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SERIOUSLY!!! You just can't put a price tag on the experience and general know-how of this group of Ollie owners! Just a quick scan of today's "forum headlines"... and there was at least three scenario's where the other owners saved the day for someone...somewhere, that had a problem! Good job, thanks and kudo's to all the older owners!

Really appreciate Oliver creating this camping space not only for return service but pickups of new trailers as the walk is short to help and obtain resolution during shakedown. But, seriously, all of the pictures of the new camping spots which include the Queue of Elite IIs awaiting delivery are KILLING me! I can see my new, but yet to be delivered to me Ollie in many of the images and it is becoming difficult to stand the wait for delivery this coming week. Ugh, like the wait for Christmas.

Steve and Mary: Welcome to the Oliver Owners Family. As you know, we on the Oliver Forum love to help out the new owners in any way we can. If you don't find info via the search, just start a new thread and one of the experienced owners, if not several of them, will just about always in good faith try to help. I suspect that you are aware that the number 888 has special biblical significance. 888 is the angel number, and means renewal, infinite abundance, and new beginnings. How cool for you both. I wish you the very best, and that the angels be with you both in all your travels, especially with your beautiful OE@.

Thanks for all the input. As always, your help is appreciated. Ended up as user error. I did not understand the function of the fan in auto mode. The fan set in auto mode changed the entire equation, Lots more heat fast. all ducting is secure.

For those that do have Apple Car Play, I like using the GAIA app on my iPhone, which in turn is plugged into the TV and displaying the map and route on the large built-in vehicle screen. GAIA has an offline mode, which is essential because where it is most useful, you often won't have a cell signal. I read John Davies advice in this forum about it's use with Apple Car Play, and I gave it a try. I prefer to use an older Garmin 785RV GPS for turn-by-turn on the civilized roads, but GAIA is excellent for back country dirt roads, forest service roads, finding boondocking sites, hiking routes, backcountry lakes, etc, and it has lot's of topo filters & functions. Thanks for the advice John!

I am sure that somebody with one of your inverter/ chargers will chime in, but you can adjust the charge rate to the batteries, default is 150 amps I believe, if yours is the 3000 model.. That probably is way too high a setting for your generator to handle. Go into the configuration settings and change it to 50 amps, see if the generator will stay online. If so, increase the setting higher until it won’t stay on. Go back say 10 amps and call it good. This is off the top of my head. Be aware that turning down the charge rate for use with your too small generator also affects when you are hooked up to shore power. If yours is the Harbor Freight Predator, it only puts out 1600 watts continuous, about 13 amps, that is very marginal for charging a large lithium battery bank. John Davies Spokane WA

Or maybe not but I'd pitch in for a kickstarter fund!! 😄

@johnwen plan to spend 3 to 5 days, if you can, testing every system. You don't have to stay near Hohenwald. Go explore some of the very beautiful parks in Tennessee and North Carolina, depending on season. Use every system, make sure they work, and that you know how to use them. User error is a big problem, with new systems. One of our cousins bought a new VERY expensive coach years ago, about the same time we bought our Oliver. Their warranty list was 100 items long. Ours was 2 items, and I can't even now remember what they were . I just remember the comparison, in our conversation, so I guess ours were minor. No matter where you are, Oliver will support you. Just easier if you can go back to the plant, and have a list, if necessary, early on.

Mossey

Gaia is also fantastic for hiking and backcountry skiing. When I've skied with guides (four trips in the last five years) the guides are using Gaia or the equivalent for the country we were in instead of dedicated GPS units (which they did also have but at the bottoms of their packs). I especially liked having it for hikes out across the blank sandstone slickrock shelves in Utah

I just wanted to say thanks for everyone that posted on this topic, lots of good advice. I put the gutters on my trailer today. It was 85 degrees in Franklin, TN today, so a great day to do it. I was having trouble with water coming in mainly the dinette window. I replaced all the window seals, but didn't notice any difference. I then caulked all the porch lights and did a little touch up around some of the windows. That made a big difference, but I was still noticing some water intruding. I really didn't want to add the gutters for cosmetic reasons, but finally bit the bullet. They ended up being very easy to install, thanks to all your advice...and if mounted right up against the window, it almost looks like it was made that way. Again, thanks for all the help!

