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If anyone is in need of new rubber wheel/tire chocks - Harbor Freight has these on sale now for $4.99 each (versus $7.99 regular price. The coupon code is 11893027. They are only at this price through 9/15/2024 and there is a limit of 4 per customer.

Finished! Shameless copy of @mountainoliver style custom vents came in today. Installed without difficulty. Very happy with the new fridge. No issue with cabin humidity since it dropped from the high 80s in August. It has been 40-60 since September. Thanks again for everyone who paved the way on this swap/install. Best, Mike

I use the Flush King and connect it to a short Camco hose in the bumper. I connect a hose to the connection on the left. The green thing is a "Save a drop" counter so I don't over fill. I dump each tank first. Empty the black and then the gray. I close the gray tank and reopen the black, turn the water on and watch the counter. There is a knob to turn off the water. Empty and repeat with the gray tank. I still like to use the black flush. Tank Kleen did our tanks at the Rally. The black tank was spotless, but the gray tank was bad. I use their Pine-Sol bath beads solution that Tank Kleen recommends, and add 3 gallons of water into the floor drain and 3 gallons into the toilet so it sloshes around while driving. If boondocking or extended camping I will limit adding water.

Hi Claudia, When we were in our Casita I had a similar occurrence, but only occasionally and it took me a while to figure it out. The Casita's vent stack exhaust is pretty darn close to the bathrooms ceiling vent fan and when I had the bathroom ceiling vent open but not running along with the bathroom window open and various cabin windows open, air would circulate through the cabin and exit the bathroom window creating a vacuum through the ceiling fan opening and drawing odors from the outside vent stack. It drove me nuts and would only happen occasionally when the wind conditions were right. Closing the bathroom ceiling vent cured the problem. I suppose just closing the bathroom window, to interrupt the airflow through the bathroom, would have worked as well. That's my only experience and may be worth a try. Hope it's something simple :) John

That looks strangely familiar! Good looking installation. I know that you’re going to really like the performance of the new fridge. No more fussing around with trying to get it to maintain temperature, etc.

Bill, I always look forward to your end-of-fishing-trip wrap up. Great pics and it sounds like the fishing was great! Mike

As usual (19th year in a row), Twist spent two months in the western states enjoying the scenery while I enjoyed the fishing. This year I basically did a repeat of the past few years by starting the fishing west of Buffalo, Wyoming and exiting via Dubois, Wyoming. Stops (in towns) on the way included Ten Sleep, Worland, Meeteetse, Cody, Cooke City, Moran Junction, and Dubois. Rivers and Creeks included Ten Sleep Creek, Wood River, Greybull River, North Fork of Shoshone River, Elk Creek, Clear Creek, Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone, Beartooth Creek, Hoodoo Creek, Dead Indian Creek, Cantrell Creek, Gros Ventre River, Fish Creek, Torrey Creek, Horse Creek, Frontier Creek, etc. Trout landed ranged from 8 inches to 18 inches and were brooks, rainbows, brown, cut-bows and cut throat. Early in the trip at about 5:20am the Ollie started rocking! Checking to make sure I was alone I peeked outside thinking I might see a grizzly bear. Yes, the fur was black but it was only a couple of cows scratching their faces on the bumper. Here are a few pics from the trip. Bill

A Jackery 2000 pro will not run any air conditioner, better suited for small AC appliances or DC supply/charging purposes. Yes, a small dual fuel inverter generator can be used to power the Truma, at minimum 2200W. I carry a dedicated 30# propane tank under cap, which will provide up to twenty hours of a/c comfort for long evening/night periods of cooling. Once that supply is exhausted, I can tap into one of the OTT-mounted propane tanks unless time is taken to refill. I stage the genny on the tongue of the trailer secured with a chain. I primarily use this setup for overnight stays while underway to a campground that has power service. Depending on how an Oliver is wired dictates whether or not the Truma can be used via the inverter. I had to install a dedicated transfer switch to be able the run on DC. If capable, then solar and/or a small generator will sustain limited use of the a/c in actual boondocking situations.

You may want to present your question in Mechanical & Technical Tips of the forum for a better chance of response.

