Leaderboard

Strange, You’ve had your Oliver less than three years and we’ve had our Oliver almost eleven years with exactly the same equipment as yours with never a single problem from them.

Hi, new to the community, having bought hull #1165, a 2022 LE2, on January 2nd! I've gained lots of pre-purchase info browsing these forums as a guest and would like to start off with a thank you! I appreciate everyone's help so much! Paul

I thought that this was/is the Truma water heater.🤔 (Note: my apologizes to Truma and its owners - just could not resist the chance to poke fun in response to all the Suburban water heater haters out there.)

You mean the search window is not working? I am shocked! 😮😄

Just look at all that coin you're saving!

Since upgrading our TV with soundbar and Blu-ray/DVD player, we rarely use the Furrion. The quality of the new sound is 10x the that of the Furrion and the 4 corner speakers. 🤣 I will occasionally tune in a local radio station, when home and working in the interior of the Oliver. When camping, Chris might Bluetooth connect her phone to play music. We do these tasks via the Furrion panel, as the remote sits unused in the nightstand drawer. You can also select speakers without using the remote. You have to limit the speakers when sitting in the corner dinette seat unless you're OK with one loud speaker on top of your head! If you use the Furrion system, more than we do, a better remote would be a simple upgrade.

Some of us newbies to get the 100 patch now or soon. You may have to make a 500 or even a Millennia badge for @ScubaRx and @Mike and Carol, just to name two, and likely for many of you out there in Ollieland!

We too have recently contacted Truma CS regarding cracks developing in the water heater cover. When you call you have go through the menu process and usually wait in a queue for a few minutes, but once you get a representative they are quite friendly and helpful with no push back. With one five minute conversation we had a new cover ordered at no cost, and it arrived promptly in three days. I’ve utilized Truma customer service on three other occasions in the past two years with equally satisfactory experiences. I feel Truma and their products have served us well thus far.

Some 65 miles of interstate 10 was closed overnight around the Florida/Alabama border!

We had a very rare Texas Snow Day yesterday, rather more properly deemed a Snow Half-Day! Taking advantage of this unusual low temp event to ‘cold smoke’ some sushi grade Scottish Salmon today, following two days of preparations. Looking forward to ‘rolling smoke’ through tonight until temps start to rise mid-day tomorrow. After which a trip to the Cow Barn to see how the Oliver survived this cold snap, winterization is also a very rare event in Texas, as well! UPDATE: Perfect Nova lox!

When you search, just search for ONE word at a time!

We’re a bit behind Steve and Tali, we only have about 110,000 miles and somewhere around 750 nights. I’ll have to check my spreadsheet. We’ve slowed down a bit this last year or two, 92yo mother next door and daughter with 4 kids nearby has been keeping us closer to home than before. Mike

In a recent post in the thread - "Truma has QC issues…. I mentioned that I had used a mod with a meat thermometer in order to - " tell me when the water is at about 104 degrees. Then I simply take a shower using only hot water (i.e. I do not "mix" cold water with the hot in order to get the temp back down to a comfortable level). This saves propane by not heating the water to 140 degrees in the first place, saves water because I don't have to mix the hot with cold (wasting that water until I get the mix right), and saves me from enduring that short burst of "cold" when taking a navy shower and turning the water back on." This mod is fairly simple- First purchase a meat thermometer that has a "cabled" probe on it like THIS one. Next - examine your Suburban water heater to determine how the Styrofoam insulation has been placed over the outside of the water heater. Note that most heaters have this insulation in two halves that meet at about the middle point of the heater (top to bottom). Gently lift the insulation and place the meat thermometer probe between the insulation and the water heater tank - try to get as much of the probe as you can in direct contact with the tank. Secure the probe cable to the outside of the insulation and tape the two halves of the Styrofoam insulation back together (note: at this point I also added a layer of reflextix insulation over the areas of the water heater that I could reach. Finally, route the end of the meat thermometer cable such that the end that plugs into the "read out unit" comes through the fresh air return grill under the street side bed. To use - plug in the meat thermometer read out and turn on the water heater. As the water inside the tank heats up you will note the "read out" on the thermometer will start to rise. It will not show you the actual temperature of the water inside the tank because the probe is on the outside of the tank. You will have to determine what is the temperature on the "read out" that equates to approximately 104 degrees (that is the temperature that most of us take showers plus or minus depending on how hot you really want to take your shower). In my case the "read out" will show between 93 and 95 degrees. At this point, I simply turn off the water heater, get in the shower and using ONLY the hot water, take my shower. Yes, there will be a few seconds for the water to turn hot when you first turn on the water but I usually "catch" this water in a small container (if I'm really watching my water usage). The use of the stock "shut-off" valve on the shower head for "Navy" showers can be used without the momentary shot of cold water when you turn the water back on - this is due to the fact that you are only using the hot water with no cold water being on at the same time. When not using the heater, I simply unplug the "read out unit" and store it one of the kitchen drawers leaving the meat probe wire barely hanging outside the furnace fresh air return. At one point I did fashion a holder for the "read out" unit and placed it near the fresh air return grill. However, I have since removed that because the "read out" unit is not very heavy and is fairly easy to read just hanging by the cable. Questions? Bill