We have the "charge wizard" pendant on our pd charger converter, but we don't have lithium. There is a way to manually adjust to any of the preprogrammed modes, with the pendant. It will revert to normal when it senses battery is at appropriate level. We've only used it a few times, to test it. I don't know how it would work, with lithium. In all likelihood, much the same. Not as sophisticated as being able to change settings from your phone, or a screen. Since you have a four year old trailer, your pd charger converter (like ours) will likely have to be upgraded with a board, or swapped out, if you decide to swap up to lithium. Add that into your estimates. When/if we swap up in the trailer, we'll likely go to victron gear, like we did on the boat, and several others have done here. You may want to look at the pros and cons, as well. Going all victron gives us a good communication stream, and information. Solid stuff, imo. There's a lot to think about, in making the change. I'd also take a long look at Battleborn, and possibly a few other brands, vs Lifeblue, if it were me.

Ditto on the thanks. I put mine on yesterday in temps bordering on 70. I preheated the gutter material and the fiberglass (which I'd cleaned first with SImple Green then with alcohol all with much elbow grease to get it fanatically clean!!) and it went on pretty easily, looks good, and is still well stuck there this morning. I should have gotten to this task back when we had hotter summer weather here but I think the tape's glue should still spread as required to bond well but just take a few days based on reading some 3M bulletins 🙂

Yeah I found I was tripping the home AC circuit I plug the trailer into periodically sometimes when it's doing bulk charging, so I dropped the "AC input breaker" setting from 30A to 14A (It's a 15 amp circuit but also has some commonly used LED bulbed lights on it so one amp to spare seems to be giving me enough buffer). Oliver has an article that mentions that we may want to adjust this setting when not plugging into 30 amp circuits including the case of using some generators. I found this easiest to change via the Xantrex app on my phone btw. From reading John's comment, I'm surmising that the relevant setting may have a different name depending on whether you have one of the the Freedom XC Pro 2000/3000 inverter models or an older model.

My guess is your freedom pro is set too high for input amperage. However, it should max out at around 14 amps AC. You might have something else plugged in that is putting it over the limit.

Sea dog, the lip. About 1.5” or so, seems to be plenty enough to keep the oven in place. Love the Breville, have the same unit at home.

Just a "small" word of caution about this electric water heater switch - If, for some reason, that switch is turned to the ON position and you have 120 volt power to your Ollie and you do not have water in your water heater tank you will most certainly burn up the heating element in the tank before you can correct the situation. This is the reason that I always leave my electric water heater switch in the off position unless I purposefully want to use electricity to heat water. Even then, as soon as I heat that water I immediately turn it off again just so I will not forget. Bill

Brad: I spend three months a year in our Ollie. We mostly boondock. Over the past four summers, we have averaged 5,400 miles a summer. Mostly out west in the mountains. We don't have AGM or Solar. I am not up-to-date on what the new Optional/Standard features are, so please forgive me on that. That said, from your above first post, here is what comes to my mind: For A/C, we run a Honda EU2000, as well to charge our Lead Acid (L.A.) batteries during afternoons. One trick I use is to meter the amount of fuel I put into the generator tank based upon how long I want it to run in the afternoons. Sort of a way not to overcharge should I not be in the area. You may want to explore if your Ford 7.2 KW generator has an auto shut off based upon the Status of Charge (SOC). That would be really cool. Pretty much all the OE2 loads can be covered by a 30 amp 120V feed. Your 7,200 watt Ford generator can theoretically put out about twice this amount of power. So with the truck, you should not require an additional generator. However, the fuel efficiency of a Honda EU2200i may be very beneficial should you do a LOT of boondocking. With your on-board Ford generator, and it's remote start, you can easily extend your SOC (State of Charge) for morning heavy 120V electrical loads and not have to leave your bunk to do so. Just be aware of the neighbors. Overall, our lead acid batteries work OK. I do stress them every morning with our coffee and microwave cooking, as well as at night with microwave cooking. They have lasted us over four years now, but I suspect that next summer I will want/need to replace. Most likely with lithium's. I suspect that you could save $$ by getting the standard L.A, and then waiting a few years for the Litho upgrade. You will FOR SURE want to have an Anderson Charge Plug option at the front of your trailer to make easy connection from your Ford rear power point. I would also get the 3,000 watt inverter if you can. The lead acid batteries will not make use of the extra 1,000 watt capability. But when you get the lithium's, you WILL be glad you had that upgrade. to allow A/C, microwave and coffee pot all at the same time! (GJ Update: All at one time may be a bit excessive. ) For sure get the EZ Start for the A/C. I don't recommend the mattress upgrade. My budget solution was to purchase via Amazon a Zinus 6 Inch Ultima Memory Foam Mattress. I got the larger one (Queen I think but double check this), and used a butcher knife to EASILY cut it long wise, and rounded the rear outside corners for a perfect fit on the twin beds. I place my Zinus below the Ollie standard mattress, and my wife does the opposite. Saves $$$ and works very well. But then bedding is something that is different for everybody. The extra height of both mattresses stacked does make the couch cushions a bit tall. I may try not using the factory mattresses this coming summer to mitigate this issue some. But then, the stack up sure works great for sleeping.... We chose to get one set of couch cushions. Why not two? Because one set will store at night nicely in the dinette area. Two sets much less so nicely. Just some thoughts from a RoF (Retired Ole Fart) :-).

