DavePhelps

Don, Did you check the water supply hose and fittings to the toilet? If there was a leak there, the water pump would just keep pumping water, and that water would end up on the floor. That's the only source of water inside the bathroom cabin that I can think of. All leaks elsewhere would end up between the hulls. My best guess.... Dave

I have the Elite, so maybe it has a smaller TV than the larger Elite2. I have 1 HDMI, 1 USB, and 1 VGA input on the bottom of the TV. The HDMI switch and associated parts are coming today so I'll post what happens when I get it all figured out, probably next week sometime as we have family in town. The Owners Manual has been of mixed help to us. Some of the info is not up to date and while I have learned some good stuff in there and think it is worthwhile to go through, when it comes to troubleshooting problems, I think you're best getting the model # of the appliance and going straight to their website. Dave

Bill, I have been slow moving on this as life has been very busy. I have however learned of this idea using a brass compression fitting. Inside the stock fitting on the compression side is a stop so the copper tube won't go all the way through. What I did was to set the fitting up on my drill press and drill that stop out, and also continuing drilling out all the rest of the way through the fitting and out the 3/4" NPT side (the side that screws into the tank) with a 5/8" bit, which is the OD of 1/2" copper pipe. The brass drills very easily. I need to show this to my plummer to make sure there will be no leaking issues doing this. The beauty of the compression fitting idea (if it works) is that the bent siphon tube can be slipped in to the tank and allowed to rest at or near the bottom. The tube would not have to be straight up and down, but could just lay on the tank bottom at an angle, that way measuring the length is not so critical. Then the 3/4"NPT side of the fitting can be screwed in to the tank bung, the tube being still free to turn at this point. Then, when all looked good, the compression nut would be tightened down, locking everything in place. Then reattach the pex supply to the copper and you're good to go. What worries me is the very limited space under there to work and get wrenches in, etc. To do this at the factory would take no time at all! I really want a plummer to check this out before I commit. Trying to avoid the can of worms if I can! I also tried using a nylon fitting with a pex tube glued into the NPT side with JB Weld plastic epoxy. But this test failed the glue test. No surprise as pex is impossible to glue so I have been told. I will pursue this and post pics as soon as I can. Hope to talk to Tommy Staggs again this week to make sure the 1/2" copper tube will fit through the bung. Otherwise I'll have to step it down to 3/8" copper and use a comp. fitting configured for that size. Dave

Tina and Ken, I'm surprised you have no HDMI cable connecting your TV to the Furrion. My trailer was produced late in 2015. It would not be too hard to run a cable if you need to. If you pull the mats out of the overhead bins aft of the Furrion, there is a wire chase in there that runs to the back of the trailer. Pretty sure a HDMI cable would nestle in there. You would also have to pull out your Furrion to plug it in, and temporarily remove/replace the side panels in the rear overhead bin for access (2 screws secure each panel on my Elite). Tommy Staggs told me that the HDMI is indeed transmitting all video from the Furrion to the TV. Whether or not HDMI is a requirement for video from the USB input on the Furrion, I do not know. We have played DVD's and CD's on the Furrion but nothing else yet. Folks were/are having troubles playing their MP3's through the USB on the Furrion. There's a chat about that somewhere on the forum. I'd talk to Tommy about what is or isn't working for you as he seems to be the most knowledgeable. Though there may be some other A/V wizards over there. It does seem like the installers need to up their game a bit, but I'm sure OTT will get that sorted out fast. DavidS, Right, the Fosmon splitter requires no additional power. I will, however, plug the Roku into the 120V AC outlet (with included adapter) that is already located in the rear upper bin. Might take a week or so for the order to arrive and once I get it all hooked up, I'll post the results. Hopefully, I'll be smiling...! Dave

Wow, thanks everyone for your replies and knowledge. I ordered the Roku Stick and the HDMI switch that DavidS linked above. The stick works best when powered but comes with a wall adapter for 120V AC, or it can plug into a USB port (there happens to be one on my Jenson TV) if you want to plug the stick (looks like a memory key) right into the TV. Here's the link: https://www.roku.com/products/streaming-stick Tina and Ken, thanks for your input. You are right the Yellow video cable is not attached to the TV. Instead, I guess the HDMI is doing the video. We don't have satellite or any other antennas or video options. I plan to mount the HDMI switch in the overhead storage bin, probably velcroed to the wall. Then I'll hook it all up and see what happens! I'll for sure let everyone know how it all goes. I've been on a steep learning curve with this, our first travel trailer. It's great that there are so many folks out there willing to share their knowledge and experiences. As more Olivers get out there, we're going to have a nice little family over here! Thanks again. Dave

