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Now to find some warmer weather 🙂

Fwiw, in the early days, only Pete got Solar, as original. (Scubarx was a bit later, I think.) We added it 5 or 6 months after picking up our trailer, with Oliver's help, when we realized we actually needed the energy from the solar to camp the way we do. Since then, we've doubled the panels , and changed up other equipment, but stayed with BlueSky. We've used victron on the boat , and had a few issues, a few years later. The Zamp system that Oliver installs is pretty much bulletproof, and easy for new users. I can see the reasons why they chose it. usa built, stout, simple. Those of us who went a different (unwarranteed ) path of choosing, live with our own results and resources. Not everyone has the same skills, nor the same desires to do the research and work, or live without warranty. It's all good, either way. We're still living with agm on the trailer, and making do. Not sure we'll make the upgrade to lithium. My husband wants to build his own lithium battery pack. We'll see. I'm not as enthusiastic. It's really all about your comfort, and skill level, and risk level. We went sailing this weekend on our 45 year old solar powered boat. I hope I'm around to see the results of our 45 year old Oliver. And its experiments. Only 30 years to go...

Well I have a growing stack of Victron boxes in my closet and will probably be the only delivery this year without solar. So I will be working hard to make my trailer the way I want it. Still can’t understand why they won’t install the solar panels without forcing two more indicator panels cut out of the interior… I’m going to beg the service department to help on some of the upgrades, hopefully they’ll have some extra time to assist.

Like Mossey said, I think we were the first, and at the time, Battleborn (Dragonfly back then) was the only game in town when it came to batteries with a built in BMS. Victron was an extremely expensive option at the time, even more so than today, and then our other choice was to make our own battery pack from individual cells and add a separate BMS. We’re only talking five years ago but even then there was a lot less info and fewer choices out there than today. So Battleborns were definitely the easiest to do. As it turned out I could have gone the DIY route, which had been my first choice, but that’s a longer story. I’ve had a 50% failure rate on the battleborns, fwiw. Maybe that’s just bad luck, or maybe I’m hard on them, or maybe they aren’t as tough as people say. (One thing I’ve learned about the RV community is that they are very reluctant to admit problems with their setups until after they’ve replaced it and can then brag about how smart they are for having done so.) Regardless, 50% of my batteries have met expectations, and 50% did not. Their service on replacing the ones that went bad was less than exemplary, but they did replace them. I still might recommend them, but not enthusiastically, so I’d say weigh your options. It’s a good package and quite possible that their quality or quality control has improved since I bought mine. The risk of being an early adopter perhaps. But were I to do it again, I’d spend for the Victrons. That, or build my own, just because it would be fun to do. I would definitely not buy Oliver’s package - you’ve got to work hard to make Victron gear look cheap, so fair credit to them for doing so. But that’s me, you may find it worth the price to not have to worry about it and to have Oliver’s warranty and service.

Sorry to hear about the issues on your first voyage! We have a different refrigerator, but a gap that lets in cold air does not sound right. A propane tank, 20 or 30 lb should last longer than a couple of days even running what you were running. Question: if you have electric hookups why don’t you use electricity for your hot water and heat? A small space heater that runs quietly is much less annoying that the furnace cycling on and off. I leave the switch on the hot water tank in the on position when we travel so that when hooked up to electric it is always on and we always have hot water. Propane is only used for dry camping. Yes, it takes almost forever to drain the freshwater tank. That’s why I rarely do it. Question: If you are traveling why are you draining your fresh water? I try to travel with it full. I would hate to get caught in a dry camping situation with an empty fresh tank. We’ve been camping in below freezing weather at night this month so we have been using our fresh tank for water. Here at Zion there is no water hook ups at sites. I top off the fresh tank when I can so it remains as full as possible. I’ve never winterized. We regularly camp when the low gets into the 20s and a few times in the teens. When at home in storage I keep a space heater on during cold spells. I would have service check you propane system. You shouldn’t be getting an alarm like that with everything so new. Smoke detectors can be finicky. I replaced ours last year and it went off in the middle of the night last week. We hit reset and it didn’t come back on. Weird. We sleep with the vents open unless it is super cold and then with just the bath vent open. Mike

Make sure all of the axel, leaf spring hardware are as they should be. Make sure the wheel bearings are tightened properly. Grab the top of the tire- check to make sure there is no play. I do this regularly.

