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It's hard to believe that I'm finally sitting in my own Oliver as I write this. Picked up yesterday with a fantastic walkthrough with Hanna. I had a long checklist of things to go over and questions to ask. Hanna anticipated everything and really impressed me with her knowledge and attention to detail. I told myself that I wasn't going to be one of those people who has to run over to Tractor Supply to get the right hitch, but I was! LOL. After about 300 miles on highways, winding country lanes, rainstorms and potholes, I can say that everything is great. No problems. What can I say? Great company. Great product. In coming days I'll add some posts on some specific components and Hanna's answers to some of my questions that you'll all find interesting.

I just came from 2 weeks in Maine. Not sure about winters, but I fell in love with the state - Lubec was exceptional - as beautiful as Acadia, or more so, and no people, not commercial (yet). There are a few private campgrounds that had open spaces, and were quite enjoyable - Sunset View was one. Will be back. I went to an event at Thomas Beach - okay, but not my first choice. A bit different than the southern California coast where I live, but the cool summer water allowed for similar sea grasses and fish. John

Xantrex spent a lot of time on the phone with me trouble shooting our problem, but didn't offer to send us a new inverter. Oliver suggested the same and tried for a week but got no response from Xantrex. At that point, Jason said we'd already been without the inverter long enough and sent us a new one. I looked back at my emails and service ticket (85 responses!). The 20 code was identified the first part of April. Mid April, after we made several unsuccessful attempts to install the firmware, Oliver directed us to contact Xantrex support. After several weeks of monitoring and trying to troubleshoot the problem over the phone, Xantrex decided our inverter had a bad communication board. Mid-May they requested us to send the inverter in for repair, with a minimum estimated turn-around of two weeks. When I shared this with Jason, he said that wasn't acceptable. For a week he attempted to contact Xantrex to request they send us a new inverter, but could not get an answer. Frustrated, he decided to simply send one from the Oliver plant. Since we were leaving for Utah, he deferred shipment to arrive after our return. June 9 we had the new inverter installed. One note for anyone doing the installation: The inverter came programmed with default settings; we had to change some settings to be appropriate for our battery and power configuration. Jason sent me the proper settings.

We use the Hydroblu Pressurized Jerry Can Water Filter. We have a Burke system at home but find the Hydroblu better suited for camping. The particle and carbon filters are modular and can be replaced separately.

Tip: If I remember correctly, I located the sticker using a mirror, then put the phone on selfie mode which put the screen facing up so I could tell if the lens was picking up the serial number.

Yeah to be clear I don't blame Xantrex for trying the "send us your unit and we'll look at it" mode as the first response. I just wanted to let folks know that at least in my (and it appears one other's based on Jason's comments) case it was possible to get a better third response from them (the second reply to my asking how fast their turnaround was and whether they could send me a replacement instead was "maybe you have a warranty repair place near you..." which wasn't going to help afaict) with some background nudges from Oliver. Earlier in this half year plus adventure I was a little surprised that it took multiple months for a decent answer from them (relayed to me via Oliver) on things to even try to address the Error 20 problem, but I get that some problems are tough to track down and offer a semi-reliable fix for, and I'm sure they've been taking orders faster they can service them downstream in the current market environment. And yeah, when I get the replacement unit I'll be writing down the inverter's serial number in my maintenance notebook before I mount it in the trailer!!

Of course! I already made our reservations for the rally in Guntersville. Don't know what I was thinking....pretty sure it's age related lol

Some tiny seeds are falling this week, and light rain pretty much every night. Two mornings in a row, I've cleaned the two x 100 watt portable panels with a soft cloth, and doubled my (very small) output from 1.6 to 3.3 amps. Somewhat surprising what a difference some tiny seeds and small raindrops can make. Guess I'll go down to the barn and get a stepstool and the string mop, and clean the fixed panels while I'm at it.