Dave, one last question. On the HDMI switch you referenced, how did you wire it up? I'm having a hard time figuring what is the input and what is the output....ugh.. It seems like I need two inputs (Furrion and Roku) and one output (TV) Is that how you set yours up? These HDMI switches seem to be set up for one input and two outputs....unless the input/output configuration is also programmable. This stuff makes me a little crazy. Dave

Dave, it seems that you are correct. I thought the HDMI ruled everything. I have 4 AV cables attached to my TV (2 bundles of three cables each, with only two cables of each bundle being used. The odd third cable is unused and just hanging there) The one bundle goes up to the overhead storage compartment for whatever AV device one may want to add. The other bundle must go to the Furrion. I spoke with Tommy at Oliver and he confirmed that sound is transmitted through those cables from the TV to the Furrion. So perhaps a switched splitter like the one you mentioned would work. I'll give it a go and report back. Thanks. Dave

For those of you that had to pull out your Furrion to fix misplaced wiring, did you by chance notice if there was an extra HDMI jack back there? Sorry for all your troubles. There's always something that needs a little tweaking at the beginning, no matter how hard one strives for perfection. They can all be fixed or adjusted/modified and you'll still have one of the best rigs out there. Dave

Hi Dave, thanks for that link. My question about splitters like that is that is that they seem to switch between one HDMI or the other. On the Oliver the one HDMI on the TV goes to the Furion which controls the sound through the 4 speakers. It seems like I would need both HDMI's to work at the same time. One providing the streaming input signal to the TV, and the other sending the sound to the Furion. Is this not the case? I'm not all so savvy with this electronic stuff.... Dave

Mike, I thought about seeing if there was an extra HDMI jack on the back of the Furion. Not sure if the Roku would work if it was plugged in there, but it would be worth a try. There is another thread going on with some folks having some wiring issues with their Furion and they had to pull it to make the fix. I'll check with them and see if they noticed an extra HDMI input there. If a splitter would work on the TV, that would be the easiest. Dave

I have been trying to figure out how to stream video in our Ollie while at home and have unlimited bandwidth using our home wifi. The ROKU streaming system looks pretty good but I have questions for anyone who has used this or other streaming devices. 1. Will it work on a 12 volt TV? There will be 120V AC available as we are parked at home and our Ollie is plugged in, but the TV is still 12 volt. 2. Our Jensen TV has only 1 HDMI jack. This jack is being used to connect the TV to the Furrion (my best guess). The ROKU device needs a HDMI jack on the TV for the best picture. Can I use a 1:2 HDMI splitter to get the needed two inputs? As far as I can tell, ROKU has no customer service person to talk to.... Having our trailer at home is like having a small addition put on our house. It has been as great to have at home as on the road, well, almost!! If I get Netflix in there, I may never come out, LOL! Dave

Horace and Diane, aside from miswiring and other issues I can hardly believe I'm reading about, have you made sure your speaker balance setting is set correctly? Maybe it got unbalanced along the way somehow. Turn on TV and Furrion, with the TV remote, press Menu, then scroll across to Audio, then scroll down to Balance. Should be in the middle for starters. Also as wave1127 mentioned, check the A and B settings on the Furrion and make sure they are on. I followed that video carefully and thankfully it worked great. Much nicer than the TV speakers. Good luck! Dave

Those are some awesome windows. I would be paranoid about scratching them though while cleaning, especially with all the dust and grit that gets on them traveling gravel roads. One thing I would like to add to the list of improvements that would hardly cost Oliver anything is improving their fresh water tank outlet design. As I posted earlier, it is a bit of a disappointment to have to tip up the front end of the trailer to get at the last 10 gallons of water in the tank. I have been slowly moving towards a solution for this but access down there is very tight. Hoping to have a plumber friend of mine look at it to see if inserting a small suction tube into the tank is doable. This would be much easier to do with the tank out of the trailer at the factory and would be a big help for us boondockers who need full access to our water supply. Other than this, we just love this trailer! Dave

