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Ooooh, flashlights! Steph will tell you this is my impulse buy weak spot. Everything from no-name Amazon lights to some nice Streamlight and Olight units with my fire/SAR gear. When I was working, this little Streamlight Microstream was my EDC. The blue one was special because the default power-on setting was Low, while the other colors defaulted to High. Not sure if that's still true, but it was important because I used it to check pupils and didn't want to blind my patients. Don't have an EDC now but I added a Wuben H1 headlamp and a second Infinity X1 (Costco) to my assortment of lights over the holidays. And I still have my very first Maglite from the 1980s, with the LED upgrade kit from the original incandescent.

I strongly suggest anybody buying new to get the PRO+ model and hardwire 12VDC, forget the batteries and the app should work too. I have the app up EVERY time we are parking and I get level while sitting in the driver's seat! Why buy the model that needs battery replacement? The new MAX model needs AAA batteries vs. a CR2032 battery (I recycled mine since it is hardwired). Don't know how to crimp two wires? Get somebody to wire it for you! Mine is wired under the rear dinette seat where 12VDC is readily available. It does not have to be in plain view. Notice it's mounted to the side of the shore power ATS box, wire harness coming down from the bottom, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083ZMZPR8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

10 days to go. 4-6" of new snowovernight in the driveway, and 8" near the house and on the sidewalk. This is our first real accumulation of the year here in northern Ohio (only 0-1" prior.) The bad news is that it will not get above freezing before we leave next Monday, so I won't be able to de-winterize and fill the fresh tank before leaving. And we'll also probably be at a motel the two nights coming down instead of at Cracker Barrel. I'm sure glad we got a full hook up at the Eggs 'N S'mores Rally this year, so I can flush the lines and fill the tanks when we arrive at the rally! I'm going to have to find a truck wash to get the salt off of everything before getting to the rally.

My Olight Valkyrie Mini 2 -600 lumens. A blindingly bright torch for things that go bump in the night. 😎

I would start with your local Craigslist, since it is free or a $5 posting. That is where we found ours! There is also https://www.rvtrader.com/Oliver/rvs-for-sale?make=Oliver|765336542&zip=24301&radius=any where today across the country there is an amazing 45 Olivers for sale! (mostly new dealer units)

Our older Hull # 050 does not have the pressure regulators. It does have the back flow preventers in exactly the same places you show in your picture. For the earliest Hulls (say below 300) an owner would need to examine their unit to verify whether they have both or maybe nothing in that section of the rear basement. At that point in construction they were just kind of making it up as they went and there's not a whole lot of consistency. I would expect the latest models have only the back flow preventers but I can't guarantee you where they would be.

Received this card from a longtime sailing friend today. Seemed appropriate. Loved the vid. I only snow camp by accident. Splendid in the Ollie. Not so great in my tent, back in the day. 😀

Craig: Thanks for posting the pic. I once saw a young engineer cycle one of those valves and he was lucky to only get burns on his other hand.. At least yours points towards a wall so if it went off at 100 PSI from a runaway situation it would likely bounce somewhat downwards. Such an installation clearly violates the National Plumbing Code. However, I could not verify that it violates the RVMA requirements. Only a matter of time before someone gets scalded by this obvious safety hazard. Would especially be tragic if it was a steam release in a severe situation. At least they should install a full size 90 degree elbow to point the discharge down. In the meantime, it would be very wise for owners to be very cautious of this reality when working on our hot water heaters. GJ

In our 2019 Hull 505 the discharge port points to the left wall of the unit. That is a threaded opening so I suppose a hose could be attached to direct the stream to another location.

Very nice Geoff. Streamlight crafts a fine torch. I am big fan of BenchMade knives. My EDC is the Adamas “auto” folder. This has been an excellent EDC knife.

We are the new owners of Piccolino (original name as we have not yet had a decommissioning/recommissioning ceremony with appropriate amounts of rum to change the name) hull # 1346 and are on our inaugural trip from MA to Mayport FL. We had a fabulous experience with the previous owners and are thrilled with our new rolling nest and our new tow vehicle aka The Beast, 2024 GMC 2500HD Denali using the Gen-y Boss hitch. Jason and Kelly were so helpful as we marched up our learning curve in towing and Oliver's. This forum has also been a great source of information, thanks to you all. So far, our tow experience has been great, feeling very stable and at ease underway. Our first two nights saw temperatures down to 14F and we remained warm and dry. Unit is winterized with composting head so no worries for frozen lines. We have previously owned a 2016 J Navion and a 2019 Tiffen 34PA and are finding our Oliver to be so well designed, engineered and manufactured. But I have to admit, I still need to understand how the toilet paper holder is designed! See you on the road!

