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Showing content with the highest reputation on 06/05/2022 in all areas

  1. I bought my Oliver in 2017 and an honest review would reflect high grades in every aspect of owning it from customer service and all in-between. I would add the customer service is above the industry hands down!
    6 points
  2. Camped last week at Mount Pisgah Campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway NC. It was low 50s there last few mornings and very nice!
    4 points
  3. Still using my 4 pack T-105's here too. A couple of months ago in another thread I had thought mine were on their way out, turns out the culprit was my Blue Sky Solar Controller which had a broken leg on the inductor (coil) and thus was not charging correctly and for reasons I'll never know provided information to the IPN Remote that stated all was normal. After the repairs my Trojan battery pack seems to be back to normal even after 7 years of storage in Montana winters. Turned the solar off two weeks or so ago and batteries maintained a charge of 12.8 volts, down .05 volts from the first day of disconnect. Can't complain about that. However I have convinced myself LiFePO4 batteries are in my future. It would be nice to shed a couple hundred pounds plus not having to deal with maintenance of lead acid.
    3 points
  4. @Chukarhunter, @John E Davies, and @topgun2, thanks to all of you for putting these ideas onto words that all of us can read and understand. With the proliferation of electron hungry appliances, and summer season, ac use, and very full campgrounds, we'll probably see more folks with similar issues. What I'd do, would be to turn off the ac, get the water hot, and turn othe water heater to gas. Minimal gas to maintain temperature, in summer. Then, put the ac back on. The ac and electric water heater are the biggest consumers in summer. Our compressor fridge draws very little, but I wouldn't want to run all three at the same time. (Can't anyway, as our Girard heater uses gas only, but you get my point.) As campgrounds fill, fewer electrons to go round. From our experience, many campgrounds have puny wiring. Just wait til people start plugging in and charging lithium batteries in trucks and trailers. It will only get worse, imo.
    3 points
  5. Wow. Your cargo carrier looks terrific and your write up is even better. Thank you for posting this. Pat
    3 points
  6. Went to CVNP for Memorial Day weekend. What a great park ! Great hikes/ stayed at Silver Springs campground in Stow -$18 per night. Great location - electric no water. And today is our Ollie’s First birthday ! happy days with our Hull 818
    3 points
  7. Trainman, I agree with others that low voltage at the post was likely your problem. Voltage drop is a function of wire size, current (amps) and nature of the load itself; resistive, or inductive. Were you the last RV site in the park? The longer the wire run, the more voltage drop there will be. And the higher the current in the wire, the more voltage drop there will be. I'd speculate that the closest trailer to the power source had plenty of voltage, but everyone in front of you on the bulk circuit was running their air conditioner and everything else which will cause voltage drop at each site along the circuit so by the time the power got to you, voltage was getting pretty low (the definition of a brownout). The bulk power system adds capacitors every so often along the overhead lines to support voltage. Your electric water heater is a resistive load like an incandescent bulb, so if voltage into the water heater drops, the water heater just consumes less watts and doesn't heat the water quite as fast. The air conditioner is a motor (i.e., inductive) load which like John said will increase current draw as voltage decreases. As voltage drops , the current increases to the AC as the AC continues to draw the same number of watts. The increase in current will act to drop the voltage even more which increases the current draw which drops the voltage, etc. Reactive power devices (like the soft start capacitor in the Oliver) might be able to intervene somewhat to break this cycle but can only do so much. Beyond a point, the voltage collapses and the EMS will open the circuit preventing the AC compressor from burning up due to the high current draw resulting from the low voltage. The soft start capacitor in the Oliver acts to prevent this voltage collapse when starting the air conditioner with a generator. Like others, I expect that you were experiencing unusually low voltage at the post to start with and your air conditioner was operating on the bleeding edge of low voltage. Turning on the water heater increased the current draw from the power source past every RV site ahead of you on the circuit and caused further voltage drop at your post and on into your trailer. That caused the air conditioner to draw more current (amps) which further dropped the voltage which caused it to draw more amps and it reached the low voltage cutoff of the EMS. Just a theory. If it happens again, you might try turning the air conditioner to low (the compressor should draw fewer amps on low) and you may be able to run the water heater in combination with the air conditioner on low long enough to get the water hot. Worth a try. I don't think plugging into 50 amps would make any difference as I believe 50 amp RV posts are still only 110 volts into the Oliver. A heavier gauge and/or shorter cable from post to the Oliver would reduce voltage drop a bit, but if you are using the beefy cable that comes with the Oliver, there is not much more you can do there. The RV park probably had an under-designed electric system. I have read that the electrical code says that an RV park system need only supply 41% of the sum of the maximum rating of each site on the theory that in aggregate, the RV's will never be using more than 41 percent of the capacity of all the posts. Probably not a very good assumption on hot afternoons since just about everyone has an air conditioner and compressor fridge these days.
