ScubaRx
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Posts posted by ScubaRx
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Buzzy, the most difficult task in assembly of the Privacy Room is introducing the cord sewn to the top of the side panels into the track that holds them up. This track is built into the rafters that clamp to each edge of the awning fabric. It is the same type track that is common to the front of every awning structure. This is entirely doable with just two hands, it's only more cumbersome. Although I have not tried it you might try that assembling it in this fashion. Put the awning out loosely at minimum height. Thread the sides onto the edge rafters BEFORE raising them up to their position.
All othe aspects is assembly can easily be accomplished by one person.
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Don't get me wrong, it is a very nice add on to our trailer. Yes, it does take some effort to set it up and, at about 65 pounds, it is heavy so there are weight concerns in just taking it along with you. Set up is not long nor laborious, however, it would be difficult for one person to do alone. Because of the modifications that I was doing yesterday and the photos that I took as I went along, we probably spent over two hours setting it up. If you look at the video from Fiamma it appears to take the couple only about 20 minutes, and once you get the hang of it, I think that time would be accurate. The most time consuming aspect is staking out all the hold downs along the bottom both inside and out. This is actually the first time we have ever done that but due to the unpredictable winds that we might encounter here, I felt it was a good idea. After doing so the walls are taut and I am confident it could withstand a pretty good blow. Here in the desert outside of Quartzsite, though the temperature is only going up into the low 70s, the sun is unrelenting and sitting in the room it is noticeably cooler than standing outside.
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The Fiamma Privacy Room is now set up. It's gonna be a real bitch to un-attach it when we need to take the trailer into town to dump.
The modifications to the rafters involved drilling an extra hole to accommodate the straight vertical pole against the side of a curved Oliver. The new hole is about 1.25 inches away from the original. I first drilled a small pilot hole and then enlarged it to 5/16th inch. There are two layers of aluminum to drill through. The pilot hole will keep the larger drill bit from wanting to wander all around. The new hole will allow the pole to be placed in a perfectly vertical position without touching the side of the trailer.
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I hope the resins are fire retardant, but assuming that they are because of the fiber granite samples is a mistake. I would be astonished if they manufacture those panels....I would like to see the source info for the fancy Oliver countertops….. Good thread, thanks for starting it. John Davies Spokane WAPrepare to be astonished John, as Oliver does indeed make all of the fabric granite pieces in house and it is a pretty cool process to watch. In fact, there is very little, with the obvious exception of the appliances, that Oliver does not make onsite. Even the bathroom door is made right there in Hohenwald by those Oliver artisans.
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Hi Steve...If you get a moment, could you post a pic of the hole which you drilled in the bottom of the rafter? I assume you drilled two holes, one for each rafter. Do you remember the size of the drill bit? Any issues while you were completing this task? Does the result leave a gap in the top corners for skeeters to enter? Also, is the skirt a work-in-progress? Any guidance and pics? Thank you, Buzzy
Buzzy, about an hour ago Miss Tali and I pulled into the Dome Rock area just outside of Quartzsite Arizona. We will be here for several weeks and tomorrow we will finalize the set up of the trailer. We will be putting up the Fiamma Privacy Room in the next day or so, depending on the winds, which are blowing quite fiercely at present. I will indeed post some pictures with descriptions of what we did for modifications when everything is set up.
Reports say that there are between 500,000 and 1,000,000 campers here in the desert around Quartzsite currently. On the way into the area on Interstate 10 they were parked along the sides for miles. The fiberglass rally here will start around February 6 and go for a week or so.
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Very kewl
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I have our tires filled with a special blend of 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen with a few other mixed gases and farts and so forth.
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In addition to the one for the lugs on the Oliver I also carry a socket of the correct size for the lugs on the truck. I also have one specifically for the nut that attaches the hitch ball to the stinger and one that fits the sacrificial anode in the water heater. You would also find it handy to have a wrench large enough to hold the flats on the bottom of the hitch ball if you ever have to tighten the nut while on the road. Without said wrench it will be almost impossible to hold the ball in place while tightening the nut.
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This is the ladder we bought in 2013 to carry in the new Outlaw Oliver. It was not the cheapest nor the lightest nor the tallest but at 10 1/2 feet it is sufficient for me to use for anything on the roof that might need to be done on the road. At home I use a much more sturdy stepladder. When washing the trailer we actually stand on top of scaffolding that we can roll around while using. We store it against the bathroom wall inside the closet and it has ridden some 25,000 miles without incident. It has served all of our needs (though they have been few) for the past 2 1/2 years.-
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We are currently camped at Amistad National Recreational Area on the Texas/Mexican border. Four bucks night, not too shabby. We are still on our way to Quartzsite, Arizona. We will leave this area tomorrow headed West. We are still undecided on whether to go through Big Bend National Park. We were there this time last year so it's not like we have not ever seen it.
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Where do you buy them from? Also – looking at your lamp on the nightstand – did you convert a lamp to 12 v or find one somewhere or does the inverter have to be running to use it?
The hatch frame and doors plus all the hardware came as a unit that I got from Oliver. It is the same cabinet door that is used in the bathroom of the Elite II. They perfectly match all the other cabinet doors used by Oliver.
The lamp mod was done last summer. We found the lamp at a flea market in Muncie Indiana while visiting one of our daughters. I think we paid three dollars for it. My original plan was to convert it to twelve volts and use an LED bulb. Admittedly, I didn't look too hard but was unable to find an LED bulb that gave the ambience of the old incandescent bulb that was in the lamp when we got it. I merely ran 110 V to the area between the top of the nightstand and the bottom of the window shade casing and just plugged the shortened cord in. The lamp is held in place with four rare earth magnets sunk into the base that align with four more mounted under the top of the nightstand. It has never moved during our travels, yet is easily removed if you have a need to take the top off the nightstand. It is powered from the inverter when we are not plugged up. We only use it for looks. I did wrap and a set of LED lights around it for Christmas, however.
