Geronimo John

i tried that, and did't like the results. So I just added several inches of 1/2" cpvc pipe under the nut to get it up over the obstructions. Either way easy fix. GJ

Now that's a good understatement. Your post has generated several concepts that frankly need a relook: The need to have the regulator higher than we had envisionated. (A Geronimo John word) Having enough hose to reduce hose stress especially during tank removal for refill. Using street elbows to get the hose traveling in the right direction from the regulator. Knowing that there is a second set of holes on the regulator. Creative security for our propane gear. Part of the service PITA is that the regulator itself is in the way as the tank installation centerlines are a bit too close. We have room to spare, but all the "OEM Purchased" components are set up for the "standard" set up where space is very critical. We have space to spare. Mount the regulator away from the threaded rod sufficient so as to allow the tightening of the rod handle without hitting or being close to the regulator! And now I'm thinking that the geometry of our OE2 dog house propane hoses and regulators may be space efficient, but it sure does not do us any favors when changing tanks when we have to do a Up and Over maneuver with the tanks. IMO, doing so always is a small PITA. I think we can concoct a better design as we are blessed with space under the hood of the dog house. My assumption is to reuse the tank base, rod, and horizontal tank tie-downbar. Then to focus on the regulator support. From almost 4,000 miles from our Ollie, I'm going to plant a seed to attract some flamng arrows. What if we: A. Modified the regulator bracket to attach to the verticle threaded rod to have two attachment points on the rod and a regulator bracket so as to put the regulator out of the way for service and high enough to be above the liquid level. Double nut one set of the attachment points on the threaded rod to do so. In effect the regulator's location would be fixed. B. Incorporate into the design a simple way to keep the tanks locked down that can be easily removed for service, light and uses a pad lock. C. Increase the hose lengths to facilitate service. D. Use street brass fittings to align the hoses to the direction needed to increase hose bend radius. GJ T Fromthe picture, the 30 pound tanks diameter has reduced a more restricted space for the regulator.

PS: It appears that one of your hoses is relatively new and the other is likely a 2016 OEM. May want to update the older one. GJ

Chris: Many of us fully remove the tank hold down bar when filling our propane tanks. I would prefer not to have the regulator support angle above the tank hold down bar. Doing so would subject the hoses to additional stress at every tank fill. That said, I appreciate your warning. I think that I will add two jamb nuts below the tank hold down bar (One on each side of the regulator support angle) to "fix" the location of the regulator thereby reducing stress on the hoses during survice. Do you think that would solve the concern? GJ

I keep it simple and fast: 6" torpedo level, slap it on the entry door threashold for fore/aft. For starboard/port move the level 12" into the entrance. 1/4 bubble is close enough for us. If the refer decides not to work at 1/4 bubble, then it will be my excuse to get an inverter one. Gizmology is great, but can be a PITA too. My torpedo has yet to sink our Ollie! GJ

Hey JD! I resemble that slight! I use a 6" torpedo level. Don't need the accuracy of a foot long torpedo! Besides the only foot long I get is at COSTCO for $1.50. LOL

If so, we are a minority of two! GJ

Exactly! But short cycling is not the same as Power OFF and then Power ON on a regular basis. Short cycling does not shut down the mother board. Power On Power Off takes the mother board all the way OFF. It would be like the difference of starting a car, letting it cool, restart, let it cool forever. Something will give out sooner. For this unit, my concern would be the unknowns to the mother board and start/run capacitor with so many power on/power off cycles. Will it age it at an accelerated rate? Will it be fine? Only time will tell. GJ

In our trailers there is very little that is level, square or symmetrical. And it is amazing how well it is done. When Art and I were making front wardrobe shelves for our OE2's, I "Ass-U-M'ed" that the template for his would work in mine. Nope. I failed to remember the above mantra. GJ

That works well for those that don't have their master switch in there. GJ

Yep, and no nuts to lose either!

Roger on the newer sliding trays having double latches. Likely more new ones than older ones like ours. On the deletion of the aluminum angle: Don't know as my Ollie is on your side of the pond. But possible. But I seem to recall that the geometry of the area was such that just a bolt and nut was not doable. My guess is that for our vintage of sliding trays Horace figured it out and needed the aluminum angle to make it work. I would wager one of Art's home brews on that! On using a bolt and wing nut: I would prefer using a Rev-Nut if it will fit. One less thing to not get lost (nut), Besides when leaving Ollie for some time, I would like it taking some time to open the drawer from an anti-theft perspective. Kind of like removing the fuse from the front jack. Make hooking up a 600# tongue a PITA.... go next door to the SOB and steal that one. GJ

