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In conclusion, high praise for the factory. After the rubber strip came loose on my Ollie, I asked them "why they don't simply screw down both ends instead of just one?" Well, I went to the factory today to have them replace the missing strip, and Jason took me to the location in the factory where the strips are installed, to show me that they had already implemented my advice and are now screwing down both ends. I'm really impressed with them for the speed of changing a production issue because of a customers problem. Bravo. Doug

No matter what power source you use, 30a shore power, generator or inverter/battery power, you should better understand power management. Your Oliver camper was designed with the 30amp power in mind so your factory installed components are designed to work within the constraints of 30 amps. The inverter option that we currently offer can provide about 15 amps of power to the 120v receptacles before it will max out and shut down. Generators can vary based on their rating but they will be constrained to the 30 amp max that the camper is designed for. How does this impact you or your style of camping? Campground Camping with 30a Shore Power What happens if you go over the 30 amps? The breaker will kick just like at home if you turn to many appliances on in a single room. This situation typically will only occur when you are plugging in high power demanding appliances or devices in the camper. Every appliance that you want to add to your camper should first be checked to see how many amps are required to power it. Many hair dryers can pull 1800 watts of power which will immediately take up about half of your available power. Add in a space heater and it may just put you over the limit. What this means is that you must be conscientious of what is plugged in and pulling power. The worst thing that could happen is it would kick the breaker and you would simply reset it and turn some things off that aren’t being used at the moment. Boondocking with Generator Power When you are connected to a generator power source you are limited within the 30 amps but also the max amp that the generator will put out. A typical 2000-watt generator will only supply 15-16 amps of power so this means the max power is limited to the generator and if you are demanding more than the generator can supply it will kick the breaker on the generator. The generator may continue to run but will not be supplying power into the camper. Some of the components in the camper like the Dometic Penguin II A/C will demand much of this power especially when the compressor engages (Start Phase). The optional MicroAir Easy Start does help to contain this short fast burst of power to about 11 amps but that is about 75% of what the 2000-watt generator supplies. Once the compressor moves into the run phase it requires less power and drops to about 9 amps. The compressor will continue to run until the cabin temperature reaches the requested temperature on the thermostat. The compressor will then disengage or shut down. Once the cabin temperature drops below a certain threshold the compressor will once again enter the starting phase which requires 11 amps of power. This is where you may run into an issue that is normal. You may have a coffee maker running or a laptop plugged in or a combination of any other type of added appliance that under the compressor running stage falls just under the max 15-16 amps provided by the generator but when the compressor re-enters the starting phase it can cause it to jump over the max long enough to kick the breaker on the generator. No worries, all you need to do is practice power management and unplug something temporarily and reset the breaker. TIP: When using a generator, the surge protector may see it as an ungrounded power supply and stop all power from entering the camper. The best resolution for this is to plug in a neutral ground plug into the 120v receptacle on the generator. Boondocking with the Inverter The optional inverter is a 2000-watt Xantrex inverter but it actually only supplies about 1800 watts of power. If you remember from earlier, we mentioned that many hair dryers require 1800 watts of power. Power hungry appliances they are! This means you are even more limited to what you can use at the same time or even by itself. The inverter is connected to the 120v receptacles and also the microwave. The microwave by itself will pull most of the power supplied by the inverter so when running the microwave on inverter power be sure not to have other things plugged in and running. Also keep in mind that the inverter is dependent on battery power. The inverter pulls battery power and converts it into 120v power. So, with this option you must manage both the available battery power and inverter power. For instance, the microwave under 120v power uses 12 amps but the converted rate from 12v battery to 120v through the inverter actually means you are using about 135 amps. Has this gotten a bit confusing yet? Putting it simply, you manage the 12 amps required by the microwave from 120v to the available amps of 15 amps provided by the inverter. With the 135 amps you simply need to know that this is draining the batteries at a much faster rate as they cannot sustain that rate of power consumption for too long before loss of 12v power would occur. However, the inverter will shut down before total power loss from the 12v battery system will occur as it requires at least 10.5v for it to operate. The good news is that the microwave is usually only used for short periods of time. You would however want to apply this way of thinking to other appliances that you may want to use while on inverter power so that you better manage the available power.