Having always been a fan of all things Olight, my bride, navigator, and copilot gifted me this Olight Arkfeld Ultra for Christmas and it is now an integral part of my EDC kit. I like the cool white light, green laser and UV light functions and how slim it is. Caution flag as the brightest CW light @1400 lumens is blinding as is the strobe. The UV light is impressive as well. It has a very strong clip for mounting on the bill of a hat or securing it in your pocket. Looking forward to field use using this during our travels in XPLOR and will update how it performs. So far out of the box this little light is a keeper. What’s your favorite go to EDC flashlight? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8SQYJW3?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1 A fairly in-depth review.

I too have been annoyed by the Levelmate’s short battery life, and the auto shut-off feature doesn’t seem to work. It’s now mounted with thumb screws for quick battery changes. The On or Off label helps because it's hard to tell the switch position, and I usually have a spare battery taped to it too! It was originally mounted indoors and I’d always be calling wifey to turn it on. Now it’s in the basement closer to the jack controls and I’m more likely to turn it off there.

Yeah @Steve Morris, you need to get south and get warm! 67F and partly cloudy today, here a mile high in the great SW! Too warm today to wear a sweatshirt in my garage while installing new struts on my ‘92 Lexus SC400! Love the people of the Midwest and the ethnic foods in the city, but... We left the Windy City a full 25 years ago and not looking back. Too cold!

All of you have fun but be very careful out there on those roads - brrrrr 🥶 Bill

Over the last few months of 2024, Chris and I found this channel on YouTube. The Atik Family (Ailesi) camps in Northern Turkey. I've been to SW Turkey decades ago and I always thought the country of Turkey was desert, like much of Greece. What a winter wonderland! These guys get a 1/2 million hits on most of their camping adventures. This one has 3.4M views! We love their special bond, positive souls, interesting camping gadgets and GREAT food they cook at every campsite! 😂

Safe travels !! We didn't get that much here in southern Ohio but winter looks to be long and cold this year. Getting closer to be able to escape Ohio in winter. Looking forward to meeting up again at the Rally.

Paul, It may really be worth your time to dive in and get it advertised on Facebook Oliver TT for sale forum or just the FB market place. It’s not very difficult to list an item and you will be actually targeting/advertising to folks actually looking for an Oliver. In the last few years I have seen quite a few Olivers sold rather fast in the marketplace or the Oliver TT for sale FB page. If I were selling that’s where I would advertise. Best of luck, priced right it should move fast.

Now that our Oliver is so nicely setup for boondocking, extra 35 gallons filtered fresh water in the TV, plenty of battery power, power accessories and tools, etc. it makes what they do seem so difficult. In one video Ozgur sets up an outdoor shower. They wash their faces in snow in another video. Watched one last night where their tent on a cliffside was blown down in the high winds. The have a saying for taking care of their bodily functions, "picking flowers!" They work through everything nicely, though it sure shows the glamping luxury of the Oliver! I only tent-camped a few times through the years. Too old for that now! 🤣

OK, so knives... I have a few rescue knives and a couple of pocket knives but my EDC knife is very different. I've been carrying one of these little Victorinox pocket knives in my pocket for probably 20 years and I use it virtually every day. (This is my second one, after the pen holder in my first one finally broke.) It has: blade, file/screwdriver, scissors, pen, toothpick (was tweezers, but I replaced), and a 16G USB A/C flash drive. Love this thing.

Well at least if you have this one, you have both............... 🙄😁

EDC flashlights, knives and …., well some may recognize my other favorite!

I need to get B to watch this vid in hopes she’ll have more appreciation for the wet bath!

Yes Geoff, I took a tax credit when I added a solar/inverter system to our Bigfoot Class-C in 2020. I plan to do the same here. The Oliver or any RV is considered a second home for tax purposes. That's also why I purchased the DC-DC charger, TEMCo 4 awg wire and Anderson SB175 connecters on New Years Eve, so that I would write off all my Oliver solar improvements for the 2024 tax year. This is the way to go! Much better price than the ones I bought.