I have a friend who is still working. He has an old camper not an Oliver that he lives in for work. He developed a propane leak and didn't know it. The propane replaced the oxygen inside the trailer and he almost died. A word to everyone. Be careful.

We have lived near Wasilla for over 18 years and it is our permanent residence. We have been trailer camping there since 2017 and have spent about 180 nights in our Escape 19 all in Alaska. We have only spent one night in a site with partial hookups. Our typical trip is about 2 weeks and we tend to stay in one place. Our two favorite places in Alaska are the BLM campground at Tangle Lakes on the Denali Highway and the Valdez Glacier Campground which is operated by Fort Greeley for the City of Valdez. We typically have a purpose in mind for our trips such as fishing, berry picking or hunting. The uses of the new Oliver will be similar as we like to find a good place and stay there. The Creelake handle is based on past life, have not been to Sask in over a decade. We will not be leaving Alaska during the summer months at all if possible. So the Oliver will be stored with a friend (who owns an Escape 21 and a Scamp) in Colorado for use in the lower 48. We are westerners at heart with roots around Walden, Colorado. We are interested more in the off grid places such as we have found in Wyoming, Nevada, and eastern Oregon and the like.

I have been on lots of Rails to Trails. They're great. My favorite was the Central Lakes/Lake Wobegone in Minnesota. It's very well signed and paved. The Erie Canal trail in New York was great too. I will have to figure out a good way to bring my bike. Maybe time for a Brompton folding bike. The perfect number of bikes to own is N+1. I am a sucker for trestles and steam history too. Tunnels, not so much.

I'll let Matt know and see if we can get this back in order. Bill

If you love mountains but don’t want to beat up your body….. this is spectacular. Route of the Hiawatha Turns 20 (News story 2018) https://www.ridethehiawatha.com/the-trail Class 1 pedal assist ebikes are now allowed, but none with a hand throttle. I rode the trail once on a mountain bike, but spent six summers on a dual sport motorcycle exploring this wonderful area. I am a sucker for trestles, tunnels, and steam history. John Davies Spokane WA

This one big enough for you? We traded up to a 3500 from our 2500 to get more cargo carrying capacity this past fall. We are waiting on the topper for it. We ordered it in mid June and picked it up the end of September. Since we ordered on the first day that 2022’s could be ordered, we got it before they ran out of parts. We’ve had an electric lift in the Oliver garage for the past five years. We use it to lift and place all the heavy stuff. Like the generator… Or the toolbox… And those propane tanks… We also use it it lift the 12 volt Dometic refrigerator into the truck.

Thanks, Bill! Ice is far worse, IMO, and does a LOT of damage, when it accumulates in abundance. We will be looking ahead and plan accordingly 🙂

Hi Mike and Carol, Thanks 🙂 We are now in Tunica, MS, and will be making our way to SC in a week. We're certainly glad to have a 4 seasoner! Our Casita struggled somewhat when it got below freezing. We are officially "Happier Campers" 🙂 John

"How long is your upcoming tour? You must be pretty fit." We figure about two months. On the last two cross country trips, I averaged 55-56 miles/day carrying about 58 pounds of gear in panniers. I have mechanical disc brakes that work very well. We start with low miles initially then increase as we get more fit. Leaving San Diego, you start climbing almost immediately which isn't too great. Depending on terrain and wind, some days are in the 30+ range due to climbing. I had one day leaving Cut Bank, Montana going east where we did 126 miles. Thanks for the info on that road.

SeeDawg, yes I should have included that we towed with a 2019 Chevrolet duramax. We certainly had the power and the engine brake has been an added bonus while traveling in the mountains. We initially bought the diesel to haul our boat and have discovered that more power makes our life easier with the Ollie also. Moved into a 21 GMC duramax.

https://pjammcycling.com/climb/227.Beartooth%20Pass%20South GTTS is steeper, but a mile lower in elevation, so that is probably the biggest factor. If I were to attempt to cycle any of these roads, which ain’t EVER going to happen, it would be with electric assist and really good hydraulic disk brakes. And an oxygen cylinder. 😳 How long is your upcoming tour? You must be pretty fit. John Davies Spokane WA

I agree with Mike above. Short answers to questions 1 - yes 2 - no 3 - yes. Be very careful with this weather that we are having - very unusual. And, it is currently forecast for another winter storm to come through the southeast somewhere between Friday and Sunday that will dramatically lower temperatures. Bill

Hi, could you folks expand on this a bit? Any thoughts on what others should check at their deliveries would be very helpful. Thanks!

