Leaderboard

This forum should be the Go-To spot for buying and selling used Olivers, and even promoting new Olivers. The forum is the learning place for prospective buyers. They should be able to shop here too.

We have the Houghton (12V) on our 2027 Elite II. Although we do not have anything to compare it to, the Houghton seemed very quiet. You know it is on, but we could easily hold a conversation while it was running.

another solution: quick release Many options for quick release parts are available. Below is an example. You should do your own research. Be sure to find solid brass without lead content. The parts I have are all brass, do not have O rings and have never leaked. https://www.amazon.com/VEASEER-Connect-Connector-No-Leak-Fittings/dp/B0B1DK7RRT/ref=asc_df_B0B1DK7RRT?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80195839596703&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=86946&hvtargid=pla-4583795319923287&hvocijid=3404890068333995373-B0B1DK7RRT-&hvexpln=0&th=1

That is a great thing being able to talk to someone. Difficult with the Dometic

Richard's experience and data runs pretty much in line with mine. He has 520 Ahs and running the Dometic P2 for 2 hours uses 50% or 260 Ah which comes to 130 Ah per hour. I measured a constant -150A draw in the heat of the summer. Richard is doing this in the fall which is much less hot out, so the compressor is cycling some using 15% less power (150A/130A = 1.15). So yes, you can run A/C, but with any standard (on-off) compressor A/C, it would be for a very short period of time. Another item to notice is the soft-start requirement. Variable speed A/C does not need Soft-Start since they start soft by design, can run easily on the 2KW inverter or generator too. Any A/C can run on a 3KW inverter, but to truly have air-conditioning, the system has to be able to cool the cabin for the period of time for your comfort. Several times, we just want to cool the cabin for a few hours in the afternoon, after being out for the day, coming home to a hot cabin at 3 PM. I turn it on "Turbo" for about 20 minutes, then to Cool-Auto Fan. The fan drops down in speed and gets quiet. After 7 PM it cools down outside and we open the windows later. I have found with the Chill Cube variable-speed A/C we can do daily and our SOC drops by only 10% (90 Ah). And the next sunny day our solar can recharge that 10% loss, or the next time we're towing the Dc-DC charger will restore SOC%. With the 3KW inverter, we can also run anything else electric (e.g. the Air Fryer) while running the A/C. So @Ken_Judy you need to upgrade from AGM to Lithium. Wanting A/C is more about upgrading your A/C vs. your inverter. To reach your goal of having A/C when unplugged, to do it right you want all the Ah possible, the variable speed A/C and the 3KW inverter.

When we first joined the forum and had not yet decided to splurge for a new trailer, the used forum was very helpful. Not only did we see that there was relatively low owner turnover, but also that almost any trailer being sold was due to the owner’s age and/or health problems. Not customer dissatisfaction. That’s built in advertising right there. Plus, you could look at the owner’s previous posts to see in they made modifications, had problems, or complained about quality or customer service. I think having the forum benefitted the seller, the potential buyer, and Oliver’s reputation.

I can see OTT not wanting to facilitate private sales of used Olivers. It's not a good business model. On a personal basis, we're never buying or selling another Oliver, so who cares? I would think this is true for most of us. The Oliver is a life trailer that most of us buy once and keep in the family. What would be helpful is a classified section for unused Oliver parts. I've sold my Calmark cover, sold my bike rack, sold my original 2KW Xantrex, all just from slight mentions in my mod posts. But it took 2 years to do so and an Oliver Parts sales section would be great (not a vendor space, just for owners). I'm not using our Andersen 2 5/16" WDH or brand new Nev-R Lube hubs. See, I did it again. I want a solid aluminum front basket that somebody here took off to add a locked/covered case. If you've owned an Oliver for more than a couple of years, we all have stuff sitting on the shelf.

Because of the location of the water fill connection I find it difficult to attach the typical RV water hose without cross threading it a few times. The hose is too flexible to get it aligned easily. The solution I found is a hose leader from DeWalt, it has a ridged section that makes alignment easier. The leader is not approved for RV water systems, so I don’t use it on the city water connection, it’s just to fill the tank. Before connecting, I purge it for a few minutes to hopefully remove any residual chemicals.