We are planning to have Pineknot 2021 October 20-24 at Salmon Lake Park in Grapeland, Texas (approximately 130 miles north of Houston for those unfamiliar with the area). The park is under new ownership but so far it appears any changes from prior years will be minor. To register go to https://www.mfrvg.com/pineknot . While trailer parking is virtually unlimited, management has noted that cabin rentals are in short supply so if a cabin is in your plans please make that reservation as soon as possible. We have also been informed that the entire park is rented prior to our rally so no arrivals before Monday October 18th please. Dave and Linda Allen

With regards to the auto-leveling on your Ram, there is a jack function in the menus under suspension that will turn off the auto-leveling. We use it when connecting the truck and trailer. Once connected with the Anderson, we turn the jack mode off and have had no issue with the auto-leveling mode after that when towing.

Fall in the west can be very nice.

Spring would not work for a Western Rally as it would conflict with the Oliver sponsored rally that is always in May at Guntersville. There's no sense in making folks have to choose between the two if the dates are too close to one another. We would come to a Western Rally even though it would probably be a 4000 mile trip for us.

I hear ya on that blue -- what an atrocious shade of blue. I'd have to rethink the whole interior design concept for inside the Clam. 🤣

Thanks . . . . I hope the wildfire situation doesn't get worse, but it is so early in the season, I expect it will be a long time before fires subside. It saddens me to see the devastation to our beautiful resources. We use the GAIA wildfire layer as well as inciweb. I will check out Windy.com Fortunately, neither of us has smoke sensitivities, although any excessive smoke isn't good for the lungs. We hope to do a bit of traveling in Sept/October; we'll just have to monitor and pick the best time and place. With so many variables - mosquitos (which I am allergic to), overflowing campgrounds, fires, and weather, just to name a few, enjoying RV life has become more and more of a challenge. I want the "old days" back.

After years of talking about it, we are finally ready to head north, depending on whether or not Canada opens up her borders to US visitors. We plan to spend four weeks on the road and more or less haul @ss up there just after Labor Day, 2000 miles/ 40 hours from Spokane WA to Tok, AK ... And then drive these Alaska routes as shown by the arrows. Weather permitting, we can hang out a few days here and there to wait for photo opportunities (no rain, sun breaks). Drive the Denali Hwy (gravel) westbound, to see Mount Denali in all its glory, plus elk, caribou, birds, etc. My wife is eager to do nature, northern lights, and time lapse photography. The caribou hunting season will be over by August, so hopefully there will be no crowds of hunters along that road. YouTube Denali Hwy and Denali NP Then to Denali NP for a few days, loop south and back east to visit the Kennecott Copper Mine via the McCarthy Road (more gravel - we would like to park the trailer for that section) and then to Valdez. YouTube McCarthy, Kennecott Mine, fast forward to 9:00 minutes, very cool Then back up to Tok and turn right for Canada. That south central AK loop with side trips will be about 1400 miles. Then slowly work our way home through BC and Alberta by the eastern route, hopefully missing the crowds at Jasper and Banff, and any early snow in the passes. We might detour to Prince Rupert going north, if the weather is good, we do want to see the ocean, but I am guessing Valdez will provide better views and whales and such.... We have no desire to deal with crowds, cruise ships, helicopter flights, tour buses or Anchorage. We want dark skies, star gazing, northern lights, solitude and wildlife. No hookups needed, nor do we even need established campgrounds. DNR ones are fine (Geezer Pass). Any and all advice about places to see and stay will be greatly appreciated. Thanks, John Davies Spokane WA