Note: I don't have solar or big lithium power systems. On my departure check list I have a requirement to decide to leave the outside electric switch on or off. If my next stop has 30 amps, then by all means I leave the electric power on to the water heater. But if my next stop has only a 20 amp, or if I will be using my Honda EU200I, I turn the electric off to the hot water heater. My check list also has me turn the refrigerator to gas only. When I arrive at at a site that does not have 30 amp service, if my trailer is hot inside, my priority is to get the AC on ASAP. I check that: My battery charge is OK That the refrigerator is still on gas only I then turn off the Converter (On board battery charger) at the breaker. Doing so pretty much assures me that there will not be any significant electrical loads against the generator other than the A/C. It took me a while to figure out that the 45 amp converter is a silent power theft for when I want the AC on. 😞 The above has worked well for me.

@taylor.coyote there have been many posts on this, over the years. Glad you got the situation resolved, before you head out to camp without services. I'd still probably lift the lids, and make sure ducting looks secure and attached. Have fun. Enjoy the adventure.

Thanks for all the input. As always, your help is appreciated. Ended up as user error. I did not understand the function of the fan in auto mode. The fan set in auto mode changed the entire equation, Lots more heat fast.

@johnwen don't know where you are usually located, but I have to say how much I love the Dakotas. Other than the obligatory stop at Mt Rushmore, lots of people think it's a drive through. It's not, as you know, by now. The Dakota territory has so much beauty and charm. (And, often, wind!) The people are hospitable, little town campground are neat and clean. It's so different than much of the plains, especially in the west and east, but lots to see in between. . I've been missing my trips through, last few years, with the pandemic troubles. Best wishes to you, in your adventures in your Ollie.

We met an Oliver family a couple days ago in South Dakota who picked up their Oliver over a year ago and relayed they had no problems since. That is encouraging! Yes, we plan to thoroughly exercise every system/switch/button we can in short order 🙂 and we have no doubt Jason and his team will take care of us!

@wolfdds, I bought a similar little fan at Lowe's, with a clip and/or stand last year. It's great. Can run on 12 v with the USB. It's not very powerful, but a little white noise, and a little breeze, makes a difference. Uses "almost" no power. Our dog likes it, too.

Yes, wetness is no good. The issue with closing all the windows during the rain is that it can get a little muggy or hot inside. I'm going to try to solve this by getting a small table fan that I can put on the kitchen counter or dinette table to blow air toward the bed during sleep. The MaxAir does move air in and out but when I'm in the bed I can't really feel it. I'd rather have the open window. Love that feeling of fresh air during the rain.