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The dimensions of the opening for all of these hatches that I have used in the various places are 13.5" x 7.25"
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John, they do not pivot and they are secured with a couple of screws. According to their advertising blurb they are made of poly carbonate and do not stretch or lose their spring. I can personally say that they have held our flag poles and table leg for several thousand miles without incident. I do not know if this qualifies for anything like a long term endorsement.
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See, that gives me a great idea for our trailer – we’re doing the twin beds, but with a table, and now I know where to hide the table posts.
It took me forever to find a source for the clips to hold different size tubes. These are the ones that I ended up buying. There are eight different sizes available. You will need The 2" size for the table posts.
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Oh, that’s interesting – is it the curved Rafter Pro or something different?
No, the included rafter is straight. It is, of course, adjustable in length. There are brackets mounted inside the closet for its storage.
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...Does the center rafter come with the awning? I to have had awnings bow in the middle from rain.
Yes, there is a center rafter that is included with the awning that is installed on the Oliver. You will not need another rafter for the Fiamma Privacy Room.
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...Ours is schedule to start tomorrow, but that is a holiday(?)...
Not in this neck of the woods. The Oliver crew will be hard at it.
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Well, you have to hang your flag somewhere.
And there you go. You have now been awarded and extra 10 bonus points. Now go back and look at the pics in the previous posts about the lower access doors and you'll see where we store the flag poles.
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Thanks Pete, many of the above mentioned lubricants are available here locally in a tube but it is hard to find any of these in a can. It seems that the tubes would be somewhat harder and messier to use. In addition, any left in the tube would probably end up as waste. Has anyone found an approved grease that is available in a 1 pound can? I think this makes more sense for repacking hubs.
Tubes are what grease guns use. You continue to grease the bushings occasionally, as regular maintenance, by greasing through the zerk fittings with a grease gun. Why would a can of grease be better? When originally installing the heavy duty bushings, or greasing the bearings, you can get the grease easily from a tube or from a can, but the can won’t work with a grease gun.
Sorry, I inadvertently changed the subject without the obligatory ding. DING! I was thinking and talking about repacking the hubs.
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C'mon Bill, you missed Canoe12's point completely!!!
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Here are some follow up pics of the rear basket mounted and ready to travel:
Pop Quiz for extra credit, what is the plate with the hole in it and the weird gizmo for? Look closely you can see them in the previous pics.
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..Saw the pictures of hatch installation you showed in the other post, but close ups and measurement would be a great help…
I will be happy to provide, but I'm now quite sure what measurements you need...
Thought only one hatch on the starboard (left) side would be all I needed. However in looking at pictures again I didn’t realize there was a 7 pin connector in there on the port (right) side. Seeing, my experience, they could get knocked loose by objects in there bouncing around and also with open mesh floor it is subject to moisture and corrosion. Will have to look at possibly looking at a way to build a guard or hasp to hold it on. A hatch on the other side makes a whole lot of sense to assess the plug… What is the inside opening of the hatchWe've never had any problem with anything moving around in there while we are traveling. Not saying it couldn't happen but there's really not anything that could get knocked loose. The 7-pin connector is secured with a large wire tie and there is not a reason I've found to need to access it very often. Since everything we store there (chocks and blocks) is subjected to the weather while in use we don't worry about moisture and corrosion. We like the two hatches for the ease of storing since there are chocks and blocks coming from and going to each side of the trailer. The 7-pin connector is already in the weather with no floor at all in that area so I guess (theoretically) it is actually some better off with the added protection of a mesh floor... just kidding.
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Steve, I am curious to know if you ever thought about mods to the basement? Since it is not a pass thru space, reaching items at the far end can be a challenge. Even the lighting could be improved? Any thoughts? Buzzy PS – Great pics, nice work!
Buzzy, thanks for the inquiry and the interest. I did these mods to the basement a long time ago. Some were actually started during construction:
Here you can see where we cut holes in the inside bottom shell to receive hatches (again, these are the same as that one in the bathroom.) The one in the rear under the nightstand is to access the basement. The one on the starboard side is to access the valves at the pump that control the alternate tank fill system and the valves at the floor that drain the water lines. The one on the port side is only to satisfy my OCD Libra need for everything to be symmetrical and balanced.
I added two lights to the basement area. They are controlled by a set of 3-way switches, one located right inside the basement door:
and the other located to the right of the interior hatch on the inside under the nightstand:
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Fiamma Privacy Room
in Ollie Modifications
Posted
As yet, nothing. We bought the vinyl material to have it made but like so many other projects, I have not gotten around to it yet. Camping here in the desert where there are no insects, there's not really a need for it. The room, I discovered yesterday, stays amazingly cool sitting in the Arizona sun. Admittedly the outside temperature is only in the low 70s but if you stand outside in the direct sunlight it can feel quite fierce. On an additional sidenote, the inside of the trailer is resisting the heat to the point that it is several degrees cooler than the outside temperature. We are not running the fan, although we do have the windows open.
One thing that I forgot to mention in the set up of the Privacy Room is where the left sidewall meets the trailer. You will want to make sure that it is clear of the furnace exhaust. At the very least it could possibly melt the vinyl. This is not a problem, just something to be aware of.