Mainiac

We were down to a third tank because we had done two back to back storms. The last one was officially a blizzard. As we had family coming for the holidays we backed it out of the way. Figured we would go to town to fill up when traffic was lower as we still have the 8 1/2' blade on the front. Temp this morning was -5 well after dawn, and has gone to + 6 by noon. We are looking forward to next week when we might get all the way up to 20. Maybe time to plow out the Oliver, take off the blade, and hook up?

Had an interesting day with the Ram 2500 4X4, with a v plow on it. Had backed it up a slight incline at the edge of the driveway. Had it there so we could come out, plow the yard, and clear the driveway and road. It had over a third tank of fuel. Went to start it today and it just cranked and cranked. The low fuel light was on. We added a 5 gallon can of gas, and it started right up. Seeing it was only 12 degrees out we had been worried. We pulled out onto flat ground and the gauge registered over 1/3 tank again. Better to know that here at home than at a remote campsite, to keep the tank full or park on a reasonably flat spot. Guess a trip to the dealer is in order...

A small long tube funnel will allow vinegar to be put into the water heater. Then let it set. That should help on anything sitting on the bottom. Don't be surprised if some flake off from else where in the heater later. The use of the wand should help, so spray it up and around. The smiley face I have noticed on most of the plumbing fittings. I think that is probably put on by quality control as a way to signify that there are no leaks at that fitting.

Hopefully it is now just a tripped GFI.

Sleeping bags work well for us. Easy to "make the bed" too. Would allow everyone personal space when traveling with a friend?

I was in the curb side rear compartment this fall. I was checking anything and everything to make sure all was tight. What I saw was a little daylight. Evidently there are hull drains in the hull, in case of an internal leak. When looking at the hull from underneath they seems to be a SS guard over the hole. Then we noticed more. We have not crawled under or really looked at any of them. But two things come to mind. You can never pressurise the space between the hulls without shutting the holes. And any heat you add would 'leak' out. One thing about cold temps, at least around here, we have to add humidity. As I see it there is no active air exchange in the space between the hulls. Maybe a small low power, low volume exhaust fan installed on the street side inner hull would create negative inner hull pressure. A little higher cabin pressure would then flow into the curb side air return. This in turn would circulate heated air throughout the inner hull, keeping everything warmer and dryer. Heated air is dryer air. This the same way a home air ducted furnace system works..

Maybe it is now worth a trip to HF. Just found out I don't have a spanner wrench in my tool kit, and I definitely NEED one. My needle nose pliers might fit, but why take a chance? The "stuff" clogging the aerator was probably more minerals(calcium), that precipitated out of the water supply during the heating process, than coming from the sacrificial anode. I was surprised at the amount of material that I had to remove from the waterheater when we winterized and it had only been used 8 months at the time. We also use a combination charcoal/particulate filter just before water enters the trailer. Anodes, I wouldn't replace one before it was a wire with about an inch or two of material left. The more little holes you see in one means more surface area it has, and the better it can do it's job. It's job is to sacrifice itself, rather than the more expensive water heater.

Is the "filter" the screen at the end of the faucet? If so, maybe you could soak the whole unit in a solution of a product simular to Lime-a-way. (There are a lot of home made solutions that work too, distilled white vinegar usually involved). Mostly you see them advertised for a showerhead. Maybe a messy step to try to see if that is where the problem lays? You could be off the city water and on the pump system. Shut off the pump. Remove the drawers. Disconnect the hose going to the faucet. Briefly turn on the pump. If water comes out the hose? Problem is surely the faucet. Guess an alternative is to replace the faucet, but would hope that is a last chance solution...

First thing I would try (depending on faucet) is to take off the aerator. Depending on water source they can and do get plugged. The next, if you have the sprayer type faucet, is the hose kinked? The aerator should just unscrew, but sometimes I have to use pliers. Just be careful because you can scratch the chrome...

