mountainoliver

Who has replaced the standard troublesome Dometic refrigerator with a similar size 12 volt electric refrigerator? Mine has been a constant problem and I’m thinking about replacing it with an all electric model of similar size (4 cu. ft.). If you have done this modification I’m looking for tips on installation and what to consider or what to look for.

I just recently purchased this one and I’m still figuring it all out.

I have the Garmin 55 and like it. I have it set so that it can turn itself on if it detects movement when the truck is parked.

Right after I posted this question I looked under the pantry side bed turned off the main feed switch from the solar panels and then the 30 amp breaker. I then turned these back on. I also pressed in the yellow flag on the other breaker as well. This seems to have solved the issue but I’ll watch this for a few days to make sure.

Anyone experiencing flickering lights? Mine do this periodically and at first I thought that there was a defective switch. All of the lights flicker on occasion both inside and outside lights. I have noticed this both during the day and at night and either on shore power or not and either with the battery charger breaker on or off.

I had a 2017 Tundra 5.7L. We pulled our LEII from VA to Quartzsite once and Southwest Texas once. All of those trips were not easy with the Tundra and a few times down right frightening. I traded for a 2019 Chevy 2500 HD with the new design Duramax. I’ve had a Diesel truck before (for 20 years) but this one has some real power! My old one had 400 ft/lbs of torque on a good day. The Chevy has 910! That’s just off of idle at around 1800 rpm to around 2200 rpm or so. Right in the sweet spot for cruising on the highway. We’ve pulled our 6,500 lb. LEII to Quartzsite once, meandering home through Southwest Texas, and around the Southeast. We have about 10,000 miles on the truck so far. I use an app called Fuelly that keeps track of mileage and various other fuel related costs. In closely duplicating routes the fuel only cost per mile between the Tundra and the Duramax are just literally a penny or so even keeping in mind that Diesel fuel is more expensive. If you figure in the DEF required every 3,000 miles or so the cost per mile is a little more for the Chevy but not significant enough to worry about. For me the towing experience is much more comfortable (read safer feeling). Power is not a concern and I can descend a mountain without hardly touching the brakes. Less stress on the truck will equal a longer lasting truck. So far I really love the truck.

Looks too complicated to make one from a solid piece of aluminum or stainless. I’d buy some online maybe less expensive than from Oliver, unless somehow they would be warranted through Fiamma. I think that I’ll get at least one as a spare. Something small like this could really mess up a long trip! I’m assuming that the screws just thread into the fiberglass? In other words, there’s not a nut or something else loose on the back?

That would be my advice as well. Use the blue (low strength) loctite brand and only use just a tiny bit at that! If you use the red or green color you may never get the hinges apart!

Thanks, I’ll try that as well. The brand spanking new fridge that Dometic sent Oliver and was installed failed in the same way the old one did. Not sure what’s up but ALL trailer systems have been tested by myself and Oliver with Dometic’s blessings. I’ve lost count of the number of new sets of control boards that have been replaced. Still the same issue, albeit much less frequent. Rumor has it that Dinosaur is designing a matched set of replacement boards. That should solve the Dometic cheesy control board issues.

Another update: on the way to Guntersville we still had the intermittent failure issues but it seems to be not as often. Keep in mind that it always works on either AC or DC, it just intermittently fails on propane and it doesn’t make any difference if it’s on shore power or not. For some reason it will run perfectly for four days and then fail, turn it off and back on and it’s good for another four days. This hasn’t been totally proven out yet but I’m still trying different things. After we get home I want to do some thorough testing, again.

<p style="text-align: left;">A huge thanks to all of the Oliver employees who were able to be at this years rally! So much of the behind the scenes work was done by them. The service folks were here and worked nearly non stop performing repairs for several days during the rally. For the new Oliver owners or the soon to be owners you experienced just a small sampling of the Oliver team dedication. A dedication that starts at the very top and extends throughout the organization! Thanks to you all.</p>

John, don’t know if you could see the photo of mine but, yours is very similar. I thought the very same thing that Bondo was used instead of grinding out and filling with fiberglass resin/fiberglass material and ground/sanded flush and gel coated. Anyway I think that both of my hole plugs are still in place.

We’re “camped” at the sales office now and are going to Guntersville tomorrow. We’ll be in E4.

Yukon, if you are coming to the rally please look me up. My wife is helping with the rally so we should be easy to find. As I showed in the above attached photo, I have the same mysterious holes in my trailer and they look to be in the similar location. I would like to hear your take on them. I heard two explanations for them. 1. A new employee accidentally drilled the holes in the wrong location (?) and 2. Drilled on purpose (?). Anyway, mine were not painted over so I was able to clearly see them.

