SeaDawg

What is 2022 base?

2 x 4 x 8 lumber has seen 3 times price of last year, in my neighborhood.. Plastics and glue, including pvc pipe and conduit are through the roof. I'm actually surprised that 2022 prices haven't increased more, imo. The elephant in the room is what's in the base model. That has changed a lot, over the years .

The bath window is a pita. Yours looks like mine. I have a 2008, but had the bath window replaced several years ago for the dual pane. Wish I had left it original. The "new" window has no seal or frame except the inner silicone, between the panes, and doesn't open as far as the original single pane (non privacy) window. So, it does look like its a fixed window, in the photo, because the lower panes have no frame if their own . Honestly. It's ok. It's the bath, and if it ever leaked, it would leak into a total fiberglass area. Are you sure your fan isn't the leak source? My goofy window has been fine. If I don't forget, and leave it open.😆 We replaced the bath fan during covid lock-in. It was leaking like a sieve, but, it was 13 years old, and, we never even thought about resealing it. My bad . New fan is (so far) very quiet.

The water heater is usually much less sensitive than the fridge Did you use the stove? Sounds like bad gas (rare), or air in the line, to me.

Pretty much irrelevant, unless you have the build sheet, imo. Oliver has always included a lot in the base model, but base seems to grow in features every year.

Our quick connection is in the bumper cavity in our 2008. Last trip, a bird tried to build a nest in the open door cavity. Scared the heck out of me when I lit the grill one day , flying past my ear. Can't imagine how scared the bird was I may go back to the green bottles, like Overland.

I've been in those packs. We've delivered a number of rvs to Alaska, from Elkhart. I, too, feel fortunate that we could afford the investment in our Oliver. Especially after driving thousands of miles with the noise and drafts of the Thor and Forest River products . I carry a pack of foam pipe insulation cutoffs and tape, every time . Winnebago is in Iowa. Though they also build some class c units sort of comparable to Elkhart, their van products are far superior, imo. Like Oliver, that part of their business is smaller. But better . Vanlife people have demanded better, and they're (eventually) getting it. There have been a number of campers coming over from Australia,too. Things will change, eventually, when people are willing to pay for a more quiet and efficient ac, quiet and efficient furnace, water heaters like the Truma. And, longevity. Our daughter is a millennial. She saves up for quality. Thinks smaller rather than bigger might just be better. Quality vs disposable. I think her generation will demand better. I hope so.

Not just windstorm, but branches, etc. And, sun eventually crazed them. They look great, new. We had a few polycarbonate ports on our boat. Had 8ssues with crazing, and leaks. Have since replaced all of them with glass, years ago. No more problems. I looked into polycarbonate when we debated new windows vs removing our fogged 2008 hehr dual pane windows, and having them evacuated, cleaned, and resealed between the panes, and reinstalled. The repaired windows look great, don't fog, don't leak, and I'm very happy. Not to mention, half the price or better than new windows.

That's ok. 12 volt life is a learning curve for everyone. Your two 6v batteries are set up in series, so the voltage is x 2 (12 volt, nominal) and the amp hour rating remains the same. So, you have 220 ah of storage, of which you should not use more than 50 per cent, and I try to stay at 70 to 75 per cent remaining, to sustain battery life. (Less cycling, longer life.) About the same as my 12v agms, in parallel, though you have a slight edge. With my 2 x 105 12v, in parallel, volts stay the same, amp hours double. So, I have 210 ah, 105 actually useable, of which I try to use only 50 to 60, and recharge daily to the full capacity with the solar. On the boat, we use 6v x2 in series, then pairs in parallel, for the banks. 6v seems to give a longer life, a little more forgiving on deep cycling. I'm still exploring options for the trailer. Our 2008 battery compartment is pretty small for two 6v batteries, though I know at least one person managed it, years ago, with some modifications. Edit to add: looks like Overland beat me to the explanations. And, I agree. Lifeline is a great brand. Thanks, @LongStride

As more Americans demand better ac, etc., it will change, maybe even for Thor, too. The problem for a manufacturer whose trailer goes all over the country is servicing those more exotic units, and even sourcing them in the first place, reliably. Winnebago is using some interesting systems in their van campers. They're certainly not as big as Thor, but they've got a decent market share. (They use lithionics in some of their vans, and the new Coleman ndq ac, much more quiet. I think they also offer a hydronic heat system in some products. ) Forward thinking companies like Winnebago will help drive the service centers to stock those parts, too . When we installed the Houghton ac/recpro, I just crossed my fingers that we'd be able to get parts and service in the future. We'll see. We can take that chance as individuals. A manufacturer can't. The new generation of campers likes small, and quality. I think consumers will, indeed, drive the demand for the sapphire crystal. And, Olivers.