3 or 4 years ago we were camping up outside of Dallas. It was late fall and the weather was cool. We left for the afternoon and we left the awning out about 5’ and the window underneath open a couple of inches. One of those big pop-up thunderstorms happened. When we got back, the bed on the awning side (mine) was soaked. Bedding, mattress, everything. Not fun. Now, we usually never leave the trailer with windows open (bathroom is an exception) and I almost always crank the awing in, if it’s out it’s only 2 or 3 feet. EZE Gutters also help. Mike

The same curves that make the Ollies so aerodynamic send rain into the windows, unless you can provide another path. Eze rv gutters help. Not with wind driven rain, with sliders. Some of us old timers have the no longer made maxxair window vents. (I'll add a link) Our awning helps. In a torrential downpour, not so much. Wind? Can't leave the awning out. This is the same problem faced by every rv. Unless you have awning windows, and, trust me, they're not foolproof, either. Our 2008 has an awning escape window in the rear. It's pretty good at shedding rain, if we have not too much wind. We can still get wind driven rain, on really bad nights, but most of the time, it's ok . With wind, we resort to the bath window, and our hooded fantastic vent to keep airflow. We have the luxury of two of the old school maxxair side vents, as well. I never leave ourv unprotected slider open, in a rainstorm. Asking for trouble. Thank goodness for hooded vent fans. Or, ac, if you have power.

Hi DJM, I have the Girard and have found that it works great in the rain. We've sat under it a few times in a light/moderate rain storm with no problems. The only problem was when retracting the awning. It gave someone (?!) who was still sitting underneath a real splash of cold water! Lol. Wish I had a video of that! So, we learned to always get the heck away from the awning during retraction in the rain. Regarding the windows, I also learned the hard way that leaving the window open even a crack will get the bed wet! When closed, the windows do great even in heavy rain. But you sure can't keep them cracked until you get gutters or something on them to keep the rain away.

I just noticed it looks like a Sterling battery to battery charger in front of the Multi. I wonder why they chose that over a Victron when they used Victron kit everywhere? With a truck camper especially, you'd think that they'd want engine charging info to be integrated with everything else.

Finally, we pulled the trigger and placed an order for the fabulous Oliver Legacy Elite II, expected delivery in April 2022. I imagine that we're like of a lot of the Oliver owners; aging baby-boomers looking to see this great country in style. We've never owned an RV. We rented a Class-A motor home about two months ago. We quickly figured out that driving an eleven ton particle-board-and-stapled rig down I-75 just isn't for us. We started researching travel trailers. My bride had her heart set on an Airstream so we went to the local dealer for a tour. Frankly, I was underwhelmed; the build quality was far below my expectations. There were several parked on the lot for repairs—mostly expensive panel replacements from minor dings. The next day we saw an Oliver. The Oliver isn’t built like a trailer. It’s built like a blue water cruising yacht. The solid construction, fit, finish and smart design put this travel trailer in a completely different class from the rest of the industry. The Oliver is robust; everything else is flimsy in comparison. We were sold the minute we walked inside. Anyway, we have much to learn. I’ve owned boats in the past (not the one below) but this will be our first travel trailer. I’ve been lurking around the forum for a few days, gaining some wisdom from you all. My wife and I will be at the mini-rally in Jacksonville in October. We hope to meet some of you next month. I posted these pics for comparison. The interior of the LE II has the look and feel of a cruising sailboat--not a travel trailer.

X yacht, 4.0? Nice. So, you don't need the gimballed stove anymore, either. Lol. One of our best friends, who camps and sails often with us, always has great comments on our trailer. (He's helped us on a few mods, like the ac replacement, when our 14 year old unit was reaching end of life. ) He's worked in the luxury yacht industry his whole life. Last trip, he asked me where the grab handles were from. He thought we'd added them, but they're original. Still look new. And, sleek. 14 seasons old. Our years of experience with well built fiberglass hulls is what drew us to Oliver, as well. Our sailboat is over 40 years old, and going strong.

We had the same problem with very slow heat on our second trip. The heater just seemed to run all night and my wife could not get warm. I. Was very warm and then noticed the wall next to my bunk was hot. Turns out the ducting had come off the box and was blowing into the compartment under the bed. The duct had been cut too short and stretched too tight to stay on. I rerouted the duct and used a lot of duct tape. I was going to have Oliver replace it at the 2020 rally, but....

I would just add one more to this list. I agree allstays and campadium are good but they are iOS only. So if you are an Android person you are a bit out of luck unless you want to stay only on their website. The Dyrt is another great campground finding/reviewing app. With the Pro version it provides trip planning capabilities along with offline mode so you can keep your route and information even when you lose your connection. I also just became aware of these which can be very handy. Highway Weather - Shows you the weather along your route and can even give you recommended departure times to avoid most the weather. TruckMap - For those that have taller longer trailers it is more helpful as it provides routes that support your size of rig.

