Geronimo John

As a new owner, in time you will know all there is to know about the wonderful "Gizmology" the new trailers can have. Until then the learning curve is high. But you have come to the right place as the above guys are razor sharp. But a simple "ole school" check out may clarify things to assist with the learning curve. Do adjust your charge current as suggested above first. I recommend using 15 amps as suggested for now. You can optimize it later. A. Hopefully you have a volt meter. If you don't i recommend getting one that is a meter and has a clamp for measuring amps. My favorite onw was suggested by John Davies. It is not that expensive but sure works well. More than a few OTT owners would agree with this choice. Don't get one that can only measure up to ten amps thru the leads. Having the clamp is essential. B. I would first manually check the as is battery voltage and compare what is says to what your Xantrex system says. Small step. Take a mental note of the as is battery voltage. If they are the same, then likely you know how to read the voltage and have confidence in what the Xantrex is telling you. Another small step. C. Then using just one generator, set it up without being connected to Ollie at first. Start your Honda not connected and put it into Eco mode. Let it warm up then switch it to regular mode and back. This step ensures you are familiar with the rpm of it loafing unloaded on Eco or running hard not loaded. D. Now connect one of your Hondas while in Eco mode and listen to what it does. If your OTT charging system is working, it will quickly transition from Eco to Run mode. If you hear it now working, take your volt meter and get clamp it around one of your battery cables. (Meter set to DC AMPs. You should get a reading pretty close to the setting you entered into your Xantrex... Report back here and the above guys will be on a track to ask some more questions knowing the status of your system. Once you get it figured out, then ask them how to set up your system for Honda and Companion Honda to charge at a higher amp rate. GJ

I think yes. A single near full stroke on the shocks will not do harm or heat it up much. But if you are hammering away down an Alaska Corduroy road, repeated full or near full stroke range cycles will definitely heat up the shocks. Keep going than the seals will become suspect and you have dry shocks doing nothing but enjoying the ride. GJ

This would be a great owner lead topic at the Rally at Lake Guntersville!

Spoken like a true Professional!

What a great discount! Thanks. lol

Good thoughts as always. PS: Tire covers generally come free with the trailer cover. That's why I did not mention them in my posts. GJ

From the pictures, it appears that the tracker pivots around this end as the sun transverses the sky. Is that correct? GJ

I use the same Kestrel every day we are flying HG and PG's. We also like to avoid "inadvertent launches". Great idea being able to automatically Stow the sail ... errr panel in high winds. Will discuss this in Alabama. Thanks for the follow-up post. GJ

Yes. Better said! Thanks gj

The 4,000 miles round trip to do so would get to be expensive and "Tireing" . LOL GJ

Art (MaxBurner) likely will have his there as well. After 6 years, I finally will be able to attend the Alabama rally. Looking forward to it for sure. Generally were I boondock there are extreme winds daily. Morning one direction, evenings the other. So wind stability is always top of my mind. My solution is to keep our 200 watt panel close to the trailer and sand bagged down. I'll turn it during the day 1 - 3 times to optimize solar collection. This could work nicely, but it likely would need a lot of weight to stay earth bound. In the mean time I'm stoked to see this idea in action. Great post GJ

I hope so as I'm a long way from 70,000 miles that I got on my last set of Michelin Defenders. My tire guy at Discount Tire said that this is a old myth from the old tire days. Modern radial tires are much less MORE resistant to flat spots. Just run them slow for a few miles after storage and they even out. Going on seven years and 42,000 Ollie Miles without any tire issues. But I do give them a good look over every year and they only see daylight 3 - 4 months a year. But they are stored in a barn the rest of the time covered. GJ

Even the best wax will not totally stop oxidation. Some almost don't even slow it down a lot. I believe that any Ollie parked outside needs to be well detailed, waxed AND covered for good protection. Then there is the ceramic route, and that's both out of my wheel house and pocket book size too. Steve: For your two year+ sun soaked baking of your Ollie. In order of likely cost, least to most expensive: Cover it. If you go this route PM me. Find barn space for rent and cover it. (This is what I do) Find a commercial overhead cover storage facility and also cover it. Do nothing. Then plan on spending $$$ for ceramic. And then plan on having it renewed every few years. Likely only $$, but not in my wheel house. Do nothing. Then plan on spending $$$$ for OTT to restore it. Build a storage out-building or Man Cave like MaxBurner and others have! (My dream solution) Good discussions for sure as many Owners struggle with this very issue. GJ