We’ve been using liquid Calgon and a detergent pod since new. Happy Camper goes in when we’re back from a trip while our trailer is waiting for another adventure. Mike

As some may recall we've had 2 separate water heater fires in our 2019 EII. In the first case, the water heater was swapped out and the failing unit shipped to Germany for teardown by Truma. The second unit was also defective and had the same behavior after a year on the road. Oliver and the NHTSA have collaborated with Truma on a recall for Truma Water Heaters. Individual Notices to owners are going out in December and January, and I received a letter last week which explains the issue and repair strategy. Attached is the NHTSA Summary Report including the chronology of events. RCLRPT-24V876-7296.PDF The issue has been determined to be inadequate crimping of the burner assembly in manufacturing. This enables the burner tubes to rattle loose and eventually lead to fires in the firebox from tubes that are no longer contained. The manufacturing process has been changed to crimp all the tubes into place and new burner assemblies are being supplied for recall that meet the newer manufacturing process. The recall covers Truma SN less than DLE60C-33096055 (In my case the production patch SN was DLE60C-32123091) Here is the template letter from Oliver to consumers. The specifics of each trailer are unique so you may want to read this generic one to see the Serial Number range for recalled units and compare it to the Truma in your Hull. RCONL-24V876-1556.pdf Oliver will work with you on getting the repair completed. Craig Short Hull 505 - 2019 EII

Also use the pressure regulator on the fresh water fill inlet. Although there are fewer restrictions on the fresh water fill plumbing, it’s still a good practice. This would also apply when you start using the filter. Mossey

I learned something new, thanks! Mossey

BoyToys, gotta love ‘em! My new EDC light, RovyVon!

That said, I'm sort of thinking that the Calgon beads and Pinesol is a great way to keep the tank clean on a regular basis. But I still recommend using the Thetford lubricant as many of our owners use and cleaning/lubricating the cables every four years or so. So, my inclination is to use both, but not at the same time. Certainly open to the thoughts of our members on this. GJ

I was reminded of my favorite post in this forum by @Dave and Kimberly and @Ronbrink about the Solar Tax Credit. With their information, we amended our 2022 tax return and received a handsome refund check for 30% of the cost of the lithium package. In case you're unaware; I believe you could do the same! Our friends did! The entire system cost is eligible, batteries, solar panels, chargers, inverters, shunt, wire, and all the associated bits and bobs. We didn't have to submit receipts, just have them available. With 30% of the $3400 spent and the DC to DC charger cost, you're looking at some serious change brother! It would pay for that DC to DC charger with properly sized wire, some new tools, and a night on the town with the misses. 🤙 Cheers! Geoff

Sadly I'm about 4,000 miles from our Ollie. I too have never had a problem with my TPV. But that's normal. Millions of them on hot water heaters just sit there doing nothing for DOZENS of years. Sadly the owners don't know that at least annually they need to be cycled. But since the UPC (Uniform Plumbing Code) requires them to be hard piped to the floor or beyond, when they do cycle it is to the floor. Not you face or into electrical systems as I noted in a different post earlier today. GJ

I have installed the regulator and all seems to be OK. Per your suggestions, will also get a water filter to add to the city line in. Thanks again to everyone for your help. Thanks to both for the information. I will go out and get a regulator today. Appreciate the help! Greetings from LeFleur Bluffs State park!

My son got me this for Christmas and a standard flashlight model for Chris. I spent a good part of today working under a car replacing PS pump and alternator. I would say this wonderful tool cut 20% off my time doing everything. I had it on all day. Wish I had this 40 years ago and ever since! So bright with 3 settings and angle adjustments. Just set it on my hat, nice! https://www.amazon.com/NEBO-Rechargeable-Waterproof-Impact-Resistant-Adjustable/dp/B09F6YKZ14/ref=asc_df_B09F6YKZ14?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=79989588513701&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4583589117188773&psc=1

