SeaDawg

Woodland Gardens near Hot springs is beautiful. The chapel is amazing. I just looked up winter hours. No dogs, unfortunately, during the winter hours. https://www.garvangardens.org/

Isn't St. Lucia beautiful? We need to get back to the Carribean. I'd love to meet up with you, and talk about sailing adventures, someday. There are quite a number of sail boat owners, and power boat owners, on this forum. For a number of reasons. The integrity and longevity of the fiberglass hulls is one of the reasons we chose an Oliver. Our fiberglass sailboat is over 45 years old. Power boat is closing on 25. Ollie is 16 seasons in. Living the 12v life is great. PS jealous of your trips to England, across the great pond. Don't know if we'll get the chance to do that. Happy for you that you did!

@gbergh, we had a close friend for dinner tonight, who designs Victron systems for sailboats. He, too, uses the multiplus, vs multiplus II. I asked him about the mounting positions. He always mounts normal , (letters up) , though victron technically allows sideways mount, on a bulkhead, for proper heat circulation. Even so, he adds muffin fans to exhaust heat, to a larger space, if enclosed. Victron has an overheat cutoff, but who wants that to happen, right? In our little 2008, I have no idea where we could mount a multiplus. It's simply too big. But then, we don't have an inverter, anyway. And, got rid of the 1000 watt inverter we had, as we didn't use it. When we refit our boat for solar some years back, our xantrex was only a year or two old, so, we kept it . (We rarely use the inverter, anyway.) Down the line, when necessary, it will likely be replaced with a multiplus, as many other components are victron. We can find ventilated room for it, somewhere. Thanks for your insight and comments.

Safe travels to you and your wife! That's a wonderful early Christmas gift to each other. Looking forward to your delivery photos.

@gbergh, thanks for the photo and input. Looks like you went total Victron in your Navion. Do you still have the Navion? How long have you had the Victron Multiplus? (I see it's not the multiplus II, so probably at least a year or two?) I can see from your profile photo, you're a sailor , too, (as are we) so I am only guessing that's why you selected Victron. (Boating community has been familiar with Victron for many decades. Not so much in the RV community. ) How has the multiplus helped you, vs oem equipment in your Navion? I know. I ask a bunch of questions. Sorry.

@Ty J hasn't been on the forum for a week or so. I'm tagging him here. If he has notifications turned on, he'll hopefully see these questions.

Here's the thread @topgun2 referenced earlier.

@Emgmtg, that's a curious situation. As you know, the function of the "fins" is to absorb the warm air in the fridge. Where that warm air that bypasses the fins will go, with the gap, is a good question for Norcold technical support, or Jason at Oliver. (Kind of looks like yellow insulation behind the gap in your photo. If that's so, I'm guessing it "could" collect condensation, like the fins. But, im certainlynot a fridge tech.) I don't recall ever seeing a gap like that in any of our 3ways. I think you're a brave guy, replacing your own cooling unit. Kudos to you. Our neighbor replaced the cooling unit in his older motorhome, but he used to run a small-scale appliance repair business, on the side.

Agreed

@Ron and Phyllis, i just saw this, looking at some old posts. I apologize, but last October I was on Chile and Antarctica. I missed some pms, I think. Our older Elite has been fine, with furnace running, bath door propped open, and a bottom drawer and/or hatchbopen, into the teens, at night, if temps get above freezing during the day . Dipping to 29 at night, with furnace on, hasn't been a big deal. With above caveats, and good blankets. Again, my apologies.

That's valuable info, from a retired pharmacist, scubarx. I'm sure the gp would give same advice, as well as warnings in the med. Or, prescribe a different med. Btw, whatever you carry, it's a good idea to check the first aid kit for expiration dates at the end of season, and replenish at the first trip. I have a number of med allergies, and learned my lesson after an accident in Amsterdam, years ago. I like to have a broad spectrum antibiotic that im not allergic to, and my own first aid kit with me, wherever we go. Several years back, a friend camping with us in the Yukon developed a respiratory issue. I was glad I had a supply of guafinesin with me, til he could travel over a hundred miles to the nearest clinic, with a video connection to a doctor. (At that time, it wasn't available over the counter in pharmacies in Canada. I think it may be, now.)

Yup, you got it done, John! Congratulations! Not to push the envelope, but you might want to add trailer model, year, and hull # to your signature, while you're in the zone.

It's funny, and corny, but may just be effective. After all, Escape has more views in 3 days on the bear video than Oliver's video (undoubtedly higher quality) has had in 3 months. (1.2k vs 1.1 k, at this time) And, it found a spot in its major competitor's forum, as well.

Disposing of old fiberglass boat hulls is a recognized problem, not just in the US, but around the world. A lot of research has been done, however, and hopefully before my Ollie is ready for disposal (many, many decades from now), more strides will have been made in recycling fiberglass, keeping old fiberglass hulls out of landfills. https://www.boatus.com/expert-advice/expert-advice-archive/2020/november/fiberglass-recycling We do have one company in Florida that does fiberglass recycling, and sells equipment to recycle fiberglass, as well. I think their focus is on manufacturing waste materials, however, not big derelict boat hulls. Another large recycling company, with branches in Florida, used to accept fiberglass insulation. Unfortunately, they filed bankruptcy a short time ago, so that may be gone. All that said, fiberglass longevity and strength does give it some points, as longevity is a key point in selecting materials for building.