If you have Michelins as several of us do, they are well capable of lasting to the long end of TopGun's range. That means covered as Patriot suggests. If you choose to cover, keep in mind that your trailer is not as tall or wide as most covers are made for. I unknowingly purchased an Adco cover and it was two sizes too large. If you have an OE2, the "box" of the trailer is only 18' X 7' and the height of the box is just over 7'. Shop around and you'll find the "Custom Oliver" trailer covers are quite $$$$. Nice, but expensive for sure. Considering Grand Kiddo's: If I had known they were SO much fun, I would of had them first! Enjoy them! GJ

Does it really matter? If either of those issues are present, I would want my unit replaced. But that begs the question of "With What?". On that point, I'm in the BoondockingAirStream and Seadog camp. Give me something that works for 20+ years that I can maintain.

I agree. None the less, I am elated that OTT recognized the issue as a life safety one and launched their recall so quickly. That's taking care of our family first! With your experience, you may take the step to advise Air Stream, NHTSA and RVMA of your Air Stream thoughts about this product as well as Oliver's "stand up" actions too. Again, the right thing to do. GJ

When flying solo with Ollie, it is more of a challenge to find a stop for the night without prior planning. I for sure know where all the Interstate Rest Stops and free federal lands are along the way. That helps especially out west. However with my spouse on board, it is a LOT easier. I drive she finds the options based on how long we want to travel that day. In the mountains where snowmobiles run there are lots of huge parking lots near trail heads, with near zero people there during non-snow months. Another option for sure. GJ

I have often thought for very cold weather, that if we could just run our furnace fan on continuously (vs. it cycling with the furnace burner), many of our freezing issues would be ameliorated. Especially on the curb side. The benefit could be expanded to the Aft Port corner (where we generally first see freezing water systems) with the inclusion of an under bed return air duct to that area. An idea I suggested some time ago..... GJ

Listing them on Craig's List generally results in your getting $500+ pocket cash. Having the soft start and a really cleaned up and staged for pictures is a great start. But taking a video of it running with a date and shot of your pocket thermometer showing the discharge temperature was what sold mine for above that number. Bill: Any chance you could post a link to your post. Sounds like a great idea to be emulated. Thanks GJ

I really like the idea of having the hose connection "T" before the filter idea. I often need a hose sprayer, but generally have little control over flow when using one of the camp ground taps directly. I have a spare connector in my basement as shown below. Having both the lines out with their own valve would allow use of the hand hose without putting pressure or flow into Ollie. Thanks for waking up the idea! GJ

Relying on campground supplied water pressure regulation alone has risk to the care free enjoyment of our wonderful Ollie's. But WHY? It comes down to physics. The CG water system typically are sized to accommodate the anticipated max load when built. Rarely do the owners of the CG plan for much future expansion, pipe scaling, or future site space density of users increase. So over time the site's water pressure delta between high flow and low flow periods increases. But WHY? Increased demands over time, the flow efficiency of the system decreases due to due to flow friction. More friction begets lower flow, and increased static and dynamic pressure differences. The problems start cropping up at those customers at the furthest site from their water main connection. Low flow complaints lead to the owner reducing the pressure modulation on their end to increase pressure to serve the end of line flow requirements during peak times. The Delta Pressure between low and high flows can easily be 25 PSI. So effectively to be conservative with what pressure you want your Ollie to see is your own water pressure regulator. Hence, for all of the above reasons, we do not leave city water pressure "on" to Ollie unless we are filling the fresh water tank or using the dedicated black water flush system. GJ

Could be handy for the three-way units especially. It would need to include a means for terminating the propane flow. The 120 and 12 volt power sources would eventually ground and blow fuses so I would not be overly concerned about their contributing as reignition sources. GJ

This is a life safety issue. PLEASE SUBMIT A TICKET WITH THIS POST. It is a candidate for a massive recall. GJ

I like using my Garman RV satellite GPS for that. There are several different models depending what you need or can afford. That said, I don't use a Satellite Navigator to navigate our Ollie into the barn for storage. But I do back it in and out very carefully. the barn floor is about a foot above outside area grade. So I had to move a bunch of dirt and gravel to create a compacted 20 foot long flat spot in front of the 10 foot AFF clearance beam at the entry. Something to keep in mind if you think the storage facility could give your Ollie A/C or antennas a BUZZZ hair cut. JD: I didn't know your picture was on the cover of Mad Magazine. You are famous!! GJ

Bad description above. Thanks for highlighting it. I should said along the frame. I want the frame to at least somewhat protect the cables during off roading. Also not stated is that Ford requires all such cables to be run in high temperature loom to keep their warranty. Thanks GJ