Leaderboard

Excellent post, thanks. The diagram is fine as far as it goes, but as you pointed out, they left off the critical S-turn back in the opposite direction. If there is enough road to get the trailer fairly straight, no problem. If there is an obstacle, then you can’t get enough room to swing the truck. The angle between trailer and truck will be too sharp, in the wrong direction. The trick is to do that exact maneuver, but in say the last ten feet of forward motion, crank the steering wheel from hard right to hard left. This does two things. It moves the front of the truck further away from the curb, allowing you to pull a little further forward. It kicks the trailer hitch hard to the right, forcing the back of the trailer left into MUCH better alignment. To reverse, you crank the wheel hard back to the right while stationary (you do not want to waste any distance doing that while moving), then proceed into the parking spot. Left backing turns are easy because you can hang your head out the window and see most everything... Right ones are tough. As you suggested, a visual “bookmark” is something I often do. I try to pick a marker to align the truck with to locate the initial turn point. Practice practice! John Davies Spokane WA

I spent a lot of time researching backing up a trailer online, perhaps because I initially lacked any skills and my first tries were such abject failures. I learned about trailer pivot points from the web, as well as strategies for using mirrors and spotters. While I am certainly not an expert at it, I am much, much better. We went camping last weekend I got Ollie straight in the center both at the campsite and at the storage facility, both on the first try. I don't think there are contradictions. This web site has a diagram with the same approach as in the video. [attachment file=Screen Shot 2018-08-22 at 5.10.54 PM.png] You are correct that the video has you approach the campsite from an angle, and then cut back away from the campsite, while the red-blue arrow diagram has you approach perpendicular to the campsite. Both of these approaches get the trailer at a good angle to back in to the campsite. I don’t know if one method gives a better approach angle than the other. But I don't think it is a contradiction. The other difference is that one method has the “critical” turn to the left. This really works, but I am not certain why. It could be that it changes the trailer angle slightly, or that it positions the tow vehicle relative to the trailer in a favorable position so that when you start backing up the trailer naturally heads into its destination. One variable is how wide the campground road is. If the road is very narrow, you may not have enough room to get the trailer angle positioned optimally when using the video swoop. In contrast the red-blue arrow version of the swoop can be done in a narrower space. Of course if the road is wide enough you have room to pull far enough forward to straighten out the trailer, as John put it. When I started using the Swoop at my storage facility, it did not work well. I finally learned when to make the turn to the right – the last red horizontal arrow. With practice I learned that for my vehicle I should make the sharp turn when the rear pillar of the driver’s door reached the far edge of the campsite driveway. Once I got that figured out this method has worked well for me at a lot of campsites. Finally, the S turn in the red-blue arrow version is much like the S maneuver that John’s Aussie trucker used.

I recently posted about how Berts RV Service fixed my Truma AquaGo. When Bert was finished was finished, he wanted to hook a manometer to the propane line. If there are no leaks, the pressure should remain constant. He tried hooking it up to the stove, but the connection did not fit. I suggested he remove the access panel for the fridge since there is a propane connection there. He did that, and although he did not find a fitting he could connect the manometer to, he did discover something. When he pulled off the access panel and reached in he said “The drain tube is not installed correctly.” I learned is that the fridge has a tube to drain condensation from the fridge. On the Oliver this drain comes thru the fiberglass just below the lower access panel, and protrudes about an inch. This is just to the left of the steps. He said the problem was that the drain tube did not have a P-trap. Even I know that every sink has a P-trap. A P-trap is designed to collect water, and the water prevents gases from going from the sewer to the sink. If the drain tube on an RV fridge lacks a P-trap then hot air from the outside will conduct heat into the fridge. The P-trap acts as a barrier, preventing the hot air from entering the fridge. We were able to quickly make a P-trap by anchoring the drain tube to other things in the compartment, in two places, with some cable ties. I did a google search for “rv fridge p-trap drain tube” and found that others agree with Bert. I have posted previously in this thread that our fridge struggles to maintain temperature in hot weather. Bert said that the P-trap will likely solve this problem. I asked Bert whether this P-trap needs winterizing in some way. He said no, the small amount of water will evaporate quickly, and that the tubing is flexible and could expand if needed. Bert showed me the fins at the back of the top shelf of the fridge, below the freezer. These fins are designed so that water that evaporates in the fridge will condense on the fins, and then drip into a drip tray. This drip tray leads into the drain tube. Bert suggested that before starting on a trip in hot weather I should “prime the pump” by pouring a little water into the drip tray, so that the water fills the P-trap. Sounds like a good idea.

Is it just me, David, or are there obvious contradictions between the diagram and the video--other than the shift from terminology: "Scoop" to "Swoop"? The video shows the tow vehicle "scooping" toward and away from the parking space, while the diagram shows the vehicle driving past the space perpendicular to it. Also, the video shows no "critical" turn forward to the left. On the website, it states that "This last bit of information below will make things a lot easier too....." Well, perhaps, but certainly not clearer--to me at least.

HI, We’re Kevin and Kathi Main and we’ll be joining this fine group of Oliver owners in January of 2019. We’ve already booked our space for the rally in Alabama in May. We’re very excited to be exploring and thoroughly enjoy reading everyones tips, suggestions and recommendations. Happy Trails

Chris- For what its worth - When I put Twist to bed in the late Fall I disconnected the negative cable from the batteries and connected a small solar charger with the negative going to the same post from which I disconnected the main negative cable from the Ollie and the positive going to the post where the main positive cable from the Ollie is attached. I ran an extra long cable to the front of Twist from the batteries to the solar charger so that the charger would be in the sun most of the day. Upon checking the batteries after two months, they read right at 12.8 volts - full charge. Therefore, I assume that the small solar charger is doing its job in that I have the regular solar panels covered. Here is the charger that I'm using: https://www.harborfreight.com/15-watt-solar-battery-charger-68692.html Good Luck - Bill p.s. I have the four Trojan 105 lead acid batteries but I doubt that there would be any different result no matter which set of batteries you have given the relatively small charge that this 1.5 watt panel puts out. After all, all you are trying to do is to off set any natural loss of charge in the batteries given that there is noting else hooked up to them.

Alison, in your severe climate a carport or enclosed garage would be really so much better. I can’t really comment beyond that about outside options, because Mouse resides inside my attached insulated RV bay. Having to continuously clear lots of snow and ice off the roof throughout the winter, without damaging the panels and antennas, was the main reason I decided on inside storage when we had our new house built a year ago, and I have no regrets whatsoever. Spokane gets 40 inches of snow on average, plus or minus 20... in the dead of winter I can go out into the Hanger Deck and lounge around inside the trailer, do maintenance or mods, show it to a potential buyer, or use it for guest housing. How neat is that? Plus fully enclosed RV storage around here is $300 to $550 monthly. Ouch. John Davies Spokane WA

I found this to be a very good web site: http://www.marxrv.com/12volt/12volt.htm

If you are getting a reading of 13.5 V you are fully charged. I understand your IPN-Pro is telling you you only have a 75% charge. That calculation is incorrect. If you could pull your trailer out into full sun for a few hours it would reset your IPN-Pro and it would read properly. My trailer has been under cover for the last 30 days or so and it is doing the same thing. I cannot tell you why it is like this, it seems to be some idiosyncrasy between the Progressive Dynamics charger and the Blue Sky system. I will let you know when I get this sorted out.