Geronimo John

Excellent comment.... but only up to the point of running out of roller. The root cause of "barber polling" is likely that the canopy has been stretched and is no longer a rectangle of the size it once was. This can easily happen over it's lifetime. Or it can be the direct result of owner error in adverse weather conditions such as high winds and/or heavy rain. Mine appears to have been caused by my lowering the outboard rear end support brace to the ground for the purpose of forcing rain to drain near the rear (Away from the door area). Was a great idea...up to the point that it wasn't. When it stretched they generally become a parallelogram. The amount of "barber poling" that a given set-up can tolerate is dependent upon how much extra top roller space you have. If your canopy is say 14 feet wide and your top roller shaft is two inches longer, then you can adjust the canopy left or right to allow for up to 2" of wonky roll-up. This is what my OEM Carefree (SIC) OTT canopy had. Problem was that I needed three more inches of top roller shaft.... For this reason, when ordering replacement canopies, I recommend buying one at least several inches narrower than the OEM canopy My new one has four inches of such space. With that space, it is possible to do as you suggested several times and not have to replace the canopy. Which I hope to make a moot issue by not being creative in my canopy drainage plan..... Cost Saving Rule of Thumb: Don't let water pond on your canopy. Crank it in and lower the leading edge so it drains well if rain is in the forecast.

James: Ok, now down a notch in the test and eval: I assume your arms are "spring arms", and not gas strut driven arms. Please verify. Would be a good idea to inspect the "elbow" of each arm and check for any cracks that may reflect their having been broken. Does the tarp open symmetrically? Possible weak spring arm. Does it stop opening at the same place each time (Possible gear jamb at the motor.) Does your awning have a manual crank? If so, can you crank it open manually? Is it a smooth operation or does it bind in the process? If so where? Opening with a crank tends to be easier (Has spring assist and gravity) than closing against gravity and the springs as well. If you were to incrementally open the awning, and push on the arms, do all three of them feel as if they have the same tension on the tarp? Try again at various stages of opening. Focus before and after where it tends to bind up. If no, likely one of the arms has failed or partially failed. The next check has some risk and you should have two beefy helpers. Open the awning 100% fully and carefully mark where each arm bolts are attached to the leading edge. Open, the arms should have most of their spring tension released. Place ladders under the leading edge to support the awning leading edge. Tie them WELL to the awning leading edge for security and support. Cautiously remove one arm bolt at the leading edge and verify you can handle any remaining spring tension. If yes, untie the arm, and manually check the spring tension increases more or less lineally as you push it in the closing direction. You will be pushing directly towards the arm upper attachment point. You only need to push it part way to know if the spring closer is operating smoothly and with increasing tension. As you move towards the trailer, the spring arm resistance will increase greatly. Don't even try to go further than you can handle those increasing forces. The elbow will be closing and the action should be smooth. If so, all is good. Reattach the arm to the leading edge as marked. Tighten its bole and repeat for other two arms. This will identify if one of your arms is defective. If the above is inconclusive, then likely you have a motor/gear top spool issue and I do not recommend you doing further testing yourself. Time to get it to Girard experienced technician. I hope this helps. Hopefully other owners with this awing have additional ideas or any concerns about the above. If the above does not id the problem, I'm at a loss as well. GJ

I have the CareFree unit and as others have previously stated "It for sure isn't". That awning is THE most time intensive frustrating bugger I have worked on Ollie. I hope that your Girard 750 is much less so. Three cautions: Awning arms have tremendous torque and if not very securely roped down when doing service can get away from you in an instant. If it does, it will "Break it's back". I made this mistake and have one new arm. Be sure to read the owners manual and hopefully Girard has videos as well. I watched all the Carefree video's except one. See Item 1 above. All awnings stretch. So don't lower the back corner to cause rain to avoid falling off the awning near the entry door. Over a couple of seasons It will stretch the fabric and then it will not roll up square on the tube. When that happens you'll have a problem rolling up the tarp. I found out that this is a great way to have an opportunity to buy a new awning tarp. And also to learn about Item 2 and then Item 1 above. Needless to say, I really dislike working on my awning! As John D. says "Lots of bad words"......... GJ

JD: Did you remove the Mechanical/Electrical/Gas section from the box inside or outside of your Ollie Cabin? Great pictures. Thank you. GJ

