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A few Oliver showroom floor photos of the Lippert awning style windows installed on 26 YM Olivers. It’s my understanding from Oliver that these windows will allow for retro fit on existing Olivers. Pricing on the retro fit of all (5) windows has not been announced yet. 3” max opening. Black interior frame and pull down roller shade. Also note the new white belly band.

I’m okay with this change. It will be interesting to see how low “low-speed data” is. We’re currently camped at Great Basin National Park with very sketchy cell service and the Starlink mini is working great. No utilities here so I’m using a Jackery power supply that was 50% off on Amazon prime day. No complaints. Mike

We’ve been camping in Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada the last few days. Our campground (Upper Lehman) is at about 7,700 feet, small and no hookups. There are only a few sites large enough for our Oliver. We’re pretty happy with our site, #3. There are a few other campgrounds, also small. The Wheeler Peak campground is at 10,000 feet. We went up there and did a 3 mile hike to a couple of alpine lakes. The air can be a little thin up there when hiking uphill!

Look at the bright side, it's like having nearly free DSL. 🤣

For those members who don’t do FB, here is recent pic of a few 26 YM interior updates from the Oliver FB page. I am seeing the fiber-granite sinks, a vent over the closet door where the pervious speaker use to be mounted. A new Bluetooth speaker, induction cook top, a texture wet bath wall, under cabinet switch lights, a new bath door, and the white belly band. 🇺🇸

This change isn't costing everyone money... Those who are using Starlink for alarm monitoring of second homes are making out on this deal. Instead of paying $50 per month for low level roam they can just pause it and pay $5 instead.

It appears that Starlink is going to charge a $5.00 monthly fee for roam plans that are paused based on the email that I received today. I’m not certain if it’s possible to opt out of the $5.00 standby mode.

Signed up for the Standby Mode Plan this morning. The Roam 50-GB plan that was on ‘pause’ can easily be reinstated when the time comes to resume that service. With SLM in Standby Mode, while parked in the home driveway and on the Savana’s dash, had cell phone Wi-Fi and when arriving at the COW Barn both my Victron Cerbo and Cielo Breez Max devices also connected. Liking this new service option!

And, unless you are about the size of and have the agility of a spider monkey, forget about getting your head inside to see and your arm (forget both arms also) inside to work at the same time. But, taking out the vanity insert and replacing it with an access door is one of the handiest mods I've done. I literally use that access all the time.

We haven't read re a Houghton install in about 2 years. There are other competitive brands today. Not sure anybody has proved the 9.5K version is viable. Houghton had humidity and thermistor location issues requiring rewiring. @Geronimo John is the resident expert re Houghton and he has all the fixes well documented. If QUIET is your main goal, look at Gree! Great unit as compared to most. Brand names include Atmos, then Tosot, all made by Gree. I witnessed @Ronbrink's Atmos installation, purred like a kitten and performed excellently! @mountainoliver just had SDG install a new Tosot and has a current thread. Search our Forum for 'atmos' 'gree' 'tosot' and/or 'SDG' to find these posts. This is likely the best all-around product offered today. Some of us are interested in "Inverter A/C" RV units that copy the "mini-split" units installed in many remodels/room additions today. The upside is less power consumption for us boondockers! Brand names include 'Greenland' and 'Pioneer' and the company name is Turbro. Search for these brand names or "Inverter.” BTW, this unit is on sale with promo code at $1200 plus tax. Likely the best price we’ll see this year or next, see turbro.com (turbro not turbo)! I'm still on the fence, but really want a viable inverter A/C which may take another 1-2 years to perfect! We just came off a 36-day trip up north, thinking A/C would not be an issue. Yet I had to book lame RV parks to run the G-awfully LOUD Dometic P2 almost 10 nights! PLEASE, just shoot me before we have to do that again! 🤣 There is a new thermostat on the market, the Cielo Breez Max! This product forces a fan shutdown when the compressor cycles off (to reduce humidity). Has not yet been tested on the Houghton, but works well with the Gree and Turbro products which may eliminate rewiring the Houghton re this specific issue. Search our Forum for “Cielo!” Hope this helps! And please keep us posted re your upgrade! 😂

We haven’t needed our router yet. With the dish on the box on the tongue we get a strong signal. I’ve now got it on the truck tonneau cover, we’re under a lot of trees (Lake Tahoe, CA). Even with a narrow view of the sky it’s working well. My sophisticated mount. Sky view. There’s a bunch of satellites racing through that blue patch.

