astrocaster

Earlier today I saw a new forum topic about what we carry and where we put it. That topic seems to have disappeared. Anyone know what happened? Thanks, Steve

Hi, Everyone, As an alternative to using suction cups to hang things on the interior walls of our Oliver trailer, we would like to consider actually drilling holes to attach various sorts of hangers. If you had done so, please post information on how successful that has been for you. Please describe the process, what precautions you have taken, types of drill bits used, the types of fasteners you have inserted through the fiberglass to make the anchor, and any other information that you think would be useful. Thank you, Steve

Hi, Everyone, It seems to me that it has been several months since anyone has posted on these forums any information or pictures of the accessories they have added to the walls of the kitchen and bathroom areas of their Oliver trailers. In particular, since some time has passed and more folks now have Oliver trailers, Elizabeth and I would like to know how successful it has been for you to use suction cups to hold up soap dishes and other containers. If you have removed these suction cups after a while, have the suction cups left some sort of abrasion or other marks that show they were there? If so, were you able to remove the marks? Do you have any recommendations? Thanks, Steve

Herm, Thanks for posting the pictures of your Oliver. It looks sharp and clean. I have an observation that might interest you from viewing of the picture of the exterior of your Oliver. This is in connection to your comment in one of your posts in the "First Impressions" thread. There you say that you were not sure that you had the Polar Cub A/C, since the unit reads "Duo-Therm" on it. We have the Polar Cub, and the unit on the top of your trailer does not look like our unit. It does look more like the Duo-Therm unit. You might want to check into this further, if it is important to you. Steve

This topic has discussed a bit on the "First Impressions" thread in this forum. It seems that it would be helpful to many if we shared information in a thread focused on the water heater. We have used our water heater several times on propane, but we have not yet used it on shore power. We understand from the instruction booklet and from the discussion referred to above that the switch is actually on the outside of the water heater, which is under the panel on the outside of the Oliver. We also understand that the water heater must be filled with water prior to turning the electric heating switch on, and that there is no fail-safe to this. Therefore, if one has shore power supplied and turns the switch on, the heating element will heat, whether or not there is water in the tank. If there is insufficient water in the tank, then the unit will be ruined, and, perhaps, there may be danger of a fire. I would appreciate it if those who have used the water heater on shore power will share that information. Particularly, I would be interested in knowing how you insured that the water heater had water in the tank (does it automatically fill the tank when you hook up and turn on city water?), how long have you found that it takes to get the water hot enough to take a shower or wash dishes, and whether you make it a practice to leave the switch turned on for long period of time (e.g. several hours) while you are using shore power. In addition, I believe that you can activate the propane burner to heat the water faster when the electric heating element is turned on. Is that true, and have you found that this works well? Anything that you can share will be helpful. Thank you, Steve

Thought it would be helpful to add our experience to this topic: The A/C does make some noise, but since it is only a few feet from our heads, we think that is normal. We are happy for the cool air. We, too, had a number of things that had to be fixed when we picked up our Oliver, and I agree that there are QA issues that need to be addressed. In fact, we had to stay two additional days in Hohenwald for appliances to be changed out and other things to be fixed. Following that, on our way back here to California, several other problems came to light. We had to take the trailer to a local repair firm to have these problems taken care of. Through all of this, the Oliver team has been very helpful and eager to get the problems fixed. We still have one intermittent problem: one of the electric jacks sometimes does not work without requiring that we go inside and move the jack back a forth a little manually, using the tool that came with the trailer. I have notified Oliver about this, and I have not yet received any guidance regarding how to deal with it. Our Oliver has not been in any rain since we picked it up, so we do not yet know whether there will be any leaks. I think that it would be useful to many if another thread were to be started to discuss the operation of the water heater on electric power. I have several questions about this since I have not tried it, and others may wish to take part. I'll start the thread right away. Steve

Thanks for all of the repies regarding running the refrigerator on propane. We have done so now for several trips over a few thousand miles and we are very pleased with how this works. The refrigerator seems to use very little propane and does a great job cooling. We do make a point of stopping short of the gas pumps at stations and turning the refrigerator off while refueling and then pulling out and restarting it. No problem. Steve