    2 points
  8. It is a standard type, but check the pressure and temp rating on it to be sure. A Camco tool works great for removal, and you can also use it in your home water heater. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003VB15MC?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title There may be nothing wrong with yours, remove it and soak it in vinegar for a couple hours with the lever open to remove hard deposits. That might cure the slow drip. John Davies Spokane WA
    2 points
  9. This morning we were towing Ollie on I40E just east of Black Mountain NC when a LE2 Ollie rig passed us! This Ollie had a University of Tennessee orange "T" on the front!
    2 points
  10. Concur. We picked ours up in May 2016. I totally agree with your evaluation.
    2 points
  11. Heading to Mt. Pisgah again later this summer, hope we get the nice weather that you had!
    1 point
  12. Hang in there, you two. Our friends in Minnesota have original trojans in their 2009. I know, it's incredible. But it can happen.
    1 point
  13. There isn’t an issue. Looking back at my post, I realize that I wasn’t very clear on what I considered “not a grand idea” I was referring to telling the company. Using two could make diagnostics a little more difficult if only one failed.
    1 point
  14. No wonder I never heard of it - my Elite II never had that in the first place! I'd bet that Oliver started putting that seal on when they switched from the "old" rubber latches to those new fangled jobs.😁 Bill
    1 point
  15. Not even from Missouri, but until I see something - or have other factual evidence that it exists - I can't be sure it's really there. I don't doubt the integrity or good intentions of the fine folks in Hohenwald that built our unit - but anybody can goof up and forget something. At any rate, I just obtained the bits and pieces I need to make the neutral ground bonding plug and I'll try the experiment again. Though needing one seems to be common knowledge among this crowd, this points & condenser guy who still has to convert millimeters to inches to visualize it is still coming up to speed on the systems that make the space age travel trailer of the 21st century tick.
    1 point
  16. Having done a lot of research, I chose the Harbor Freight Predator 3500 over either of the Hondas (2-2200 watt or their 3000 watt). The Predator 3500 can run everything without hesitation. The Predator can also be companioned with another 3500 if ever needed (at home for instance) whereby the Honda 3000 cannot be companioned. The price of the Predator is about 1/3 of the Honda and has proven to be extremely reliable and extremely quiet. OK, the cons: It is heavy (about 100 lbs so we leave it in the basket (which I modified). The Honda has a three year warranty whereby the Predator only has a one year warranty but an additional year can be purchased (fairly cheaply) which provides a new replacement unit if ever required. If you do a YouTube search you can find truckers who have used the Predators behind their cabs in very harsh conditions for many, many hours and have had really good luck with them. There are a few things that I would do with a Predator right away though. Change the oil at about 5 hours, and then again at about 10 hours. After that, change as recommended. I also replaced the dipstick plug with a magnetic one (about $10 on Amazon). Finally, get rid of the cheap chinese spark plug and replace with a high quality plug (NGK for instance). Not sure about the current Predator 3500 but mine doesn't have a fuel gauge. If I can find a kit to convert, I will. In the meantime, I'm going to fill it up and run the trailer with AC on this summer to see how long a tank of fuel actually lasts. The manual says up to 11 hours but I don't trust that. I'll report back.
    1 point
  17. For those less industrious, "GO-STIK" products makes a single (4') aluminum towel bar that attaches with suction cups. Major difference is that the GO-STIK only has a single bar vice triple. The GO-STIK product is obviously more expensive. I have the GO-STIK myself and it suits my needs but I do like the OPs design. Another note: Make sure you avoid putting the suction cups on any graphics.
    1 point
  18. At the rally last month, I noted the demo trailer had the weather stripping applied about 4 or 5 inches below the brackets vice right up against them. It looked really nice and you can see where the collected water and debris issue is mitigated. I got the product information from them and will be ordering the same weather stripping to replace on both awnings on my 2018. Always hated the stained, brown water running down the corners. I didn't see any other trailers modified the way but I liked what I saw.
    1 point
  19. Poorly, but the 2023 models have all Victron equipment. This is a game changer.
    1 point
  20. Using the formula “Volts x Amps = Watts” it is relatively straightforward to estimate how much using the convection/microwave will draw down your batteries. If the convection microwave is 1,450 watts, then the formula is: Volts x amps = 1450 watts If you assume that your lithium batteries will reliably deliver 12.5 volts to the inverter under heavy load, the formula becomes: 12.5 volts x amps = 1450 watts, which is the same as (amps = 1,450 watts divided by 12.5) 1,450 watts divided by 12.5 volts = 116 amps The last thing you need to account for is losses through the inverter which are typically around 10% or less. Assuming 10% losses through the inverter: 116 amps divided by .9 = 128 amps. So, if the oven runs at full power continuously for 1 hour (which it won’t), you will use about 128 amp hours from your batteries, or about 2.1 amp hours per minute. (128 amp hours/60 minutes) A microwave on high will draw continuous power, so if you microwave something that takes 10 minutes to cook, it will consume about 21 amp hours. (2.1 amp hours per minute x 10 minutes) If you bake something for an hour, the oven will run continuously until it heats to temperature and then will cycle on and off to maintain temperature. Assuming the oven is actually heating for 30 minutes of that first hour (complete guess), then the oven will use about 63 amp hours over the course of an hour (2.1 amp hours x 30 minutes). So Topgun2’s popcorn, potato and hot tea at 9 minutes total probably consumes a little under 20 amp hours (9 minutes x 2.1 amp hours per minute = 18.9 amp hours)