Questions: if boondocking...turn on water before turning on pump?? How does this work. On departure...hopefully she is done on the inside before you lock the door???

An infrared thermometer from Harbor Freight is real cheap these days. Flash it at a tire and done. But, on the plus side you can quickly check wheel bearings too. Try that with a bare hand on a faulted bearing and your troubles will be compounded quickly...

We had a Navy Chief that used to camp seasonally with us. It was like the preflight checklist he used to use when he was taking care of P3 Neptunes. One check list for arrival and one for departure. You interrupted him he would start over. Never heard of him having an issue.

When you buy an F150 up here, it comes with a free puppy. So when it breaks down you have somebody to walk home with...

I once asked and JWalmsley said message him and he could change user names at his end. Though we have not done assume it is still an option...

Welcome to the clan. I am sure you have already experienced the thumbs up, the smiles, and the "nice camper, what kind is it" remarks. When they follow you into the gas station to talk to you, you know you made the right choice. (How was it driving into that tight gas station, the first time?). Be sure to carry plenty of the post cards that have the web site on it. Easier than finding a piece of paper during a light rain. I found, turning around on a dead end narrow gravel road on a mountain top, while listening for banjo music; towing and maneuvering an Oliver is easy to do. No concerns...

The hull # is ( or at least was) the last three digits of the VIN#. The person assigning the # would not (or was not allowed ) to assign the number until the unit was weighted. And the unit could not be weighted until it was complete. Evidently the weight was part of the criteria to assignment. The factory had under gone growing pains as it ramped up from a few units a year, to ( from your number) almost 100 units a year. That involved training new employees, promoting some into different position, and such. The new sales manager seems to have stopped some of the say anything for a sale talk that a sale clerk was using. From on the conversations I have seen on the forum, they have things well in hand. One thing to know, if you should happen to have a problem the factory will take care of it. A couple of small issues I have had was able to handle myself, but they offered for me to take to any dealer and they would have paid. Sounds more than fair to me. I only have one water/design issue left to deal with and plenty of time to Spring to think about how I am going to handle it. I usually have more issues with new vehicles than the Oliver..

roguebooks: Question... you do not go into production until December 21, yet you have a hull #? How did that happen? Ours was started about a year ago and we had to wait and wait, and call and call to get the VIN # around week 11. Insurance companies, State DMV, and such require them. Maybe with custom options being limited they know the weight? It was a good thing Tenn. issues 30 day temp. tags (it still wasn't long enough for us)... Let the wait begin. It is almost fun as you gather "things" to outfit and decorate your unit. We had labeled totes, stoves, and tons of supplies. There was almost not enough room in the back of the truck to close the tailgate. That has changed. We have paired down immensely. The one thing we found really really helpful was those suction cup hooks. And the suction cup hook and squeegee to clean the shower. And, I am sure you know, paper plates don't weight anything, you don't have to wash them, and they are great to start a campfire with. I hate them too, that is why we carry Cornell too.

In my case, if I have a parasitic amp draw, the panels will recharge it up. Think I would rather have a cyclical current/charge thing going on than just a steady static charge. Deep cycle batteries like that I heard. They seem to last longer... Amps? Have no idea. The panel told me it was charging. Good enough for me. Part of the KISS Principle. The system to me is like a hammer to a carpenter, a tool to get the job done. When I pick up a hammer I check to see if a curved or straight claw depending on the job at hand, then go do the job. Never check the hammer again. Though I do know that when I charge a boat battery or tractor battery in the Spring we always run a slow and low amp charge. Longer battery life results, with less sulferization, especially important with thin plate conventional batteries like in cars, lawn tractors, motorcycles and such...

Scotty Not sure about NJ snow storms. One of the worst ones I have ever been in was there. I found out that if I got off the NJ Trpk I would not be able to get back on...it was closed. Me and a friend pushed quite a few cars back onto the road. Got to the base in Maryland, and the banking were so high from the plowing, you could not see a two story building behind. Hopefully that was the storm of the century. Wait! How many years ago was that? Winter starts next week... Think Spring...