To me, solar is much better than a generator. No noise, no maintenance, no smelly fuel, etc. I can leave the fridge on 12V while we're driving (propane off) and it won't draw down the batteries at all. Yes you get some juice from the tow vehicle but without solar it will still draw down your batteries. How do I know? Driving at night. :-) Like John said you'll need a generator if you are boondocking and need AC but so far we haven't needed it. Beautiful boat, by the way. Do you still have it?

The family and I were super excited to take delivery our new trailer last week. Hull #476. Unbeknownst to me the 2 kids decided the name was going to Little Timmy. Why? I haven't got a clue but they won't give it up and I have to say it's growing on me. We are natives to California so we plan on dishing out a lot of West coast Oliver hype! The Oliver folks at Hohenwald were awesome. Thanks for the pizza and keeping the little rugrats entertained during the walk through. Thanks The Barnhardt Family

In preparing for the 2019 Owner's Rally I thought that it was time to actually get my new metal tire stems because of my new TPMS and at the same time have the tires rotated and balanced. Two days ago, when I brought TWIST home from the storage facility I noticed that the chrome "plug" in the center of the front driver's side wheel was missing. Upon closer inspection I found that the hub/spindle cap was simply rattling around in the chrome cover on the wheel. Apparently that was the reason the plug was missing. Yesterday I took Twist to a local tire shop and they installed the metal stems, balanced and rotated the tires. They also tapped the hub/spindle cap back on. Total price - $53.00 - not including the tip I gave the two guys that did the work. When I got home I emailed Jason Essary and told him about the missing plug. Not only did he get a replacement in the mail right away, but, he cautioned me to make sure I checked the wheels for "play" in that it was possible that the nut securing the bearings was not torqued properly in the first place. While I've greased and re-packed bearings on boat and camper trailers ever since I was about 12 years old, it never crossed my mind that this just may have been the reason for the loose cap. A big thank you goes to Jason for reminding me. Bill p.s. upon checking the wheels for "play" - everything was OK.

Thanks Bill. We did have a great time with our micro rally last year and look forward to do it again. We just need to get the May Rally food service done and we will be planning one again. As far as helping anyone who would like to do this in the west or for that matter anywhere, Mirna & I are happy to help you plan one. It all about a plan and working the details. We know the details and are happy to share them. Feel free to PM us.

I just inspected and re-packed my bearings too. It was time. I estimate about 15,000 miles on them and I had not looked at them previously. I'll be traveling with new bearings, races, high quality seals, grease and a punch to knock out the races. Don't forget the punch for the races, if you are going prepared to do the work on the road! I was told by the Dexter rep that they used to sell brass punches for this, but no one I talked to could find them in the catalogue. The concern is cracking the race, so the punch should be softer than the bearing race. There has traditionally been a little relief area where the race seats that helped you to get a purchase on the race with the punch, to knock it out, but my hubs have no such relief. This means you need a hard drift punch with a good square edge. But not hard enough to crack the race. Or a very large flat bladed screwdriver. Hmmm. I settled on a 1/2" diameter cold rolled steel rod about a foot long. With a nice squared off end. The next problem is removing the stock seals. Dexter says to glue these in with some hardening type gasket sealer. And apparently they do, because the seals are really hard to remove. It's a bad idea to pound them out by hammering on the bearing! So, I found, after several attempts to do it in a more straight forward way, to grab the seal with a very large Channel-Lock style plier and then pound on the pliers to lever the seal out. These seals cannot be re-used after this exercise. This is hard to describe, but we'll probably have a chance to do it in person at the rally and I'll show you my technique then.

I'm constantly telling people about the Oliver company and I always get the sense that they simply think I'm so in love with the travel trailer that I must have blinders on. I guess the answer is that when one does not have any other company that operates the way Oliver does there is nothing to relate it to. Certainly no company can be that good! Well, at least in my experience, Oliver IS that good. Bill

Interesting idea. I've not seen it before, but makes sense. Heavy dc wire from 7 pin to battery. I'm assuming there is an inline fuse, somewhere? Never looked.

You can also change the plug on a portable solar panel to a 7 pin female plug and wire it to the charge and ground lines. Then you just plug the portable solar panel into the trailers 7 pin plug and your charging on solar. No it does not work while driving but we run the fridge on propane while driving and let the truck charge the trailer. I have done it this way for many years now and never found a need for a separate solar port.