We paid our deposit on an Elite II and will be looking for guidance on completing the build sheet by June. We own an Escape 19 which we purchased in 2017 so we are advanced beginners. The Escape we plan to keep at home in Alaska for summer use. The Oliver, delivery date in September, will remain in the lower 48 with its tow vehicle. Looking forward to these forum discussions.

Hi Mark and Patricia (and Ginger), good to hear from you! Glad the kinks are worked out. As you can see we are working on ours. We too are thankful to OTT's service department. They did install a monitoring system for propane bottle capacity, tire pressure and refrigerator temperature. I didn't get the propane monitor bluetooth sensor working yet. Will try today. I touched every bolt and nut and looked at every weld after talking with you, so I did find both struts, bottom nuts, on the left side that were not tightened. That could have been a big deal and I have you to thank as I probably wouldn't have looked that close had we not discussed the problems you had. Enjoy the warm Florida weather 🙂 John

Looks like some folks at Lippert may have read your post, and took it to heart, @Overland https://rvbusiness.com/lippert-developing-edison-ev-towable-chassis-prototype/

We met in Arkansas on ur way to Oliver. We talked about the trouble that we have had upon delivery. None r the same as you r having. A propane tank lasts longer than that for us. We use an electric heater and electric hot water when we can. Ott maintenance has treaded us excellent. I think all the bugs are out of ours. We are in Florida now and will drop trailer off for maintenance Jan25.

A full 30 lb propane tank will last us most of a season in our 32' fifth wheel running hot water, furnace, and stove as needed. Even if you have 20 lb tanks, something doesn't sound right. I'd look for a propane leak somewhere.

Saw this story come across my news feed. So pleased to have an Oliver! https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local-news/tampa-bay-couple-bought-a-new-rv-to-avoid-trouble-but-discovered-defects?_amp=true

Sherry, usually just one other guy. No chase vehicle. We carry everything and camp mostly. Spring, 2019 was very wet from Missouri to New Brunswick so we moteled it there for the last half. I have met lots of other bike tourers from all over the world. A Dutch guy rode from Alaska to southern South America. Hearing his stories was a bit hair raising. With the Ollie I plan to bring bikes along and go on some Rails to Trails segments with my wife. Minnesota and New York have great ones. Missouri and Nebraska too.

I don't remember the grade being any worse than most Colorado mountain Rides. Independence Highway from Aspen over the continental divide was much steeper and scarier coming down. All I remember was the freezing cold and wet snow on Beartooth highway. I hadn't planned on freezing temps and wet snow on our tour. All I had was a light rain jacket and leg warmers. Our ride started at Jackson hole, bike all around Yellow stone, then up over John Coulter pass, Bear tooth and down into Cody. We had a Swag wagon, that took our camping gear from one spot to another. We were one our own while biking. I also have done several Credit Card tours in the Colorado mountains and stayed at motels every night. I only needed small rear panniers to carry 1 change of cloths and tools. I have never dreamed of going across the US. I think I would wimp out after 2 weeks. 7-10 day rides are enough. Although I would like to start discovering some of the Rails to Trails as we we take our Oli across the nation.

@John Welte curious. When you do the long distance bicycle trips, do you have a chase vehicle? Do you travel in a group? We've met several bike campers, solo, doing long trips ( a couple trans Canada, one was aanchorage to San Francisco, via the Yukon, etc ), and it seemed to be a long and lonely road . Sherry

Congratulations!!