I imagine our system is low cost vs. the "Lithium Package." This is the second full solar/inverter system I have built into an RV. Love the work and each time the technology and prices have improved. I added the Victron Multiplus II that with Power Assist which is perhaps a better product than an equally powered Xantrex inverter today. Also added 600AH in Epoch batteries. My cost was $3400 plus my labor. When doing so, I moved all the awlward under-streetside-bed breakers, fuses and bus to the rear dinette location. I sold the LA batteries and 2KW Xantrex inverter for a total of $650, net total cost $2,750. Yes, I would not replace a working 3KW Xantrex inverter/charger. Glad I found our old hull, not so old anymore, after 18 months of improvements. It fits us nicely now! 😂

Very Nice! My EDC since February is the Streamlight 88812. Roughly the same shape, and they both look like little Storm Shadow missles! 😄 I've also carried a Benchmade 470 Emissary almost every day for around 15 years. Love it! Cheers! Geoff

Not sure, do you have a photo to share to compare? Our Ollie is a 2020 YM. I can say that in almost 5 years in I no Temp/Pressure relief valve issues. 👍🏻

Yep. Calgon softens water by binding with calcium and magnesium ions. This has the effect of reducing hardness impact on our OTT drain systems by preventing hard water minerals from causing buildup on surfaces. Or, it is a similar effect as washing our hair in soft water. Soap goes a lot further and our hair feels slippery as a result. In our RV's it is sort of a laxative for our system. 🙂 GJ

The “new Jason” at Oliver Service told me, it is a quick in and out straight forward repair for the Truma. We look forward to getting it buttoned up. 👍🏻 Onward! 🇺🇸

This map is valuable in showing type and location of recreation across Arizona. E.g.Arizona Land Trust, BLM are shown as well as whether camping is allowed. This map went out of print for a few years but I found a new version recently at a Arizona Tourist Information site. It is a free brochure I highly recommend carrying one of these if you enjoy boondocking in AZ

That’s just over 1.5A per hour which sounds good with your inverter on. Likely 1AH for inverter only. Happy New Year!!!

Second New Years for us with the Oliver Family! The BEST 2025 to all!

I believe that a download PDF version of this map is available HERE Bill

Distinguishing black from gray water is definitive, so concentrating on the black tank valve should be your priority. Regarding valve blockage, some owners have experienced the tank hole cutout being the culprit. I experienced leakage once, turned out the pull handle was turned in such a manner as not to be fully seated. Both black and gray handles are in a recessed box and can hangup on the edge if not paying attention to proper orientation.

After almost a year on this forum, reading all the wonderful information, getting used to the you get what you pay for price of an Oliver, and finding the wonderful owners of Hull 292, Duke and Chris Chadwell, on Dec 16th we took the plunge. Duke and Chris loved their Oliver and bought so many toys to go with it. We were so happy to get them included. We head out on our first adventure Dec 26th to St. Augustine with our Standard Poodle, Ranger. Anita, my Wife, came up with the perfect name for our Ollie, “The Range Rover.” We’ve already booked site F27 at the April Ollie Rally. Hope to see you there. Gary, Anita, and Ranger

We are cruising out of Jacksonville. This past January, we made arrangements with Retro Reno there in Jacksonville to work with CGI as a spot to do our ceramic coating and they'd told us to stop in if we passed that way again. So we contacted them late this summer to see if we could rent a spot. Since we were last there, they've become Escape and Casita dealers, and built a new shop, so I was concerned that they might not have room. Daniel called me, looked at their schedule, and said they would have room for us. He also offered to have us camp there the night before departure, and he will drive us to and from the ship port to avoid parking at the dock. All at a price I was comfortable with, and only a bit more than the RV/oversized spots at the port. I was dreading leaving the trailer at the port with the e-bikes on the back and valuables inside! So this was a huge relief for us.

We spent last week at Ridgway State Park, just 20 minutes north of Ouray. We drove up from our son’s house in Durango but didn’t take 550 this time. We took the western route which is about 40 minutes longer but provides with some different scenery. It takes you by Telluride. It was a nice drive. This is just a few miles outside of Telluride on the way to Ridgway. Another stop on the way up to Ridgway. Our site at Ridgway State Park We did a walk around the town of Ridgway. This is the town park in the middle of town. Downtown Ouray. Downtown Ouray. Hiking around the Ridgway Reservoir. Nice hike, good views. More hiking.

topgun2, this is what happens when you stay in Cracker Barrel parking lots too often! Google maps cameras catch you. This location happens to be on our way most anywhere west of Virginia so we stay here often. Maybe too often! 🤪