Welcome! We stumbled on the Oliver as well while looking for large molded fiberglass campers two years ago. Your first impression of the Oliver camper is pretty much typical of other folks and as you dig deeper you’ll be just as impressed. You’ll see posts of praise for our service department but again that is just the beginning. The Oliver quality starts at the top and continues throughout. The folks building our campers do a great job. You’ll be able to see that easily in the fit and finish. Everyone cares about what they do. Enjoy the search!

Here’s a photo of the backside of my wheel from hull number 208. Note max pressure is 110 psi, max load for a 6 lug wheel is 3200 lbs. these are Sendel wheels made in China.

100 percent agree! Standard operating procedure for these folks. I have never not experienced their above and beyond work and ability. They just finished a two month long really in-depth trouble shooting session with my fridge as described elsewhere under the General Discussion heading. Thanks again guys!!

The funny (I guess) part is that Dometic sent Oliver a completely new fridge back in January. That still did not work correctly. When Oliver gave Dometic the correct Dometic part numbers for the matched set of boards, Dometic did not recognize the numbers and couldn’t find the boards. A separate repair facility tried to order a set of boards and also had a terrible time finding the correct ones. Those boards were bench tested for several days after receiving them and then sent to me in the middle of nowhere Arizona to install. Those failed within ten minutes of installation! It wasn’t until the Oliver service folks kept (I guess) pestering Dometic that they finally came up with the matched set of boards. Now all is well!

Oh yeah, I did forget to mention that! The main and eyebrow circuit boards. These had been replaced several times but apparently Dometic buys these from lowest bidder. They sometimes don’t communicate correctly or are overly sensitive to incoming power etc.? There was one Dometic tech who understood the situation and was able to really think about the problem and knew that they had a set of perfectly matched boards. These seemed to work. Can’t really explain “electromagic” ! Anyway, thanks to everyone for the input along the way.

Okay, hopefully a final update. We dropped off our camper at Oliver service on March 8th. The guys have been systematically testing probably a dozen different possibilities causing our fridge issues. We just today (5-7-19) picked up our camper! The fridge has been running for about 8 or 9 days now! It has never run more than 3 or 4 days before. The guys not only solved the fridge issues but performed several other maintenance needs as well. In picking up our trailer today it was cleaner than when we dropped it off ! (we were on our way home from winter travel out West) We are so thankful for the always extra mile approach and always high standard of quality work these guys do each day! Words alone are so inadequate to thank the guys for their commitment and high quality work! But, thanks to all!

If you are purchasing the hitch from Oliver, they will install it and set it up. It will be ready to go when you pick up your new camper. There are a couple used ones in the for sale forum section and will be at least half price of a new one. These will also have all of the necessary brackets, chains and connectors needed for complete installation. Along with the instructions needed.

A weight distribution hitch and helper springs are two totally different things. The Andersen Hitch has two features built in. One is weight distribution, which shifts some of the rear axle weight towards the front axle. This by default also lifts the tow vehicle rear some. The second feature is an anti sway function. There is a friction cone system that dampens out sway. Helper springs or air bags and such only lift/level the vehicle rear. They don’t remove any weight from the rear axle. If you are over the rear axle or tire weight rating, that issue will remain with using helper springs/air bags. Remember, the weight on the rear axle includes EVERYTHING being hauled in the tow vehicle AND the trailer tongue weight on the hitch. It is better to over estimate this than to under estimate. The lightest your camper will ever be is when it just leaves the factory.

Interesting, my trailer is a 2017 hull number 208 and has two unusual patched holes between the two axles as well. I believe that one of my holding tanks had to be replaced due to one or both of these holes going through it. Interesting.

Having the truck/trailer level is ideal but, make sure that you’re not close to the rear axle weight rating or the tire max weight rating. Make sure that when you calculate/measure the vehicle loads that you include everything and it doesn’t hurt to over estimate the load. John Davies has a great description of estimating your weights and adding a percentage over for safety. That can be found in some of the other towing discussions. A weight distribution hitch not only just levels the truck/trailer but actually does the leveling by moving some of the rear axle load to the front axle. Leveling with helper springs does nothing about an overloaded rear axle.

I have three of the SensorPush sensors. We have the two twin beds so I have one under each bed. One just below the water pump down low next to the fresh water tank. The other sensor under the other bed just below the outside shower assembly. The third one hangs on one of the propane hoses under the front cowling. This appears to provide accurate information. The graph ability records trends and stores the information for I think 21 days if my phone is too far away to connect.