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Cameron

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Posts posted by Cameron

  1. This is making me sad. I've followed all your posts, read all of your How To instructions and have been amazed at your mods as well as your sage advice to us newcomers. I'd hoped to meet you someday on the road or at a rally to thank you in person for your contributions. You have had a bigger impact on Oliver owners than you'll ever know. I can only wish you well in whatever comes your way in the future. 

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  2. FWIW, I remember during our orientation with Hannah, she cautioned me against using the switch on the hot water heater. She said that if I switched it to electricity, and ran the tank dry, and didn't remember the tank was on electricity, it would burn it out. So, yes, I'm thinking that OTT wants to minimize the chance of operator error resulting in a call to service or complaints. 

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  3. The most important thing I had was my trusty notepad. As I thought of things I needed I'd jot them down. I stopped at Wal-Mart once (or even twice) a day as I was on the road. It was a constant for the first couple weeks. You'll also get great ideas from the forums. For other than daily use type things I would add them to my Amazon basket on a continuing basis, then make a purchase every month or so. After two years I feel that I'm finally getting things set up how I want, but I still have things in my Amazon basket that I need to order. Enjoy!

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  4. Picked up my trailer in July 2020. The tap lights were all good. They only came on when I tapped them, whether or not I had flipped the master switch. Then, one day about a year later, they all mysteriously went dim and stayed on. I opened a ticket and service sent me new ones, including a little rivet gun. I removed the old ones and replaced with the new ones. I discovered the new ones always came on whenever I flipped the master switch. Service told me that they'd changed vendors or something and the lights they sent me were different than the ones installed. They also said that they will go on whenever the master switch is flipped, whether or not I've tapped each individual light. That's just the way the new product works. Hope this helps.

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  5. I have the 3000w inverter but also have the same problem. The on/off switches on both the remote and the inverter don't seem to do anything. The only way I've turned off the inverter is by tripping the breakers, or turning off/on the Lithiums. It's been like that since I got the trailer. It's not really a problem though, so far. 

    Where I store my trailer, the only shore power is from a 120v outlet, and the trailer doesn't seem to want to run off that. The lights flicker. So I turn on the batteries and all is good with both shore power and batteries on. 

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  6. I've rented my 1964 Corvair, and I have rental property. I even rented a spare bedroom in my house for a quick second on AirBnb, but I can't imagine ever renting my Ollie. It's way too personal. No way. But, before I bought my Ollie I did rent a Jayco, an Airstream, and a  Keystone Bullet, all on Outdoorsy. So it was good for me, but no way would I ever put my Ollie out there.

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  7. 2 hours ago, Gliddenwoods said:

    TG2.

    Did not. New to the process. Will do.

    I must stress I am very pleased with all the O staff I have met and do not want to be an unnecessary pain in...

    Thanks.

    It seems that in the modern world, with our modern lingo, "opening a ticket" is the equivalent of saying, "Hey, just want to give you guys a heads up on something." I've opened tickets on minor little things that were really questions more than complaints about the trailer. I think it's how they keep track of customer feedback. Of course, they could just read all the forums (which I know they do sometimes) but that would take a while!

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  8. I use the Google Chromecast at home for streaming, so I got one for the Ollie, plugged it into the Visio HDMI slot, and it works like a charm. I turn on the hotspot on my android phone, which allows the television to connect, then stream whatever I want. I have the lithiums and am able to power the television, microwave and air conditioner off the batteries (not at the same time!).

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  9. Your surge protector is under the rear dinette seat. That's just the box with the electronics. You also have an electronic readout screen inside the rear cabinet, streetside. It displays codes that mean different things. Check out the manual for the code definitions and other operating info. It seems to be a competent surge protector, and you won't need any others.

     

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  10. Welcome! I also struggled to understand all the different systems and how they work with each other. My confusion led me to think that things were broken when they actually just needed a button pushed or setting changed. Definitely call OTT service (they call that "opening a ticket") for any question, or put it up here on the forum. Like they say, there's no such thing as a dumb question.

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  11. This brings up a good topic. I'm in California so I don't have to worry about any weather events. But, soon I'm hoping to start touring other parts of the country that might have hail, tornadoes, hurricanes, etc. If I was out with the Ollie and one of those events was brewing, I'm not sure what I'd do. Seek cover? Try to tie the frame down to a tree? Drive like hell in the opposite direction?

