mountainoliver
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Posts posted by mountainoliver
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1 hour ago, Ronbrink said:
I found a bundle of wires tucked away below the street side bed at the juncture of the upper wheel well and battery box against the outer shell. My thought at the time was these wires were part of the solar pre-wire setup.
That’s where I found the #6 welding cable and battery temperature sensor cable. I think that was the extent of the “solar pre wire” for my trailer.
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I don’t know Steve, I don’t really like the term “exam”! That has all sorts of implications that involves sharp instruments etc. 😲
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4 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:
t’s a rite of passage for a lot of owners!
It is and thankfully Steve provided counseling to help me through it all! 🤪
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As far as mounting the panels, the combiner box and, the interconnect wiring…. I paid Oliver service to do that. I bought the Zamp panels from Oliver and since they know exactly where the aluminum plates are located in the outer roof, they mounted the panels as well. All other wiring and solar controls ScubaRx and I installed. I had to look the other way and bite down on a broken arrow when the first hole was drilled into my new camper but have since gotten over that trauma.
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I don’t remember that there were any wires pre installed in the ceiling but know that there were #6 cables and the temperature sensor wire running from the basement area just aft of the pantry up the wall between the window and pantry, into the open area where the radio is located. Oliver service connected to the #6 cables near the radio and ran those back to the attic area up between the roof panels and to the location where they mounted the combiner box.
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When we purchased our trailer in 2017 Oliver was just changing solar equipment brands. They changed from Blue Sky equipment to Zamp equipment. I didn’t know much about solar power at the time so defaulted to not getting solar. ScubaRx schooled me about the Blue Sky vs. Zamp architecture and I choose to add Blue Sky solar. The trailer (at least at that time) was “pre wired for solar.” The roof did not include the combiner box but the #6 cable was in place and a battery temperature sensor was in place as well. ScubaRx and I had to run the 4-0 welding cable as needed and other #6 cables in the basement as needed along with the main switch and circuit breakers, shunt, etc. I had the Oliver folks mount the panels and do the interconnections. Technically, the total system was not completely wired, just the hard to access cable was in place. The trailers are not turn key wired by any means, you will have to do the majority of the wiring yourself along with all of the system component installation.
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I think Oliver uses a material that is used by the boating industry called starboard. Others may have the correct name if this isn’t correct. I have used vinyl trim board readily available at Lowe’s and Home Depot in various widths and thickness. I also use an epoxy by Permatex that is very high solvent content and actually melts into both the vinyl board and the fiberglass surface and is much like fiberglass resin.
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The rear most end of my fresh tank is about at the center of the rear most axle. I think that the rear end of the grey tank is about even with the rear jack mounting. From these tanks rearward my trailer has nothing between the hulls. Basically both my grey and fresh tanks are above the galvanized steel subframe and it’s cross members. So for my trailer anyway no real load on the aluminum cross members at the rear. The aluminum cross members on my trailer are also doubled as well.
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Correction to my previous comment. My axles are 3500 pound rated and 1750 pound rated springs. Sorry for the confusion.
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To add to my previous response. Oliver mixed and matched axle components in an effort to create an axle that was more durable than the standard version. No other camper manufacturer that I know of provides beefed up axle assemblies. They just use something standard and that’s why other campers experience more failures than the Oliver.
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We have the 3500 pound standard issue axles, four bolt brake backing plate and, 1750 pound springs. Dexter may recommend the 1/2 bolts but is that what Oliver actually spec’d out and used? Apparently Oliver spec’d out an oddball variety of axle components from time to time. For example a standard Dexter 3500 pound axle assembly would have a 5 bolt wheel hub but Oliver spec’d a 6 bolt version that would have been used for a 5200 pound axle but with the smaller bearings used on a 3500 pound axle. At least that’s what a Dexter representative once told me. The mix and match situation is not an issue for Dexter, they just need to know what we actually have.
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Patriot, I’m curious? Your axle came with 1/2 inch U bolts? My 2017 came with 9/16 U bolts.
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Patriot, I’ve done the same thing except I have two springs and enough U bolts/nuts for a complete axle. Springs are wrapped up and pack well.