Melanie and I made it back to Vancouver WA in one piece. Ran into a error code which turned out to be a poorly wire pedestal that my surge protector didn't pick up on. Then we set off the fire alarm. Finally, the propane worked, then didn't work for some reason. I suspect there was some air in the line. The technology is the trailer was a little intimidating as I was afraid I would break and/or ruin sometime like a pump or solar system. The manuals were really helpful. We had some trouble with the Anderson Hitch as the initial install was not done correctly. We still haven't learned how to disconnect the Anderson hitch without loosing it underneath the rig which is a hassle. It was a long trip from Tennessee back home, but I am happy to say we were able to back into every campsite with out much trouble. We are really happy with "Joni" and miss not being on the go. Retirement is just around the corner, so we are looking forward more happy travels. Melanie and Kathie

Once installed, make sure you check the inverter programming and make sure it matches your battery/power configuration. Ours arrived with program defaults which were not appropriate for our Lithium batteries. Jason supplied us with the proper programming codes.

The round compression locks that are on the pantry and closet. These days, Oliver uses it on the nightstand and upper cabinets as well.

Oliver used this Sierra Pacific latch on mine, but a quick google search didn't turn up a source. If you can't find it, you could try Oliver. Southco makes an almost identical model and Oliver uses the lockable version of theirs for the basement door.

A number of us here share that sentiment....

FYI I got e coli fun from drinking water at Tumalo State Park in Oregon some years back. The morning after our first day there, they put up a "boil water!!" notice on all bathrooms and water taps. I saw it after a morning of writhing in cramp ridden agony due to the water I'd drunk the day prior. A hydrogeologist friend who does groundwater work for the state of Washington told me that in her experience State Park water supplies are dodgy. She explained that their systems are big enough to be tricky to keep clean but too small for them do have a dedicated water system expert dealing with the potential issues. So they are in a sweet spot for infected supplies, and she's seen multiple cases in WA state parks. I asked the ranger I saw later that morning at Tumalo how often they test, and she said "once a month, but don't worry if you were drinking water before today as we didn't see a positive result until this morning!" Remember that they'd not tested for a month before that morning, so this gives you an idea of how clear the logic can be on the part of the folks responsible for keeping these supplies in good shape. Thankfully the sort of e coli you will tend to get from this sort of water supply is NOT typically as bad as the stuff that kills people who eat lettuce at fast food chains etc. It only makes you have digestive fun for many months on end afterwards. Suffice it to say I do not drink unfiltered state park water any more. You can pay more elsewhere for more heavily marketed systems as I mentioned above, but I got one of these (you can likely create something similar from parts from a HW store for even less but I found buying this fully set up to be worth a small premium). I use this for both filling our drinking water jugs as well as filling our Oliver's tank from any supply I'm not fully confident of. I'm still wary of drinking significant amounts of water from my Oliver tank given the taste. We use portable jugs for our drinking water (including coffee) and use the Oliver tank water for showering and dishwashing etc. I have wondered if one of these systems ($$$!) would both remove the plastic flavor as well as protect against any critters my amateur sanitizing regimen might still allow to exist in the system. I know that a pitcher or something like the Berkey would cost less but damn it's convenient to be able to just get clean fresh drinking water from a faucet and it looks like I might be able to fit this in under the sink. And it doesn't appear to have too big a power draw. Could even be put on a switched line to eliminate any phantom draw... BTW I like a system that filters both particles and has a carbon element for filtering out at least some chemicals (including chlorine!). I have such a system under my sink at home that feeds a separate filtered water tap, and the water for sure tastes better than what comes from our tap, especially in warmer months when they seem to increase the chlorine load in our water supply.

One other comment - if you deal with Xantrex they will want the serial number. It's of course on the side of the unit that faces the floor, BUT that side is a few inches above the stuff below so I was able to get a readable photo of it with my phone (with flash turned on) after blindly taking about 15 photos of various spots along that side.

I'm large man, 6'4" / 260 lbs. I share the trailer with my wife and an 80lb Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Bed length is comfortable, ceiling height don't even notice. Bath is a little cozy. I tend to sit on the toilet when showering, this give me ample room. Have taken 60 day trips and remained comfortable. Oliver trailers are 7' wide resulting in less space than most trailers that are 8' wide. The narrow width is a big plus when doing adventurous boon-docking. The trailer is very nimble. We have taken it to places i would never consider with a wider trailer.