This change seems like a step backwards. I prefer the look and functionality of the old-style windows and blinds. We pass things through our windows often and enjoy the airflow and connection with the outdoors when inside and they are fully open. That valance, unfortunately, looks like something from 1995. Thumbs up, though, on the white belly band!

I just setup standby mode and I am sitting here watching youtube with zero buffering. 🤷‍♂️

The one axle that has the bent brake backing plate must have really been hit hard! The backing plate on mine is at least 1/8 inch thick steel. With the strengthening ribs and flange it would take a lot to bend it which means the drum must have taken a heavy hit as well. The drum being cast iron could be cracked I wouldn’t use it and if the brake backing plate is tweaked at its mounting flange the shoes will never contact the drum squarely and you’ll always have braking issues with that assembly. You’re doing the right thing to send the entire mess back and get all new assemblies.

We use the built-in audio quite a bit. When we stream video to the TV we use the ARC channel to put the audio on the speakers. We also like to find local FM stations, especially the little independent ones, that have things like farm reports and swap meets. If Steph sleeps in, I use the A/B speaker selector to choose only the front speakers. I have music on a flash drive in the Furrion head as well and, once in a while, we'll break out a DVD.

Nestled into woods, north of Vancouver, CA.

Badlands Motel and Campground is basically a reasonably clean parking lot with a convenience store. But you get full hookups 2 min from the entrance to the NP with this view 😀

This only occurs when you're connected/towing and should not be an issue, given engine runing, alternator charging. Ever test voltage after your truck has been sitting for 24-28 hours? This would be a first step. You need to get your truck diagnosed independent of the Oliver. Your truck being weak starting could be battery, starter motor, ground or an assortment of issues (again nothing to do with the Oliver). Best wishes, JD

@Ronbrink I will warn you about opening that can of worms, if you think working under the beds or the dinette seats is hard on your back, just wait until you pull the vanity door off. Mossey

For us, the advantage of double pane isn't temperature control, it's noise reduction. They really do help when the guy with the huge Bluetooth speaker sets up next to you. But the bigger problem for me is that those Lippert windows really don't move much air. We never really felt a breeze in our old trailer. That said, they're better in the rain. For functionality, I'd like to have just one swing out window for use on rainy days. I know some of the other fiberglass trailers do that with the rear window.

The old Dometic unit was 13,500 BTU, still last year for example, in the southern Arizona desert we were camped in 115 degree weather. The Dometic ran continuously all day from mid morning until late afternoon. If the temperature dropped to the upper 90’s the unit seemed to be able to cycle off and on but close to and over 100 it would not cycle off while maintaining about 75 degrees in the camper. I question buying an air conditioner smaller than 13,000 BTU unless you never plan on camping in the summer or later on selling it to someone who never wants to camp in the summer. Maybe my old unit was having other issues as well, who knows.

I don’t mind supporting the infrastructure at that amount, which is likely their intention. They haven’t disclosed at what speed they will limit speed to. Unlimited data at low speed, depending upon the speed, may not be all that useful. AT&T did that to our cellular plan which rendered it virtually useless.

I think it's well worth the $5 per month just for the peace of mind of having emergency connectivity if needed.

