SeaDawg

Well, with his bankroll, perhaps he can fix it all. Our problem is minor ss dump stations are easy to find.

There are many systems that work. Do you want a system that Oliver will support? Then, the diagram says, order the factory option. If you really, really want something else, buy it. And live with the results. And, support it outside the Oliver warranty. In the end, it's a comfort level thing. All the systems are good. Just. How good, and how much time do you want to spend if something fails? Any system that gives me power from the sun is my friend.

@Davids, another great post We also bought our generator ( Honda 1000), after a string of bad days. Almost 11 years ago. Just that little bitty genset charges the batteries, with very little gas. Like you, we hardly ever use it, but it's nice to know we can.... I think the propane / dual fuel gensets are really great for those of you who tow with SUVs. I dont think I would love gasoline in the back of my suv... but, the propane conversion robs at least ten per cent of the gens power output, so that has to be remembered... thanks for that reminder, too Sherry

I think the original shorter ollie is perfect for a solo traveler. But the narrower width means the twin is smaller. I'd just get the full size bed, and order extra cushions to make the side dinette into a sofa. Our shorty has been great for two month trips with two people. We put three crates under the full size bed for a lot of extra storage. Or, two crates and two duffel bags. How much stuff do you want to carry? Either trailer you choose, I'd recommend deleting the microwave if you boondock a lot. We cook on a fire, a grill, or the two burners. Usually, a fire is preferred. The extra storage of our cabinet vs microwave is really great. I use ours for dry good groceries, now that we got rid of the dead weight microwave.... Good luck in your decision. Go see both. It will help you. Both trailers are great. We love our smaller ollie, as a comfortable place to sleep. And, cook, in inclement weather. Sherry

We used a simple test once to determine if the leak was from the third light... Ugly white duct tape around the third light told us that was, indeed, our leak source. Now, resealing that spot is a check point... if the third light leaks, you will usually have water in the overhead cabinets, but not always. Somet, it will just run straight down the hull, as it did for us, and look like a window leak. Hope that helps. Sherry

Bugeyedriver also known as Pete was the first solar Oliver . Technomadia set the standard for the first decade, and many of us copied. We love our blue sky system. We also live on solar at home... everything changes over time. Congrats on your selection. I'm curious. Did Oliver tell you that your trailer is pre wired for solar? If so, I think that's new. And , I hope not just prewired for suitcase solar.... That's a big difference, and you need to know what it means. Welcome to the forum! Sherry

Another vote for standard 20 lb tanks... even though we have a composite lp tank in the boat. Fiberglass or composite tanks can be difficult to get refilled, as some places have never seen them, and one brand was recalled five years ago... so, it really frightened a bunch of the smaller operators into refusing to fill any brand... making it much more difficult outside the marine communities. The viking tanks need to be recertified every five years. If you look at their website, you'll find a good drive from many towns to a recertification center. Sherry

Talk to bug eye driver/ Pete. He towed the little ollie about 100k with the Taco. Truck campers are great where you need 4x4 . But, you're always carrying that weight and height. You can easily leave the trailer at the campsite, and go wander. Well, I guess you can do that with a truck camper, too, but, I don't think it's as easy as a solo operation.. If I were ever to go different from the little Ollie, I'd get a 4x4 van conversion. BUT, that's me. Smaller is better, in my book. We picked up our Oliver with our Volvo xc90, 2.5 liter turbocharged 5 cylinder. Great on flat highway. Some hills. Dropped mpg by about half. So, way over 4. Maybe 12? 15? But never tried it on the mountains. Thought the vehicle and trailer too heavy. My 2005 Silverado 1500 stepside was great. Nimble and fun, but 2 wheel drive. The ram 1500 hemi 4x4.. don't even know that the trailer is back there. We weighed our Ollie at a cat scale in 2009, on our way home from a trip. I'll look it up. I know it was under 4000. In thinking 3600ish, loaded for camping, but I honestly don't remember. The ollie shorty is great for solo camping. For this couple, too. The trailers all live big on the outside. But, never had a Toyota tow vehicle, so I can't comment on that. Sherry

Good solution, John. But, if you decide on the waterless composting toilet, you can still collect the water and heat in a tea kettle for dishwashing and hand laundry..... Besides the price, the roughly 6 inch height difference in the nature's head toilet and the standard RV toilet would be problematic for some of us shorter people, though I'm a big fan of the concept. Might improve winter camping possibilities, imo. However, we've only used the flush toilet and black and grey for 11 years, without issue. Never had the composting toilet. We've had both types of water heaters, and we camp without electricity or hookups most of the time. Topgun's described method of heating shower water to a comfortable temp only is wise, and used by quite a few folks. Heating dishwater in a teakettle not only saves propane, but cuts water use by making you keenly aware of how much water you are using for the task. We replaced the standard 6 gallon with a Girard instantaneous a few years ago, when our water heater died. We like it. But, you may be just as happy with the included 6 gallon... which also had the advantage of running on electricity when you have it. I don't think the Truma runs on dual fuel. I know our girard is lp only.. As far as generators, I'd look around at a few more choices. There's a gen set thread running now that offers more ideas and opinions... Are you getting solar? Do you really need a generator for anything more than charging the batteries occasionally? There's a lot to choose from. And, you may not want to start with something so very large and heavy, right off the bat. Good luck. So many options. My decision would include those items most expensive and difficult to add later, balancing against the budget. Water heater is an easy upgrade, for example. Sherry