Owners: Mike and Carol’s “Battery Box Separation” thread well addresses the battery box structural securement to the frame and hull. My intent of this post is to re-look at the battery tay and straps and their securement. Despite our OEM straps being VERY tight, twice I found one of them had gone slack and come loose from the tray hook hole. Not good. I am starting this separate thread to focus on how to ensure that our OEM tray and batteries “stay put”. So basically, I would like to learn more about how the tray is mounted and then how to super contain our batteries in the tray. I would very much appreciate your sharing your thoughts on how the battery box embed plate and straps do their job. Some questions follow: · How is the battery box embed plate attached to the structural member below? · What’s you guess as to the dimensions of the embed plate? · Are all battery sliding tray fasteners buck-stopped by the embed plate? · I assume that the embed plate is aluminum. Can it be tapped for additional hold-down bolts. If yes, what bolt length will work best? · Can you share your DIY solution? GJ PS: As far as the tray slide coming open, I like Horace's (Hull 93 Maverick) Dec 17, 2020 idea. A couple of these would increase security and would prevent movement should the slide fail. My upgrades to his idea would be to use a Riv-Nut in place of the nut and washer. Maybe also pop rivet the aluminum angle to the tray sheet metal. Combined, less parts to get lost when doing battery checks and service. Thanks GJ

I SUSPECT that the lean out is to facilitate water drainage should a seal fail. I support your thought that the advantagee of a slight lean in would out-weigh potential negatives of a seal failure. The amount of the lean out could for sure facilitate the failure of the rivets. The support member as you have: with just one bolt (as pictured) could easily allow the top of the "stiff leg" to move out there by increasing lean and failure. Suggest adding a second bolt above the shown one to better fix (Lock in) the angle of tilt once properly adjusted. GJ

About 2 miles. Ben there done that 20 years ago. I now do a FULL bearing and brake service before each season. Hint. 🙂 GJ

Reallly good idea! Yep weight and G-forces will tend to find weak parts. At least your Litho weight is way under what the OEM's were. We now have seen frame fractures and battery boxes being damaged by trailers likelly exceeding their design limits in one way or another. Just a reminder that stiff Frames/Springs/Shocks and high tire pressures are things to avoid or at least mitigate where we can. GJ

Crazy Horse asked if by chance you have Alcon's? I told him to mind his own business. GJ

My wife and I had purchased a lightly used Jayco UDST pop-up with a single torsion axle. We completely rebuilt all the systems above the axle. We departed SLC for a month long tour along the west coast and northern tier border and back to SLC. As part of our rebuild, I had new tires and a pro inspected the torsion axle. Axle appeared good. Probem with torsion axles is they look good until they are not. Ours failed 100 miles from Reno NV on a Thursday before a 3 day holiday weekend. When they fail, they scruffed off our new tires the no time at all. No warning, on side of road, with 100 miles of nothing. No options but getting three replacement tires at a Super Walmart and scruffing them all to bare cords to get to an axle shop. Limped into Reno just before the axle shop was to close. Learned that a new torsion axle would be 7 days out. Saw they had lots of steel and welders so while waiting until Tuesday for the shop to reopen, I designed a replacement axle subframe to support an in stock Dexter 3500 axle. With annual bearing service, it is a lot easier to tell when a standard axle is going south and to leave you on the highway. Torsions....... not so easy. Hence my dislike for torsion axles. GJ

Chris: Some thoughts about the standard wet bolts vs step bolts for trailer springs: Standard bolts generally used for light duty trailer shackles using a 9/16" diameter shackle bolts without a zirk fitting. Step Wet Bolts Bolts are used for heavy duty axles where the step is necessary for proper function with bronze bushings. I believe that all of the OTT trailers, and the most other heavy duty trailer spring shackle bolts are step bolts. Yet Alcon is using a standard bolts. This got me wondering about the topic. Wet bolts sandwich the springs between the subframe mounting "tabs". With the step, the step bolts mechanically limit the clamping of the springs. The result is that the bolt head is prevented from turning in the mounting tabs by two means. First, the splines. Secondly the friction on the tabs by the step and the nut itseld. As a result of the design, the spring always has some clearance allowing it to more freely rotate relative to the bolt center line. My concerns are: The Alcans could easily be over tightened thereby forcing the mounting tangs against the springs. This process would result in the spring binding in the tabs and facilitate the stripping of the bolt splines thus creating a "spun bolt". A spun bolt will act as a crude bearing causing the mounting tab holes to quickly wear. And the repair is rather difficult. Been there myself. Use of Nylock's in high torque situtations often results in the Nylock becoming impossible to remove with hand tools. To do so, one will likely want access to air tools or electric grinders to literally cut the nut off. Trying to do so with a hack saw and punch will be tedious, especially it appears that their bolts are very high quality grade 8. As such, failure of a wet bolt will complicate life a lot. The only way I would want standard bolts for a splined application is if the bolt head head was fixed using a Hex Capture Washer. After two years of working with OTT Jason, this approach ended up being the only acceptable long term repair for a spun bolt spline. DIY - Dexter EZ-Flex Center Bolt Spline Repair (20 APR 2024).docx What are your thoughts about Alcon not using step bolts on our springs? Thanks GJ