Get these parts to flush black or gray tanks: https://a.co/d/1jRtUTP https://a.co/d/b4RE4F6 https://a.co/d/5eEU0sE

At the Rally I won this clear plastic that connects to a short hose and the connector to the flange on the bumper. It has a hose connection and a counter so I don't over fill the tank. I can do both tanks from the rear. I still like the back flush connection for the black tank. I don't have it handy at the moment. It has a handle to keep water filling the tank from emptying, and once full, I turn off the water at the unit and empty. I then close that tank and open the other and repeat.

Along with everything else that has been suggested, recheck the toilet flange to make sure that it isn’t cracked. Mine started to smell on occasion and a little at a time then gradually became worse. I found out that the cheesy plastic flange was cracked, allowing sewer gas to escape and eventually liquid as well. I replaced mine with a stainless steel flange and fastened it down using all six available mounting holes with #14 stainless screws.

It’s on my list too. I put mine back as original, should have taken the time to do more. That was 2017, I’ve learned a lot since then.

One more thing to check (I speak from experience here), open up the area under the sink in the bathroom. In the back on the left you’ll see where the vent pipe connects to the black tank. On our trailer it was not glued, just stuck into the hole on the top of the black tank. It had come out and was sitting on top of the tank off center so part of the hole was open. The vent pipe is now epoxied into the black tank. Mike

We saw our first Oliver out and about. We got excited! We are sharing Shepard State Park with another Oliver. By all appearances they are from Georgia. https://shepardstatepark.com/ Doing the forum wave to you. Oh, and you better go eat at Bozo's. Great sea food and the perfect ambiance. https://www.mybozos.com/

So I feel like I've exhausted my options in tracking down a black tank odor so before I call the mothership, I'd like to solicit some opinions here. I've gone through all the Oliver forum posts relevant here and in other RV places on the web. I have a standard porcelain toilet and towards the end of last summer and this summer I've had an issue with an on and off smell, especially with the MaxxAir fan on and of course in warmer weather. For the record, I DO NOT put toilet paper in my black tank EVER and don't have any tank sensor issues. I'm also aware that gray tank smells can mimic black emanating from drains. I have been using Happy Camper treatment for over 7 years and have been happy with it but I've been following a company called KLEENTANK who advise not using enzyme treatments due to sludge forming in the lines. https://kleentank.com/throw-away-your-rv-tank-additive-use-this-instead/ so I've been experimenting with their DIY holding tank mix this season. I also use plenty of water (even though I hate to waste water while boondocking) and wait to dump until I'm at least 80% full. Here are the things I've done to track and hopefully fix the problem to no avail: 1. I removed and replaced the ball valve seal on the toilet even though it was holding water just fine. 2. I removed the entire toilet from the base and replaced the seal where the pipes meet the closet flange. It's weird that there's just a pipe to pipe connection there. Not exactly sure what the seal does except maybe prevent leakage if the black tank overflows. 3. If you know me, I have OCD and completely cleaned the toilet by turning it upside down and sterilizing every nook and cranny. A yucky job but I ain't scared. 4. I climbed on the roof and made sure no obstructions like mud daubers or nests were in the vent pipe. I even poured a weak bleachy solution down the vent to see if it would help. 5. I've taken a good look under the dinette seat closest to the bath to see if there are any loose connections on steel bands or any other possible loose connection. I see no evidence of prior leaks. There is a slight black smell but I assume some smell can come from the gate valves. I'm using a commercial ozone generator today in that area. 6. I sealed/blocked off both the shower and sink drains to try to isolate the toilet vent and still have smell. The only thing that I can think of is that I haven't removed the face plate from the bath vanity to see if the vent pipe has come loose or something. I hesitate to do this as Oliver repaired my courtesy light and did an outstanding job on the exterior caulk which I'm pretty sure I won't be able to duplicate. I guess this would be a good time as any to make that area accessible but I was hoping not to tackle that just yet. Any other insight would be greatly appreciated; I might be missing something obvious. Regards, Claudia

We left Grand Junction and landed in Green River SP in Utah this afternoon. This SP has W/E only with an D/S and it’s $45 a night. Not bad at all. Happy and Safe Travels!

Bill, You were the only Oliver we saw until we got to Pagosa Springs, CO…wow! What are the odds? It sure was exciting for us to see you and Twist headed back to NC. So glad we got to catch up while we headed west. How cool is that? 👍🏻😊 David & Kathy

@ScottyGS I hope (and assume) the 2500 trucks you drove had the step rails. These step rails would make it easiser for Donna to climb into the truck. Without them it would be extremely difficult.

finally leaving Texas

Thanks, Ron. I think you have confirmed my thoughts. I appreciate you taking the time. Nice setup by the way. Bob

What do they say? Imitation is the sincerest form of flattering? LOL..I am considering using plus nuts and white thumb screws for my installation...but am going to practice using them first! Thanks for the link to the gasket material!

