Frank C

I’ve had very good success using diamond grit hole saws on the Ollie for making large holes. Available at most hardware stores. A bit pricey but they work very well on fiberglass/gel coat. The diamond grit hole saw makes a very nice clean cut, and doesn’t cause any chipping or cracking of the top gel coat layer. The center pilot bit creates a nice starter hole to keep the hole saw from shifting while drilling.

This is what you need. A neutral - ground bonding plug. It’s a plug that ties the neutral and ground lines together on the generator. This gets plugged into one outlet on the generator and then the trailer gets plugged into the other outlet on the generator. Or, if you are comfortable doing basic electrical wiring you can also make your own using a standard replacement plug and a copper jumper wire as some owners have done. Southwire Company LLC Neutral-Ground Bonding Plug https://a.co/d/gkhoMF0

Girard does have a couple of special features on some awning motor controllers that are normally utilized when the awning is an installation on a motor home, to prevent driving off with the awning still extended. The Girard manual details both a parking brake off retract, and an ignition on retract option. Maybe Oliver figured out a way (accidentally or intentionally) to utilize one of those features by tying into the 7 pin harness running light connection.

Happy 4th of July to all! 🧨💥🎆 🇺🇸

Furnace had been functioning normally for the last 4 years with no issues until this latest trip on a cold morning. Upon turning the thermostat to FURNACE setting, the furnace blower would start and I could hear the burner ignite. Hot exhaust gas from the burner was exiting the exterior exhaust port as usual, but after a few seconds the burner would shut off, blower still running, then the burner would ignite again a few seconds later, then shut off again, then a 3rd time for the burner igniting and shutting off, then the entire furnace including the blower would shut down. No errors on the thermostat display but the red LED on the circuit board inside the Atwood exterior furnace access panel shows a pattern of 3 blinks, then a 3 second pause, then 3 blinks, etc. The troubleshooting info found on the label inside the cover says that error code means “ignition lockout fault”. Here’s what I’ve checked so far: -I made sure the thermostat set point is high enough (I tried 72, 75 and 80 degrees) so that the furnace should be running continuously since the ambient temperature inside the camper was around 60 degrees. -Propane tank is full, and propane is flowing to all other gas appliances (stove and Truma). -I let the stove on for a bit to purge any air out of the propane line. -Removed and inspected the sail switch, no fuzz, spiderwebs or lint buildup. Sail moves freely and I can hear the switch activate. -Hit the OFF/RESET switch on the furnace and waited 1 hour (troubleshooting manual mentions both a soft timed lockout and a hard lockout that requires reset. -DC power is good, battery voltage at 13.2 volts (connected to shore power so batteries are charging). Any thoughts on what else to check before I give Atwood and/or Oliver a call?

I used sharkbite connectors to go from the braided supply lines to the original plastic plumbing lines. I got all the parts at Lowe’s.

Ouch! That must have been really terrifying to experience. Hope everyone is ok. Stuff can be replaced, people can’t be. When you are comfortable discussing what happened, your experience may be helpful to others towing.

That plastic connection at the top of the hot water heater (Truma) seems to be a common failure point due to vibration when towing. After seeing other owners experience that failure I pro-actively replaced my Truma fittings with brass connections and braided flexible supply lines (to absorb any vibration). Sharkbite “push to connect” fittings used to make the transition to the original plumbing.

Yep, that key code # is really common on the Southco latch/lock. It’s available on Amazon too (link below). Mine are the same key code # as the other Ollie owners have posted. And if you search Amazon for Southco key, that M1-545-4 code is the only code that shows up for that style key for our hatch locks. I bought spares, along with spare entry door keys, to keep on my backup keychains. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074KXP4HV?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Not just trusting Ollie owners, that Southco brand of access door latch/lock is used commonly across the entire RV industry.

It’s one of these accessories (link below), plugged into one of the AC outlets on the generator. Generators need one of these to tie neutral to ground. Otherwise the EMS in the trailer will show an error. https://a.co/d/4AhQHFx

A lot more rotating mass and more unsprung weight (both of which are undesirable) added to each wheel with those Centramatic balancers compared to just balancing using traditional wheel weight methods.

