SeaDawg

Raspy, who still stops by here occasionally, bought a black series, and did a bunch of work on it to beef it up for four seasons. He has a different brand now.

Elite 1, 2008 Ram 1500 4x 4, hemi, 5.7.

This is another situation where experience gives us an edge. I don't care about "surfing the web," nor do I have to upload big files while camping, as working folks do. Yet another situation where time camping (sometimes involving frustration) gives us an answer to what we truly "need," and what we just want. If I wanted total connectivity, always, I'd get satellite, of some sort. I don't. But an emergency beacon, sure, when and if we're in the Yukon again. For most places we camp, in the USA and Canada, one of our phones "usually " works. One GSM, one CDMA. Even a very weak signal gets a text out. For emergency situations, I would never rely on tmobile or att. Nor verizon, even though we get better coverage with them than tmobile, in most situations. @Steph and Dud B, with both verizon and att/tmobile, you're covered in most situations. As are we. Out in the hinterlands,beyond cell towers, we'd need some sort of satellite sos.

I'm truly sorry to see you go, but hang around. Once a member of the family, always a member of the family. To change your signature, go to account, account settings, then signature. It's not very intuitive, I know, but it is what it is.

Any hull penetration can leak, at some magic moment or another. This is true of any camper. And, like any other roof. Start with the most likely/biggest area, and work from there. Duct tape has been our friend, on various campers, narrowing the field. Roofer friends tell me to "think like a rain drop, and do visual inspections. " That's all good, except visually inspecting caulk doesn't always tell the story. Covering areas, one at a time, with duct tape, tells the story, next heavy rain. A leak down the rear window can come from anywhere, if you're high in the nose, and the rear is the lowest point. Logic. Think like a raindrop.

Yes, I believe this is true in many "modern" trucks. Ours is a 2008.

If upgrading to lithium, I would disconnect that charge wire. You might be fine, but honestly, you don't want to fry your alternator. There is a reason why this circuit is disconnected for trailers originally equipped with lithium. Best of luck with your conversion, and we'll look forward to hearing about your process, and progress!

I have, like many other old school trailers, 2 x 105 agm 12v marine batteries. So, 210 ah, total, marine deka/East penn group 31 batteries. I probably come close to your description above. We can get appreciable charge, when traveling. We also have 400 watts of fixed solar, now, so less important, these days. But still important for those who don't have solar, and have lead acid/agm batteries. Level the front, with the jack, disconnect from the truck. With the plug dangling, not too hard to remember to reconnect in the morning.... Remembering to unplug from the tv is kind of ingrained, from old school days, so not a big deal. We're used to it. Many years of practice. As times change, and most people get lifepo4 batteries, Oliver may discontinue the charging wire. As may other manufacturers. We'll see. Times change. Batteries change. Practices change. Just saying, for those of us without lifepo4 batteries, the charge wire is helpful . PS, we live quite well, many months of camping each year, with 210 ah of battery power. We have learned power management. We camp, don't have an inverter. Everyone has a different camping style. Mine is different from yours, I'm sure, and I'd never criticize yours. We each decide what is most important, and work within our defined limits.

Sweet! A few questions. Where do you attach this? How does it function in windy conditions,? Does anything bend/sway/ rub on the Oliver? Is your pole fiberglass?

Cute fur buddies. Glad the barrier works for you.

Definitely disconnect the black 12V+ wire from the tow plug, regardless of battery setup. Definitely, if lithium. If you have lead acid, or agm (still lead acid) important to unplug from the tv when stopped for the night, to avoid draining your TV start battery. The umbilical cord basically draws from all battery connections. Times are changing. Most people seem to gravitate to lithium, of one brand or another, initial order, or retrofit. We're still old school, agm. Power misers. .

I'll leave that judgment to the tax professionals. Not my wheelhouse.

So, I'm a bit confused. You swapped parts from another drawer, but these will work as a replacement in situ? Just one? Even if other side has old bulkier mechanism? Just trying to understand. Obviously, new part is smaller. Glad everything worked out for you!

Maybe Steve could just move the demo to your site. Send him a pm. He loves to help folks.