With a modern diesel with emissions equipment this is not a very prudent practice, for several reasons. No worries with the generator. John Davies Spokane WA

Calypso on a beam reach Sea of Abaco Bahamas

If you want the microwave and plan to boondock, you absolutely need solar panels, the inverter and the four batteries. My microwave pulls 75 amps from the batteries for many long minutes....The alternative is to run your big generator a lot, which is irritating to everyone. Solar is dead silent and most always chugs away without any of your attention. If you will stay plugged in most of the time, you do not need it. The people who don’t buy panels tend to be those living in the east, where there are limited places to boondock. If you want to have your Ollie available for a long term emergency like hurricane Francis, get solar and the composting toilet! If you want to visit the desert West and stay at other than RV parks, solar and the composting toilet are must-have options. IMHO.... BTW with solar, you never need to plug in at a full hookup site, unless you want to run the AC. The trailer looks a lot better without them on the roof, and it will affect the resale value a little, but they can always be added later, since the wiring inside the ceiling is in place already. You will need a 2000 watt or bigger generator anyway, if you want to run the AC while off grid. If it is 90 degrees and 100% humidity, or 115 degrees in the desert, it is essential. You can’t always seek a higher cooler location. Finally, I have never heard of anyone who switched to solar power in an RV that wanted to go back to the old way. It’s time for you to come over from the corrupting power of The Dark Side. May the Solar Force be with you.... ;) Much good info here .... https://www.rvwithtito.com/articles/solar-for-your-rv Can you post a pic of your sailboat? John Davies Spokane WA

If anyone way out West is really interested in organizing a Western Rally I'd suggest besides contacting Hardrock a private message (PM) here on the Forum to Foy and Mirna. Last year they organized an Oliver Mini-rally in northern Florida. Even though they went well above and beyond organizing a dinner and lunch and then had to change a couple of things due to a pending hurricane, I'm guessing that the actual work involved was fair minimal - get a campground, set dates and let it be known to the world. I believe that the old saying - "build it and they will come" - certainly applies here. Yes, a central location would be nice, but, the West is a big place and you will not be able to satisfy all of the people all of the time. To coin another phrase - "Just Do It". Bill

Space and Rocket Center For those attending the rally, if you travel on I 65 through Huntsville, AL, I would like to recommend a trip to the US Space and Rocket Center. https://rocketcenter.com Here you will see many rockets, missiles developed at Redstone Arsenal and Marshall Space and Flight Center, Huntsville, AL. Miles before you reach the Space and Rocket Center, you will see the top of the Saturn V Rocket. As you near the center, you will see many more rockets and missiles clustered about. A SR 71Blackbird sits by the entrance. If you need to stay the night, within walking distance is the Space Center RV Park. Rates are $18 for back-in, $20 for pull thrus, all with full hook ups. If you want to boondock, here are two locations welcoming boon Dockers Cracker Barrel Restaurant 120 Leghorn Blvd. Madison, AL 35758-8806 256-461-7670 Cabalas 7090 Cabala Drive Huntsville, AL 35801

Thieves and muggers are lazy and often addicted and they stay in places they know, which is usually urban alleys. You are very safe out in a forest or beside a reservoir. You do need to worry a little about wild animals in some places. Fortunately, unlike a tent, a hard sided Ollie is very comforting when there are bears wandering around at night. This is very rare: https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2018/08/bears-have-prompted-glacier-national-park-restrict-rising-sun-campground-hard-sided-campers For a medical emergency or breakdown, you should have some sort of satellite communicator, either an actual sat phone (many $$$) or a small two way messaging device like this which can summon a medivac helicopter if needed: .... https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/ You can buy an annual $50,000 search and rescue policy in addition to the inReach service plan, that will pay for a rescue, cost is only $18. An inReach provides great peace of mind to both you and your family at home, since you can send unlimited pre-composed check-in messages at no charge. Part of the risk of venturing away from populated areas is that it will take longer for police or medical aid to arrive, possibly hours. There is not much you can do if you or your wife has a cardiac arrest or a stroke. That is just the way it is.... if either of you has a serious health problem you should probably not stray from urban areas. John Davies Spokane WA

Thanks for the tips. Which Viair compressor do you recommend? And what leveling system (or systems) do you recommend?