Patriot

John, I stepped in XPLOR this afternoon and checked on our dehumidifier. While inside I noticed that the strong odor of the antifreeze we used to winterize has greatly diminished. I could still detect a slight odor but nothing like it was. So after inserting ear plugs as the alarm as you know is ear piercing and I decided to reattach the RV Safe LP/CO detector. The green light came on in normal and the detector did not go off. 🤞🏻 Our Ollie is parked in our Hangar in the backyard allows us to actually hear the detector if it alarms. I also took @topgun2 suggestion and covered the porcelain throne with Saran Wrap and I also covered grey water drains with a little painters tape. I will let you know if our alarm goes off again as this is week 3 after winterizing. I think leaving two windows open even with our cover on really helped disparate the antifreeze odor. - David

On our recent trip Western loop traveling over the 10% grade on Teton Pass from Victor Idaho to Jackson Hole Wy 5 different times we let our 6.7 V8 diesel engine brake work its magic. I am happy to report it worked flawlessly and I rarely if ever had to use our truck or trailer brakes. I will give Ford credit, they nailed it on their diesel engine braking tech with the new 10 speed transmission. (Edit - We would not have been comfortable traversing the Teton Pass with any other TV). This thread is a good reminder to check your braking systems for sure. Glad you made home safely @jd1923.

Never had an issue with contamination or dirt, I use the OEM black caps on a chain. This method has served us well.

Steve, Very nice install. I purchased and installed these Ely quick connects on my city and fresh tank connectors a few years ago on XPLOR. They are a little pricey but 💯 brass and USA 🇺🇸 made not CCP 🇨🇳 junk. They really do make quick work of hooking up your water sources during take set up or take down of your base camp. One of my top smaller mods for sure. https://www.eleyhosereels.com/products/garden-hose-quick-connectors?_pos=1&_sid=dc579a2e3&_ss=r

I think you will be very happy that you had Alcan do the job. I know I was. Good for you on getting an appt with Lew and his team. 👍🏻

On our recent 48 day trip we used the furnace when we needed at little heat in the mornings and it worked flawlessly. I also think it’s a real good idea to use and run the equipment you have on board. This way you will know it is operating properly. I personally don’t see any need to carry a space heater/space taker and they are not really efficient. One night during our week camping in Yellowstone the temp dropped to 28d we were toasty warm with our furnace. Keeping that Max Air Vent screen and fan blade clean was a regular maintenance ✅ list item especially on this last trip in the dusty dirty windy high deserts of the midwest. I think I cleaned ours twice during our recent trip and again when we arrived back home.

@John Dorrer here is what I used. It worked perfect and only $8. https://www.harborfreight.com/finger-release-ratcheting-pvc-pipe-cutter-62588.html

It will eat up GBs quickly which is why we opted for the unlimited plan on our recent 48 day trip.

No. SL does not offer a prorated plan at least for now. Once you start the new monthly subscription, you can pause it and still use the days left on the plan. After that when you unpause, you pay for another month of use. So for example ours runs out on Nov 2, I paused it upon our return from our western trip. If we want to unpause and use our mini after Nov 2, we pay for another month. edit and update - mid-billing cycle, you will only be charged for the remaining days in that cycle, especially when using the "Roam - 50GB" plan associated with the Mini; this applies to both pausing and unpausing your service.

Bill, Great photos! The fall colors are really popping! Glad you and Debbie got to enjoy a great trip!

This is what I use and I usually get it on sale. It has strong reviews and has worked well for us with the exception of setting off our LP/CO alarm. https://www.lowes.com/pd/SPLASH-Non-Toxic-50-50-Antifreeze-Cooling-Fluid-1-Gallon-For-RVs-Boats-Pools-Ethyl-Alcohol-50F-Burst-Protection/1001303072?store=612&cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-hdw-_-ggl-_-CRP_SHP_LIA_HDW_Online_C-D-_-1001303072-_-local-_-0-_-0&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD2B2W9hRI4Nvwfs2K7-hTSUpLL-r&gclid=Cj0KCQjw4Oe4BhCcARIsADQ0csloYKcIQ04k3NO6UEfmyjY02U09-6gIeVxeIl5hbVkoZO4zZ16R5bkaApkAEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thanks for this report. A trip to Alaska someday has been on our radar. To your point, frost heaving can really make it rough on equipment and an exhausting no fun adventure.