Forgot to mention that the way my tank is oriented (and I'm sure all of the trailers), inlet and outlet facing the rear, and on the passenger side of the trailer, makes the adapter on the right in the above picture the outlet. Dave

Buckroe, unfortunately, there is no room to come out the bottom of the tank with an adapter, there is just no room. It has to come out the side, and therein lies the challenge of this design. Check this link out on a different forum, apparently this is not so uncommon an issue, and others have found ways to improve their system. http://www.crossroadsowners.com/forums/f14/fresh-water-tank-issue-8423.html Of particular interest is the pic that Lloyd posted. (unfortunately, the link that was posted of 'Greg Paine' outlining this mod was not available to me to access, maybe someone else can get into it) It looks like there is a compression fitting through which one can insert a copper tube (maybe stainless would be better?). The tube could then be bent and inserted into the tank, and then the male end of the compression fitting screwed into the the stock adapter on the tank. Then the pex could be reattached to the other end of the copper/stainless tube. I need some time to research this fitting. Any plumbers out there? I've been buried lately and haven't had a chance to pursue this or get to the Elkhart factory, but am hoping next week to check this all out. I'll let everyone know when I get any new info together. Hi Bill, yes, I think that this may just work with a little head scratching. Dave

Don, On our trip home from the Oliver factory, we used our on board water tanks as you plan to. We also carried some store bought bottled water in the 2 gallon size with the built in spouts. For us the lesson learned was that for whatever water container you use, make sure it has a screw down lid! Many of the store bought water jugs we came across have a press on soft plastic lid, I'd avoid those, they were a major headache. In our smaller Elite, we found it a hassle to have a large water container kicking around, but luckily I had brought along a 1 gallon BPA free water jug from home with a handle and screw down lid. This worked great for our daily water needs (cooking/drinking) and was easy to refill from a larger 5 gallon water can that I kept in our TV. Depending on time of year and destination will have a huge impact on water use. In the early season, many BLM and FS campgrounds don't have their water turned on yet. Summer in the desert...well, you get the idea. Water still can be found though. I purchased an inline water filter to refill the trailer and our drinking water containers and was glad I did just for piece of mind. Can't have too much of the stuff if you ask me. Having extra can also be handy to refill your trailer for showers, dishes, toilet, etc., when there are no hookups and you don't want to drive looking for water. My setup ultimately will be two 5 gallon cans (maybe more if we're really going to be out in the tules.) and two or three of those smaller 1 gallon jugs for taking in the trailer. I was looking at the Wavian NATO water cans: https://gijerrycan.com/water-cans/blue-water-can.html, but those Scepter cans look pretty good and are much cheaper. Although the Wavian cans are bomb proof so I have heard. They certainly make the best gas cans... Have fun! Dave

For a different visual, here's a pic of the 32.5 gallon water tank at the Oliver factory. The outflow is on the right. The overall tank height is 4.5 inches or very close to that. I think a different fitting/adapter is in order, or perhaps a short ( 6" or so) siphon tube inside the tank that curved down to the bottom could help. Do you think a siphon tube would be problematic or potentially unsanitary over time? Seems like it would be just like the rest of the plumbing in the trailer and would be just as easy to sanitize if needed. Just thinking..... Dave

Thanks for your reply Sherry. Leveling the trailer is not really the issue, although there have been some good pointers on this thread. The problem for me is getting to "those last few gallons", as you say, which in my case is almost 1/3 the capacity of my tank! Now I'm completely into water conservation at home and camping and I employ many of the strategies you talk about. If I was getting full pressure down to 6% as you are, I'd be happy as can be. I would always expect to have to tip the trailer a bit to get that last bit of water, but not at 30% full. Perhaps this is just how it is and I'm expecting too much. I'm surprised others haven't had issues with this. I still want to visit the tank manufacturer to see what they can come up with so will report back with that before I put this to rest. Dave

http://www.epi-roto.com/plastic-water-tanks/ "Elkhart Plastics" is molded into my water tank, so I assume the above link is accurate. Although I cannot find my particular tank there (4.5 inches tall). I imagine Oliver has them custom made to fit their trailers. Dave