Bill, Let me clarify regarding my installing the brake controller: My tow vehicle is a 2002 Suburban, and we purchased it with the tow package, which included the seven-pin wiring plug at the hitch and a separate plug and pigtail to hook up a brake controller. All that was involved was connecting the wires from the brake controller's pigtail (supplied with the brake controller) to the wires of the pigtail for the tow vehicle, plugging the tow vehicle pigtail into the circuit box under the dash, and installing the controller under the dashboard using a bracket that came with the controller. I drilled two holes to do this. The whole process took me about an hour to do, but I spent about eight hours researching and learning about it ahead of time, in order to do it correctly. It was this easy because the tow vehicle was ready for the installation. From what you say, it sounds like you do not have the wiring run and the seven-pin plug for a trailer to plug into. This is the wiring that not only will engage the brakes, but will operate the Oliver's turn signals, brake lights, etc. If that is the case, then I would recommend getting this done by a professional. I agree with Herm that it makes sense to check with a Volvo dealer to make sure that you have all of the requisite wiring and plug available at the hitch, if it is not already there. If I misunderstood your response and you do have the seven-pin plug but don't know where to tie in the controller, as Cherie suggests, a good mechanic familiar with wiring for towing should be able to install the controller for you. Or, of course, the Volvo dealer could do it. I also agree with Cherie's suggestion that you install the controller within reach of the front seat passenger, as well as the driver. I installed ours that way for just the sort of reason that she mentions. Hope this helps, Steve

Bill, The brake controller is essential, and you will be glad you have it. The Oliver's brakes cannot be operated without the controller. There is no option. While the Oliver is not a heavy trailer, it is heavy enough that brakes are really needed to safely tow it. In many states, if not most or all, brakes are required on trailers that weigh much less than the Oliver. Steve

Bill, The electric (or electronic) brake controller is a device that is connected to the tow vehicle's electrical system and that sends a signal to the trailer through the seven-pin wiring harness to activate the trailer's brakes in conjunction with the braking action of the tow vehicle. As Mountainborn has explained, the amount of braking action can be adjusted by settings on the controller, to avoid laying down that long black rubber strip when you apply the brakes. You will need to install a brake controller in order to operate the Oliver's brakes. It is a relatively small device that is installed within reach and view of the driver, usually under the dash. I purchased a Tokonsha Prodigy controller and installed it myself. This was pretty easy using the wiring harness pigtail that came with my tow vehicle for this purpose, matched up with the pigtail that came with the controller. The driver may also manually apply the trailer's brakes using the controller (on our brake controller, this is done with a lever), even if the tow vehicle's brakes are not applied, or to add to the braking action already called for by the controller. This allows the driver to fine-tune the braking action, if needed. Hope this helps, Steve

Hi, Mark, Since most of our camping is high in the forests and mountains here in Northern California, where we are almost always parked in the shade, we decided to go with an outboard system, where we move the panel around on the ground to the areas of strongest sunshine over the course of the day. The panel, of course, is attached to an electrical cable which is plugged into the side of the Oliver. I believe that we got the same solar panel and controller that Pete (Bugeyedriver) did--AM Solar 100 watt panel and the HPV-22B charge controller, also from AM Solar. I believe that the "solar ready" option offered by Oliver uses a different controller. You will need to discuss this Oliver to make sure that you get the controller that you want, as we did. My advice is to consider very carefully where you will be camped in order to decide whether to have the panels mounted on the Oliver or to have an outboard system, such as ours. Our system is much more labor intensive in transporting (we carry the panel and electrical cord in our TV), setting up, moving, and putting away the panel when we are not around camp (so it will be there when we come back!). However, it is what we need where we camp: If we had the panel mounted on the Oliver, we would have to search out and try to camp in the few sites in each campground that have significant sun exposure (if there are any). Otherwise, the dense forest shade would reduce the panel's charging amps too much and make the panel of little practical value. We have found that by moving the panel around a few times to different parts of the site to follow the sun and by adjusting its angle to be perpendicular to the sun, we are able to maintain output of around 5.5 amps over several hours and still to maintain reasonably strong output as the sun gets much lower in the sky. To do this, of course, we must be in camp. This works for us, though, since my wife generally stays in camp doing things she enjoys while I go off to fish. So, if your camping will be anything like ours, you might consider an outboard system. If you are going to be in the sun or light shade most of the time, I would probably recommend that you have the panel(s) mounted on your Oliver. Steve

While we have not had our Oliver Legacy Elite weighed, the title transfer document that we got when we picked it up last month says that it weighs 3,400 pounds. Additionally, the VIN sticker on the outside of the trailer states the following about the weight: GVWR 1814 KG (4000 LB) GAWR ALL 1814 KG (4000 LB) PER AXLE WITH 15 TIRE 15X6J RIM AT 345 KPA (50 PSI) COLD SINGLE Reference to the "15 TIRE" is because we got the 15-inch tires and 4-inch lift option. We were quite surprised that the Oliver weighs considerably more than we had been led to believe. However, our TV (2002 Suburban 1/2 ton) has handled it without any real strain, even up (and back down!) the very steep 6,500-foot grade into Kings Canyon National Park from California's Central Valley. Steve