Not sure what a screen way up inside the pipe accomplishes. There's already a valve to keep critters from reaching the tank. A screen right at the outlet would make more sense, to keep wasps, etc. out of the tube.

Assuming a sales pace of 50 units per year at $150,000 per, it will take 1.78 years to recoup a $2,000,000 capital investment with a a 15% net margin. To break even on the investment, you need to sell 89 units in total (88.89 units exactly).

I agree but would double jd's numbers. We have 640 Ah Lithionics. I feel i have maybe 5 hours of ac, maybe a bit more but unless you have the capability to recharge, you wont have sufficient power for the rest of your trip. 400 watts of solar probably will take a very, very long time to recharge given your power draw for lights, fridge, etc. I have the truma aventa ac.

We updated our Dometic last year when Oliver was giving a deal on the Truma Adventa units. My wife hated to spend the money, but she was happy after the unit was installed. We have a Lagun table, so it has become the table we eat at, play cards, and holds drinks and snacks while we watch Movies. The difference was incredible. We can carry on a normal conversation without raising our voices sitting on the beds at the Lagun table. Watching a movie is no problem. Sleeping with the AC on is a little loud, reminds me of staying at hotels with the AC units in the wall. you don't really notice them until all is quiet. As @Boudicca908 said there is information about different AC units on the forum. Some have even included -dB noise levels.

@Ken_Judy I had my 2018 hull #354 Elite II last fall upgraded with lithion batteries. The existing 4 AGM batteries were removed and the old Xantrex 2000 inverter was removed, since it did not have a switch to allow lithion batteries. Three 130 ah Lithionic batteries (390 total) and a Xantrex Freedom XC 3000 Pro Inverter-charger was installed. The battery wiring did not need to be replaced as they were the correct size. The existing charger was left in place but the charger wires were removed and its existing AC and DC breakers-fuses are still utilized. No other hardwear was required to be installed. I can run the Dometic AC (with it soft starter) utilizing the inverter in the on position. If fact, I use the AC to bring the batteries down do 50% prior to removing them for the witner months. This takes about 2 hours + to get from 100% to 50%. To run the AC for longer time periods would require either more ah battery capacity or a standby generator to charge the batteries or connected to AC to charge the batteries.

My guess is an Apex version of the single axle

Girard uses #3 Phillips screws to secure the end caps to the awning, over time these screws can oxidize and become difficult to remove which may result in cam-out of the screws. Additionally the location of the bottom end cap screw closest to the hull prevents a normal sized screwdriver from positively engaging the screw head due to its proximity to hull roof. To aide in removing the screws a short right-angle screw driver or a #3 Phillips bit with a 1/4" socket wrench allows sufficient force to be applied and clearance to break the screws loose. Once out a coating of anti-seize on the screws will prevent future problems. My awning has only a single limit adjustment screw which is quite different than the illustration included in my Girard manual. I'll include a picture for reference. A little prevention goes a long way when your batteries in the remote go dead or the remote fails and you have no other choice than to pull the end cap off the awning and manually retract the awning. Notes: The limit screw requires a 4mm Allen wrench ( 1/4 turn = 1" of travel ) The retraction bolt requires a 13mm wrench

Ironically, I just went through this when our awning began to jam because of a piece of debris. I was really annoyed that the bottom end cap screw was inaccessible and went hunting for a right angle screw driver. But even with that the screws were pretty locked up and took an effort to remove. I ended up replacing the bottom end cap screw with a hex cap screw so I could (next time) remove it with a wrench or socket. You won't realize how good @Tom and Doreen tips above are until you need them. 🙂

UPDATE on Sept 24, 2026: It has now been over 3,000 miles of towing since the wiring work, and NO warning messages....

@jd1923 my screen was WAY up in the pipe, there was no reaching it with a finger. Only a bright flashlight revealed the screen up in the pipe. Not sure if they are all like that was products change constantly, but you'd think there would be a screen somewhere.