Curious to know if anyone has tried either of these: the Sportsman 2200i dual fuel generator. Lighter weight, gas or lp, claims 1800 watts running... that's on gasoline, less on lp. Photo is from campingworld, but available online from Walmart for under $520, including shipping. Or, the Atima 3000i Yamaha powered gasoline generator from Costco? Weighs in at 94 pounds dry, so still quite heavy to haul around, but great reviews on Costco and Amazon. Less than $1000 at Costco, shipping included. Sherry

My sister bought the Costco Yamaha powered 2000 generator for her rpod. It won't run the ac, ( no eady start on hers), but does a nice job charging their single battery. Last summer, it was on sale for $499. We've run our 11 year old Honda 1000 at the same time as they ran the Costco 2000, and there is a difference, but it's not terrible. We could still carry on a normal conversation, probably 15 feet away from both gensets, and no issue. We also have a Yamaha 3000, but it is only used for power outages at home, never camping. It weighs too much to lug it around, at 150 lbs plus. Great generator, ran a few lights, a few fans, and refrigerator for both us and our next door neighbors on an extension cord after Hurricane Irma last year. The Costco gen comes with a set of the parallel connectors included. My sister decided if they ever needed to run ac, they'd probably buy another Costco unit, and connect the two. Since we tend to follow the cooler weather, the Honda 1000 has served us well as the rainy days supplement to solar. I'd personally rather carry two small 50 lb sets than one huge 150 lb generator, or get a Yamaha 2400 at 75 lbs . That's about max weight for me.... and available for about $1300 to 1500. For just charging batteries, our Honda 1000 under 30 lbs with gas, is perfect for us. Sherry

Celebrating the day with my new and updated tow vehicle. Super turbo has replaced my beloved 2005 Silverado for the night. Hope all of you had fun. Sherry

Definitely a luxe apartment on wheels . I've seen dropdown beds in campers before, but they usually restrict head height. Nice recess into the ceiling, but I'm curious as to overall height of the camper. We meet a number of German campers on our Alaska trips, but they're usually in truck campers or expedition type campers. Last year, we spent some time in the Yukon with a German fellow riding his bicycle from Anchorage to San Francisco, tent camping. I'd love to go to one of the Germany RV shows. Their innovations and ideas are all over the spectrum.. Sherry

When we picked up our trai6, our newly installed hitch had caused a problem with the battery ( under third row seat in the volvo). Took several hours of troubleshooting, then trip to Walmart, install new battery, yadayada... Our brake controller worked fine on original run. Lots of problems later. Intermittent. Yup the kind you hate to trace... I guess the biggest wish for you, from everyone, is that you have s safe and relatively happy trip home... I will need to look it up somewhere in paper do s, but I think our tongue weight on our little elite is around 360. Weighed, with propane. Fill at least one propane tank, if not two. You'll want the heat st night .. and, you want to maintain the 10 to 15 per cent of trailer weight/ tongue weight . But, dont forget to add the tongue weight to your gvwr...

Welcome to the forum. You won't likely have much trouble til you get west of Kansas city. Other than Thanksgiving travel... heaviest traffic of the year. The plains can be easy, or brutal, depending on wind, and of course, snow. It snowed two weeks ago in Nebraska, by the way. Once you get to Nebraska , it's a crapshoot. I personally hate to have a deadline. We've found that deadlines always make camping and sailing trips less enjoyable, and sometimes just downright untenable, in foul weather. We picked up our 2008 in February, 2008, with our 2004 Volvo xc90, but headed south. No mountains, just hills. Similar wheelbase, but much heavier vehicle, probably by 50 per cent. On the flats, the xc90 is admirable. The t5 all wheel is fine. For the mountains, we've always used one of our trucks. Never wanted to try.... didn't feel it would be up to our preferred travel speed. If you try to do the trip with such a short turnaround, I'd really pack super light, keep the trailer winterized, and use a porta potty and a few gallons of water in the tow vehicle for drinking and coffee when you're overnighting. Sleeping bags. Pillows. A few clothes. Tea kettle, pourover cone, coffee mugs. Not much else. Keep the trailer light. There's not even 1000 pounds difference in your TV and trailer. When you hit the mountains, you don't want to be overwhelmed, especially downhill. Finding open campgrounds, even dry camping, will be tough, in late November. You're probably looking at Walmart and crackerbarrel and truckstops, which, of course, isn't camping. It's a place to sleep... and not always great sleep, at that. You may he tempted to just pull into a holiday inn Express, for a better rest. I might. The travel days are going to be long and daylight hours short. A better introduction to camping would surely be a different season. When I was young, My dad and I did a bunch of east to west and vice versa in the winters. I really learned to hate driving and towing in crappy weather, especially snowstorms, as a teenager. Hence, I now live in the south... And thoroughly enjoy shoulder season camping up north. And palm trees in December at home. Best of luck. Expand your timeline as MUCH as you possibly can. Can you back up your departure and pickup date? We've towed our Oliver "shorty" about 85000 miles, but we also travel two to three months a year in deliveries in the us and Canada, and rentals on other continents. Wouldn't trade our almost 11 year old ollie for anything else in the trailer world. Hope you love yours as much as we love ours. Sherry

