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A great visit with the folks at Oliver Travel Trailer Service Center. A few minor warranty issues addressed after our 17 day trip. Special thanks to Jason, Mike and Chris for there expertise and professional assistance. We really appreciate all you do. It sure was nice to get a good visit in with Anita Johnston who was our sales rep! Thank you all for what you do! We stayed at David Crockett CG #2 which was just great. Hope to see everyone at Lake Guntersvile next week! Safe Travels and Happy Camping!

Now John, perhaps you’re jumping the gun just a little bit.. clearly it’s a work in progress, I mean, what do you suppose that appendage nailed to the exterior curb side will be for? And as for it feeling just a little light in the steering? Easy fix! Just add another heavy steel veranda to the front bumper! Which will lead to the obvious next step of a porch that wraps around the whole rig, which of course will contribute to the tires sinking into the mud and out of sight... resulting in it being listed as a weekly rental..an artist retreat during the summer, deer hunting camp come November... at least that’s what would happen here in Maine..

The roof has no problem supporting my lard behind. I try to spread out the load have used pads before, but mostly just kind of lean out onto the roof, and also kneel where needed. Sure Top gun, bring it over - oh wait I may not be here..... I'll leave the materials out - just in case. Roof panels are NO problem. I have never regretted the roof panels or the solar set up. And now that I i have the smaller gen set - bring it on - seems most of this summers trips will be hook up free anyways. JD - is that a speck of dirt I see on that roof? Nah, probably just the skid marks of some bug that though it could hang..... no chance on that surface. RB

I know several out there use the smaller portable grills - usually on the Ollie propane system. As I have found Oliver Owners to be a crowd that keeps their stuff neat, tidy, and clean - I though I'd post this - my particular thing is keeping the Webber clean. I am sure many do this - but I line the interior with aluminum foil . About once a year - I replace it. We cook with the grill almost every day we are out in the Oliver, usually some kind of marinade on the meat - leaving a mess - the liner Makes clean up very easy. RB

Tractor Supply zerk shopping tip: Zerks are packaged in smaller quantities and are more expensive per piece in the tractor parts section at Tractor Supply. Zerks in the Hardware or Autos section of the same store have more per package and cost less per piece. Probably a made in USA vs made elsewhere issue. Quality may or may not follow price. I replaced most of my straight ones with angled zerks. Much better for avoiding contortions under the trailer.

Buy a Coleman eggcrate pad, cut it in half lengthwise. Lay it along the inside of the awning, it gives you a very secure place to crawl around and do stuff. These arms REALLY help: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2791-how-to-solar-panel-extension-arms/ Secure your ladder with an old towel for padding, use rope or a couple of bungee cords to tie it to the awning so it doesn’t fall over and leave you alone and stranded without a phone on the roof !!!!! If you really clean the gelcoat, with solvent and a clay bar, followed by wax, it is slicker than snot, but the foam is grippy and makes it safe enough. John Davies Spokane WA

Can I assume that you have close to zero interest in waxing mine when you are done with yours? Actually I don't really mine waxing the lower 2/3 but doing the roof is a real pain when the driveway is fairly sloped. As far as the solar panels are concerned - I really wouldn't think that full timing or not makes a bunch of difference. I've never seen much difference in the performance of the panels even though I'm sure that they do perform better when squeaky clean. During my longest trip every year - about two months - I travel some very dusty roads. But, it seems that the rain takes care of most of the "dirt" problem such that I have never even tried to clean them while on these trips. Bill

I do not full time... Because they are mounted dead horizontal, rain or wash water pools and evaporates instead of draining, and the raised lip around the perimeter does not help. I tilted mine down one hole in the left brackets so they will drain a little better. After washing, I climb on a ladder and blast them dry with a leaf blower, followed by cotton towels to prevent hard water spots. Besides being very ugly and unaerodynamic, it is a stupid design for on top of an RV roof. I still love having them, but wish they were not there at other times. John Davies Spokane WA

We’ll be Harvest Hosting at Amber Falls Winery Friday night. If we get there early enough we’ll stop by the new Oliver buildings. Mike

Fixed the issue by changing two settings in the xc2000. 1) Disable power save mode. 2) Set transfer mode to UPS from Appliance (default) Power save mode, by function, cannot work with clocks (like on the microwave) and timers (or devices that need power 24 hours a day). In the power save mode the inverter turns off if loads drop to <25 watts. So essentially in our trailer the inverter was turning on and off at a 25ms interval...and that drove the microwave timer board crazy. Examples of devices with timers include microwave ovens, TV boxes, coffee makers with brew timers, refrigerators, and freezers with defrost timers. When the Freedom XC PRO is load sensing the output for loads, lights that have a wattage lower than 25-watt threshold, may flash momentarily, clocks and controller boards will keep resetting every 25 ms. To avoid issues with beeping devices turn off power save mode by setting to code dl5. (Disable) also, Selecting APL- appliance sets the transfer time from line to battery to 20 ms. Selecting UPS (uninterruptible power supply) sets the transfer time from line to battery to 10 ma.

I have just noticed some suspension creaking noise. My last suspension was at Oliver last September and have certainly traveled over 3000 miles since then so it is time to buy a grease gun and figure out what to do. You Tube to the rescue.