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Good advice! I also spend a lot of time under the trailer and my vehicles just looking around. Often find issues that are very minor but if let alone…..
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jd1923, yes I just went back and found your original post and was getting ready to post a screenshot of it. Okay then that makes two issues. Check your frames.
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There was a forum posting a month or so ago concerning the exact same issue along with very similar photos. I copied and saved the photos but not who posted them. I’m assuming that this is a different owner/situation? If this is a new issue then yikes another epidemic to lookout for like springs!
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It’s been a few years and I may not be remembering the specifics exactly but, when we were looking for a camper I took an entire week of vacation and spent the week in Elkhart, Indiana. We toured just about all of the manufacturers. It seems like they all had service facilities and several free campsites available. All of these manufacturers have multiple dealerships as well. I’m hoping that once the dust settles, Oliver will be able to justify reopening their service center. I’m sure that they are scrambling right now trying to figure it all out. We’ve only owned our LEII for seven years and known the Olivers for seven years as well. We have also spent time with the service team early on. In my experience the Olivers and every team member that I have ever had the opportunity to meet have always had the highest integrity and I’m sure that they will get it all sorted.
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Anyone concerned about squatters moving into their home while traveling for several weeks/months?
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Are you sure about the 3 3/8 diameter axle tubes? My 2017 LEII D35 tubes measure exactly 3 inches. The 10 inch brake assembly uses four mounting bolts. If the 2 3/8ths and 3 3/8ths diameter numbers are correct then that would make three different axles used. That doubly reinforces your good suggestion to measure first then order the springs and U bolts.
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Our door has cracked all around the window area as well. Being the original owner I can say that our door has not been abused. I’ve seen a few other doors with the same issue as well. I’m guessing that this may be age related. I feel like this is definitely not an Oliver issue. The door is basically a thick piece of styrofoam with a thin fiberglass sheet glued to the outside and a thin sheet of plastic glued to the inside. Probably if you tried to peel the inside sheet off of the styrofoam it would damage the styrofoam. I’ve tried to figure out how to fix the cracking without having to completely replace the door, but probably will have to live with it.
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Four 100 amp Battle Born batteries will in fact fit into the 2017 version battery tray. I say 2017 version because Oliver has used a couple of different makes that I am aware of. Oliver history buffs maybe can clarify this. Since the Battle Born brand batteries can be mounted in any orientation, four of the standard form factor batteries can be mounted on end. Battle Born also has a vertical form factor battery. Four of these vertical batteries also will fit in the tray. For both types of batteries mounted vertically, the cable connections get a little challenging. There is a forum post that covers a lithium battery installation and I think that it covers the four battery choices. Of course in recent history, there are several manufacturers who have large amp batteries that don’t require trying to shoehorn multiple batteries into the tray.
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We’re all thankful that the mystery of the failed Bulldog coupler was (at least apparently) solved and without serious issues. I was beginning to wonder if there was going to be a sudden rash of coupler failures coming our way. Like several others have said, we have never heard of any Bulldog failures. When I purchased my trailer I didn’t select the axles, springs, or coupler at the time of order. Thankfully, I’ve not experienced issues with any major Oliver supplied components. Probably can’t say that for the majority of stick built campers. Although with lack of maintenance I think that I have heard of even a heavy duty axle having bearing failures.
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Now that we know that the coupler was basically misused (not user error) and repeatedly overloaded by almost 2000 pounds, I’m sure that the Bulldog folks will not provide any sort of warranty replacement. They may however be interested in knowing that their product held up for so long under adverse conditions. This is purely an Oliver oops moment in which everyone is extremely fortunate that nobody was hurt. Oliver may have some input on this issue.
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Just as a suggestion, Oliver should use the 7,000 pound version for all of the trailers. There’d be no chance of mixing up the couplers and very little to no cost difference in the grand scheme of things. I have never heard of any of the Oliver couplers failing but…..
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Loose Dometic stove burner
in General Discussion
Posted
I don’t know but it looks like the two screws came up from the underside, went through the piece with the igniter, and threaded into the top cover. Are the two bosses in the top cover threaded? Can you look from underneath at the other good burner and see if there’s two screws going up into the top cover? Could that burner never been assembled completely from the start?