@LongStride how many amp hours of storage do you get with the 6v agms in today's package with the Elite? Our 2008 came originally equipped with 2 12v flooded batteries, group 27. We've moved up to agm, 2 group 31 12v, # 105 ah each.

That's interesting. My 2008 has a switch in the outdoor shower.

For those who don't know the song.

And , it's always possible that something isn't working properly. Please share a few more details, for more help

@source3 it doesn't look like a road for motorhome plus toad . But, it does look beautiful ! I'm sure you have adventures to share.

I'm really on the fence. I figure we have at least a year, maybe two, on our second set of two 12v , 105 ah agm batteries . I never worry about temperature, though perhaps I should. Would I love the extra storage of lithium? Sure. Absolutely. I wouldn't have to be a power miser, as I have traditionally done. What i love about agm is no maintenance, no temperature worries (mostly temperate, for us, only two weeks of nights below freezing, lots of warm/hot days). So, 9.5 weeks of camping this year, so far. No hookups. We have the self-imposed extraordinary circumstances of a dc/danfoss/secop fridge. Even with that load, and my puny two 105 ah batteries, we've only run the genset maybe 10 times, in the morning. We do have 400 watts of rooftop solar, an 200 watts portable. And, we've had a number of cloudy and rainy days. Next year, I'll start worrying about what to do. For now, we're good with our agm.

Pat, what's your TV? Does it have auto sway control? I don't have a dog in the hunt, because we don't have an Anderson, and our trucks are too old for auto sway control. BUT, if I had an Anderson, and a truck with antisway , and Anderson told me best to turn it off, that's what I'd do. Sounds like they might just fight each other, to the user's detriment?

When you stick your hand in the freezer section, does the bottom of the freezer feel cold? Getting any icing? All the 3 ways we've ever used, any brand, cool faster on gas. Electric is far slower.. And, cool faster if loaded with cold liquids (think prechilled or even frozen quarts and gallons of water, or chilled beverages.). Most 3way fridges will not cool down, and bring down warm beverages to cold , in less than 12 to 24 hours, in my experience. Tell us how you started. What you loaded. And, where are you now? Ambient temperature? All these things are factors .

I truly think most of the "composting" toilets should be labeled "waterless" toilets. At least the nature's head starts the process with the coir. Most of these seem to be designed in Europe, for use in dry cabins, or areas where septic installation is impossible or difficult. Where people actually do complete the composting process... I'll keep watching for more reviews. Thanks for this one!

Thanks, Mossemi! I'll take a look. Is this it? https://www.airforums.com/forums/f444/composting-toilet-215449.html Scroll to the bottom. Edit to add: Definitely not a "happy camper."

Then I can see why you are looking specifically at molded fiberglass hulls. Critters can't destroy what they can't access. There have been a number of threads here about mice, rodents, etc. I've not heard about rodent damage to an Oliver, ever. Screens are important, though in the fridge, furnace, and water heater vents. Those are the only places I can think of that they could gain entry. Young friends of mine discovered their big stick built extensively damaged by rodents last year. Many of those campers do not have a solid bottom, and can invite issues.

Welcome to the forum, Fred.

We're still using two Agm batteries. We almost never have electricity. You can buy nice replacement agm batteries several times for the price of the lithium. Unless you are crazy power consumers, 2 agms and solar should carry you through three days, and, with decent weather, a week. Carry a small genset as insurance. We think our best add-on ever was the original solar package. We have recently upgraded it from 200 watts to 400, but Oliver installed the first system, so the heavy lifting on wiring and brackets was mostly done by them. You could probably be fine with a couple hundred watts portable, for that matter, for shorter trips. But, it's kind of a pain to lug around and set up all the time. I set up our homemade "portables" when we're in a site for more than a few days. The generator is easier. For people who know they enjoy boondocking, I really think fixed solar is a best option.

There is at least one person on here who has pared down the weight of his elite II, so that he's under 5k, loaded his way for camping. Pretty sure our trailer is also lighter than originally equipped, as we've removed microwave and kingdome, and fridge and ac replacements are much lighter than original equipment.

Most trailers that have a combined grey and black are very small, and one tank is all there is space for. The now defunct Airstream Nest had only a small combined grey/black. It was originally designed for a cassette toilet, but market seemed to demand a regular rv toilet.