Congratulations! We really have enjoyed our smaller Oliver for the last ten years. Easy to find a small spot in great places... Lucky you to find one with all the updates! Happy travels! Sherry

Mine's working, send and reply, from my android Samsung note 9. A friend on a mac (i think) couldn't reply, but received mine. Haven't tried any other devices, though. For those of you who have experienced issues, could you edit your comment to include your device type? Sometimes, that does make a difference. Thanks for your patience. Sherry

You can opt out of notifications. Go to your profile. Then, my account. You'll see a list box for notifications. Click only the boxes for notifications you WANT to see. Ditto on web notifications. Only those you WANT to get an email about. Once in awhile, I've accidentally subscribed to a topic. Go to the top of the topic, and unsubscribe. I'm personally not experiencing problems, but some members have indicated they can't clear notifications. At this point, if you're in that situation, you can opt out of notifications... I have opted out of most. I don't have time to weed through all the emails... We will get it all straightened out shortly. Our apologies for the inconvenience. Sherry

Mine is working. X out the individual notices, then x out of notifications. I'm working from an android phone... Samsung note 9 Sherry

Bill, what kind of adaptor do you use to connect the 25 amp solar panel to the Oliver ? Sherry

If it's potable, it's safe to use, but if you won't need it, don't bother. If you have to fill your tank, I'd dump it at the next place with good water. And flush the tank. Town hall has a filtered spigot where you can get 5 gallons a day of better water for drinking and cooking. Bring your own container.

I've heard that ants love termites... but I thought they followed subterranean termites. Never thought about them following swarming buggers... You don't have a lot of concern with the termites in a fiberglass camper, though I might still spray if a huge swarm of flying termites got into my interior, because of the wood drawers. But don't go crazy if you can't. There's not a lot of food source for termites in an oliver. The ants are easier... My favorite is ant gel. Or, if you have pets, the ant traps with ant gel inside. Several companies make them. COMMAND is good. So are most. You can start by windexing the entry trails. I was told ants follow the trail left by others. The windex helps to confuse them. Amdro granules on the ground outside the trailer are also helpful, if you have a campsite with ant problems. Ants take it back to the colony. I've never carried or tried an ant spray. It kills too many things I don't want to kill... Many of us in Florida have treated interior wall cavities of homes with a boric acid powder puffer. Never really considered it in the camper. It's a powder. Don't know how much good it would do if it gets damp with condensation. I'm sure some good gel traps or gel on wax paper or foil at points of visibility and entry will resolve your issues. All the ground dwellers have been driven up with the rain. It's your camper, or drown....for them. Sherry

I've heard that ants love termites... but I thought they followed subterranean termites. Never thought about them following swarming buggers... You don't have a lot of concern with the termites in a fiberglass camper, though I'd still spray if flying termites got into my interior, because of the wood drawers. The ants are easier... My favorite is ant gel. Or, if you have pets, the ant traps with ant gel inside. Several companies make them. COMMAND is good. So are most. You can start by wondering the entry trails. I was told ants follow the trail left by others. The windex helps to confuse them. Amdro granules on the ground outside the trailer are also helpful, if you have a campsite with ant problems. Ants take it back to the colony. I've never carried or tried an ant spray. Many of us in Florida have treated interior wall cavities of homes with a boric acid powder puffer. Never really considered it in the camper. It's a powder. Don't know how much good it would do if it gets damp with condensation. I'm sure some good gel traps or gel at points of visibility and entry will resolve your issues. All the ground dwellers have been driven up with the rain. It's your camper, or drown....for them. Sherry

Our paper today had an ad for the new version of the watch we all saw Dick Tracy use in the comic strip of our youth... It brought back some good memories. ... Dick Tracy, Brenda Starr, Dagwood... Don't think I need one, but it looks retro cool. Dial face that some kids today can't read, little gold screen over the two way radio below the face. .. https://www.dicktracy.watch/home

What else happens after you unplug? Do you raise the stabilizer Jack's, before or after, you unplug? Try changing the fridge to gas before unplugging, or, just turn it off. The DC draw on a 3way is pretty high... As overland asked, is the inverter off? Ac and heat off, or could you be trying to run electric heat or ac from the inverter? I'd be trying to hunt down any large electrical draw. Then, hint down a weakened breaker... Sherry