I just heard from Jason that Mike called Xantrex after seeing their mail which is forwarded to Jason and Mike/service to push them on sending me the replacement. They’ve been working to get Xantrex to do this as a standard response when the issue is isolated to the inability to update rather than having Xantrex have customers be stuck with no inverter for some time. But it seems it still takes some pushing from both customers and Oliver service, FYI. It sounds like Susan and I aren’t the only customers to have gotten a bad unit and at least one other customer has had Xantrex agree to provide a replacement (with a push from Oliver as in my case). Again, I hope this info is helpful if anyone else here is dealing with this issue. Oh and thanks Susan for the offer to look for your notes. Jason told me today that when I get the replacement inverter they I should call service and someone will walk me through the relatively simple steps of disconnecting it without electrocuting myself. So I think I’m set. [minor historical note - according to a comment in this thread Oliver was aware of the Error 20 issue at least a week before our Dec 18 delivery date, for what little it's worth]

Had a friend show a picture of the damage a turkey will do to an Airstream panel at 60 mph. ( sorry no picture to show). You thought hail damage was bad? It severely dented the top curved panel on the front. Opened the seam of the next panel. Hopefully not totalled.

The aluminum shell of Airstreams can be tough to maintain, hail, rocks and turkeys too. But they still look cool.

It's a 2020 GMC Sierra 1500 ATF with the 3.0 diesel. With the Ollie I'm averaging 16-17 mpg. Getting onto the highway with the Ollie 0-60 takes 14 secs. Mike in service installed the GM trailer camera which syncs to the truck dash screen for the "invisible trailer" option. Jason in service took my trailer wheels over the Hohenwald Tire last week and Justin installed the four GM TTPMS sensors. After getting the trailer I went over to his shop and he helped connect tghem to the truck software. The Ollie pulls so smoothly, incredible. No stress or fatigue for me as the driver.

Thanks, Mike. You've posted that before, and I forgot about it. This time, I put the 5 lb latches in my amazon cart before I forget again.

The only reason a drawer will launch is if it is full of heavy stuff and it has momentum. If it gets moving and then hits the end of its travel, it can and will break stuff. With a non- elastic strap it can’t move more than an inch at most. So no force to speak of. With properly sized pilot holes, you don’t need any nuts. But OTH if it would make you feel better, install machine screws and self locking nuts. A bungee works but IMHO it should be fairly strong so the drawer won’t overwhelm it in a panic stop. Plus there is always a risk of injury or damage if the strap gets away from you. I installed a new drawer front with chrome latch like the pantry, it was sent to me free when I made a claim to Service, so I don’t need a strap for that location. Please add your hull number to a signature, it helps with finding the right answer for you. John Davies Spokane WA

Thanks Mike, That is what I was looking for - I will find a more resistant pull for the middle drawer. Perfect answer. John

And, a nice wrapup to summer camping season

UPDATE: We bailed out of the Waco, Texas Leather Show in favor of Door County, Wisconsin. I lucked out on a full hook-up campground there for 7 nights. We haven't been to Door Co. in years, the temps at night should be in the 60s, and Wisconsin will be a lot quieter than Texas in August under R-Villa's air conditioner!

Thanks re this fan. At O2 it is out of stock; at Amazon I can get for a higher cost && $10. shipping. Instead I have gone with this fan as it folds for storage. I have appreciated the input from everyone.

😅 It's an odd shade, indeed, but matches most of the Makita power tools in our garage. 😁(They're 18v, though, so the fan requires different batteries and charger.) We are a little partial to makita blue, because of the longevity of the tools. We like them so much that we've given them as Christmas presents to friends, and our daughter . Seriously, the Endless Breeze fan is nice, but pretty big (15 x 15 or so). And corded, though 12v. It does a good job of blowing the gnats away . Caframo fans have a huge following in the marine world. Probably can't go wrong with their fans. Not quite so, with their heaters. I think more efficient, from a power consumption standpoint, than the fantastic breeze, now labeled dometic.

