SeaDawg

What a great idea! Excellent place to charge phones and tablets, store paperbacks and magazines. Thanks for the idea!

Since water isn't even making it to the weepholes, you probably have a poorly sealed rooftop appliance, or possibly, three poorly sealed windows. I doubt the latter, though anything is possible. My bet would be the first. Water can travel between the hulls, and make it seem that windows are leaking, but it may be a bubble in sealant of a rooftop appliance. Rain then can travel down the inside frames of the windows. Even a tiny bubble in sealant can create a trickle of water, in monsoon conditions. Especially when wind driven. I had a very tiny issue last month, in my 2008, with a foot of water in 28 hours, here in western NorthCarolina. Our problem was our own, twofold. We removed an old kingdome on the rooftop , and didn't totally, completely seal the wire run. Just a pinhole. Also, had a tiny bit coming in from fridge vent, that I hadn't properly sealed. Again, a pinhole. But a ton of rain. My favorite tools for troubleshooting are duct tape, and blue shop towels. Not just in the trailer, but boat and home, too. If I think I know where the leak is, I seal it with duct tape. Put down a blue shop towel. If it's still wet, I guessed wrong. Work my way around, and up. . I know your trailer is already at the dealership, and this won't help. They'll figure it out. Might help you or someone else, in the future . And, no, this is not the norm.

Congratulations! so happy for you. I hope you enjoy your Ollie camping adventures as much as we have. 14 seasons in, still love our little Elite. Looking forward to your photos, and impressions of the new factory campground .

We hope to see you, too, Carl. Enjoy the ride. We've loved our 14 seasons in our Oliver. Take your time, especially the first few nights near Hohenwald. Test everything you learn at orientation, so you know it works properly, and that you know how it works. Late October in Tennessee is beautiful. Your timing is great!

We find we eat better, camping. Since we're often out a long time, and storage is limited, I plan meals without leftovers. Fewer snacks. Much more walking. Very little eating out. Eating out is the big culprit for us. It's social time with our friends, at home. And that is a problem, as restaurant food is often more fattening. I often lose 5 to 10 pounds over a summer of camping. This year, it's more, for each of us. Happy for that. Now, to keep it off, in the winter months. 😁

Since you've owned boats, particularly if cruising boats, you'll be ahead of the game. 12v systems are the same, pretty much, on land or sea. We have both a sailboat, and an ollie. Some systems are the same, others vastly different. But, the Ollie is definitely easier, and, less expensive, to maintain. Oh, and pumpout is much, much easier. Lol. Congratulations !

Thanks, Bill. Unless the producer changed the design, these sit inside the track, not fastened to the window frame. Meaning, the window must remain open all the time these are deployed, and cannot be locked. So, temporary use only, deploy each time you want to use them. But, that is better than not having them at all, when we depend on windows for breeze, and fan for cooling, most of the time. And, they'd also be easier to clean than our permanent vents. The original maxxAir vents that we and csevel have installed have a rubber flap on the flat edge to tightly seal against the rain. It must have been pretty good quality, as it still works, after 14 seasons. I can't tell from the photos in the link if there is a seal on the 3d printed ones, or not. , or not. I suppose one could be added, somehow, if the vent doesn't seal tightly against the window.

This ac is only recently available in the US, other than the wildly expensive (same) unit from advanced rv. It has been off and on backorder since intro. I waited several weeks for mine. I could do that. A manufacturer can't. I'm grateful that we're finally seeing new, quieter, more efficient units in the USA, instead of just eu and Australia. I suspect, when supply chain issues become resolved, this type of unit could become a consideration.

Call recpro to confirm, but the low profile 13. 5 unit shows 9" height, like my smaller 9.5. This would likely shave 2 or 3 inches from your dometic height, but may be wider and/or a bit longer .

Houghton has two 13.5 units, though both were too wide (and overkill) for our elite, I didn't study them closely. I think I'm the only one, so far, with the 9 .5, which is quiet, and nice. Cools my elite quickly . No heat in the smaller unit. Just ac and dehumidifier. Take another look at the 2 13.5 units. One is rather tall. Other is lower profile.

I'm sorry for your troubles. Where are you camping? First thing to check are the weepholes and tracks. Even a month or two, in heavy tree coverage, or dusty areas can clog them. In the North Carolina woods, I have to clean them every month or two, all summer Try adjusting your trailer just a bit high in the nose, and a bit high side to side, to send water away from windows Do install ez rv gutters as soon as practically possible. The 3rd tail might look fine, but could still be a culprit. A paper towel jammed or taped under the light may tell you if it's the source. I'm sure others will have other ideas. Leaks are hard to trace. Do open a service ticket.

@wlonghurst, does your ac work on a 15 amp 110 connection, at home? How long does it take to kick on the compressor?

Maxxfan should have that part. If you don't have a manual with a parts list, you can Google it. ( I used maxx fan parts explosion. Came right up.) Finding the part number will help, before you call or do a Google search for a secondary vendor. Back in the day, (sigh) FanTastic would have sent the part for free. Dometic bought them. Maxxfan is airxcel, so quite possibly easier to obtain parts than Dometic. Good luck, and let us know how it works out.

@BillandDoris, did I miss a post? What's going on with your generator?

