SeaDawg

My guess, fill is leaking. Our foot pedal sometimes sticks. My guess, yours is too, but just slightly.

This is such a very sad case. I read about the wife climbing the hill with her walker, to scoop snow with her mask, for water. My heart broke, thinking of my mom and her limited mobility, using a walker. So incredibly sad. And, dangerous, for her. Also extremely dangerous, to abandon the rv with no supplies in the little car. I would agree, they'd have been better off in the rv. Advice on abandoning ship is always to stay with the boat, if it's floating, even if it's turtled. Tough to spot people bobbing about at sea, as well. A friend of mine learned that many years ago, when their boat rapidly sank. They huddled together (6 people, three life jackets grabbed as the boat went down) around an igloo cooler. No epirb. They all survived, after 14 hours in the water, but several boats passed them, not seeing them in the distance. They had no "float plan" with friends or relatives. No one looking for them. Cell phones destroyed by immersion. No waterproof lights, no flares, no mirror, no waterproof communication, no ditch bag, no life raft, nothing. They were just going out for an overnight trip. Finally their group was rescued when a palm frond floating by was grabbed, a t shirt stuck on top, and a fishing boat in the distance saw them waving desperately. Their story still makes me shudder. So, don't blindly trust gps directions. Look ahead on maps. Think it through. Carry enough stuff to keep alive for awhile. And, consider emergency waterproof beacon/communication gear. These incidents don't have to end in tragedy. And they shouldn't. But, sometimes they do. I know others have talked about emergency evacuation strategies, for fire and storm. That's important, too. If you want to camp in the boonies, you do need strategies. And a satellite communication device can be a big help. At the least, file a plan with a friend or relative. Heck, I have orders from my mom to call her when I get home, 6 miles away. It's not unreasonable. And, its about the love, and safety.

I like the method for locking down the suction cups in the ipegtop. I like plastic better than stainless wires, personally. I take mine down and run them through the dishwasher. These from target are entering their 15th season. They still have a similar group of products at Target, in the bath section.

I know, right? Typical rv furnace is so inefficient, you actually can feel and smell the sticky residue of unburned fuel if you warm your hands (without gloves) at the exhaust. If we ever have to change up, I'll be looking at the vario. None of the good hydronic systems are available for retrofit, to my knowledge. Nor, would it be easy, in our older elite. Just my opinion.

That's a thought, @CnC, as it kicked on when temp rose to 50. The stove and fridge still managed to work, though. But, they may work with less pressure available than the furnace. IDK.

I spoke with our local Truma office in Lakeland awhile back when the Varioheat was first introduced. Unlike other systems from Truma, the Vario was available to end-users as a retrofit, but only with a Truma install. Price was, if I remember, about double a Suburban or Atwood replacement, including labor. I'll see if I can find my notes from our conversation. Here's a video showing the Vario in use, inside Truma's environment testing booth. It certainly is quiet.

Mark and Cyndi, Oh , wow. I am so very thankful that all of you, including the couple and baby behind, survived. Angels were watching over you, I am sure. As I fight back tears, I'm so very happy no one was seriously injured. What a difference seconds can make.

I feel your pain. Last week, I spent almost an hour on the phone trying to reach a tech at Franke USA, calling about my hood vent control panel for my home kitchen. Got knocked off twice. Finally spoke to a really nice guy, after 29 minutes on hold, and had a new control panel for my 2008 or 9 hood fan in two days, for less $ than I expected. These days, it can take time and a significant amount of patience, as everyone seems to be understaffed, and hold times are really long. I call on my cell phone, put it on speaker, and continue working on other things with my phone in my pocket. If I get knocked off the line, I just call again, and repeat. It's a bit maddening, but eventually, I usually get results. Please keep us posted on what you find out.

Then, I would suspect over temp limits, or control board. And, definitely, open another ticket.

Thanks for that info.

I suspected sail switch, also, but surprised when furnace worked above 50. Maybe some Utah dust finally blown away after many attempts,? I doubt it's a low voltage issue, as I'm pretty sure @routlaw has lithium? Not sure. Cold temps affect la battery output more than lithium batteries. I will say, my old suburban on agm has never had these issues. But I've seen others with control board issues, as well, in newer trailers. I "think" the newer suburban furnaces have a two or three year warranty. I'd be checking in with suburban, especially since routlaw says the fridge still runs on gas. That's usually much more sensitive to propane issues than the furnace. Very helpful troubleshooting, @Steph and Dud B. Thanks.