More important than number of nights is $/night. I’m finally under $1000! 🤪

104F is the high setting on most hot tubs. You could use an electronic thermostat switch to automatically control the heat at a set temp vs. reading the temp and having to turn it off manually. Not sure if this would be the best part, but some thing like this: https://a.co/d/0nnLInc

I also recently experienced hairline cracks in the corner the exterior cowling of my Truma cover. I called and spoke withe a super friendly Truma Rep and explained what had occurred and was promptly sent a new exterior cover at no charge for the cover or shipping. I have had nothing short of stellar service from Truma reps with questions or ordering a new cover. I received the new cover in approx 3-4 days via fedex. Our Truma Aqua go came with a 2 year warranty. When we purchased new in 2020 Oliver actually filed our warranty with Truma. This must be done within 6 weeks of purchase. Pro tip 😊- you may want to add your tow vehicle, YM and Hull # to your signature. It will assist members of the forum to help you with questions you may have.

Sunrising at Picacho Peak SP near Tucson this AM viewed from the Casablanca command center.... Oscar's still in the rack! Headed out to Dome Rock area at the "Q" to link up with about 5 more OTTs that have been arriving there over the weekend. Plan to land there before noon - not even through my first cuppa BRCC (Blackbeard's Delight, FYI).

Deb and I are trying wintering in Florida this year for a few weeks. We couldn't get into state or federal parks in the southern half, due to all the snowbirds who've planned further ahead than us. If you're near where we're staying, drop us a message and maybe we can meet up! Eggs 'N S'mores Rally at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park near Live Oak January 15-20 Blackwater River State Park January 20-26 Fort Pickens January 26-31 A couple of nights at Best Western in Tallahassee to stretch out January 31-February 2 Salt Springs Recreation Area February 2-12 Retro Reno in Jacksonville February 12-13 A four night Carnival Bahamas Cruise for a change of pace February 13-17 After that, we'll wander north, with possible stops in Savannah GA and/or Columbia SC, depending on the weather.

Hi, about 3 weeks ago I purchased a used 2022 LE2 with the Lithium Pro package. I've searched for the answer to this question here and in other places, and have a suspicion, but I thought I'd ask the experts here before I start making expirimental changes just in case someone can tell me for sure what is wrong. The issue I'm having is that the three lithium batteries, which appear to be in good condition, do not charge and discharge together simultaneously. So, if I'm using a load, one battery might report that it is dispensing 20 amps, and the other 5A and the third might be 1A. Eventually they will all become discharged. The same is true in reverse, when they are charging, one will receive more amps than the others and reach full charge first. My suspicion is that the wiring of the batteries is not correct, from what I've learned from watching YouTube videos about RV lithium battery set ups. My understanding is that the batteries are supposed to be wiried in parallel, with diagonal take offs. There appear to be four different take offs in my setup (I haven't figured out what each one is yet, but I'm guessing one is for connection to the Xantrex Inverter/Charger and one is for the battery pad heater, but I'm haven't figured out what the third and fourth are). It looks like the pad heater is the one that is not connected properly. However, I find it odd that the problem exists whether the heater is on or off. Note that I don't believe the previous owner changed anything (the marks on the cables and terminals would indicate that also), so it was almost certainly set up this way at the factory. I've attached a photo of the cable connections to the batteries, and I would be happy to make another post with photos of the Xantrex settings or the Lithionics battery app information if anyone would like to see that. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide! Paul

For those of you who have been less than impressed with the tiny, difficult to use remote that came with the Furrion DVD player - stereo that came with your Oliver - thankfully there is an upgrade available. Though a Furrion dealer I contacted said that there was no full sized remote available, I looked on Amazon (where else?) and found this: Universal FUTVRS1-BL Replaced... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094NHGK5B?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share for the money, it seemed worth a try - even though a vendor on Amazon I also contacted also said it “will only work with TVs”. Oddly enough, this remote arrived with two stickers that said just “Remote”. They were stuck clumsily on the front and back of the remote. Since they were obviously crudely stuck on, I peeled them off. Sure enough, it says “Furrion” under the stickers. Dunno why they bothered sticking them on. At any rate, the remote controls the power, volume, DVD player functions, AM/AM functions, input/output functions - and probably stuff I haven’t even figured out yet. I haven’t tried to actually tune the radio yet, but I suspect that will also work as well. If you’ve been as frustrated with the tiny remote as I have, then you’ll enjoy this upgrade!