Actually, Patriot saw an Ollie! And, it was me! On Monday (August 26) I was headed east on Interstate 70 (just east of Jefferson City, Missouri) when I got a rather excited call from David and Kathy. They were headed west on Interstate 70 and spotted me going the other way! Unfortunately, at the moment we passed each other I was getting a message on my dashboard that the Ollie had become disconnected. Thankfully this message was only due to a small pebble causing the electrical connection between the truck and Ollie to become unstable. Thanks to both of them for making my day! Bill

Actually, @Frank C did it first and best, quite detailed using u-clips. Mine was a quick job but the part re mine I like is the rubber seal, inexpensive part too!

Never thought about the stink pipe. Make sure you use plastic razor blades to cut the sealant. Don't ask me why🙃. Instead of caulk I used a "U" shaped silicone strip around the panel. Screwed back in and replaced the caps over the screws. Either Oliver forgot to install 2 bolts through the flat plate to hold the propane housing to the trailer or it came loose. I didn't find the nut under the sink..

Before you rip the vanity apart - it is worth the shot to tap on that under the kitchen sink valve. Just sayin'. Bill

MPG will, of course, will depend on how and where you drive. My Ram has a 6.7L inline six, a little different than the Ford V8. I get about 18 mpg around town not towing. A little over 20 mpg just highway. Towing on level highways I get a little over 15 mpg at 65 mph. I’ll do 70 on I-10 going west from San Antonio and I’ll get 13/14 mpg. In the mountains it drops to 11 or 12. I’ve got about 75K miles on this truck, half of it towing. Mike

Look at your circuit panel description in the (2024) Elite 1 manual. Note that circuit #1 of the main panel is the air conditioner. This is shown in the diagram (below) that uses the Xantrex 2000w inverter. This means the air conditioner is powered directly from the AC source. If you have the optional front AC input for a generator, connecting it to the input will feed to a transfer switch which will determine the power source (front input in this case) to route to the EMS. The EMS will verify the input power is safe and route the AC to the main circuit panel. So, in the Elite I generator case, the inverter should not be in the circuit path to the air conditioner. I think a 3000w inverter is essential to power an air conditioner.

Looks like you’re going to have to open it. I put mine back with 4 screws, drill 5/32” holes, rubber washers and a white rubber seal, no caulk. https://a.co/d/5G5pVZd

Yeah, I regularly pour my new tank treatment down the shower drain and of course valve lubricant after every dump. This has me so perplexed!

Have you poured any water in the p trap of your shower drain lately? If you pee trap has no water in it, it will allow any odor from your gray tank to off gas into your shower. We periodically when traveling just add water to the p trap. No odor after doing so. Also it does not hurt to pour a little water and dawn or tank treatment down the p traps. Hope this helps!

After our install of Alcan leaf pack we decided to tour the Grande Mesa National Forest here in Grand Junction. We also highly recommend the Colorado National Monument a must see if you’re in this area. We also took the ski lift up Powder Horn ski resort the views from the lift were epic at 10’ elev. It was really cool to see that they allow mountain biking in the off ski season. We had a light lunch at the base of Powder Horn before our lift ride to the top. The weather was perfect. As you can tell, no traffic to speak of and no crowds. We are convinced that after Labor Day is the perfect time and temp to visit out west. Happy and Safe Travels! The Beast even got in on the action… IMG_1617.mov IMG_1627.mov IMG_1630.mov The good food at Powder Horn hit the spot! My sweet bride!

You will be totally fine John. Lew and his staff at Alcan are really awesome to deal with.