My likes and not likes: LIKES: Removeable floor for outside cleaning. Big size refrigerator 6'8" ceilings Ducted AC/Heat Shower (Dry Bath) NOT LIKES: Rubber torsion axles. This is a deal breaker for us. Had one on a Jayco, will NEVER have another) Low sewer connection Hose storage (Where would you put the 90 degree connection and all the other little things we carry in ours?) Front window (Rock Magnet) Front upper window (Heat Load and future leak potential) Upper cabinet doors (Prefer OTT's options) Convection/Micro at knee height Pantry (As where is it?) TV (Placement on side of trailer. Not viewable from anywhere as displayed in video Dry Shower (Takes up too much space needed for storage) For us prefer OTT's design Black mold looking accents in cabinet tops Several storage areas should have a means for installing shelving Overall, for a first production model, I think their design decisions will appeal to many first time owners. But their design needs some adjustments, just as what The Olliver's did with their first OE... make some and put them out for review and upgrade suggestions. In a few years they would have a trailer that could compete head to head. But with plans of smaller and larger versions, frankly it does not appear that such a slow rollout and improvement of this model is their game plan. In a nut shell: I would not swap my 2018 OTT OE2 for a brand new one of theirs. GJ

I have since updated the post. The 5" increase is from my Houghton A/C height. JD's remeasured and it is 3.25" higher than the Dometic Penguin II. In our case, there is no way I could back it into our storage area. Especially since there is a ramp at the entrance and that kicks the area behind Ollie's axles up even further. So if height of your storage areas is close, it would be wise to double check. GJ

OH MY! I'll keep a better eye on the grandkiddo's for sure now. Maybe raise them all when they are around.

Once a year I would spend an hour in Houston and Dallas to remove the exterior screen and motor/fan to get at both sides of the condensor to get the big stuff. Then gently vaccum pollen and smaller stuff from both sides. Then to use a coil cleaner, and light water pressure to rinse from the inside all the caustic cleaner and any fines. In Salt Lake Citu UT, I only needed to vaccuum the outside and gently rinse. Since we only use the Ollie A/C sparingly, I have not popped the hatch yet. Need to add that to my "Do Lis" for this summer. Thanks for the reminder!

Yep. It is sweet for sure. As stated. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ YES! As stated in our combined list of limitations (Not needing a Heat Pump, Height and Very High Temperatures), I agree. In fact I'll take it a step further. Within those limitations, I would also state "Even for those willing and able to modify the Houghtons", this is a great unit to strongly consider." Then to take it a step further I would add "And at a much more realistic cost!" +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ JD: As far as using a hose to spray thru the condenser coil to try to flow the gunk out the weeps.... You can try it. But it certainly is not effective in all of the places I have lived and maintained. That is why the vast majority of outside coils use an updraft design. It leaves the gunk on the outside of the coils where it can be gently cleaned. General design rule is to provide the Technicians access to both sides of both coils. This is esssential for proper maintenance.... that is necessary to maintain the unit's efficiency. So I stand firm that it is at least a NI, and for a most a PP. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ok, you asked for it! 🙂 As a ME, there is a lot to like about this unit. And just a few things to wish for. But the two I identified above are not one of them. In the video he mentioned the capability to hard wire a T-stat. The water wheel disbursal of the condensate appears to minimize the amount of liquid going over the side. That is close enough to strike out that wish item. Now for my video take away notes: (G = Good, NI = Not Ideal, PP = Potential Problem for some owners) PP Some owners have height restrictions. This unit "stands tall" at about 14", a good 5" taller than our OEM Dometic Houghton. A hard deal killer for some owners for sure. Also it will have a greater challenge with wind drag at highway speeds and lower hanging limbs and bridges. But if you follow an 18 wheeler box trailer, they will clear all that out of your way. G Dual fans G Squirrel cage supply air fan G All copper coils and tubing G Brushless motors G Cap tube control system. EXCELLENT. G Shroud not necessary to test run the unit. Nice for those doing maintenance. NI Access to condenser coil for cleaning will require disassembly of condenser coil housing. Not so good for maintenance. PP for those who need a/c where tree and other floating gunk is common. NI Outstanding efficiency at lower setting’s simply due to oversizing the condenser coil and very efficient fan motors. But there it is only putting out about 5,000 BTU's of cooling. Good at high settings. NI Per the video graphic, the high setting of the unit requires 1337 watts of "real power" and another 294 watts of apparent power for a total generator load of 1631 watts. This is still better than what non variable speed units can do and is low enough that most quality 2,000 watt generators can accommodate for this unit as it has a near zero surge on start-up or compressor cycling. G The medium and low settings of the unit have higher efficiency ratings and less impact on your power supply. In fact, they are OUTSTANDING PP The unit on max setting only produces 9,000 BUT of a/c. On a max sun, 100+ degree F Day where we often camp, that low output will take more time to cool down an OE2. Would suggest starting the unit on max an hour before arriving at your camp site. Your spousal unit will appreciate you're thinking ahead. If an owner does not have a problem with that 14" height and does not camp in extreme heat and sun locations, I think that this tested unit is an excellent choice. But as exterior temp increases beyond what 9,000 BTU can handle it would be a challenge. For many owners just starting the cool down before occupancy, it would mitigate the lower capacity. With a larger compressor and minor mods to increase the capability it would become an outstanding choice even for me! GJ