johnwen

We're getting hull #996 done by CGI next month in Murfreesboro, TN. We saw hull# 67 on display at the rally and then made our decision. We're probably going to do our 2019 Silverado as well. It's just becoming quite a chore waxing them. The Casita was a lot easier to do 🙂 John

Yay! Congratulations. Hope to see you next year at the rally 🙂 Wendy and John

Will try to corner Jason E. at the rally today and talk about this issue.

I submitted this to OTT

AHAAAAA!!!! After lying around all night I came up with the idea of approaching this problem from another angle 🙂 I took a very bright light, at night, and shone it from the top of the control panel on the front of the refrigerator, inside the trailer, and there it was plain as day as I looked through the upper vent from the outside......it is an improper mating of the fridge and the cabinet, at the top of the unit. My guess is that the fridge frame is not compressing the combustion seal and there is a gap between the two. Anyway, at least I can identify the problem with the aid of my flashlight. Now, to get it fixed will be next! John

Hi Chukarhunter, My circuit board does have the hole you described but the board appears to be set away from the structure so there is a 1/2 in, or so, gap that would allow air behind the circuit board from any angle, not just through the square hole shown in the picture. If I look 1 inch to the left of the board and 6 inches to the right, I see 1/2 inch wide, vertical mount/support, metal bars. And to the outside of them there is a 1/2 gap that air could penetrate. Since these is no way for me to see through that gap, I couldn't guess whether or not air can penetrate from behind there. John

PS...I have duct tape around the control panel temporarily until OTT takes a look at it.

I have attached a PDF file from Norcold. On page 7 it references a combustion seal that is designed to prevent this problem. Either the seal is missing, damaged or the OTT cabinet is not cut properly to receive the refrigerator. I have an appointment with OTT next month to take a look at this. Hopefully the problem will be resolved. There is no doubt air moves into the cabin around the control panel on a windy day. Best of luck 🙂 John 911746810_Norcoldrefrigerator.pdf

This is what we have to do also. 120 lbs worth of stuff gets transferred every time we tow, but it's not so bad. We have a shell on the back of our Silverado that took 200 or so pounds from our GVWR capacity. 6720 for the Oliver, 680 tongue, 10.1%. All weights are barely legal, but legal. We tow great and get 12 MPG with 87 octane or 14.5 MPG with 88 octane (level and no wind).

Hi Csevel, You remind me of me, lol. I seem to use every tool I own to get a project done. I might as well empty my tool bag on a blanket next to me, it saves a lot of up and down time 🙂 Hope to see you at the rally, safe travels.

I found the 1 lone fan under the cooling fins behind the top outside access panel (using a mirror), no switch. But, if need be (as in, fan too noisy), I see the where I can maybe install my own switch.

Thank you, John 🙂

2022 Elite II, Norcold Model N412.3FUL Thanks

Mine came with the fan but I can't find an on/off switch. It does come on during the day shuts off at night.

Thanks for your write-up, GG 🙂 Very helpful to me for whenever I upgrade.

Frank, As I understand it, the 3" diameter pvc pipe just shoves down through a rubber grommet that OTT affixed to the top of the black tank. Did you have any problems doing that? This looks like a fix I'll be doing in the near future. I like it 🙂 I'll try to find you at the rally and see if you still like your fix. I really want to only have to fix that flange 1 more time. Does the foam seal on the bottom of the toilet appear to seat properly on the new metal flange? The original plastic flange has a flat top and your flange looks to have a convex shape to its top. Thanks a bunch, John

Thank you, routlaw, for all the wonderful photos and camera/pp software information. Are you by chance going to the rally? Would love to chat with you about photography.

Hi Conner77, This is what I use, works well. Mopeka 024-5002 LP Check Tank Halo from amazon. Good luck 🙂

Ty, Scuba Rx 🙂

Mossemi, thanks for your candor and help. Are you by chance coming to the rally? John

That looks like a very good option if it fits. The bolt pattern looks a little different but, just maybe, it'll work. Please follow up. Thanks, Frank 🙂

I wish I had paid attention to your link, Frank, as I garnered a lot of info about the tank construction. That link is 2 years old and I'm surprised we're still having this issue. I saw a reference to a metal covering on the flange and will bring this up as a topic for discussion, if permitted, at the rally.

Hi FrankC, I just semi-finished this project. Hull 996's flange should have lasted longer than 2 months, IMO. The 4 screws are difficult to loosen but they are large diameter, coarse thread screws that merely tap into the fiberglass, as far as I could tell. My problem was attempting to remove the flange. There is, for lack of a better description, a tailpiece molded onto the flange and I had a difficult time loosening/twisting so I could remove and replace. Well, I was able to twist it somewhat and pull up on the flange to remove it part way and I was afraid to completely pull it out as I don't know if I can get a replacement flange to fit back in the hole. Sounds weird but I think it's wedged in so tight that it's pulling the top of the tank up and down as the partially removed flange just bounces up and down like it's on a spring. My problem was that one of those locking bolt cutouts was broken and I just rotated the flange around to use the other 2 cutouts, an idea that came from a fellow Olivarian (:)) at the Bluebonnet rally. Thanks, Phil 🙂. I don't have a replacement flange at this time and I really need to know I'll be able to get the flange's tailpiece back into the black tank, since it's such a tight fit. I plan on drawing on the knowledge from the folks at the upcoming rally. I did call OTT and was told about the tight fit, but I still need to know what going on down there where I can't see anything, not lol. I didn't get the flange to go back in because of the springiness and my remedy for that was to sit on the toilet to compress everything and tighten the bolts down. Everything seems good and tight for 2 weeks now. Best of luck! John

Congratulations from #996!!! Safe travels and hope to meet you at the rally 🙂

FWIW I used to tap mine and sometimes they would work and sometimes they wouldn't. My wife said, "don't tap, just touch the center". Sometimes just putting my finger close to them will work. It looks as though there is a sensor in the middle of the lens that senses touch. John