katanapilot
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Posts posted by katanapilot
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I’m excited about the new Tundra. However, I’m going to wait for a couple of years to let them get all the bugs worked out and to get some of my investment back in the supercharger and OME suspension upgrades on the 2011.
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On 9/11/2021 at 3:57 PM, IL_Travelers said:
I would love to swap out our Dometic AC for the Houghton on our 2021 LE II; however, I would need it to pay a service company to get the job done. Does anyone know of a full-service company anywhere that would safely and professionally exchange the units?
Have Ollie, will travel.
I don't know if they will do a modification like this, but have you reached out to Oliver service? Maybe they would consider it and might be a good opportunity for them to discover how quiet the Houghton/RecPro units really are!
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Here is an older Tundra that might fit the bill as a stopgap tow vehicle 😁
https://www.motor1.com/news/533662/toyota-tundra-high-mileage-bought/
Hard to beat the reliability of a Toyota.
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There are numerous posts on "appropriate" tow vehicles for the LE I and II. Use Google advanced search if the forum search feature is not giving you good results.
Prices on new and used vehicles have gone out of sight in the past year. My uneducated guess is that it will be close to a year before you are able to negotiate a price up from dealer "cost" versus today's take it or leave it MSRP plus ADP (additional dealer profit).
If you have to buy right now, I'd look for a dealer that doesn't mark up above MSRP. Probably few and far between, but I'd like to think some dealers are taking the long view on how they treat customers, versus those that don't care and are out to make as much in the short term as possible.
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7 hours ago, Patriot said:
We have the 11000 BTU Dometic Penguin in our 2020 Ollie. We sleep extremely well and cool with it on low auto. We rarely have used AC lately since we camp in higher elevations. We never used our AC on our recent trip to Upstate NY, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. But these work great when we decide on silence and are much cheaper than a new AC. 😎
Yes, but having to turn the A/C off or wear earplugs while dining, watching TV, listening to music is not acceptable in my view. If this works for you, that's great. I live in Georgia and really like having an A/C I can use in our heat and humidity without having to wear earplugs. The upgrade was very worthwhile to me.
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8 hours ago, ScubaRx said:
How is this determined? The human ear's response to sound level is roughly logarithmic (based on powers of 10), and the dB scale reflects that fact. An increase of 3dB doubles the sound intensity but a 10dB increase is required before a sound is perceived to be twice as loud.
If you look back at the posts made comparing noise levels on our Dometic Penguin II versus John Davies Atwood Air Command, you will see that his measurements showed at least a 10 dBA reduction compared to mine. Baseline (a/c off) measurements were similar, indicating that the iPhone app we both used was reasonably accurate. Further measurements I took comparing the original Penguin to our replacement RecPro/Houghton showed greater than 10 dBA reduction under most conditions.
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We replaced the stock 11K BTU Dometic Penguin (A/C only) with the 13.5K BTU RecPro/Houghton Heat Pump (Cool and Heat) on our Elite II. Lower profile than the Dometic, lower amp draw and as has been mentioned frequently, less than half the noise level. Great to hear it will run on the inverter, although probably only on the lithium models.
The price has gone up a bit from RecPro, but you can get 5% off if you sign up for their emails. https://www.recpro.com/rv-air-conditioner-low-profile-13-5k-quiet-ac-with-heat-pump-remote-non-ducted/
Still the best $1300+ we have spent on the Ollie (besides the Ollie itself).
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Not worried about finding premium fuel. Before I did this mod and with the Alaska Highway trip in mind - I downloaded the chart of all services available and verified that gas stations with premium fuel were no further than 200 miles apart. Generally, they are much closer together than that. I do have the small fuel tank (26 gallons) on my Tundra, but we will carry two five gallon Jerry cans just in case. I contemplated doing the larger fuel tank mod, but decided it really wasn't worthwhile. I need to stop every couple of hours anyway to stretch and find a bathroom.
As to the transmission - you cannot force the transmission to stay in any gear (other than first). You can manually select a gear, but it will still downshift to a lower number gear if you apply enough throttle.
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4 hours ago, LongStride said:
Will the HOA allow airplane hangars?
Ours does 😃
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I am sure the supercharger is working as designed. As mentioned, I do not have a heavy foot - so although there is plenty of boost is available at the lower RPM’s, it is very much an “ on demand” system. The vacuum operated valve on the supercharger modulates based on throttle position - so you don’t get all the boost available at that RPM unless you are wide open throttle.
I still have not done a full throttle launch. I’ve seen the videos of that and I’m trying to save my Michelin tires for our 11,000 mile Alaska trip next year. 😉
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Never mind...
149?
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It's great news that the manufacturers are now offering U.S. spec models of units that have been available outside the U.S.
Happy to see some competition for Dometic and their inefficient, noisy units.
Retrofit is not difficult and it would be great if Oliver started offering one of the currently available quiet units.
