for your needs.

Yes Barb, in fact many vendors title their products "Solar Charge Controllers." With the added two Renogy 100W suitcases you will have total 540W. The 30A charger-controller is for the 340W roof-mounted solar and I believe the Zamp port requires an external controller that you have in one of your 100W suitcases. I haven't done the suitcase thing, but there are many here with vast experience to answer your questions. Also search the forum for keywords, 'Zamp' or 'Renogy' or 'suitcase' and you should find a lot of good info.

This is really all you need to know. Are you thinking of upgrading them or adding to the solar system? The DC system in the Oliver is 12V. Watts = Volts x Amps so 340W = 12V x 28.3A so you likely have a 30A solar charger or close to it. The Blue Sky system in our older hull includes a 25A charger.

During my test, our Penguin II was pulling just over 1800W after it got warmed up. Battery voltage was very close to 12V and I believe it momentarily hit under 12V which created an error code on the Xantrex. (Our unit only has the remote power switch, not the remote panel, so I could only read data from the SmartShunt).

The two-way switches are where you have one switch one light. Three-way switches allow turning the light ON/OFF from two different switch locations, like from the main light panel you pictured and a secondary light panel (like one over the curbside bed or under the pantry). Asking re the wiring layout is hypothetical. If you are not able to test circuits for voltage and ground connections for continuity, nothing that can be worked over the phone. An electrician has been suggested or even a local mobile mechanic that is good with auto electrical 12VDC can help.

Same here. This will probably be the last summer for our old Dometic noise maker.

The lights and their related switches in our trailers are 12V, with low amperage. Any "bite" from that 12V system should be barely noticeable.

JDB - I understand your frustration - its simply no fun trying to chase down what is most likely a "simple" issue. However, electrical problems are very difficult to pinpoint via phone and/or internet. Basically the procedure is a process of elimination and tracing the most likely flows of current and this is difficult to do without the proper equipment. Do you know of a local electrician that you trust (or even a friend that knows a bit about electricity)? Or, a local RV tech that you trust? Either of these should be able to get to the bottom of the issue reasonably quickly, have the tools needed to test for grounds and/or continuity, and that would save you a long drive. As jd1923 points out, your issue is most likely with the grounds that these three circuits share. And, my bet is that the location is at or near those three switches on your Master Panel. As far as liability is concerned - if you are not plugged into shore power, there is not much in or near these switches that can "kill" you. Yes, a bite on your flesh and/or the flash of a short will get you attention and it is a tough learning lesson that can be avoided with knowledge and proper equipment. Stick with it - you'll get to the bottom of the problem. Bill

When running the A/C on inverter, I’ve really learned to watch the battery voltage displayed on the Xantrex wall-mounted remote, much lower than the reading displayed via the VictronConnect app for the SmartShunt when under heavy load. Taken yesterday after running A/C for an hour. Looking forward to replacing the Dometic as @jd1923 advocates! A/C running on inverter. A/C turned Off.

Is THAT what they mean by - "Cowboy Up"?

A big shout out and huge thank you to the Sea Biscuit Team, and to owners Kristine Hess & David Hess for our hand crafted “ OLLIE HANGAR” custom S/S sign that we won at this years rally. We also have the Sea Biscuit front cargo box which completes our Oliver storage and we love it! Awesome metal craftsmanship made right here in the USA.

Sweet

Travel Summary #3 -- Day-8: Yesterday, Thursday 20JUN, Casablanca got a rest at the campground near West Yellowstone, and D, the Knuckleheads, and I hit the northern high-country of YNP. Absolutely spectacular in all regards - first it actually topped our tour of Yellowstone Lake and Old Faithful areas from the day prior (Wednesday), next the WX was phenomenal (no wind, blue skies, low-mid 60's), and tons of wildlife! (FYI: We crossed over the Continental Divide three times from the park's south entrance on Wednesday, the highest was 8,300+ feet MSL.) Following the Madison River into the park from West Yellowstone, we took the Norris cut-off at the 14-mile mark. D captured this snap of a nice 5x5 in velvet at a turn-out enroute: We stopped uncountable times as we made our way to Canyon Village, managing to get several interesting shots: The Knuckleheads liked their "pee/poop-walk" near Canyon Village and saw several new furry pals. From a safe distance, we observed a black bear and her cubs - then later a griz... Going further north into the high-country alpine area the views were spectacular. Roads were very well maintained in this region and traffic was light even though its high/peak season. We suspect most sightseers like the southern region for the lake, geysers, and Old F. We pressed-on driving on Yellowstone's Grand Loop Road (again, stopping countless times) for about another 36 miles over Dunraven Pass (8,859') past Tower Falls to Mammoth Hot Springs for another break for the boys. Enroute, we were able to grab this shot of D pointing at a massive bull buff about 150 yards away: All in all, this 137-mile loop was one of the best sightseeing excursions we've made in the Tundra. Yesterday, we topped just north of 1,150 so far since leaving home. Our lifetime-military National Park pass really came in handy so far on this adventure as we'll have visited 5 NPs before returning to NM. Today, we head off for Bear Lake which straddles eastern-most border of both ID and UT - making way for Moab (again!) by Thursday next week... More later, folks! Cheers! A & D