What kind of camping do you like to do? FHU? No hook ups? National and State Parks? You will get lots of advice on this forum! Alaska is on our list, we’ve done all but 5 of the lower 48. We lived in Hawaii for years so… Welcome to the group. Escape makes a nice trailer. Mike

Welcome to the forum. My husband and I have camped a lot in Alaska, four trips. We loved the experiences. Please ask away with your questions. We're all here to help. Ps, what part of Alaska? Only cree lake i know is in Canada

Yes, Mike and Carol, we overlook the spigot as well and are trying to train ourselves to do the same thing....use the fresh water tank and disconnect/drain the hose 🙂 Happy Trails 🙂

We’ve been below freezing almost every night the last couple of weeks. No issues except when I left the water hose connected and woke up to 29 degrees and a frozen hose! 😳. We’ve been using the fresh tank ever since. Mid 50s today at Zion NP, low last night was 33. Enjoy your trip to SC. Mike

In a week I'm guessing that it should be a bit warmer in SC than it is now and tomorrow (Sunday ). A major ice storm is set to begin any minute now for virtually all of northern South Carolina and last through Sunday afternoon. Ice accumulations of up to 1 full inch are being forecast. There are storm warnings issued for the entire area all the way over to Myrtle Beach! In addition, there is another winter storm forecast for Friday (January 21, 2022). Very unusual weather for this part of the country to say the least. Please be very care full with that lovely shiny new Ollie and be sure to stay warm! Bill

Mark, I use a ResMed APAP Air10 with the humidifier. I purchased the 12V adapter and plug it into the 12V/Cigarette lighter plug in the attic. It uses very little power. When we don't use the heater, we use 20 to 25 amp/hours a day. Keep in mind we don't have an inverter. Andrew

@mossemi thanks for the link, that guy is pretty enthusiastic! 😄 I actually appreciated his interview with the CEO of BB even more than the deconstruction of the battery itself, it was super informative!

So that's what it looks like...this is all I saw pulling my Casita over it in late May... 1455955256_BeartoothPass.mov

I haven’t done that road, but have done similar very high up (11,000 feet) and twisty roads, like the Million Dollar Hwy at Ouray. I think it depends mostly on your tow vehicle. A big HD turbo diesel, no worries. A Land Cruiser like mine, worries, definitely. I have on occasion dropped down into 4 Low when towing up super steep hairpin turns, and that was a HUGE help, especially for greatly reducing the transmission temperature, but I am not aware of any other tow vehicle that can do that without risking drivetrain damage. If you have a nervous copilot, then it might be best to leave the Ollie at base camp. Also, that is a very popular route in the summer for sports cars and bike clubs, make sure there is not a 3000 rider Harley tour going the same day as you….. I love that part of Yellowstone, Chief Joseph Hwy headed east is also stunning. Hard lock haipin turns and a 65 mph speed limit! EDIT, Bill beat me by 4 minutes, darn it. This is simply luscious: https://www.visityellowstonecountry.com/photos-that-prove-that-the-beartooth-highway-is-the-most-beautiful-drive-in-america?slide=1 John Davies Spokane WA

I've been over/on the Beartooth Highway numerous times - but - always on motorcycle. Having said that, I would not hesitate to tow my Elite II over it with my F-150 3.5 liter twin turbo. There are plenty of pull-outs for both letting faster traffic by and for observing the wonderful scenery. Be sure to use them in either case. Note that there is really not all that much at the northern end (Red Lodge) and/or I-90. So, if your intent is to only go for the drive I'd leave the camper near Cooke City, drive the Beartooth both ways, camp and then either head into Yellowstone National Park (northeast entrance) and the Lamar Valley (bunches of animals) or head towards Cody via the Chief Joseph Highway - another wonderful road. Last year (2021) they were doing construction on the Beartooth and closing the entire road after (I believe) 7pm. Be sure to check both when it opens for the season and for any construction details. Bill

Yep, two generators both dual fuel. The Oliver is my hurricane escape pod and the larger one has served me well for those 3-4 day mandatory evacuations. It will run 16 hours on a tank of gas, non-ethanol, and continuously during those times. I have also used it in roadside and parking lot overnight stays when the wife demands all of the comforts of home! I then got the smaller one primarily as a convenience for A/C on stops for meals or breaks when traveling; but have used it, on propane, for brief overnight stays, as well. I have solar panels atop my TV cap to run the Dometic dual zone and a DC-DC charger to keep the trailer batteries topped off.