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  12. For what it's worth, here's my story. In mid-2000 I started shopping for my tow vehicle. I narrowed it down to what I have now, and started shopping nationwide using Cars.com. Using email cut down on the silly salesmen antics but sometimes I did have to talk on the phone. I had to ask each dealer to send me a build sheet of the truck I was looking at because sometimes their listings weren't accurate. I finally got my deal in Benton, Arkansas at Everett GMC. Couldn't have been easier. I got a one-way flight from San Francisco to Little Rock and stayed one night in a downtown hotel. (Had a good steak dinner that night too!) My salesman picked me up the next morning at the hotel and drove me 30 minutes to the dealership. I completed a little bit of paperwork, got the keys, and began a fun road trip back to California. Of course, California being California, the DMV required all sorts of stupid stuff (including a smog on a brand new truck!) but I got it registered without a hitch. I think I saved about $4k getting it out of state. Yes, the flight and hotel and fuel on the way home took some of that away, but it was a great trip. I even stopped for a factory tour at Oliver and met Anita. So, the point is, don't be afraid of looking out of state. You might just get a great deal.

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  13. Welcome! I think you'll have lots of questions now, and even more after you pick up your trailer. Believe it or not, the answers to most of your questions are right here in the forum postings. You'll have to search around and dig a bit, but you'll find another owner who's dealt with the same issue. If not, create a new topic post and you'll be sure to get lots of help. There's lots to learn about your new trailer, but with patience and a good attitude you'll be a pro in no time.

    • Like 3
  14. 2 hours ago, Liana said:

    Hi, John, 

    Does this mean you take the connector apart?  We started having this problem recently, I cleaned the contacts with alcohol and applied dielectric grease, to no avail.  We still have the phantom taillights, so I thought the moisture must have gotten inside.  We always keep the plug dangling down, so I am unsure why all of a sudden we're having this issue.

    don't know if this is relevant or not, but i've noticed that if i hit the door lock button on the door handle of my pickup, the rear lights on the Ollie flicker. but if I lock the truck with the key fob, it doesn't do that. my trick is a GMC, yours is a Chevy, so, maybe?

  15. I had a chance to try out the Ollie during our recent publicized heat wave last week. The first day I was boondocking the high was 118. Wow. 

    While driving in the heat, I was very happy to see that all my tires did great, both on my truck and on the Ollie. Believe it or not, I haven't had any air loss in the tires since last summer when I picked it up. It sits most of the time but I have taken it out on a few trips. I've got about 3500 miles on it so far. Attached is a pic of my dash readout of the GMC TPMC system from my truck's dash.

    I wish I had a generator to run the AC for longer periods b/c it was sooooo hot. I've got the Lithium Pro which allows me to run the AC off the batteries, but I do it just for short periods, like 30 to 45 minutes. I'm careful b/c I don't want to run the batteries all the way down while boondocking without a generator. I've never camped with a generator but I'm thinking that at times like this it would be very nice.

    The solar panels, including my 100w portable panel plugged into the external Zamp port, did put juice back into the batteries but no so much that it was like plugging into shore power. They raised my SOC about 15% each day, but then I used that up in the evenings.

    I experimented with trying to cool down the interior during the middle part of the day. No shade. The first day I ran the AC to bring the interior temp down, then shut everything up and left for five hours. When I returned the interior was like an oven! 105 degrees. The next day I kept the bathroom window and the rear window opened a crack and put the fan on at 30 percent blowing out to draw air through the trailer, then left for 5 hours. When I got back it was again very hot inside, but maybe a few degrees cooler than the previous day. So much for that experiment.

    The Norcold fridge performed well. I had it up to 8 and the first day it was maybe too full, but it kept things cold enough. Not very cold, but cold enough not to spoil. The ice was still solid when I returned. I did rig up a little battery powered fan to blow hot air away from the exterior top fridge vent, which I think helped a bit.

    At night I kept the ceiling fan on blowing in (30 percent) and another battery powered fan to blow across the bed and I slept well. 

    So, after testing out the Ollie in 100+ temps, I've decided that I need fridge fans (probably the Fridge Defend as discussed elsewhere on the forums) and also a generator to keep the AC on for longer periods. Also I didn't need to turn on the hot water heater because the fresh water tank warmed up to a cool but comfortable temp for showering.

    hot temp656276.jpg

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