GJ... Last week I pulled all of the fuses... and and turned off every breaker and of course made sure that nothing was running, no sound, no fans, no lights, etc.. Everything "appears" off. The Lithionics app is the only data I have, and it's not showing any "current consumption"... and yet that same app (Sunday to Wednesday) has shows SOC has went from 80% to 77%. Clearly, electricity is being siphoned off somehow? We will use the camper this next week... but once we are home... I'm almost to the point of turning off the inverter and batteries to see if this stops the drain. Of course then the only way to get a status update would be to turn the batteries back on.

So the concern I have, that while it sounds simple to just turn off batteries... it seems in a direct contradiction to what Oliver and Lithionics says? (see John Dorrer post above) I vaguely remember something about the inverter being on with the batteries turned off... and then turning on the batteries (one by one) and there was some sort of possibility of a surge doing damage? Maybe someone can speak more informed about this? STATUS update: Friday at 12pm...after charging batteries were at 100%. At the moment, three days later batteries are at 98%. A more reasonable loss level. Everything is off, all the 12 volt fuses are pulled and all the breakers are turned off (under the dinette table). I'm going to replace those fuses/turn on breakers.... and continue my search for "what is consuming electric" when everything appears to be OFF?

The inverter breaker is under the street side bed, at the front (battery box wall). The sequence is as follows: Turn off solar. Trip the inverter breaker, then turn off your Lithium batteries. To turn back on reverse order. You don't want to put loads on the inverter by turning a battery off or on, one at a time with the inverter on. Again, 1. Turn off solar 2. Turn off inverter at breaker 3. Turn off batteries This information was provided by Oliver, and confirmed by Lithonics. Our winter storage needed a conversation with Lithonics.

OK... Been thinking of this for a while and with some encouragement from @Geronimo John - it's probably a good a time as ever to post this. So, last month the traveling Knuckleheads and I visited the "first come - first served" Oliver Campground for some maintenance activities. We pull in around mid-afternoon knowing there's likely to be some serious WX coming in our direction. Having never been to the much touted-about showroom and maintenance facility located in an industrial area "across the tracks" in Hohenwald, the puppies and I met all the fantastic people in the showroom and general workshop area. Josh showed us all the new upgrades to the 2024 models and Magnus and Oscar approvingly inspected every square inch of them. We were adorned with swag like one couldn't believe (albeit the coveted "Ravel Cups" were no where to be seen)... Retiring to the Casablanca as the only Oliver in the campground, we threw on some Chris Stapelton and settled in to chill for a bit. A few minutes later, a rap at the main entry hatch... "Sir, since you're still coupled, it would be advisable to bring your rig through the main gate and under the protective metal roof by the shop". Assuming he (I'm thinking it was Mike) knows the WX patterns a ton better than us - I "rogered-up" and by the time I managed to snuggle the Tundra under the awning, the hail went from pea size to "no SH!T" golfball size. Never experience hail balls like that. The noise was louder than sitting behind the JBD waiting to launch with an F-8 in full burner on the CAT! IMG_1665.MOV It lasted about 20 minutes or so... The Oliver folks literally save our Tundra from being destroyed by the storm's hail - our metal panels aren't like the thickness of trucks back in the day - they're very thin. Jason Essary came up during the deluge, explaining that they get this type of storm often and I asked about the 6 or 7 brand new OTTs in the parking lot totally exposed to the hurling ice balls like ours was... He said, "No worries, until those hail balls get to the size of frozen chickens, they'll be good as gold!" WOW! Our's was completely being pelted by the hail as Jason explained this and sure enough - no issues! We'd just like to take this moment to thank ALL of the OTT employees that were there that day, helping us save the mighty TV, our Tundra... Cheers, ALL!

@Galway Girl What are your thoughts about this. Connect the original jxn box AC IN and AC OUT together to complete circuit for outlets and microwave. Removes the transfer switch and inverter from circuit. Then take main shore power from EMS that goes to PD 4000 and run it to AC IN on MP2 Then run AC LINE 1 OUT from MP to PD4000 main input. ALL the power from shore/Gen runs through EMS then to MP2 and then back to PD4000 main, thus distributing to all circuits including air conditioner.