James some question for understanding: When you look at the rolled up canopy, is it cleanly stacked or is it "barber poling". (I.E. not cleanly stacked by walking up/down the roller as it retracts?) When rolled up, is the canopy evenly rolled on the roll? I.E. the roller is longer than the width of the canopy. There should be some unused roller space as a result and it should be equally split on each end of the roller. Do you have a way to check the amp draw and voltage at the Motor? How does this compare with the O&M specifications? About how many times have you used the canopy? Did it work well each of those times? Are each of the arm bolts secure and not slipping? One end will have adjustment and if that bolt on one of the arms is slipping, it could prevent the canopy from keeping "Square" and bind the effort to extend. This would not be a problem on retract though. GJ

Two possible tongue in cheek answers: With my hearing that is a moot question! 🙂 My vision is far superior to my hearing. 🙂

When brake inconsistencies pop up, one of the basic and easy to do checks is to measure the amperage of power going to each brake actuator (magnet). If they are all the same, then it eliminates them from the stew. If you find that one or more of them are not drawing the amps (3 amps for our model and likely yours) per brake, then the temperature of the drums on the other side will be elevated. I fought the same problem as you did and ultimately my problem was that the brakes on the street side were not adjusted properly. Likely by the dude doing the annual brake service. Oh.... sorry.... that was me. Once i tightened them up about 20 clicks the temp's equalized and the brakes work great. PS: years ago, JD suggested (and I implemented) the removal of the Ollie rim fat "hubcaps". It makes getting a direct temp reading of the rotors SO much easier. Also, it makes inspection of the grease cap (is it still there) or adjusting the spindle nut with the tire still installed (but off the ground) possible as well. And at $9 for the little hub cap plastic cover no longer necessary it saves a few $$ too.

As such, one could logically deduce that the refrigerator is on a different circuit, and OTT has run the wire to it in such a way that it passes behind the sink. Should this be the case, when I upgrade my refrigerator down the road, I will have the ability to better consider routing of power to the frig. I'll look hard at replacing this line in such a manner that it does not even transit this potentially wet area. GJ

That's a great idea. Which brand has worked for you? GJ

These bolts are important to at least look at when servicing our propane tanks. Thank you for the reminder! These bolts, are among many hundreds on our travel trailers. Should they loosen and fall down, they likely will escape the confines of the Dog House. Their dropping to the pavement could do some damage as they bounced around and exited the area . Most likely the TV operator would not know when this happens due to having two rubber security straps still in place. However, finding the now lost bolts along the highway could certainly be a PITA. Should this happen, I would have wished that I had been reminded of a very simple way to ensure at least that these bolts didn't run away from home. So, again I thank you for bringing up the topic of loose dog house cover fixing bolts, and now how to avoid their roadside loss as well. Mahalo, GJ

Where I have bitter ends of bolts sticking out with extra threads showing, I like the idea of giving them the "Vice Grip Nut Retainer" trick. Best to do so about 1/4" from the bitter end so that should you need to remove the nuts/washers and lock washers you can drive the nut off and reinstall another new one on clean and pretty much undamaged old threads. The obvious advantage of having a means to retain the hardware, is that should you notice its loose, you just need to tighten things up.... with a bit of Locktite as suggested. The alternatives are to either double nut (more weight and cost) or center punch the bolt end to make nut loss, and replacement more difficult. But the VGNR approach costs nothing and saves time, adds no weight, and prevents loss of hardware in the first place. Good reminder so THANKS! GJ

Spot on. Impact during difficult times will be that OTT and other OEM's will be scouting for batteries and the price for their product will be higher than Winnebago's making the Winnebago travel trailers/campers less expensive by comparison. Would behoove OTT to set up a preferred supplier with companies like Battleborn and Victron. GJ

Under the refrigerator?

This is our pre-departure check list. It is printed on both sides and one has inside trailer and the other copy has outside trailer highlighted. This allows us to remember where respectively they STAY ...... and eliminated "who lost it" discussions. Sending as a word document so you can edit it for your trailer. More than a few things have changed since Hull 342 hatched. GJ CHECKLIST 2023 OE2 Pre-Departure Check Lists (25 NOV 2022 Version).docx

This is our first trip arrival and service check list. It has all the items that I do when taking our Ollie out of deep winter storage. Hope this is helpful. PS: I have sent ours as a word document so you can update it as you desire for your needs. Some of our 2018 items will not apply to your rig. GJ CHECKLIST 2023 OLLIE ARRIVAL AND SERVICE CHECKLIST (11 MARCH 2023 Version).docx