I am thrilled with the reduction in noise level, improved cooling and de-humidification and lower current draw of our Houghton/Rec-Pro 13.5k BTU heat pump. It's not perfect and there are a couple of things I would love to see (remote thermostat, connection to condensate drain) - but it's a huge improvement over the Dometic Penguin.
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44 minutes ago, ChrisMI said:
The movie on the Magnuson website shows a 2x torque increase in the 2-3k range (from under 200 to over 400). I’d say that’s a huge increase for towing especially with the parasitic drag the supercharger puts on the engine. Great to hear the mpg isn’t affected too much unless you want to go fast.
I haven't looked recently at the charts to see the curves. Not sure if chassis dyno test simulate real world (less than full throttle) driving conditions.
To me, the power is noticeable above 3000. I only saw 4000 RPM once or twice and that was a downshift to pass a slow poke. Redline is close to 6000, but I still feel like I'm abusing the engine anytime I'm much above 3500. I know I'm not, this Lexus designed engine can probably run all day at redline.
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Just returned from an 2000 mile trip from Atlanta to Oshkosh WI towing the Oliver Elite II with our 2011 Tundra - recently modified with the Magnuson Supercharger.
The truck did very well and I'm happy with the performance of the supercharger. Towed up and over Monteagle in Tennessee with no issues.
Pros (opinion of course) -
- Adds a great deal of power i if you want to use it. Specs say 550 hp and 550 lb-ft of torque
- No discernible change in fuel mileage. I don't have a heavy foot, but if I did - I would expect the mileage to decrease.
- Helps reduce some downshifting on mild grades.
Cons -
- Noticeable supercharger whine when you accelerate. No real difference just cruising along.
- Requires premium fuel.
- Will probably shorten the life of the driveline (but Tundras, like most Toyotas are known for going 200-300K miles with no issues).
- It's still not a diesel. To get the higher power, you still have to increase the RPM's. Torque at low end does not change much.
- Not an inexpensive mod.
Hoping to do the Colorado mountains in a month or so - where the boost should help restore some of the lost power at altitude. I'll provide an update after that trip.
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I’m sorry you have had to deal with the excessive noise level.
I have spent almost a week at EAA AirVenture in the Ollie with the new Houghton heat pump. It has performed beautifully, cooled well (and heated some this morning) and is remarkably quiet.
The compressor does cycle a bit more often than I’d like and the condensate does run off the roof.
My spouse and I were talking tonight over dinner (with the a/c running) about how satisfied overall we are with this modification.
We had a severe thunderstorm last night with the threat of tornadoes and did not experience any leaks - so the RTV we used seems to be adequate.
Report on supercharged Tundra to follow once we get home…
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I wasn't planning on going, but the Oliver needs a trip and the supercharged Tundra needs a test tow.
So I decided yesterday to go. Booked a spot in the improved camping area.
Any other aviation enthusiasts with an Ollie headed that way?
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Looks like there may be yet another quiet a/c available soon.
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If you are dissatisfied with the forum’s search function, you might try Google’s advanced search located here
Add the search words or phrase as normal and in the “site or domain” block use https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/
Since Google is all knowing, it might yield better results for you.
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Inexpensive mineral spirits will probably remove road tar and be safe for the wheel clear coat. As JD said, the 3M adhesive remover is excellent as is WD-40.
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If Oliver is finally ditching the Dometic Penguin II turbojet air conditioner for a quieter model in 2022 - I would suggest you wait.
Resale might also be higher on a one year newer model, if travel trailers are anything like cars and trucks on the used market.
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Just turn on the Dometic Penguin a/c. You won’t hear anything, including an oncoming tornado.
Sorry, couldn’t resist 😉
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Great write up!
Still holding out hope the OTT will make the switch to this or one of the other available quiet units. No excuse in my opinion that they continue to install the painfully loud Dometics.
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I love Tacos. My son has a 2012 with 6 speed manual. He towed an Elite II-weight trailer (SOB) from Minneapolis to Oshkosh and back two years ago and vowed not to do it again. 4th or 5th gear most of the way, high revs and terrible fuel mileage. Yes, these trucks are almost indestructible (like their Hilux cousins), but I agree that it's a struggle to tow anywhere near the rated towing limit. Towing out west would be even worse. Maybe a supercharger would help? 😉
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Some feedback on the Houghton air conditioner
in Ollie Modifications
Posted
Replacing the Dometic CT thermostat with a simpler one would allow removal of the control box that must be stowed somewhere in the plenum of the new A/C.
In hindsight, this would have been preferable to the control box mod we did simply to retain the CT thermostat.
If you are considering installing the Houghton, I would take a look at what type of thermostat is required to run the Suburban furnace and to verify the wiring from the CT thermostat. If the wiring is compatible, then ditch the CT and it's digital control box and save yourself a couple hours of work.