@DavePhelps, if you carry an inflater, you can always reduce tire pressure/deflate the spare, if it doesn't fit. Not totally ideal, but it can work. Others have done it in the first gen trailers. Our 2008 has a smaller cover than yours, so can't help on your original question.

That's a great idea. We e often thought about just hiding a cheap phone, cheap plan, and linking a camera or two. Leave the phone plugged into 12v, set charging at 85 per cent max to extend battery life, and, voila. Communication! I asked, because most published plans have a cap on high speed data useage, even if "unlimited" and the user will get slowed down to 3g or lower, if the cap is hit. I have one on each of my plans, but only hit it once, when 6 people were logged onto my account as a hotspot , including a vr viewing device, which really gobbled my high speed data. It was fun to fly across the continents, virtually, though! I'd suggest a second plan with Verizon or visible, vs att, in my experience. ATT rarely gives us more connectivity than tmobile. I think they even have some tower sharing agreements, now. Tmobile works great for us in many places, especially Europe and Australia, and many parts of Canada. Just, sadly not in the mountains of WNC. Thank you for sharing the info on Calyx. I think it will be of interest to many.

@shhQuiet, thank you for the videos of Oliver #1405 in use. I enjoyed traveling along, even though my kayaking skills are much more limited! Our Oliver has been a means to an end... traveling, adventuring, and our sometimes stationary mountain "summer home" for 16 seasons. I love seeing how others use theirs. happy travels, and please share more!

It's a worthy cause. Do you know where your caps are on 5g/4g lte on your free service? Tmobile still doesn't work for us on our camping property in North Carolina, and it's disappointing. We have a tmobile phone, a Verizon phone, and a Visible phone (cheap moto, cheap plan, uses Verizon towers) as backup. Years ago, we had an Alltel, then Verizon jetpack, but gave it up when smartphones improved. My phone is my pocket computer.

I thought the first test was crazy, so I tried it again. Outdoors. 5g verizon. So, for now, we'll just continue with my phone, as a hotspot. We don't "work" anymore. Just need a reliable connection. So, we carry both Verizon and tmobile phones. Most of the time, if there's a signal to be had, we get one. Your setup is definitely better for mobile work, I'm sure.

Indoors, I fluctuate between 4g and 5g, metal roof, uv protection windows. This was 5g. Verizon. Indoors.

This is my 5g speed, outdoors, a few minutes ago, on my 5g s23+ samsung phone:

In the meantime, @Nan, ask your wonderful grandson to go out on a nice day, and clean the area around the Oliver sign , and duct tape it like a new install window apron. A strip across the bottom first, then sides, then top, overlapping each way. Use white or clear. It won't take more than 25 minutes, including ladder set and cleaning, and you'll know the story, if it doesn't leak, when you test with a hose, or get a good rain..

@rich.dev posted a link to an extensive discussion on the Oliver sign. It's a really good thread. Also discusses appropriate sealants. My husband and I got sick of chasing the minute leaks of bubbles in caulk, etc., and went another direction with the Oliver sign/third light, several years ago. Mind you, it's more extreme, requires drilling holes, but we view it as the permanent solution. Still in beta, only three years in. 🙂 The Oliver sign is not that different from fixed acrylic portlights on sailboats, which typically leak after some magic number of years. In another ten years or so, I'll be able to tell you if our solution was best. Still in beta. But, as you know by now, I'm a big believer in synthetic butyl. It is not, however, an adhesive, so required mechanical fasteners, in addition to the superlative merits of butyl as a sealant. For good measure, we also applied a length of rv Eze gutter over the Oliver sign.

@Nan, I'm really sorry to hear that. Hope you are feeling better soon. Take care of yourself! Lots of nasty viruses out there this season. Honestly, I'd say it's 90 per cent likely it's the Oliver sign. Most vulnerable bit in that area. I wish Oliver would just use an applied light there.

@Nan, sometimes caulking doesn't "fix" the Oliver light. Hit the rear of the trailer with a good long forceful spray from a garden hose. If it leaks, do this: Ask your grandson to tape all around it with duct tape, and hit it with a hose for a bit. If no leak its the rear oliver sign. Most times, a leak under the rear window is that oliver sign. (I call it the third tail light, but it isn't. ) Could (possibly) be a leak from your fan or ac. Not very likely to be from something really far forward in the trailer. Leaks are frustrating.