Several of us have stayed at Ladybird Johnson Municipal RV Park, a city park of Fredericksburg. https://www.fbgtx.org/236/Lady-Bird-Johnson-Municipal-Park its near a winery, golf course and local airfield and about 5 min from downtown Fredericksburg. park has full hookups and shade trees . ( pix below is from last April for the eclipse)

We stayed here in pre- pandemic 2020: https://www.fbgtx.org/343/Lady-Bird-Johnson-RV-Park

Yesterday I had the Alcan 5 leaf pack installed at Alcan. This morning I decided to crawl under XPLOR for a closer look and check the torque on my 16 of my 9/16 Ubolts torque setting on the high nuts juuuuust to satisfy my OCD. I found in the short trip back to the our base camp (only 9 miles) from Alcan the Ubolts definitely required retorquing. Each of the (16) high nuts needed at least 1-2 full rotations to bring them into a torque spec per Alcan of 90’lbs. I am glad I checked these high nut fasteners as it is clear that the new Ubolts will stretch in a very short period of travel. This is why Alcan repeatedly recommends you check the torque on the high nuts and wetbolts. I will check again at the required interval of 50//50/500 mile mark. Passing this forward! Happy and Safe Travels All from Grand Junction, CO! You will need a 3/4” deep well socket which can be purchased alacarte at a local HF store.

Our meal was great and the host gave us get two free Taco cards and a desert on the house. John I think having a Torchy’s that close to home could be dangerous. 😋 😄 We could easily become regulars. Ha!

Like your scaffold idea. I personally would need several pool noodles on the trailer side though. GJ

I have a Griot’s Garage G9 random orbital polisher with the optional 25’ quick-connect power cord, correcting foam pad set and waxing pads. I use the Meguiar’s 67 One Step Compound and Flagship Premium Marine Wax that @Patriot and @rideandfly previously highlighted.

I completely understand where you are coming from. However, coming from a rock crawling and jeeping background I can understand the warranty period for their products as their main business is building custom suspensions for people who will take their 4x4 rigs to places like Moab and do things to them that a teenager wouldn't do to a stolen rental car. Over time and as ALCAN gets more into the RV suspension business, perhaps their RV spring warranty will split from their off-roading line and fall more in line with that which we are used to seeing in our world. Until then and knowing what their rock crawling customers do to their products and that the springs I purchased for my trailer are built with the same raw materials and using the same process as their offroad springs I am confident of my purchase.

Griot’s Garage seems to have nice wax/polish setups. I use their foaming wash and wax products with good results.

I'm in Jim's camp here -- we opted for 390 Ah lithium to reduce range anxiety and reducing the need for a generator. The batteries have served us well in this regard. We also use A/C occasionally (usually for an hour or less) at rest stops. I like the fast charging, and (hopefully) long life. When being careful, we use between 30 and 50 Ah/day, perhaps a bit more if the furnace is running a bunch. Perhaps less if we're really being careful. This gives us several days to a week or more of range, depending if on whether we're getting at least some solar charge. Using the A/C for an hour uses about 100 Ah, and the solar will recharge a good portion of that on a sunny, summer afternoon. For longer trips (e.g., cross-country) during the summer we occasionally find ourselves at plug-in sites in the evening, where we can charge if needed. In 4 months of use, we've needed a generator only one time, and that was when we ran the batteries down by accident. For us, there's a DC to DC charger in our future, a la John Davies and others. That should eliminate the need for a generator during most, if not all, of our travels. For us, the lithium batteries have served their primary purpose: reducing range anxiety. That said, I think some buyers will find lithium battery maintenance frustrating. For example, the batteries need to be cycled from charged to empty to fully charged every two months (per Lithionics rep). What's the best way of doing this seemingly simple task? Use of the A/C or space heater doesn't run down the batteries enough. Running the fridge on 12V does it, but inelegantly so. I can't even imagine doing this with the platinum 600 Ah batteries on a regular basis. The battery app needs calibration (which we learned the hard way when the batteries died but the app showed a 57-62% state of charge!). Does the app stay calibrated? Not sure of this yet. The batteries need temperature monitoring (e.g., the battery compartment gets quite warm in the summer). Etc. Etc. Etc. This is getting a bit afield from the original fridge question, but I think that Oliver could do a much better job (1) describing weaknesses of the lithium option along with potential benefits, and (2) presenting a separate, simple, user-friendly manual on how these systems work on an integrated basis. Such a user guide would draw from the Xantrex manual, the knowledge base, the battery manual (which we did not receive and is still not listed in Oliver University, but which is available on the Lithionics website) and perhaps this forum describe how to use these electrical components as a system, and what to do when encountering common pitfalls. Perhaps this forum is a good place to try crowd-sourcing such a user guide. We might all learn something in the process. I know I would. I'm generally satisfied with the lithium system, but with a better understanding (i.e., user guide for integrated system) and DC to DC charger, I could be downright pleased. Sorry for the long post....