Beautiful!

We had the exact same issue with our 3000w Xantrex inverter (hull #699); apparently ours came from the same mold as yours 😏 There must have been a batch of bad components when ours were assembled - namely the communication board. Here is our story: The inverter/remote panel functioned fine the first couple of days, while we were still in Tennessee. The "20" code did not pop up until we were headed West for home (of course!). When we returned home, we read posts and decided we needed to update the firmware; Oliver concurred and Jason emailed use the update file. After multiple attempts to install the update, and phone support with Oliver, they ran out of ideas at which point Jason suggested we contact Xantrex. This was back in March, I believe. At any rate, Xantrex was not inundated with support requests at the time. They spent a lot of time on the phone with me trying to get to the bottom of the issue - multiple reboots, checking communication cables and connections, etc. They finally decided the inverter had a bad communication board; inverter/charger itself works fine and the display on the inverter was functioning. Using it without the remote panel, wasn't an acceptable option, since it it hard to get to the inverter and even harder to see to display to monitor power. At that time, Xantrex wanted us to send the inverter in for repair, estimating a 2 week turnaround. I called Oliver because that would put us without power for a long period of time. Jason tried to convince Xantrex to send us a new inverter, but they declined that option. Thus, Oliver stepped in and sent us a new one from their stock and instructions on how to install. We then returned the defective unit. I will say, the bad inverter was no fault of Oliver since it worked when we took delivery and they were not yet aware of the "20" code problem. The installation was easy, though removing the attaching screws was a bit tricky (I suggest you put something on the "floor" under the inverter in the event one of the screws is dropped; the voice of experience speaking). Oliver offered to walk us through the install, but I had them email written instructions and, being it was pretty straightforward, we attempted it on our own and had success. Kudos to Oliver, for going above and beyond to keep us on the road. We had another component warranty problem with the Dometic stove; On a trip to Utah, one of the burners detached from the stove. We had to take it to a Dometic Service Center (2 1/2 hr drive, one way from home), for them to diagnose. They determined they were unable to repair the stove and would have to submit a request for replacement under warranty. The service center kept us posted, but were not getting a prompt response from Dometic, which is to be expected with current demands. All the while, Jason and I kept in touch with the situation (I had submitted a service ticket). Last week, the service center called and wanted us to bring the trailer back in because they needed more pictures for the warranty submission. They tried to tell me Oliver was requesting the pictures, which was not true; I asked and Jason had not contacted them about this. So, I expect someone in the Dometic Service Center didn't get or send the necessary pics. I was a bit abrupt with them - expecting us to return, only to have the stove taken out again for inspection, then have to return again (who knows when) to have a replacement installed. I don't know if this is Dometic's way to get you to give up and just buy a new stove (if you can find one) or simply an honest mistake. At any rate, they said they could fit us in to get it taken care of. At this point, Jason stepped up and said he was certain Dometic would (eventually) honor the warranty, but knew they were taking a long while to processes warranties. However, making multiple trips back and forth to Medford and being without a stove was not acceptable. As we speak, a new stove is on the way from Oliver. Jason spoke with the Dometic Service Center, telling them he was sending us a new stove. And, since they had already planned to remove the defective stove and put it back in, he expected them to do the installation at that time. Oliver is covering the cost and will process the warranty for reimbursement at their end. If you need to know more about the inverter install, I might be able to locate my notes 😇

Based on issues I've been dealing with for half a year now w/o resulution I strongly suggest including a check of the firmware versions on your Xantrex inverter if you have one in your unit as well as the version of the firmware in your inverter remote panel. If they're not current ask Oliver to update them for you before you leave and if they won't update properly ask that they replace the inverter unit in your trailer.