John, getting to and updating the signature block is indeed not very easy, nor intuitive, as you can see from comments in this thread. You're not alone. Do you work from a pc or a phone? My examples above are screenshots from my phone, but they should be pretty close to what you see on a pc. At least this gives you an opportunity to update the "invisible map." 😞

Something isn't working for you, John. We don't see your map, either. (And yes, it should be visible to you, too, unless you have viewing signatures turned off in your settings.) Sorry. I don't see any signature for you, whatsoever.

I'm sure you are! Less than 4 weeks now. It'll be a just "a bit late Christmas" for you. Cushions in our 2008 are the historically used 4". We do use a memory foam topper, 1.5 inch. A queen topper, cut down, and cut in two, if you ordered twins, would work fine if you find you want one. We like the added memory foam comfort. Which configuration did you order?

Me, too! We have come such a long way! On a clear day, we can see the contrails from parts of the west coast of Florida. My husband and I drove over to the east coast to see the last shuttle launch. It was amazing. Please do post photos!

Sort of. The first blue sky Oliver system was originally designed by Technomadia, in early 2008, for their wonderful Ollie. I'm sure Steve's design follows their designs, as did we, with our spin. With their knowledgeable input, and permissions. We followed their component recommendations when we asked Oliver to install the side-mount system my husband designed, and Oliver (amazingly well!) fabricated and installed for us in September, 2008. 15 years later, with upgraded 2 x 200 panels, installed by us, and an additional slave blue sky unit, we are still thrilled with the rooftop solar capacity of our little Elite. Is Victron better? In the marine world, definitely. More exposure, more support, worldwide. More connectivity, with other integrated marine systems. Great customer support, according to my tech friends in the sailing and boating world. Better ip waterproof rating. Doesn't tempt me to change what works in our 2008 Ollie. The support we get from Ryan @ BlueSky is absolutely stellar. He spent hours on the phone with us, when we were doing our upgrade, and helped us select and program new unit. Like Jason at Oliver, there's no replacement for a dedicated and knowledgeable caring human at the other end of the line.

Here's a link to the installation manual. Might help, until you hear back from Oliver. https://www.manualslib.com/manual/327956/Norcold-N400.html#product-N412

Thanks, @Patriot and @SNY SD UP Preventing the bites, and early detection, are key to both rmsf and Lyme disease. Unfortunately, the woods we love are where the ticks live, too. Long pants and sleeves, tucking in, and light colors help. If you are like me, and don't like to spray your skin, spraying your clothes after dressing for the day will definitely help. Ticks don't normally attach "immediately. " They wander, looking for the most cozy, warm and moist spots. A scrubdown after a day in the woods will eliminate most. Shower within an hour or two of coming back to your site. Do a body check in that big shower door mirror, just to be sure. (Or ask your spouse/partner to check.) If you do find a tick (especially unattached, or not engorged) you really don't need to panic. Not every tick carries disease. WASH your hands after removal and disposal. I kill ticks by wrapping them in a tissue and burning, or drop them in a lid with rubbing alcohol. Of I've removed an engorged tick, I drop it in a zip lock, with a short spray of insecticide, and save it for later examination.) If, however, it's engorged, and well-attached, you may want to start antibiotics, before signs appear. (The target doesn't "always" appear, anyway.) Doxycyclene is effective for both diseases, administered promptly. I think it's best within the first few days of discovery. Your gp should be able to give you a script , so you have some in the first aid kit, so you can start battling, until you can take the offending bugger, and yourself, to the local doctor. We camp in tick country every year. We do find ticks, but usually before they attach. None of us, nor our pets, have contracted anything, yet. Btw, protect your pets, as well. They're low to the ground, and need your help. We inspect our dog every day, at least twice, morning and evening.

I do just the opposite. I want to minimize our fossil fuel use and maximize the sun. My rationale is that I don't know how long to run the generaor in the morning when the charge is low. So, my guess is never the most percise answer. I do the opposite practice, but for the same reason. I rarely have to use the genset. But, because I monitor our usage, frequently, I know when I need to use the genset, and when fixed solar and portable can do the job, and keep up with the dc fridge. If we're parked in partial shade, and we've had three or four days of gloomy or rainy weather, I know I'm going to have to deploy my Honda 1000. By trial and experience, running it first thing in the morning, so slower solar can deal with the ramp down, I get my best use. Everyone's style is different, and it's really good when we document, as you and I have, what works best for our style, and situations.

I split the thread for you, GJ. Here's the new thread. Could you read through both and see the splits make sense to you? ps, No need to be contrite. It's your thread, after all. 🙂

Unless you're on 30 amps, I'm guessing you don't use all those appliances at once? Nice upgrade, so that you're not plugging/unplugging constantly.

I didn't do anything but find old posts. Thanks to the folks who posted the info. @AndrewK @Galway Girl