The trim lock or ez rv gutters is most helpful to keep weepholes from being "overpowered" in heavy rain. They don't replace proper installation and caulking, but they do "help" to direct rain away from the windows and weepholes. I'm surprised both sides' windows show "leaks." Over the years,for us, it's usually been only one side that has an issue. I usually look to the Oliver third tail light as first culprit, but not sure in your case. That typically appears as a "leak" in the rear window, and some moisturein the attic. Much depends on how you are set up, side to side, front to back levels. A tiny bubble/gap in caulk can create a significant leak in a downpour. The fiberglass hull flexes as it goes down the road, and can stretch or break caulk. Since you say you have leaks on both sides, I'd probably be looking at rooftop, personally. Possibly ac. Are the bolts to the ac torqued properly? If you typically camp nose high, a bit, as we do, could be fan, as well. I like to use duct tape to figure out where a leak has originated. Any penetration, window or roof, can be the culprit. Our habit is to seal a suspected tiny leak with a strip of tape, and see if it helps in the next storm. If it does not, move on to the next likely culprit penetration. And, here's another. If you lift the leveling jacks higher on one side, does the leak disappear on that side, and only show on the low side? If so, it's probably a roof penetration, not a window. Double hull can make it more difficult to "think like a raindrop, " as a roofer friend told me years ago. Water travels hidden, but always find the lower spot. I suspect you opened a service ticket before, but please do so, again, anyway. It only helps Oliver get better, even if you find the cause yourself.

Your lizardskin vs my quilted partial 2008 insulation. I suspect you may win. Even so, temps to teens have been ok. With furnace running.

In our 2008, the fridge is separate from the gfci, and any other trailer circuit. Don't know about newer trailers.

Ditto.

@tallmandan, thanks for the excellent notes and photos.

We've had both tankless and traditional tank water heaters, at home and in rvs. Currently have a Girard tankless in our Ollie. Tankless, like the Rinnai gas heater at home, are great when you have plentiful water and tankage or city sewer. If we had it to do over, I'd probably just get a traditional 6 gallon for the Ollie again, though. Why? Since we rarely camp with hookups, I think it's easier to conserve water knowing we only have only 6 gallons of hot available. I heat water for dishwashing in a tea kettle. For showers, the water heater could be brought to a comfortable temperature in a few minutes, and open the hot faucet only, which pretty much eliminated the occasional cold water sandwich of navy showers. And, at a powered campsite, the 6 gallon could be switched to electric to conserve lp. We have a portable Eccotemp tankless propane outdoor springwater shower on our camping property. I love that, too, as we have pretty much unlimited shower time after a long day, but I don't have to limit grey water outdoors, either. If you spend a lot of time at full hookup campsites, where you have city water and can leave the grey line open, the tankless would be great. Our Girard tankless has been pretty much maintenance and trouble free. But, so were our Suburban 6 gallons, except for winterizing and anode changes. There are tradeoffs with every decision.

@OKCamper has a Sport. (And it may be the only one ever made. Not sure.) There was one demo model sold by the factory in 2014. Might be hers?

Yes, but just one or two, as I recall. Oliver went into hiatus not long after its release, and it wasn't revived after production resumed. I think the owner of one posted here a few years ago. I'll see if I can find it.

Charlie, apologies in advance for the thread drift, but were the manatees still in the spring when you were there?

Ditto

@Landrover, I don't think any of our earlier trailers had specific jackpoints marked. I'm sure mine (2008) didn't. Though we have never had an issue, through 3 or 4 sets of tires, and annual maintenance, I'd love to see Oliver weigh in. We, also, look at the beefy aluminum frame as pretty much bulletproof.

An eggsausting list. Much eggsertion. Not sure I'm up to the eggsacting task. Perhaps, we can just show a link to a pretty eggsact list, here? Ps, I love this. Most fun I've had in weeks here.

@csevel, I get that. We do most of our own maintenance, too. I'm just unsure, like you, if current jack points are the same for your trailer. Jason is usually quite good at responding to service ticket questions, and I'd really like to know.

@csevel, I don't know. I would suggest you open a service ticket, and share the response here, please.