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In order to light up this area I found an LED light strip in WalMart that is used for lighting the bed of a pickup truck. I spliced into the power at the existing "standard" light that is just over the outside door into the basement area. By having lighting all around I can see into the entire area even if one section of it is blocked by the large amount of "stuff" I carry in there. I'll try to get a picture and post it later. Bill Note that I chose to not have the inside basement door. In the picture with the "on/off switch" you can see the "standard" light fixture that comes with the Elite II. Also note that in the first and second picture you can see the extra insulation that I added to the access door(s).

Yes! You must be a Scout too. I’m actually typing this from the dinette in our Oliver while parked for a few days in a Scout camp. They called for alumni who were willing to bring a tent or a camper and be self-sufficient to come to camp to help train staff, cut grass, and generally help out before the campers arrive next week. The physical distancing aspect is being taken very seriously. Camp is going to be a different experience for everyone this year. The talk of Lakehead Boat Basin has me thinking that my wife and I should head up for a few days. Did you go or make reservations yet? How difficult was it to get a spot? Thanks, Ken

I put two lights in the basement. The one visible in the photos and an identical one nearer the outside access door. They are controlled by two 3-way switches, one just inside the outer basement door and one inside the trailer down low, to the right of the basement access hatch. Both of these switches have auxiliary indicator lights so you know that the basement light is on.

Absolutely! We were in the area, so I stopped with my wife to show her where our boys and I had been backpacking. I went once as a youth years ago, and once as an adult with my oldest son a few years back. Youngest son went with his troop. Hope you were able to get out on the trail yourself. The property is quite an asset in many ways for the Scouting program.

One thing I would like to see improved is better between the hull heating, especially the lower hull where all of the vulnerable plumbing resides. One idea I thought may help is moving the return air vent for the furnace as far away from the furnace as I can place it. So as the furnace cycles on and off, hopefully some of the warmer cabin air would be drawn down between the hulls on its way back to the furnace. Even if the temperature wasn't raised a whole lot, just having the movement of air down there would be very helpful. On our Elite1, the return air vent is located under the front dinette seat which is also where the furnace is, so this offers no help. Think it might work? The AC really needs to be worked over. It's loud to the point that we don't use it. Plus it's just way oversized for our trailer. Hope everyone is staying well! Dave

Susan - Be careful what you ask for! ScubaRx has switches for switches. Truly an Oliver to see if you ever have the chance. Bill

Thanks all for your help. We came very close to purchasing an Oliver, but because we travel with two dogs, we decided the narrower width would be a little tight for us. I still admire the construction and design, but we purchased a BF 25RQ. It fits our needs, and we are happy.

I’ll take a stab at that land feature. Is it The Tooth of Time at Philmont Scout Ranch? Bill

I haven’t stayed there in an RV, but used to spend a bunch of time at the property +30 years ago when I was a student at the University of Mn-Duluth. I got to know enough of the guys with sailboats in the marina that I’d be part of race crews, help deliver boats around Lake Superior, and help with boat maintenance. I’ve walked by it several times in the last few years and it looks like they’ve added a hotel and cleaned up most of the boatyard junk. The location is great, but don’t expect much for on site beauty. The view in the distance of the working harbor and Duluth hills will be nice, but the immediate view will be of an asphalt parking lot and chain link fence. It’s just a parking lot for secure winter boat storage repurposed for summer RV’s. From memory, it’s not far off from a Walmart parking lot, but with hookups. It’s going to be awning to awning tight. People and cars will be coming and going at all hours as they access their boats. The good news is that it’s at a great location on Park Point and walking distance to the Park Point beach, Canal park, the Lake walk, at least three breweries, one distillery, a whole bunch of restaurants, and down town Duluth. My wife and I met at the University. We still go up to visit almost annually. My parents honeymooned in Duluth. If you’re going to visit Duluth and need a central spot to park before heading out on the town, it’s a GREAT location. If you’re looking to just hang out at the marina campground, there are other choices in all directions from Duluth that I’d rather spend time. HTH, Ken