I have camped for a couple of weeks in 106 degree full sun with my OE2 OEM Dometic. We keep the Dometic pretty full and try not to open it up a lot. Also, we mitigate the heat for the refer by parking the trailer so the entry is on the north or NE side to keep the refer in the shade as much as possible. Some folks deploy their awning to make the shade, but we spend a lot of time away from Ollie and have concern about winds launching the awning.

Let the fun begin!

We keep a case of bottled water in the truck moving a half dozen or so into the pantry each day. These are small bottles for drinking. We also keep a few larger (gallon) bottles in the truck for coffee. Some use Brita or other filters. The fresh water tank is for showers and dish washing. Mike

After leaving the mother ship yesterday, we arrived at Tunica, MS for a week or so to check things out before heading back east. Anything we can't solve or fix we'll take back to OTT before heading home. At Hohenwald I made the mistake of leaving the city water hose connected, but turned off, and was of course greeted buy a rather sizable block of ice the next morning, roughly the size of a water filter 😞 It was persistently raining on departure from OTT so I only drained half of the freshwater tank before heading for Tunica. That was a blessing as it turns out...I'll explain a little later. Question #1... Does the freshwater really take that long to drain? I had both kitchen and bathroom faucets open in case it helps evacuate the suction of the exiting water. Last night at Tunica I noticed a very cold draft from the top of the refrigerator, above the frame and below its fiberglass enclosure. The wind was very strong from that side so I took the outside upper vent cover off and discovered a large gap all the way across where insulation mats meet. A good 3/4 inch gap. I taped it up with some low tack tape as well as the top of the refrigerator inside the trailer. Pictures below. Question #2...Is there supposed to be a gap there? I'm leaving the tape there temporarily to block the 30 degree breeze I'm getting from the outside. About 4 AM I realized the mistake I made (AGAIN) with the city water so I opened the faucets and sure enough the ice was starting to form on the inlet screen at the trailer, but as the water flowed and the ice melted I let it run for a few minutes to make sure everything was ok. Then my feet felt something terribly cold. I'm not at all used to having open and close a valve in the toilet to travel, so I can't really get onto myself for forgetting to open it upon arrival at Tunica. At least I remembered to close it prior to leaving the mother ship 🙂 No questions here, just venting! Here's where it starts getting serious. After the "thaw" at 4 AM, I chose to start up the water heater, for added warmth in the basement, via propane. It started up fine, ran a minute or so and then the propane alarm went crazy. After figuring out how to reset the alarm, we turned the fan on to the highest setting, and turned off the water heater. My Casita has the same Suburban heater and when the wind blows hard from that side the igniter has a hard time keeping up with the flameouts, so the propane gets blown back into the trailer, in my opinion, and sets off the alarm. So I just switch over to electric. We opened every hatch we could to check things out and didn't see anything out of place but the alarm persisted and now the carbon monoxide/smoke alarm went off. No smoke and the alarm was 4 short beeps...carbon monoxide. We were about to evacuate into the cold, wet snow. But after opening everything up, the alarms went silent, the red lights went out and the green light on the propane alarm came back on. In retrospect, the next time this happens I will turn off the offending appliance and propane tank first, troubleshoot later! Now all was back to normal, or so I thought. The furnace started blowing cold air...rats!!! Propane bottle must be out. I tried starting the stove...no luck. Propane bottle must be out. Now I had to get out in the wonderful weather we're having. Loosened the bottles and the only one I had open was a lot lighter so I assume (I know... I should avoid using that term) it must be empty. I'll check when the weather conditions become a little more favorable. That's why we only open one bottle at a time, better to have a spare. Question # 3... Should a full propane bottle last more than 2 1/2 days using only the furnace and water heater? Water heater is turned off when not needed. I'll turn the furnace down to 69 (was set at 71) or so and augment with my space heater. I wonder if a low, sputtering propane tank could have contributed to my problems. Last question...I wonder what caused the carbon monoxide alarm to go off? And the blessing of the half full freshwater tank?....we have water for a little while!!! 🙂 🙂 PS This really will be the last question... at what temp do ya'll pull the plugs and winterize? We don't have antifreeze so we'll dump all water, including the water heater, and blow the lines out with a little foot pump. Have a good laugh with this one ya'll. Stay safe and warm wherever you are! I hear the ice falling from the roof. Must be time to get things in order outside. John