The Carnton House civil war site tour in Franklin is worth a visit if you’re a history fan.

Very sorry to see this. Your projects and knowledge were always very helpful to the Oliver owner community. I wish you well in the future, prayers for the health issues, and I hope you will continue to contribute to the forum.

I’ve been considering similar upgrades to our 2019 and I think the biggest factor in the equation of upgrade cost vs. resale value vs. cost of buying a new trailer comes down to the labor cost and whether you’ll be doing the work yourself (“free” labor) or paying Oliver or Truma or an RV service center to do the work. As an example, someone recently mentioned they had received a quote from Oliver of over $5,000 to do just the fridge update. Most of that (well over half) was labor cost.

It’s not causing your leak, but the little round ring IS part of the scupper drain. Here’s a pic of the one under our black tank. It’s a small stainless ring with screen, poking through the insulation directly above the outer scupper on the lower hull (same for all of the scuppers on the hull).

Here’s the Truma document in PDF format. I keep a copy on my iPhone in the Books app, along with PDFs for all of the Oliver manuals, other component & accessory manuals, etc. That way I have them available even if I’m somewhere with no cell or Wi-Fi connection AquaGo stuck in clean mode.pdf

I had that problem with the bathroom window on our Oliver. Water actually building up between the panes. The sliding portion was not available separately as a replacement part, so I had to get the entire window from Oliver and replace it. Actually not too hard of a job. Worst part was removing all the old caulk from the fiberglass hull. Here are pics before, during, and after replacement. As another option there are companies that will refurbish the faulty window. At least one other Oliver owner has done that option so hopefully they will reply as well.

Your outer hull should have multiple small metal scupper drains on the underside (see photo) at each lower corner of the hull. These will allow water from leaks or condensation to drain, but it’s better to avoid any water getting in between the hulls in the first place. A seal under the compost toilet would be a good idea.

Glad your issue seems to be resolved. And good to have caught the loose ground. But I don’t think the low voltage at the cigarette lighter was related to the EMS ground. The Progressive Industries EMS is part of the AC shore power input system, separate from the 12 volt DC circuits. The Progressive Industries EMS feeds into the Progressive Dynamics converter/charge controller to charge the batteries. All of the 12 volt systems and accessories are connected directly to the battery 12 volt supply bus bar (through the DC fuse panel) and the DC ground bus bar. You may have unknowingly fixed the issue when you were disconnecting & reconnecting the USB port and cigarette lighter socket. Maybe a slightly corroded terminal contact, etc.

Are you looking to secure the hitch while traveling or while parked? The collar style works for both situations. The big heavy Proven Industries lock only works when parked. I have both 🙂. The Proven lock can double as a boat anchor. https://www.provenlocks.com/products/model-2178-b

This is definitely a big clue. 5 volts is the nominal charging voltage of a USB port to charge connected devices. If you are seeing approximately 5 volts at the adjacent cigarette lighter instead of 12 volts, I would check the wiring between the USB socket and the cigarette lighter to make sure they aren’t incorrectly wired. They may be incorrectly wired in series, or reversed polarity, or the USB charger port may be defective. They should be wired in parallel to the trailer DC power circuit and ground.

The reason Andersen didn’t give you any help is that Andersen doesn’t make the coupler. The hitch coupler is from Bulldog Products. Here’s a link to their contact page. They should be able to help you. https://www.bulldogproducts.net/ContactUs

I think the concern with traveling with the TV in the down position is that, while it may be less stress on the TV plastic case, it will put more stress on the fiberglass hull of the Oliver where the swinging arm bracket mounts to the hull, as the TV tries to swing side to side like a big pendulum while traveling/bouncing down the road.

Just a reminder for anyone buying replacement lug nuts. Make sure you buy the “Bulge Acorn” type for aluminum wheels. I’ve seen a few owners referencing “Acorn” type as replacements, but the acorn type are for steel wheels and have a smaller conical seating surface compared to the bulge acorn type. Aluminum wheels are softer metal than steel wheels and the larger bulge acorn type lug nuts provide a greater seating surface to prevent deformation of the aluminum wheel and loosening.