Yep, plan to keep this one a while. Really, I am! 😁

Just bought a new 2024 F350XL Super Cab 6.8L gas V8 (MiniZilla) with 3.73 rear differential, got $12,000 of MSRP. I have towed Ollie with three different 1/2 ton trucks that did a good job for us. We decided move to a larger tow vehicle with a 8' bed. We camp light with one of the lightest LE2's here, have to admit Ollie's ready to camp weight will increase a little with the new TV. The larger pickup bed size will be for extra bulky stuff that's hard to pack in the previous 5 1/2' pickup bed when boondocking. One hurdle to overcome was fitting this truck in our garage with a garage door that's 81" high. The way this F350 is set up from Ford it's 79.1" tall. The length was another issue, but at 254.4" long, there's plenty of room to park it in the garage and still have room to work at the workbench behind the truck. The payload is 4058 pounds. Looking forward to towing Ollie with the F350 in the mountains out west. Got about 19.5MPG probably downhill one way (most folks get lower) on the 30 mile trip home from the dealership with the F350 around 65MPH on the highway. Used to get 22 to 23MPG with the F150 5.0L on the highway under 70MPH. Averaged 14MPG towing Ollie with the F150 5.0 at 60MPH, will see how the F350 does on roundtrips after 1,000 mile break-in unloaded and towing. I have driven F250s, F350s, F600s in the past, the new F350 is not as soft of a ride as the F150 unloaded, but the ride is fine for us.

We scored a wonderful spot at a Corps of Engineers park today (August 11,2025). Site 25 at Left Tailrace Campground near Fort Thompson, SD. The weather has been much better than Tennessee when we left for the west. Looking forward to some great boondocking in a few days as we head to higher elevation.

With DC systems, 9 times out of ten the issue is with the ground wire(s). Not always, but after 50+ years of working on cars and other things with DC power - this advice has served me well.

Had this issue in Stand-By mode at home, that's when I ordered the router. Have not had issue camping, yet.

If you sign into your account you can find the information. If you have more than one device, you choose the one that you want to start Standby Mode, etc. It's pretty easy.

We had that experience at home while testing in the driveway. Once I got into the house the signal dropped, still had a bar but it was noticeable. I deployed the mini router and the situation was fixed. I guess it depends on the number of walls the signal has to go through. We’re now at Lassen National Park, the tree coverage is more dense but I found a small opening and the Starlink is doing its thing. Mike

This means your truck alternator and starter batteries are fine. What is the SOC% of your LiFePO$ House Batteries when starting attached is an issue? You really need to test. It reads like this wire is hot, connected to your house batteries (shown RED in the picture, but it's the BLACK wire in the Oliver trailer harness). If it is, and until you can correct this, you need to disconnect the trailer harness whenever your truck engine is off for more than a short break. Anybody that does not have a multimeter and knows how to use it, should get a test light and learn to use it. This is all you need for this test (plus maybe a nail to use as a second pointer to touch inside the harness coupler): https://www.amazon.com/WINAMOO-Premium-Automotive-Extended-Circuits/dp/B08D9RY532/?th=1

I think the noise level is the one thing they need to focus on, maybe a variable speed fan motor instead of 3 speeds too. Not as loud as the Dometic, but not as quiet as the others you have mentioned. They get that sorted out and I don't see any reason to ever go with a single speed compressor unit again. They use half or less wattage (no soft start needed) and can control humidity much better which are the two biggies for me. I doubt it will be long before all the big names make the move to inverter tech and we'll see even more advancements in RV AC units.

This is the fuse for the CO2 detector. I needed to find it in the middle of the night at Camp Oliver the day we took delivery of Curiosity! 😵‍💫

I would prefer an induction stovetop with the lithium power packages...

Glad you are making progress on the brake issue. Also glad you were not injured in doing so. As shown in your picture, you chose not to use your on-board jacks as safety fail safes. Yes they can get in the way, but having them down can save your life. GJ

@BoondockingAirstream it’s a shame that your tech did not show earlier this week, but that’s the state of responsibility since the “Greatest Generation” and us Baby-Boomers! 🤣 If you can drag that brakeless Oliver from Nevada to Prescott, I’d have your rig braking in less than 24 hours, promise! Find somebody who can read a multimeter and understands the 7-blade trailer connection and soon you should be “on the road again.”