5 years ago I did the same thing with 3M VHB Heavy Duty Mounting tape (Amazon.com). I very carefully leveled the dispenser over the kitchen counter area with my six inch level and it has been in place faithfully after many miles. That was my first effort not to use screws and mounting an item in Ollie. About a year later, I was sitting at the dinette and noticed that the dispenser was tilted. First thought was "Drats that VHB tape is slipping". Tried to push it back "level" again. Nope. That tape is tenaciously adhered. Problem is that when I installed the dispenser, Ollie was not level. DUHHHHHH... (Picture Homer Simpson with Ice Cream Cone on forehead.) RECOMMENDATION: Don't use very much of that tape. Really! One little strip is all you need for your kitchen paper towel or magnetic cooking utensil or knife holder. QUESTION: Anybody have any thoughts how to remove a VERY WELL adhered dispenser without creating a giant divot in the inner hull? GJ

JD: I also really like:

Mike and CnC: Exactly my thoughts and procedures as they echo the Battleborn guidance. The intent of my post was to get just such feedback. That said, the advice and procedures stated are only for OUR Battleborn based systems. Other manufacturers have their procedures to be followed. The very reason it makes sense (as all three of us did!) to always state what battery manufacturer and size/model we are talking about. Especially for Lithionics that vary quite quite bit from Battleborn, especially in the topic of cold weather unattended storage requirements. . GJ

Back to that engineer's perspective: JD: Love it! All: We have safety chains/cables up front on Ollie to keep it with the TV during an OOPs. Might be a good idea to have a safety strap on the bikes themselves that is tied to Ollie's frame. At least should there be an OOPs, it will stay with you. GJ

I am a new Litho user so this is my dumb question(s) response: The idea of draw-down and recharge past "Resting Full Charge" on to equalization level is to ensure that all the cells are "together" voltage wise. For our Battleborns (3 Each 100AH = 300 AH Total), and charging at 60 amps, I was advised to charge up to 13.7 (RFC) and continue charging with our Progressive Dynamic's 60 amp charger for 30 minutes/ battery = 90 minutes. It will peak out at 14.7 and stay there for the equalization process. At that point, shut off the charger and it will settle back to RFC of 13.7 volts and all cells will be at that voltage allowing use of 100% of the installed batteries. The idea is to over charge for equalization purposes periodically. Bill's question and responses above went "Tilt" in pea brain so, I can't help but ask: Is there a reason to take it all the way down to the Low Voltage Cutoff (LVC)? Wouldn't just say 30% Status of Charge (SOC) do just as well? GJ and other new Litho's are a pondering......

At first when I read your response, I was sad face due to bike damage and trip interruptions. Then I was happy face when it was close to home and no damage to others property or person. What many of us, my self included, lacking was a full understanding how ROUGH the trailer contents inside the trailer in the attic or even on the bed at the aft of Ollie is while traveling. My eye opener came when I put my paraglider on the bed at back. I somehow bounced it off there and onto the floor. And it had been fully wedged in. When I place it at the front end of the bed, it travels quite nicely. Further back past the spare tire is true war zone as far as damage to things and stresses forced upon the cargo, tire or bikes back there. Owners contemplating putting anything back there should take a look at the massive amount of metal that keeps the spare tire in place. That was not designed by accident. Our spare tire weighs about the same as an E-bike. But with two and several feet of lever arm.... Let's just say that it would not have a chance on a trip to Alaska or for that matter just about anywhere off road. For grins I Googled Travel Trailer Bike rack Fails and a few others below. From RV Net Forum: https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/27780211/print/true.cfm Some interesting fails. That said, I found one solutions that as an engineer I really liked, but for sure would add a couple of gas shocks to take the load off when loading/unloading: GJ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ And to round this out with a video for the youngsters try this one: GJ

Vic: From an Engineer's perspective, the ultra long moment arm of the assembly loaded with two heavy E-Bikes gives me concern for even good highway use. However, with the G-Forces induced by rough roads, and worse if taken off-road, my concern rises to grave. Under such conditions, be advised that: Due to the moment arm length and heavy load, that it would be prudent to counter balanced (by additional front of trailer loads) to somewhat restore your Ollie's great antisway characteristics somewhat. There is a significant potential for your added hitch, and/or the OTT components supporting it to unexpectently fail. I highly recommend your shortening the moment arm to a minimum and reduce the load if possible. As pictured this design IMHO is an accident looking and waiting for the worst possible opportunity to fail. GJ

Our trip started and ended in Houston. If fuel prices this year are like last year..... Bring a really big wallet. That said, our trip was worth every penny and was OUTSTANDNG! GJ

Thanks Craig. Many thanks. Also, nice wire racks! GJ

Please do confirm the number of feet to do them all. Thanks GJ