    1 point
  21. We visited CVNP last fall. We stayed at West Branch State Park not too far away. It was an interesting visit. Mike
    1 point
  22. I must be one of few still with the Trojan T105's. They are still kicking!
    1 point
  23. I agree geO, Frank’s method is very good. I haven’t had to do it yet, but if I were removing wheels at home to do maintenance, I’d use the equipment I have, which includes large floor Jack, Jack stands, wheel chocks etc. all on a level concrete floor. However, your original post and objective wandered off into roadside repairs, which is what my posts referred to. How I will change a tire on the side of the road is different than how I will change it in my garage, due to the equipment & conditions.
    1 point
  24. @John E Davies, Thanks, John, for kind words. Thanks also for reviewing and commenting on my design approach. In answer to your questions: Yes, I did write the dimensions on the wooden mockup pieces. As I mentioned in my writeup, I also took one of the original support arms to the machine shop and explained the most critical dimensions are for the horizontal holes through which the clevis pins pass to secure the arms to the receivers and the vertical slot. I had initially assumed I would need to provide dimensional drawings to the machine shop. However, when I asked if they needed drawings, they said no, the dimensions on the wooden mockups and having the original support arm were sufficient. Thanks for reminding me to drill drain holes! I had planned to do so, largely from reading some of your write-ups. I agree with the need for them. This is relatively easy to do with the support structure in place. I composed the article initially using the Safari browser interface for Gmail on my MacBook Pro M1 laptop (MBP). I used Gmail because I am very familiar with its behavior, particularly the autosave function. I had to break the article into two draft emails when I reached the 25 MB limit of Gmail, after which it loads images to Google Drive. I wanted the images kept in place in the text flow. Once I completed composition and proofreading I copied the contents of both draft emails into a new topic page in the owners forum. Not having previously composed a long article directly in the new topic page, I was concerned about possible loss of content before completion. All of the photos were taken with my iPhone 13 Pro Max, which automatically stores the images in Apple's Photos/iCloud. I created a smart collection in the Photos using keywords, to make it easier to see all of the related photos together. I selected photos for inclusion in the article and exported them as JPEGs to the Downloads folder on my MBP. I used Apple's Preview app on my MBP to do some minor cropping of the photos and used the annotation features to add arrows, circles and text. I got lazy and used a grey filled rectangle to mask the license plate in a few photos, rather than take the photos into Photoshop for a more elegant edit. The Preview app is surprisingly robust. I do not know of any comparable utility in the Windows or Android worlds. I have previously used Window PCs extensively, but the Android world is foreign to me. I suspect you use a similar annotation process, having seen many of your annotated photos. Finally, yes, posting informative articles is time consuming. I spent most of the day yesterday drafting and editing. I also found I needed to take a few more photos yesterday, in addition to those taken during work on the project. I also had to confirm some measurements and materials details. I have benefitted significantly from reading your well crafted articles and those of many other contributors to the forum. I feel an obligation to contribute. Regards, Don
    1 point
  25. As JD says above - most any decent chassis grease will do the job. Other than the crawling around the job isn't really very difficult. However, you might want to consider getting some of zerk grease fitting caps like THESE to help keep those fitting cleaner. Bill
    1 point
  26. @dhaig Your cargo carrier and mounting solution looks very robust, well planned and based on your 2000 mile test run, very functional. Thank you for the detailed write up which even I could follow and other OTTO’s can use to their advantage and solve their own cargo carrying limitations. Mossey
    1 point
  27. No question that this is true. Simply put - it takes energy to do each of these conversions. Bill
    1 point
  28. Yes, even for the 2016 OLEII we received (2) 10' sections.😁 I still have mine - new, never been out of the box. Black tank is getting a bit full though 😉. Bill
    1 point
  29. I've got nothing for you on days 1 & 2 but for day three you might look into the Rock Springs Sweetwater Events Complex for overnight camping. If interested, call or email them prior to leaving to make sure that the first come first served camping area is available for the night(s) you will be there since sometimes a particular event will take most if not all the spaces. Also, if you like donuts as much as I do - don't miss Cowboy Donuts in Rock Springs. Its easy to get to off the Interstate and there is plenty of easy RV parking there. Bill
    1 point
  30. Today we arrived in Tok, AK after a 3,400 mile journey from San Diego. The last 400 miles on the Alcan were challenging. The only damage was from the microwave popping open and the glass tray shattering in the trailer. The frost heaves create quite a challenge. You can see 95% of them, but the other 5% take a toll. The Dexter axles handled it all well. Now we start 2 months touring AK.
    0 points
  31. Our salesman,who has access to more information than we do, says it is built but waiting on a chip in Dearborn. No definite ship date has been posted. Slowly going stir crazy in Katy Tx. I wish you luck with your truck-it's a crazy world we are living in.
    0 points
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