PS - again thanks from Blain, Karen, and golden doodle Martha out of Edmond, OK.

Agree, I need to retire so I have the time to keep up on the forum 😅 I've been debating whether to ceramic coat the plastic bits - this tells me yes definitely worth it. Even if you don't coat the trailer, the smaller parts are super easy. Glidecoat is multi-surface, you can do fiberglass, metal, glass, plastic, and for these parts you don't need much. Just clean, you can do some light compounding/polishing with a microfiber towel if you want, or just don't bother, and apply two coats. Just get a small bottle of Glidecoat which isn't expensive, there's a 15% Labor Day sale going on. Anyhow if anybody wants to do this feel free to ping me for help

Thank you Chris, for bring this to our attention! 😂 Every time a forum member brings up a maintenance issue, next thing I'm outside checking ours. That's for sure! Ours has no screen at all and no rust. I can stick the full length of my index finger all the up into the opening. Thought I better secure our drain to keep mice and bugs out. I cut a circle about 2 1/2" dia. Then cut a radius line to shape a cone. Then crushed the screen over a 3/8" socket extension and pushed it up into the opening. Same screening I used in the fridge vents.

Operator error, no pressure gauge. Great posts by someone with knowledge of RV fresh water tanks, and the destructive force that has destroyed stick built trailers. This person worked for a manufacturer of tanks, including fresh water tanks for RV's

I was thinking the same thing!

Yes, they do. I had to replace mine a few years ago when it wouldn’t let water pass. It was right next to the back flow valve in the back of the basement like yours.

Reminds me of the pictures you get after a colonoscopy. Bill

I will get an external screen cover to put around the overflow pipe, like those that cover furnace exhausts.

I grabbed my borescope and not only grabbed some pics of the rusted screen in the overflow pipe, but a short video of my borescope magnet attachment trying to pull more screen out. Some of the rotted screen simply fell out upon touching it. I got the rest out with a long angled pick. Also, I had drained my fresh water tank on Sunday after a trip, but did not raise the nose of the camper high enough to remove enough water. You can see the reflection of the borescope light in the water. So I raised the rear jack stands, and raised the nose up a good bit more to drain even more water. I bet no one has shown the inside of the water tank before. LOL I can now see how an old rusted screen mesh could block the overflow. Also time to clean tank. fresh-water-overflow-screen-removal.mp4

That's all I can figure happened - the overflow got blocked. Since my screen in the overflow is falling apart with rust, it's letting most of the water out fast. I was wondering of those plastic strands, from making the tank holes, blocked that person's overflow, instead of going through the pump screen. When I purchased my #110 used in 2021, the pump screen was full of those strands from the drill holes. But have not seen them since. I also got push-back that the trailers do not have built-in 40-50 lb water regulators. Well, mine came with them in the basement, under the floor board (discovered last year when replacing check valves). I typically push 70 PSI of house water into my fresh tank all the time. Now I'm scared to let overflow too long just to help flush things. So far, so good though. Knock on fiberglass.

My wife mentioned seeing that incident on the FB page. Was a cause ever determined? I gather the overflow line did work. Too much pressure going in? Another reason to always have a pressure regulator on your hose, even when filling the tank.

Good question, never thought about it. Perhaps the screen serves to keep critters out.

Has anyone taken a pic of the inside of their fresh water tank overflow, near the walk-in door? Here's mine. Looks like there's a metal screen falling apart. At least my tank won't blow up like a ballon and warp the trailer. That's something. 🫣 I'm wondering if this inside piece does unscrew from what appears to be the outer ring.

LI was part of the recall, took it to Ford and supposedly that’s taken care of. Been about 1000 miles since finding squished burned Wire inside Dexter front axle. No warning so far. also on the rear axle there was one spot that looked the same. I don’t know what it is. Or how it could happen inside the axle? I’m pretty sure the front axle was the problem because the wire was compromised like this in several spots. Look like they pulled the wire through right after welding maybe?