@Dennis and Melissa Not to throw a shadow over your trip plans. As this was a possible contingency trip for us IF our recent 48 day 14 state trip out west fell through due to wild fires. We did a fairly deep dive and learned that the roads in Newfoundland are really in rough shape. Everything from pot holes due to frost heaves to “deep pit holes”. For whatever reason the funding is just not there for road maintenance. If you do go, I would highly recommend a spare leaf pack if you have the OEM dexter 4 leaf pack. We also learned from a few recent Facebook posts that Nova Scotia roads are just are not that great as well. It’s a beautiful area for sure, it’s just too bad the road reports we read on FB from a few Oliver owners were really not good. One person said that as long as you don’t mind dodging pot holes in the roads, you will be fine. 😟 All this said hopefully you can learn from somebody that has recently been up in this neck of the woods this past summer for more updated info. Just wanted to pass on what we have learned. For now, this area a no go for our future trip planning. Glad we did the Western Loop, it was epic. Patriot🇺🇸

Bays fan here they are the best!

No chemist here ha! The customer service rep said their company would replicate the RV anti freeze odor and determine if that’s causing the detector to alarm. She said they have had several calls after people have winterized and immediately there after their CO/LP alarm sounded. I guess we will wait and see what the experts come up with. This is the second time around for me. It was interesting to hear her say they have had multiple calls this week on this exact same issue.

Yes, a design flaw for sure. The rep that I spoke with said here in California we don’t winterize our campers. 🙄 I suggested that they place a cup of RV anti freeze in a cardboard box with the detector inside wait for it to alarm and consider recalibration. She seemed to think that was a good idea. We’ll see if that happens.

An interesting video on using Anker Prime portable battery packs to run the SL Mini. Naturally the larger Anker Prime battery provides a little more run time. This is all subject to how one intends to use the mini. Nonetheless kinda cool data.

@St8ofbeing I will save you a search on the forum. Last year we had to replace our RV Safe LP detector while on a 42 day 6000 mile trip. I purchased the detector at Humphrey RV, in Montrose, CO and it was a fast simple install. We got home and winterized and the new detector I had just installed alarmed and would not reset. So I called RV Safe and explained the issue and long story short they sent me a replacement. The gal was really nice and also sent a prepaid return envelope for the faulty detector. The gal I spoke at RV Safe said well RV anti freeze should not set the alarm off but anything is possible. We had no LP turned on, no leaks and the alarm only sounded after winterizing. I admit the RV AF order was quite strong inside our Oliver. I just don’t understand why the antifreeze odor would set it off. Fast forward - I just winterized last week after an 48 day, 7400 mile trip out west and the LP alarm went off and would not reset after winterizing. So I will be calling RV Safe again explaining what happened and requesting a replacement. If you contact RV safe make sure you specify a white trim replacement. They also come in black. I would caution against adding an on off switch to your LP detector. I opted not to as it could be deadly if one forgets to turn it on. https://rvsafealarm.com/contact/ Edit and update - I just spoke with Andrea she is the Customer Service Rep and is sending me a replacement. I will return the existing detector. Patriot🇺🇸

Thanks for the report John! Safe Travels to you and Wendy my friend. David

Bingo!

Not to hijack this thread. We have an LE2 and this lives in the back of our TV when we travel. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GJJZ5NI?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref=cm_sw_r_ud_dp_KA0NVZ9NHHFNSBGZS58H&ref_=cm_sw_r_ud_dp_KA0NVZ9NHHFNSBGZS58H&social_share=cm_sw_r_ud_dp_KA0NVZ9NHHFNSBGZS58H There are many choices out there. I wanted a large base and a jack stand combo for stability. The user reviews are strong. Now back to OP’s original questions on travel. 😎

A white object reflects all wavelengths of light, so the light is not converted into heat and the temperature of the object does not increase. I bet Oliver took this into consideration when designing the first Oliver. I like the white and will keep it OEM.

Lew owner of Alcan Springs gladly tossed the Dexter China 🇨🇳 made springs in the junk scrap metal pile. Glad you got scheduled John! You will never need to think about leaf springs again. 👍🏻🇺🇸

Starlink Mini Dish Open Source info - This compact, portable kit includes a built-in router that supports 2.4 and 5GHz bands, 802.11ax, and 3x3 MIMO. It also has an Ethernet port for connecting wired devices. Based on our experience we see no other reason to mod our Oliver with any other comm now having used our SL mini on a 48 day trip through 14 states. We won’t leave home without it. At the extraordinary rocket powered pace that Elon and SpaceX are deploying more satellites, SL will rule the day in comm. We are considering a SL home dish based how much we liked our mini on this last trip. Just plug it in to a power source with no obstructions and your on line.

@Joey Congrats and welcome to the forum! If you have not already done so check out Oliver University for a lot of great info! This is the place to learn about mods and ask questions about your rig. When you have a moment add your TV and rig info to your signature on the forum. It’s huge help when any of us need to help you with info. Happy Travels! Patriot🇺🇸