Welcome Dave and Kimberly! This forum is a great source of information, as I am sure you've already gathered! Enjoy the anticipation!

It is still is not definite, the US government has not agreed to opening the border, so we might get INTO Canada, but might not be allowed into Alaska, or back into the other 48 States. I hope this is settled in the next week. White House won't commit to reopening northern border, despite announcement from Canada I am not a risk taker. My wife was stranded in New Zealand with my daughter sixteen months ago by Covid, it destroyed their vacation and it was not clear if they would even be allowed to fly home…. I don’t want a repeat of that situation. Though I can think of worse situations than getting stuck in the Yukon in an Ollie. unless it extends into winter. John Davies Spokane WA

I think I’d go for a small job site fan rather than something that plugs in. They’re durable and obviously easily moved around. This Makita is 12 volt and comes with an AC adapter that I’m sure could easily be converted to a cigarette plug if you wanted. But I understand that they last for a good long time on a battery charge.

I’ve used an O2 Cool fan for quite a few years. Works on batteries or electric. https://o2cool.com/product/10-battery-and-electric-powered-fin-fan/ You can get them just about anywhere.

This is a Caframo Sirocco ll fan that I mounted on a piece of scrap oak and added a 12v cigarette lighter plug and enough wire to use in different locations in the Ollie. Mossey Mossey

We've had a Fantastic endless breeze for many years. Runs on 12v, with the cigarette lighter type plug. Great little fan. Also have a new less than $20 minimal fan, clip or table, runs on a USB connector to 12v adapter. .2 ah, but very little air. But, oh so quiet. Got it at Lowe's.

Yes, wow to 1000 Olivers soon to be out there. As a “new” moderator with Hull #135 I’m feeling quite young. We placed our order only 6 years ago! Mike

Well, I'll say "wow" to 1000 plus ollies on the road. That's really exciting. We're the oldest hull # on the mod team, original owners, but bugeyedriver/Pete, #14, I think, is just behind us. Scubarx was in the office doing his order when we picked ours up, for his original Elite. He is now the owner of #50, first Ollie 2 off the line when the factory reopened. So he's an original part of the team, with the next gen elite 2. Half our mod team is comprised of "old-timers," and half new.

Welcome Dave & Kimberly! Congratulations! We are new Oliver owners as of February after downsizing from a 42' 5th wheel with 5 slides... quite a bit of difference but we are loving our Ollie and how easy it is to pull and we can fit most anywhere now! Cindy

If the drawer latch looks like this you may be able to replace it with a stronger pull. They widely available in 3 lb. to 10 lb. pulls. The service department may be of help. Mossey

If you’re wife will have transportation there are some neat places to visit in and near Waco. The Silos (Fixer Upper fame) magnolia.com Homestead Heritage is a really cool self supported community who farm and make everything they need. They have a craft village and tours and she could probably spend an entire day there visiting, shopping, learning and eating. homestead heritage.com Waco Mammoth National Monument Waco Suspension Bridge Texas Rangers Museum (law enforcement not baseball) Dr Pepper Museum Spice Village Those are a few ideas to get her out of the RV and into some air conditioned spots to see and do some things while you are at your convention. Maybe she can drop you off, go out and explore then pick you up at the end of the day. Health Camp is a fun burger place to eat as well. We’re just an hour from Waco so have visited many times. Enjoy your trip! Cindy

I love living in Texas. However, August in Texas is BRUTAL. That 98f is nothing until you stand in the direct sun…it will bake you. I bought my Oliver to escape Texas in August….I will be heading to NW Montana for the month. We had a great spring, bit the heat is back. Steve R Jefferson, TX.

My wife and I just recently got back from a trip to Newfoundland (where I am from). We spent a day driving up to Bonavista and saw several campers docked cliff-side in fields just off the road overlooking the ocean and watching the whales swim past. There is no doubt that our Oliver will make an appearance up there in the near future.