I updated my batteries with assistance of a friend who does solar installs for a living. This is a bit different than most of the installs I have seen here in that we used two 400 AH EG4 rackmount batteries. After removing the rackmount handles from the batteries and the battery tray from the Oliver they fit perfectly. There was a bolt in the bottom of the battery cabinet that was an issue. We put in 1 inch square aluminum rods on the floor of the cabinet to raise the batteries above the bolt head. We also replaced the Xamp solar charger with a Victron solar charger 100/30, added Victron lynx shunt, Victron distributor, and Victron cerbo with a touch screen (7" model). This fit perfectly in the hole left by the removal of the Xamp solar charger. To get the cables from the cerbo to the touch screen I ordered an extra HDMI extension cable and USB cable (approx. 15'). I ran the cables to the back of the camper in the tray behind the cabinet and then down the wall in the back, under the basement, and back up under the street side bed. Trying to pu the wire down next to the pantry would not work. It was too tight. I believe Victron is planning on replacing the HDMI cable with the small USB connections this spring. Didn't help me, but maybe it would help you. In addition we added a solar disconnect which you can see below. In the pictures below. These batteries can be powered off and the breaker thrown to disconnect. They also come with automatic fire suppressants, two per battery. Cost was $1200 per battery (400 AH, each). This was the first stage of the upgrade. At some point I may replace the Xantrex 2000 inverter, but for now it works well for us. Unfortunately the Xantrex and Victron do not talk to each other. That is why you don't see information on the touch screen about the AC loads and AC input. We have taken it on a couple of trips now and we do not come close to making a dent in the batteries. I added an extra battery in case we need to replace our 3-way fridge in the near future. So far it is doing well. I replaced a power board on it a while back, but since then no issues. Parts are harder to come by now though.

I would suggest a different design for a 100-night, 500-night, and 1,000-night patch. Who are the graphic artists out there? HA!

Overnight low was 15*, with a high today of 38* and sunny. No problems at all! The Mopeka app shows me using about 1% per hour of propane from one of the bottles. 👍

Thanks for posting this. Top of my list to order. It also appears that this remote may also operate the rare fireplace option that some Olivers have installed (wink).

I believe you could tie or tape the probe touching the metal of the pressure valve just above the heater to get a good reading, or wherever you mounted yours. The difference is your sensor only reads the temp and you have to manually turn the HWH off at the time it achieves your desired temp. You must be there watching to time it right. These devices will activate 12V to the heater circuit to automatically turn it on and off. You could keep it at 104F 24x7!

The Amazon remote that you show is exactly like the one that came with my trailer. The useless tiny Furrion remote also came with the trailer. I thought that both remotes came standard with the trailer?

If it makes you feel any warmer - the forecast low for tonight in Asheville, NC is 8 degrees.🥶 Bill

I'm working on it (finding it, that is). Might be less time consuming to simply re-do the post given that last night I went through the first 100 pages of all the posts I've written over the years without finding it!

@jd1923 -- Thought we'd finally meet in person, JD! We'll see you down the road, eventually, brother - take it easy! Here's a snap of @johnwen's OTT and @ScubaRx's Clam during a pre-sunrise puppy duty for Oscar... with the wind chill factored in its a balmy 25F here this AM. HA!: At last count, there's 6 OTTs and a BigFoot... I understand there may be more coming later this week. Staying on the warm side of the "Main Hatch" for a while - take care, all! Best,

Let me know if you pass my way and you are welcome to stay as long as you want... We have all kinds of room, power and water, and there is a dump station about 5 miles away.

Looks like some good reading on the Oliver Forum too! 🤣

Unfortunately, you would likely be horrified if you saw our Ollie. It definitely isn't spit-shined sitting out in the Florida sun. But, oh so comfy! And our 2 golden retrievers love traveling with us. Life is good.

👍

I threw a fireplace tool with a 90 degree bend on the end in the basement years ago. Hooks the milk crates I store stuff in pretty good and use it for the campfires too. Won't go without it and am paranoid about leaving it at a campsite.

I just signed up with DYRT. I have tried RVParkey and RF Life. One of those sucked a lot and the other sucked somewhat less.. I let mu Harvest Host expire. I could never use it when we needed it. Hosts never called back, or nothing appealing appeared on my route. I will reserve my main destination, but reserving every little stop along the way there and back takes the fun out of it. It seems less of an adventure planning the stops. I like to explore and go where the road takes me. I did that for years on the bike, but doing it towing my house might be tougher. Trying to adjust.