As did Chris and Cherie, Elizabeth and I went to a fabric store and picked a fabric that we felt would suit us and the color concept that we had for our Oliver. We then shipped the fabric to Hohenwald. The fabric is a robust low-cut plush upholstery fabric that we think will hold up very well. One concern that we had in going through fabrics in the store is that so many of them were very light in weight and thickness, and Elizabeth knew that they would not wear well over time. We liked being able to actually get samples of the fabric from the store and to look at them at home before buying. Steve

Hi, Sherry and Paul, Elizabeth and I are wondering about the Empire large van cover and how it fits, etc. Perhaps you are back from your camping trip and can let us know. We now have our Oliver here at home and need to get a cover to protect it from the sun and all of the sticky stuff that falls from the oak trees over our driveway. Thanks, Steve

Thanks, all, for your responses. They are very helpful. We have a nine-hour stretch of driving through Texas to do on Monday, and we will run the refrigerator on propane (and not the 12v) for at least most of that time. One more question: Somewhere I read that it is the law, at least in Texas, that you have to turn off all appliances running on propane before pulling up to get gasoline for your TV. Is that your understanding? Is this really necessary? Is it common practice? We'll be going through Arizona and then returning home to California, as well. Do you know about the law in these two states on this issue? Thanks, Steve

Thanks to you all for the responses! I checked, and yes, indeed, the "curved air flap" venting material that you have described was positioned in such a way as to totally block the vent, forcing all of the heat from the refrigerator to remain in the cabin! I have repositioned it in a way to direct the heat out of the cabin through the vent, but I think I will need to check this from time to time. I also will get some insulation and put it behind the vent, as suggested by Mountainborn. Great idea. Thanks again, Steve

Hi, All, Thanks for the responses to my question on the heat released into the cabin by the refrigerator. I would appreciate hearing from others, as well. I have another question: Do you run your refrigerator on propane when you are towing the Oliver? The instruction manual for our Dometic unit indicates that this is fine--it specifically says there is no need to keep the refrigerator level while it is on the road and running on propane, since the rolling and pitching motion of the trailer will keep "the liquid ammonia from accumulating in the evaporator tubing." On the other hand, the manual Oliver gives new owners seems to indicate that we should run the refrigerator on DC when towing the trailer. It has been noted by one member of these forums, however, that doing so depletes the trailer batteries faster than they are charged by the tow vehicle alternator. I would appreciate knowing how other Oliver owners handle this. Thanks, Steve

Hi, All, We picked up our Oliver last week, and since having a travel trailer is new to us, we have some questions that we hope others can help us with. Here's one: We ran the refrigerator for about 12 hours today on propane (for the first time) and are surprised by how hot the exterior of the refrigerator got, especially at the top, and how it heated up the entire cabin. The wooden cutting board and the inside of the microwave were quite warm to the touch, as well, from sitting above the refrigerator. Is it normal for the refrigerator to put out so much heat into the cabin when it is running on propane? Thanks, Steve

Hi, Sherry, I am wondering how the big van cover that you purchased from Empire fits and what you think of it. Thanks, Steve

Tom, Thanks. One less thing to worry about! Steve

Hi, Everyone, What length safety chains do you use to tow your Oliver? I went to a couple of stores today and found 36" and 72" chains, so I need some help from current owners. Thanks, Steve

Thanks, Tom and Sherry. Sherry, please do let us know how the big van cover from Empire fits when you get it next week. Also, please let us know which of their van covers you chose (they seem to have several choices at different prices) and how well you think the material will protect your Oliver. Thanks, Steve

Thanks, Mountainborn! Steve

Hi, Thanks for your responses. I think I may not have been clear in my question. What I am asking is whether anyone has purchased a cover made of fabric or some material such as Tyvek to drape over their Oliver to cover it. Unfortunately, we do not have the option to build a structure. I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has purchased such a soft cover and hearing how it has performed for you. Thanks, Steve

Hi, Folks, FlyBaby E and I will initially be keeping our Oliver travel trailer under some very messy trees, and we will need to get a cover to protect it. I've noticed a couple of companies that sell covers designed for to fit the Casita that probably would fit the Oliver, too: Covergiant.com and calmarkcovers.com. The latter sells a cover that has an integrated zipper door that appears to be placed just where the Oliver door is. I wonder if any Oliver owners have purchased covers from either of these companies and can share your experience and how satisfied you are with the cover. If you have purchased a cover from another company, we would be interested in that, as well. Thanks, Steve