I got curious. I went out and plowed a path to the camper, as I was going to use the tailgate to stand on. (Actually being lazy, and didn't want to carry a ladder down there). It looks like the deer will appreciate the exposed grass because I could see where they have been digging to get to it. Anyway, went in and checked the gauge. It was showing 12.6V, the batteries were 3/4 charged and the panels were putting out a charge. The panels were still covered by 4 to 6" of snow and a sheet of a little more than a 1/4" of white ice. With the truck snowbush we were able to clear most of one panel. Rather than use the other devices we decided to see how productive the units were only partially clear. I went in as soon as we cleared most of the panel and nothing had yet changed. Still putting out. At a midday peak of about 22 degrees I don't expect much melting, but to have it charging when snow covered was a pleasant surprise. It looks like the factory set up was a great choice, at least for me. I have a 20 amp plug not 30' away, but I have not plugged in since bringing it home. Guess we want to see what all our options are when on the road. Hope another fear alleviated...

Bill.. Not too bad here near the coast. The freezing rain is the worst part. The mountains got a little, but the ski areas and snowmobilers love it. Actually think you got more snow in NC and Atlanta area than we did. Just yours goes away a lot sooner. At 19 degrees it doesn't melt all that quick. And to think it is not officially Winter yet. We can sit around the stove and dream of camping and fishing. We need to catch another 30" Stripped Bass on 6lb test this coming season. Also we need time to read all the seed catalogs that keep showing up. Think Spring... Bob

We didn't get out to check or clean yesterday. Actually we were hoping the forecast wind would do it, it didn't. Maybe today, but have been told I need to take the plow off the truck and do other things. Will do soon because we know discharged batteries will freeze. One of the joys of retirement; you never have time to do anything. Was thinking of heading south for the winter, but looks like Portsmouth is just as cold as here...

We have solar. We have the Zamp controller. Evidently it was changed and put in because it is simple to use. I like that and it works very well. I do not plan on going into any controller and squeezing the last amp out. We had it put in so that solar would work for us, not the other way around. Guess the KISS principle at work. We went with the standard counters. The "upgrades" are the same material just prettier and sit on top of the standard. I figure the wood panels can be refinished by me if I cut or burned them by accident. We just take extra care to protect our counters with cutting boards. If you notice, any Oliver put on the classified area, doesn't stay unsold long. With that in mind we wanted to make sure that we maintained its greatest resale value. We figured the best way was to maintain standard items of the most demand. Instant hot water sounded great, but we have never run out with a standard unit. $$$ saved. Standard toilet has never let us down.. more $$$ saved. Standard counter. $$$ saved. Standard fabrics have served us and our traveling companion very well. Choices we guess would depend on how you plan to use the unit.

Randy - According to the local news, if you are home, you are getting the same mess we are. We are not attempting to clean the panels until at least tomorrow. We first got a dusting of fine powder and we want that. It forms a 'cushion' for the ice (freezing rain) to sit on. According to the article that Bugeyedriver referenced a little snow will scatter some light and panels will continue to charge. Interesting article. My guess I probably have a a supply of suitable snow brushes handy. In this part of the world even drug stores carry them. The choices here are way wider (and cheaper) than Amazon...

We come to the Oliver clan. Now the wait begins. When is your start and 'birth' dates? The solar package is something we are constantly amazed with. It so extends where we can stop. Sandi needs a C-pap device and it can run all night without a hook up. You can pull in to State Parks, National Parks, truck stops, rest areas, Corps of Engineers, BLM, and even a relatives or friends driveway and not need a hook up. You can watch the weather, a movie, have lights and heat, and enjoy so much more. The better the battery, the better number of spectacular sunsets without a generator running. Almost like going to recess without all those kids. Enjoy...