This just popped up on the Spokane Craigslist, though the bus is located in Idaho…. They did add a few little scraps of reflective tape, but no lights…. Classy interior…… https://spokane.craigslist.org/pts/d/spokane-converted-school-bus/7317466215.html Only in Idaho! I don’t want to sound too critical, but it does seem as if a whole lot of these extremely unsafe rigs are located in that state, which has no vehicle licensing standards of any kind. John Davies Spokane WA

GREAT! - I can wait for your return and I assume that the beverages in the fridge are cold? 😂

Ok I went back out and fired up the generator with the surge protector, turned on the microwave all all is good. Thank you

Yes. But, given the amount of room to walk around and the smoothness of the fiberglass it is certainly not all that safe to be walking around up there. I am virtually always on my hands and knees with some sort of pad under my knees. This pad serves two purposes - 1 - makes it a bit more comfortable on the knees and -2- it helps distribute the weight (165 pounds) over a larger area. Bill

When I wash the Oliver - usually 2- 4 times a year about half the time I do a full wash top to bottom - I hate it - have to get out the ladders - and brush with extension - crawl around up in the air - I am getting cranky as I see more birthdays...... but I hate waxing even more - it is an RV after all - why do I feel the need to have it shine like a concourse level collectable. Yes you guessed right - I just washed Ollie and am about half way through the wax job.🤕 RB

When they're dirty?😁

Nice showroom! Sounds like a fine trip with good results!

I never had good luck lining the Weber with foil. The grease alway found away around it. It did help somewhat with the marinades and some of the meat that would fall though the grate. I do the same as Mike and Carol wait till I get back home. Easy to take apart, use some dawn dish soap, a new drip pan good to go. Same 5 + years of use I did recently replace the grate it was getting a little worn.

Just used our Q1000 tonight. Between lining with foil and the foil drip pans, it isn’t difficult to keep the Weber clean. I do a thorough cleaning when we get home. Our grill is as good as new after five years of heavy use. Mike

Portable Generator Bonding Plug | Camping World Amazon.com: Southwire Company LLC 44400 Surge Guard Generator Neutral: Automotive Are two places to purchase online - or you can make one yourself - your own "dummy" plug - Take a simple male receptacle - from HD or wherever - bond the ground (green) to the neutral (white/silver/larger spade) together with a copper wire. leave the positive spade empty (usually the smaller of the two and/or darker colored) see here RV Electricity – Generator neutral bonding basics - RV Travel you are welcome Imelda. RB

I have both plastic and steel tent stakes left from our tent camping days. Sorry, I do not have a fancy Snow Peak Peg Hammer. 🥺 Instead I have a hard plastic mallet, which I got for $5. Currently $9 on Amazon. It works quite well, with the bottom end working either as a lever or a pulling device for removing the stakes. After we got a shade screen, we had campgrounds where the tent pegs did not stay in the ground very well. Maybe the 15 inch Snow Peak pegs that @Overland mentioned would have done the job. I had read about spiral stakes, and I considered the ones from Valterra, Camco, as well as pet leash stakes. I ended up buying the Orange Screw Ground Anchors that @mossemi is drooling over for $22. So far they have worked well. I see that the Orange Screw design has been copied by others, and available for less money, here and here.

I plead the fifth. (It’s nice.)

Overland, do you have a case for your hammer? This one? John Davies Spokane WA

Greetings! I am wondering if I should invest in an external EMS system to test the electrical outlet at the pedestal before I plug in or is the onboard surge suppression (EMS) enough to protect the trailer? The pedestal testers are quite expensive but I will invest if it is the right thing to do. What is the guidance of the forum? Thanks! Carl

I bought one of these for my trailer toolkit on Amazon. I know it's quite a bit more than the small 15/20 amp testers I also own, but I consider it a convenience for the 30A checks. They come in 30A or 50A, and you can also buy a version that is just a small inline surge suppressor (see second pix) . Or you can by both the Tester an Supressor in kits...

Certainly there are more qualified people here than I am regarding electricity, but, I don't see why you couldn't use two surge protectors. Indeed, the first one in line simply passes whatever "good" current it finds on to the second one. Seems a bit redundant but then I'm one of those guys that does testing before the surge protector gets a chance to do its testing. Bill

GAP- Not a "silly question" at all. Perhaps I should have been a bit more clear - my surge protector is not portable - it is the one sold by Oliver and permanently installed in my Oliver. The quick and simple answer to your question is that basically you are correct. I too wonder, sometimes, why I take those extra steps even though it really doesn't take very long to perform them. Bottom line is that JD is not the only member of this Forum that could be considered to have "anal" tendencies. Yes, the onboard unit should be all that is necessary to protect all that expensive stuff inside the Oliver from damage. But, what if it fails for some reason? I have the tools, I have the time, and I simply hate to shell out money for something that I could have prevented by taking an extra 30 seconds. Bill

Glad I could help.

And now if only those voices in my head would stop! 😁 Glad you got it fixed and good for the guys at Progressive. Bill

Let’s try a video. This is before replacing the PD converter module. IMG_1938.MOV

KountryKamper told me to unplug from shore power and turn the refrigerator on DC on the highest setting and pull the batteries down to 12v resting voltage. Took several hours but I got the batteries down. Then he had me plug back in to AC and leave the refrigerator on DC on highest setting. Well that did the trick. With the charger trying to recharge the batteries and the refrigerator on DC the EMS display showed 27 amps and that little fan was blowing like crazy. So this test ruled out the fan. The fan is actually a variable speed fan and will change speed based on (I think) the temperature.

Noise might have been the fan. Replaced ours because of charging problems.

John Davies Spokane WA