I would take a look under curb side bed and make sure the heating ducts are still attached to the furnace.

We went through the same thought process. I spent over a year investigating the Oliver before starting to put together the finances. We feel truly blessed to have an Oliver. Enjoy the journey!

Here's a good blog post I made about some good APPS: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/blog/best-mobile-apps-rv-camping/

I agree with Mossey, Here you go…. The plastic splash guard covers a small circuit board, the wire is the high voltage spark ignition wire. Obviously the WH will never light without that hooked up. It plugs in the side where the small opening is, below the round protrusion. There is a small possibility that it still will not work, the board might have been damaged by operating with it disconnected. Hook it up and try the WH, you should hear a fairly loud SNAP SNAP SNAP and then a whoosh as the gas ignites. if not, the board my be fried (quite common!). Here is what it looks like. Remove the two screws and lift off the cover if you want to look at the board itself. The board is held down with double stick foam, and it can overheat the parts. One of my resistors fried. It should be mounted in a way that will allow adequate airflow underneath. A Dinosaur aftermarket one is much better… read this. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2036-suburban-hot-water-heater-failed-a-dealer-repair-story-and-lesson/ If the spade connector does not fit snugly, you can carefully crimp the ears together a tiny bit with pliers, to add more grip force. Add a nylon tie wrap too, for strain relief. Good luck, and post a followup report please. John Davies Spokane WA

Hi John, we also looked at the R-Pod and the Minnie Winnie but then my boyfriend decided he wanted to take the trip to the Oliver factory. Luckily it's just a state away from us so it was easy even during these times. The tour was fabulous and seeing their manufacturing process sold us on how well built this travel trailer is. We toured the E I and E II in the showroom, where I told him I was concerned about the small galley area. Well as we sat down to get a price quote I made a run to the bathroom and came back to witness him signing the paperwork and making the down payment. Although I was thrilled to know that we were finally making a move toward our retirement dreams I was wondering how was I ever going to cook in that kitchen. Our pick up date is June of 2022 which has given me lots of time to practice in my kitchen at home. That's exactly what I'm doing now. At first I set up a small area to prep that represented the dimensions of the counter space in the Ollie, including the dinette table. It really is doable. I've since bought a pot and pan that are much smaller than what I use at home, which will fit perfectly on the stove top in the Ollie and I've been cooking with them. I'm also playing with our at home convection oven which I had never used before. I think if you look at the dimensions of the counter space you'll find in the owner's section, let your wife set up a little prep area and cook area up, she'll find it's more than doable, it can even be fun. Being that she likes to cook, she'll be great a pre-prepping at home which will save her on a lot of the prep space needed while traveling. Well that's my 2 cents worth and so far practicing is helpful for me. Good luck.

The answer to your questions depends on how your wife perceives meal prep when camping. Does she have visions of "like at home" meal prep or is she willing to make concessions? That being said, at home I am an avid cook/baker. Our kitchen is spacious and outfitted with all the "necessary" tools that make meal prep and baking easier and more enjoyable. It would be disconcerting, to me, if I were to compare it to the Oliver kitchen. I am happy to shift my mind-set, when camping, and have found the smaller Oliver galley to be well organized, as efficient as prior larger RV kitchens (such as our 5th wheel), and an improvement over the like sized galley in our Leisure Travel Van. One trick I employ: We have a wooden bread board (a recycled pull-out board from my HS Home Ec Dept). My husband installed rubber feet on the bottom so it fits snuggly over the stove top. We actually made this for previous RVs and were able to reposition the feet to fit the Oliver. It protects it glass top of the stove, when not in use, extending counter space. When using the stove, I place the board on the bed next to the galley and use it to set things out of the way, until needed (if that makes sense). I also use the small counters (pantry and microwave cabinet areas) extensively during meal prep; the dinette table, not so much. We do not have the microwave, but rather carry a small toaster oven for cooking. I use the nightstand for it. Regarding meal prep outdoors: I do very little outside. I like being in the kitchen, where everything is handy and I don't have to carry a lot in and out of the trailer. Also, at certain times of the year, bees/yellowjackets/hornets can be very annoying when preparing food, and eating too, outdoors. Cooking outdoors is too much like tent camping; we have a great indoor kitchen and choose to use it. When downsizing from a larger RV (30ft 5th-wheel) I quickly learned a valuable lesson: in the smaller space, it is important for everything to have a place and keep things put away. This makes any task more manageable and reduces stress. I pack things so items oft used are easy to get to (without having to empty the contents of a cabinet/drawer to get them. We utilize the tow vehicle to store items not often needed to conserve interior storage. Just a few ideas . . . . . hope this helps.