I gotta try this! True most of the time for most of us? Then it’s worth twice $5/mo! 🤣 I love Elon when he’s not arguing with the President. When he is, our Tesla stock goes down, but today it's >$100 a share higher than when they were fire-bombing EVs at Tesla dealerships! ‘twas the time to buy! He’s got my $5/mo!!! 🤣

Wiring used by manufactures for trailer brakes may seem ugly or brittle, but it has properties and insulation appropriate for the application and harsh environment where it can exposed to water, oil, chemicals, constant vibration, and abrasion. Please use caution using extension cords for brake wiring because they could have inferior wire that looks good, but with insulation that could deteriorate and fail over time. Trailer brake wire is readily available for this purpose, and it's a better and proven choice. Cheers! Geoff

Lower Lehman is closed. Lots of work going on there. I think Wheeler Peak is also closed.

I plug the SL into the Jackery for 110 power. Here I have the dish sitting on aluminum box on the tongue and Wi-Fi is plenty strong both inside the trailer and behind the trailer where we’re sitting. I have the mini router but haven’t needed it yet. Heading to Lake Tahoe today.

That’s terrible. Hopefully they will take extra care with the next shipment. Free shipping for your troubles? Can’t hurt to ask.

3 years in and zero issues with the Truma Aventa condensate lines clogging here. We just make sure that our trailer is dead level and all is good. 😊 As I recall I never had issues with the “Demonic AC” either. 🤔

Agree, but understand the owner manuals are universal and state that some units may not have all of the features described. For example: “X-FAN function is only available on some models.” Furthermore, typical air conditioning is the Cool Mode setting wherein the compressor will regularly cycle to maintain a desired temperature and the supply fan runs continuously, which causes humidity spikes when the compressor shuts down periodically. In Dry Mode the compressor runs continuously for the sole purpose of condensing moisture-laden air to reduce humidity. Yes, this mode will chill the air much like Cool Mode, but since the compressor is set to run for a prolonged period the temp and humidity will continue to drop to such a point that it exceeds its function and thus, should then be turned off and the unit switched back to Cool Mode. Before Cielo, I had to use the Dry Mode to buffer occasional humidity spikes during the day, but when asleep at night I would often wakeup to extreme humidity levels at morning. The Cileo’s ‘Comfy Mode’ solved these dreaded humidity occurrences, both day and night!

If not damaged beyond repair, ask for a significant price reduction/refund and make do. Just say’n!

Back in the 1990's, I downloaded hundreds of hours of music (Napster anyone?) over dial-up. It usually took about 2-3 times the length of the song to get it downloaded, if it didn't fail. Then came DSL, Oh my Goodness, it was usually finished before I could queue up the next download. My goal was to get and catalog every Billboard Hot 100 single from 1940-1999. It took me 10 years. Anybody have a request from that era?

I really like the unit so far. A little disappointed with the owners manual however. They tell us about certain features but they don’t describe exactly what they do. Curious about Xfan function and I can’t tell the difference between air conditioning and the dehumidifier function. The Cielo thermostat was not mentioned to me but I did notice that SDG had one on the wall in the office area! After using the new unit for about a week now in high humidity I’m really thinking about adding the Cielo thermostat.

According to (sometimes incorrect) chatgt there will be no more free pause option, now a pause for $5 per month will give you unlimited low speed data. But...if that a good enough connection for me then $5 per month is a pretty good option over $165, but not so good if I don't need any service. I doubt they will allow streaming, IMO, but I'll still be obliged to give up $5/mo for slower data transfer. John

I am sorry to see that you sold your Ollie! We will miss your forum contributions. Best of luck with new adventures! Mossey

We use to use our interior speakers occasionally as well. More often we use a set of portable JBL Flip 6 Bluetooth speakers and stream XM radio music or news sourced from our iphones or iPad. The sound is excellent and they are super portable! We are very happy with the Flip 6’s. They typically live on our Yamaha Umax, (pic) unless we are traveling in XPLOR. https://www.amazon.com/JBL-Flip-Bluetooth-Waterproof-PartyBoost/dp/B09RQ47HC8/ref=sr In this pic I have the set attached to our Yamaha Umax 2+2. I would not hesitate to buy again. 🎶

We use the speakers quite a bit. I bought a small used SiriusXM receiver from Amazon 7 or 8 years ago. I wired it into the Furrion and we can listen to news, sports and any of the music stations wherever we are. Mike