John Davies had a valid point about van conversions and class b and c small units. The flip side if the coin is, it's another motor vehicle to maintain, licence,,and insure, which in many areas is pretty expensive, compared to a travel trailer. For us, it's a no-brainer, as every vehicle we drive can tow the trailer. If I were camping solo, I "might " consider a van. I drove a van for a number of years, I've van camped a lot, in the US, Australia, and Iceland, and I actually like it, for travel camping. It's not for everyone. It's more cramped, have to disconnect and stow everything to travel, and, well, it's really, really small. It's ok, if you're good with really tiny storage, and often no (or a very tiny) shower and bath. Conversely, a small trailer, like our Elite, has everything we need, and nothing else. More storage in the truck.

Sending you a pm. I don't have any cracks yet, but I wouldn't love rainy life without mine! Thank you!

Another milestone, though I missed the click. We are now over 6000 members and 60,000 posts. Thank you, everyone, for making our forum a fun, interesting, and congenial community.

Spend a little more to rent a small travel trailer for a few weekends, not a Uhaul. That will allow you to learn to tow, AND learn about basic rv systems like using a 3way fridge, a propane stove, dumping and filling tanks, etc. Though it won't likely have the SAME stove, fridge, etc., they're mostly pretty similar. Something like a Tab or small Rpod will give you an idea of what it's like to camp in a small space. And, you'll appreciate the Oliver difference even more. Some of the owners on RVshare will even deliver, for a fee. That's not a bad way to begin. Then, you can focus on learning about camping, first, then towing next trip. My sister and her husband had tent camped a bit, but not trailered. They rented a Tab for a long weekend to camp with us. We picked it up, and showed them how to set up the trailer. We were able to show them all the basics in 4 days. They hooked it up, and towed it back at the end of the four days. They discovered two things. They loved the camping experience, but didn't want a Tab any longer, and bought a different brand. https://rvshare.com/rv-rental/asheville/nc?location=Asheville%2C NC&start_date=2021-09-23&end_date=2021-09-27&lat=35.5950581&lng=-82.5514869&rv_class=Travel Trailer

All of our vehicles can tow the elite. My 2005 Silverado, two person cab, short bed, 5.3. Our Volvo xc90 is gone, totalled by a distracted driver, was the least capable.. We usually tow with a ram 1500, 4 x 4 hemi 5.7, We like driving trucks. Not everyone does. There are a number of suvs that can tow an Elite, with its smaller weight and profile. One of our best friends tows with a Mercedes suv.

Hi, June. Welcome to the forum. You have lots of time to learn about the Oliver systems, virtually, through the Oliver University manuals and videos, and I'd encourage you to do so. I'd also encourage you to visit with friends who camp, and/or, rent a camper to learn a bit. Everything is doable, but trying to learn everything, at once, can be daunting. Everyone is a newbie once. Later on, you can help others with your experience, when everything becomes routine.

What a great idea! Thanks for the detailed info.

I'm sorry that stay is limited to one night. That first night, most owners are just figuring out the switches. Most problems don't show up for a day or two or three, until folks actually use all the systems. The new campsites look great! Will dry camping still be available at the old sales office? Great practice, close to the service center, to camp without hookups, for a night or two

Here's a link to @katanapilot thread. My db ratings are there, (scroll down) and some short videos. You can hear me speaking, in a normal voice, well above the background sound of the ac running on high. It is an amazing difference. There's a lot of injected foam in the upper unit. We used a closed cell foam seal, rather than the recommended sealant, for the upper unit. Time will tell if that was best, but no leaks so far, and I thought the foam might give a better seal, and eliminate a bit of the snare drum effect of shroud on fiberglass... The air chute is some kind of fabricky stuff, vs metal, all of which, I'm sure makes a difference. The thing I'm not fond of is the big round air intake on top, no screens. We haven't (yet) added a screen. Imstead, we use a vinyl drawstring cover over the ac when not in use (most of the time, for us.) We have the smaller 9.5k unit, and I think we're the only ones, so far. As such, we don't get heat from ours, only cool. 13.5v unit has a heat pump. Totally ok with us, as we rarely have electricity. (No leaks, even with a foot if rain, in 28 hours last month, in WNC.) If you want any more info, I'll try to answer your questions. Fortunately or unfortunately, we chase the cooler weather, and haven't used the new unit much. Just a week or two in Florida, cleaning up and packing up.

I also think that all the lithium charger companies should allow for a setting for keeping batteries at a different level than 100 per cent, with a soft switch. We have victron on the boat. I haven't looked to see if that's possible,,as we still have lead batteries there. And, the boat is Paul's baby. The trailer is mine. And, we don't have lithium, yet, in either. A limiting soft switch at 50 per cent, or so, for those of us with solar, and (future, maybe, for us) lithium would make so much sense. We go away for months at a time. I'd like to be able to leave critical systems, like propane and smoke alarm and bilge pumps functioning, and let the batteries charge . Not a very difficult thing, imo. Tesla does it in their cars .

Yes, they fit in the same rough opening. We did have to file a couple rough spots in the opening of our 2008. The plastic insert collar that is the first step, and most important, is a very tight fit. The old Dometic didn't require tight tolerances. (Remember, we were replacing 2008 equipment. ) Less than a minute with a file fixed everything. There is a very measurable difference in sound level. I don't have an expensive meter, just a download db meter, but between that, and my own ears, the noise difference is quite huge. I'll look for my old posts.