The whole basement area could stand some additional development, from the door to the placement of the valve knobs to the way it’s finished out. You’ll need to get some EPDM foam and seal the front lower corner to prevent road spray from entering. This won’t keep all of the spray out, or keep road grit out of the door hinge, but it will help. Before After Go ahead and remove the insulation and repaint the inside of the door. The insulation keeps the water that gets behind it from drying quickly. The Valterra handles were rubbing the bottom of the recessed handle box and I had read where a couple of people had broken the original handles so I went ahead and replaced mine with stainless steel knobs. Also cut a piece of something like this, I used a piece of PEX tubing And keep it handy to use to hold the license plate door open when you need to remove the spare tire cover or wash behind the license plate. I keep mine just inside the basement door. Back when the gas cap on cars was located under the license plate you would put the gas cap here to hold the plate open while you filled the gas tank. I hope these tips are useful. Bill

My thoughts: Windows: our current RV has frameless awning windows, which look "really cool" and can be used when it's raining. However, they do not ventilate as well as sliding windows which is crucial to control humidity inside the trailer. I asked Oliver how the progress was going on offering awning windows. Seems the problem is getting awning windows that will work with the double hull construction. Ducted AC: we have this in our van and it is still noisy. We use ours, only when necessary, to cool the interior before bedtime. We turn it on and go outside until it cools enough to sleep. Once the cabin is cooled down, you can use the fan on a low speed, which is much quieter. I expect the Oliver's insulation will help as well. Fridge: There is nothing "fine" about absorption fridges; Compressor type would only work for us if we had shore power all the time. Not many choices with RV fridges, so we make do. There are tricks and suggestions to make them function better. Oven: we are opting for no microwave. The additional storage area will be more useful, and I can learn to live without a microwave. We had an oven in a 5th-wheel - probably used it 2 times. We have a Breville Mini-Smart toaster oven that we will carry for longer trips. The nice thing is, it can be set up outside so you don't heat up the trailer. It will require 120v or generator to operate. Truma: we have a Truma Comfort Plus in our current RV, which is nice, but has it's downside - mainly the lack of availability of service centers that can perform warranty work. We don't have experience with the Combi, but I would be hesitant to put "all my eggs in one basket", so to speak. Until we have an Oliver of our own, I can't add anything to the list, other than it would be nice if the areas under the beds and dinette were more useful for storage.

The extra port only become really handy if you, like ourselves, transport the generator on the tongue 100% of the time. We travel far and wide and boondock 95% of the time so we do use it sometimes. I like to have every possible contingency covered so a generator is just one more tool that I carry.

The biggest problem IMHO is not so much finding a “reputable” dealer or shop, tho that is hard, but finding one that does not have a six week backlog of work. In recent years RV sales have skyrocketed but the building of new campgrounds and service facilities has not. This is not a sustainable long term situation. Something is going to collapse. John Davies Spokane WA

Part of the issue with the black tank valve is the geometry of the cable as it enters the gate. The valve manufacturer, Valterra, shows on their schematic a minimum of a 6in. straight approach to the frame. Ours (and I suspect all) does not have that. I sprayed silicone lube into the gate (don’t know how much actually got the the gate mating surfaces) and manually worked the gate up and down with the exposed cable at the gate and that seemed to do the trick. Previously the gate did not fully seat - about 1/4 inch shy. I think as others have pointed out, the lubricating the entire cable length is the way to go. There is a lot of skin friction on that length of cable especially with all the loop d loops it does.

I plan to do our valves while we’re at Quartzsite. I will be happy to assist anyone here that wants theirs done.

TM - I assume that when you disconnect the cable from the valve that you mean the valve is easy to open and close. If that is the case then there is either a restriction of some sort in the cable or that it needs to be lubed. Can you move the cable easily when it is disconnected? If yes then it is probably not kinked. You could try to lube the cable. Many motorcycle shops sell a cable lube device that allows you to spray lube into the cable without getting it all over everything else around it - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0012TYX9W/ref=sxts_kp_bs_1?pf_rd_p=8778bc68-27e7-403f-8460-de48b6e788fb&pd_rd_wg=7vePz&pf_rd_r=YB2HKWM8F2WKRMZM2N71&pd_rd_i=B0012TYX9W&pd_rd_w=H9li1&pd_rd_r=7c2de4b4-5464-4daf-bd26-11cccac0e5d6&ie=UTF8&qid=1548855765&sr=1 Even if your valve operates smoothly when the cable is disconnected you might want to try this - https://www.amazon.com/Thetford-Drain-Valve-Lubricant-15843/dp/B000BGK2L0/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1548855846&sr=1-1&keywords=rv+valve+lubricant Hope it helps! And now - back to protecting the front of the Oliver? Bill EDIT: (Since Bill's sage advice was not taken, this departure from the OP's subject has been split off into it's own topic . . . Bugeyedriver)