Rivernerd

Good to know!

Yes, and yes. Water quality and pressure vary widely from campground to campground.

We have the Truma Aquago water heater in our Hull #1291. I am impressed by its performance so far. That said, the $1K quote just to replace the plastic tank confirms my concern that Truma repairs are remarkably expensive. You can't buy parts, as all work must be done by an authorized Truma repair center. That is why I have determined that, should our Truma Aquago ever develop an issue that requires repair by a Truma service center, I will replace it with a RecPro or a Fogatti. Right now, the RecPro is $410: https://www.recpro.com/rv-tankless-water-heater-on-demand-hot-water-heater/ The Fogatti is $500: https://www.amazon.com/FOGATTI-Controller-InstaShower-Optimized-Performance/dp/B093Z6HQX4 Even if you need to hire a plumber to install a replacement tankless RV water heater, your total bill may not reach $1K. And, you will then have a brand new water heater. Going forward, I believe you can get parts for both the RecPro and the Fogatti, so anyone can do repairs.

Please report what is ultimately done to repair your Truma water heater, by whom, and what it cost. That will be good intel for others (like me) who own Truma water heaters. Good luck!

Wow! Ingenious design. Wish I could buy one to ease winter tire changes.

Where?

Unfortunately, "par for the course" for most insurance companies. I am a retired litigation attorney. 35 years representing insurance companies taught me to buy insurance for major risks (like home and auto), because such a loss could be devastating. But I avoid insuring minor risks, the consequences of which won't kill the budget (like roadside assistance, car repairs, extended warranties, etc.) Insurance claims managers are repeatedly schooled to "Just Say No" to claims if at all possible. When it comes to small claims (like a roadside assistance tow, for example), their mantra is "JUST SAY NO." They get downgraded or fired for allowing claims. They get promoted for saving $$$ at the expense of wasting your time (like calling a cheaper tow company far away from where you broke down, and letting you wait for hours). If I ever need help while on the road, I find the closest shop or tow service and pay "the freight." In the long run, it is cheaper, and less exasperating, than roadside assistance insurance. Even major loss insurance is highly profitable for the carriers. How do you think insurance companies can afford those expensive TV ads (think Allstate and State Farm)?

Our 2022 Elite II has the Truma Varioheat furnace. The Truma ducting is smaller, more substantial and, from what I can see in the photos, better installed. In addition to the mods detailed above, I recommend you consider adding a return air vent from the bath to the underside of the front dinette seat. Our Truma Varioheat system came with that additional return air vent. It really helps the flow of heated air.

Particularly now that we know the IRS has determined that "donations" are, in fact, deductible!

Interesting. A "donation" of a specified amount gets you a hardware device and a year of service. I do not recommend taking a charitable deduction for such a "donation" on your income taxes. EDIT 2/02/24: Given the IRS' determination of 501(c)(3) status, I stand corrected.

During our Idaho winters, we don't use our Lithionics batteries "at least every 3 months." I typically park the trailer in early November and don't use it again until April, sometimes May. That is 6+ months. We also get "extreme low temperatures" (below 14 degrees F) during that time period. It is not uncommon to get night time lows below 0 F. For these reasons, I leave the trailer connected to shore power during winter storage, as recommended in Lithionics Battery Storage Procedure Rev. 7-1, to ensure that there is sufficient power to keep our external battery heaters working. But, I disconnect shore power in early February (about now), run the batteries down to Reserve Voltage Cutoff (RVC), then re-connect shore power to charge the batteries back up. Lithionics Storage Procedure Rev.7-1.pdf

Lithionics, the manufacturer of the LiFePO4 batteries in our Elite II instructs to remove them from the trailer for winter storage if power is not available to keep the batteries charged in cold temps.

If you must store the trailer in a cold environment without access to power, then you should remove the battery from the battery box and store it in a temperature-controlled environment (like your home).

These are big improvements. I have had to replace batteries because, in the rush to get settled in camp after a long drive, I forgot to turn ours off! And, on ours there is no indication that it is on, other than the switch, which is hard to see.

Correct.

We are satisfied. As noted by others, it is quite useful when leveling the trailer side to side, as you can see on your phone in your tow vehicle how close to level you are. Then, of course, the front-to-back leveling is done after disconnecting the tow vehicle.

Since 2022 Oliver has offered the Lithium Platinum Package, which provides 630 Ah of LiFePO4 battery capacity. Some who regularly post on this forum have made that choice, and seem happy with it. In your shoes, I would also choose to spend the extra $200 to install 600 Ah of LiFePO4 battery capacity. I would also install a compatible 3KW inverter/charger.

As Ollie-Haus implied, the "future use" would be addition of a DC/DC charger, which enables you to take advantage of the otherwise wasted power spun off by your tow vehicle alternator. With a DC/DC charger, you eliminate the risk that you will burn out the tow vehicle alternator (which can happen with LiFePO4 batteries, because they can pull so much power).

The Epoch LiFePO4 battery is a better long-term value than the Trojan AGMs. AGM/lead acid life span is 4-7 years from date of manufacture, period. LiFePO4 life span is more like 10 years, depending on number of discharge/recharge cycles and proper maintenance. You should get at least twice the life from a LiFePO4 battery than from a new set of AGMs.

The Lithionics batteries Oliver installs have either internal self-heaters, or an external heating mat, to keep the batteries above freezing. AGM/lead acid batteries don't need this protection. It appears that the Epoch 460Ah battery has an internal heater, which makes it a solid value.

See my post dated January 26, 2023 above. I would add a vent under the forward dinette seat, not one in the aft section across from the main return air vent. The forward vent encourages air flow throughout the cabin area, whereas an additional aft return air vent would short-circuit air flow, limiting it more to the aft part of the trailer.

2". I expect that is what Oliver had in stock, as it is the same size as the supply air vents. One could easily substitute a 4" Valterra vent for even better air flow. EDIT 3/9/254: 2" is incorrect. The Oliver installed vents are 3". My bad!

As a retired attorney, "I rest my case." We were attracted to the "old" Oliver business model precisely because we didn't have to have hours of our time wasted, and our patience sorely tried, by the "barracuda" dealer's efforts to extract every last penny of profit from the deal. We did not dread the old Oliver purchase process, as we have every time we needed to buy a new vehicle. We are glad we already have our Hull #1291.

I could not find the exact same product on the market today. But, any 4" white round plastic vent cover will work, like this one available from Amazon for about $10: https://www.amazon.com/Pack-Covers-Plastic-Protective-Ventilation/dp/B0822VXRNQ?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A2KUAC0DBLTG46&th=1 Good luck!

I concur. That is why I added 4" return air vents in the closet and under the front dinette seat. (Our Hull #1291 came with a return air vent in the bathroom.) The return air vent under the front dinette seat is particularly important, because it channels more warm air through the "basement" of the street side of the trailer, and ultimately back to the furnace on the curb side. This is important not only for furnace airflow balance, but to help keep the tanks and plumbing in the "basement" from freezing. In my opinion, Oliver should install such return air vents in all new trailers. It would add little to production costs, yet would make Olivers a much better "4-Season trailer," as Oliver aggressively advertises.