Routlaw, I'll have my wife in the trailer reading the level as I use the stabilizers. Man I love those things. Overland, The tank thickness I do not know and you raise a good point. I always assumed it wouldn't be more than 1/8 to 3/16 inches but I never could get that info. That would, of course affect my calculations by a small amount. Still hope to talk to the tank manufacturer. Even assuming a 1/4" tank thickness, there is a lot of water left in the tank that requires raising up the trailer to get to, which to me is not good practice, and is also just that much more extra weight I have to carry around. Stan, Yep, gotta have a level frying pan! I installed a lot of kitchens and making the stove perfectly level was a top priority! Dave

My ruler is leaning a bit to the right. Space is tight down there! No way to lift the tank as a solution..... Dave

Hi Routlaw, you are right in that our monitor also reads in 6% increments, so I should have said 36% and 30% respectively. I never really trust those bubble vials. I tried adjusting it, but it was different every time! They're good to get in the ballpark, but I've been using my 2 foot level (Stabila) on the floor of the trailer. Figured that would be good for the tank position anyway. I was sent a pic of the tanks at the Oliver factory and they all look just like mine. The adapters are glued on by the tank manufacturer, not by Oliver, so I was told. Our tank monitor seems to be reading very accurately, at least by my measurements, crude as they may be. Remember that the 1.5" is to the top of the tube. If you're getting good pressure down to 19%, that's pretty good. I think what I will have to do is raise the front just a bit when we get down to 30%, or refill from water tanks carried in the TV like you. The tank manufacturer has a facility near where I live so I was thinking of stopping by to see if other fittings could be used or if something else could be done. On our trip home in March/April, it was early enough in the season that many campgrounds did not have the water turned on yet. This was in the Inter-mountain West. So we had to be careful with our water. No issues filling up at private RV parks and the like. We're on a learning curve here. But I was thinking if others are having a similar issue, that we could put our heads together and figure something out. I'll try to post a pic of my tank. Dave

We just picked up our Elite and the end of last March. Had a fine time meeting many of the crew at Oliver, Anita made us a pot of killer bean soup, and it was beautiful in Tennessee! We took the long way home, taking 3 weeks and over 2500 miles to get back, with about 2/3 of that spent boondocking in various campgrounds. We absolutely love the trailer and it sheltered us well through freezing temps, snow, wind, and mountain squalls. One thing we began to notice while boondocking was that when the water level gets around 36% +/-, the water pump would cycle for a much longer period of time before shutting off (like a minute). As the level got down below 33% +/-, the pump would not shut off at all. After much head scratching, calls to Oliver, and checking for air leaks or any anomaly, I discovered the issue. The outlet tube that is at the "bottom" of the tank, is actually kind of high up. The tank itself (32.5 gallon) is 4.5" in overall height. The distance from the bottom of the tank to the top of the outlet tube is 1.5 inches! What this means is that as soon as the water level gets down to the top of that tube, the water pump will begin sucking air and loose prime. I was very careful to make sure my trailer was absolutely level while checking on this. This is a 33% loss of available water in the tank (10 gallons). The only way to get to it is to raise up the front of the trailer, but this has it's own negative issues (refrigerator, black tank/toilet, come to mind) I would be curious to hear from you boondockers how you have dealt with this. Has anyone modified their tank or has this not been such a big issue to you? To me, this seems like a big design issue that Oliver needs to look at. The problem now is that the adapter/fitting that the pex tubing attaches to is glued to the exterior of the tank and there needs to be room for the gluing flange all around the adapter, this moves the tube up the tank wall. There has to be a solution out there somewhere. 10 gallons is a lot of water! I would never expect a 100% discharge, but only 66% is difficult to swallow, no pun intended there ;-)! Thanks, and again, we love our Oliver and I would and will recommend it to anyone. Just want to make it even better, and learn more about this kind of travel (this is our first trailer). Regards, Dave

OK, when I read this: .....water will seep through the awning mounts on the FG shell I kind of had some worries, but I guess I should have known better. I'm picking up our Oliver the end of March and I guess I have the jitters! Thanks. Dave

Routlaw, are you saying hat you are having leaking problems where the awning mounts attach to the trailer?? I would think Oliver would have a bomb proof seal there, as well as at the solar mounts. Is water entering the interior of your trailer from this area, or dripping down between the two shells and out the weep holes? Doesn't sound good either way if this is the case. Dave