We applied eze rv gutter to the third tail light, as well, recently.

I continued them further down to get the discharge point past the joint where the two window frame pieces meet; to deal with wind driven water coming from the side; and to help anchor those pesky top corners. But really, I mostly needed to divert AC condensation from my Air Command unit, it does not have an internal drain hose, and I rarely encounter rain anyway. Since I have figured out a way to put HEPA furnace filters into my windows, I did not want condensate draining across them and ruining the paper. So the gutter project was killing two stones with one bird….😬 Join Davies Spokane WA

Fargoman, The round feet on the Oliver will contact the magnets on the Anderson Tubs and that's a useful feature. We know that because we used them in the first year, but we then switched over to having rubber feet from RV Snap-pad on the pads. You can see our install video here in our blog: https://4-ever-hitched.com/ggs-blog/f/new-shoes-for-galway-girls-feet

It's been a much debated subject over the years. Originally, Oliver called them jacks and they were fine with owners lifting the tires off the ground if needed. (I've done that many times.). But there was a bit of a design issue with the earlier trailers in that the bracket to carry the jack was made of welded aluminum plates. A few brackets failed at the welds, which is obviously potentially pretty dangerous. They changed the bracket design to a steel angle, but also changed their tune on using the jacks as jacks. They became stabilizers and the tires stay on the ground. Except for a dwindling number of us rebels who throw caution to the wind. For me, I'm good with one set of tires off the ground, provided the slope of the site isn't crazy. But never both sets, since the jacks aren't really designed for lateral loads.

I use these if we’re going to be set up for more than a few days. Just snugged up so as to reduce movement not to support the weight of the trailer.

Good tips above. We use these EAZ LIFT 48860 Telescopic Jack stabilizers if we feel the need up front. Sometimes we don't need them, a lot depends upon the specific campsite. They are shown on the Oliver Trailer Outfitters list on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2mAAgPO Craig - Hull 505

I put the gutter right up against the frame. Not saying that’s where it should be, to me it looked best and made it easy keep it straight and aligned with the window. I’ve seen others with a significant gap between the gutter and the window frame. Mike

A beautiful 78 degree gorgeous North Carolina foothills morning and time for Hull# 634 to have EZE gutters installed. The install went really well and we are happy with the results. My bride was my extra set of hands which really helped. I will leave the painters tape on for another day or two ensuring a good curing of gutter adhesion material. We let the gutter material heat up in the sun which made it easier to work with. We ordered the Bright White gutter color for our 2020 Ollie which matched up perfect. We even did a gen set cargo box fit check with our new Honda Handi eu3000i and all is well. Thanks to everyone who posted up on EZE gutter install info. Another mod done! -David

I put up another round of EZ gutters last year after a less than satisfactory installation a couple of years ago. They are all still firmly attached, even the bathroom window. The problem with the first installation was a sudden drop in temperature after the installation (80s when installed, low 40s later that night). Last year I reinstalled exactly the way I did before except the warm/hot weather continued for several weeks. The blue tape was firmly attached to the gutter material when I did the install. Mike

Its now been about two weeks since I did the installation, so, I went out to check to make sure that the gutters were still on. I'm happy to report that there are absolutely no problems - there has been no movement in the gutters and they are still FIRMLY stuck. If I had it to do over again I certainly would have made the sides longer by about two inches. Since putting the gutter around the curve of the corners of the window places a slight bit of "stress" on the gutter (it wants to remain straight) the additional two inches would have allowed for a bit more straight edge down the side of the window and thus more "glued" surface without any stress. Bill or

Can't wait to see those photos ! Bett and I are camped on Lake Ouachita doing about the same thing, small chores and campfire tending mostly, interrupted by an occasional dip in the lake. We really enjoyed the tour of your mountain hideout area and refer to it often in our conversations. It was a great time spent with you guys.