I have to agree with Bill, here. Over 9 years on our 6 gallon tank and the only maintenance has been changing out the anode, a simple 10 minute task. Noise isn’t an issue either, we run it on electricity when we have hook ups and it’s pretty quiet. 6 gallons is enough for two showers in a row with some left over. If you need to heat water quickly you can run it on both electricity and gas. I know the Truma is new technology and offers some nice features, but our good old hot water tank and good old gas furnace have both been simple to operate and maintain. Mike

Ummm - yes, Navy shower - I can do that. On the other hand, trying to explain water conservation, grey tank size, etc - has been a challenge for me…. V

I agree with the necessity of planning on our travels east of the Mississippi River, we live near St Louis. But we’re planning on leaving soon for a month in Texas and I won’t book anything more than a day in advance, we’ll just wing it. But you do have to be flexible, and having a fully self contained rv frees up a lot of options.

We use CG showers to the extent possible, meaning if well maintained and clean. On our first day of camp arrival, we like to drive around for site familiarization and inspect the showers therein. Usually a choice pick is obvious, other times not so much; but a selection is made and we go with it. Oftentimes our selection is in lesser used camp areas where demand is lower and thus, no waiting! Yes. we usually have to drive a bit further, but we fold that late evening excursion into our wildlife viewing hunts.

One of my uses is to condition the Lithionics batteries per instructions. They need to be fully discharged and recharged at least once every six months. Using the Dometic Penguin with soft-start that I used to have, I was able to do this, but not with the Truma. Now I have to use the fridge in DC mode, which is inconvenient when the trailer is winterized and garaged. The Truma has a dehumidify mode which maximally runs the compressor, seemingly regardless of the temperature. Other than that, we run the AC at highway rest stops when we're having lunch, and occasionally for short periods when boondocking as you do. We don't necessarily have a full charge in either case.

I believe the batteries need to be in close proximity of each other. Cable length is significant. Hopefully someone can confirm that.

Mike, nice set up. Anita and I will be at the Ollie Rally in April. Are you going? At some point will go from AGM to Lithium. Would like to see your set up. Hull 292 here.

So, you also installed the MP2? Have an installation post or pictures. I knew of 3 prior to our installation but your name is new to me. Thanks. Like Steve wrote, no venting issues. I installed our MP@ under the streetside bed, so no room under there. Without detail measurements, If I was to desire more than 600AH in the battery bay, I would look under the pantry!

Nice install. I built up the floor with a 1/4 inch rubber mat to get ride of the bolt problem.

Lithium batteries do not have the risk of venting hydrogen gas like the LA batteries. They can safely be mounted anywhere and in any orientation.

Just some rough math out of curiosity: Diesel is about 13% more expensive than gas right now. However, my diesel truck was approx. 35% more fuel efficient when towing, so there are savings there, maybe $81 per thousand miles driven towing. Based on that, diesel would have saved us $264 in fuel costs this year (we towed 3260 miles). However, with the higher initial cost of a diesel truck, more expensive maintenance, DEF, etc. we would have lost money overall (assuming a 15 year lifespan for the truck). I estimate we'd have to tow approx. 3X as many miles per year to break even. Diesel might be worth it for a full timer who puts on a lot of miles though, especially if they do a lot of mountain towing.

Wow, great idea Ray with the help of your friend in the solar biz! This is $3/AH (given this is the true OTD price, no tax and free shipping). I spent $1800 OTD on 600AH of Epoch batteries which is again $3/AH, but you fit 800AH in the Oliver battery bay at this price. What an EXCELLENT upgrade! I'm not the guy who worries about warranties and most LiFePO4 warranties are 11 years but likely not full replacement after 5 years. EG4 claims 15 years service to 80% DoD with a 5-year full replacement warranty. It appears they are being honest and do not want to get into prorating warranties after 5 years. Really? on your gorgeous XPLOR! I just assumed you had the OEM Platinum Package. We needed the LiFePO4 upgrade this year, along with Victron MP2 and 400W suitcase solar (now 720W total), allowing us to dry camp for days, and up to a week off-grid using several 110VAC appliances daily. AGM is fine for those who camp with hook-ups. We had very good condition lead-acid batteries, replaced in 2022 by the prior owner. We could have used these for many more years but would have only 220AH available which can be depleted over two cloudy days. Instead, we spent $1800 on 600AH LiFePO4 and sold the LA batteries for $300 on Craigs, net cost $1500! Four years ago on a prior RV, we installed AGM since back then the cost of LiFePO4 was prohibitive. If Ray had posted this 6 months earlier, I would have copied this install for 800AH! Hard to beat this capacity/value. Instead, we'll limp along with only 600. 🤣

Nice job Ray! I may go the Lithium route at some point when my AGMs give up the ghost.