DavePhelps

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

OK. Thanks everyone. Looks like I'll be figuring most of this out after I have our trailer in hand, and can see just what I have to work with. I know insurance is critical, and that will definitely be attended to. But I also feel that a good defense strategy is just as important while on the road. No one wants the headache/heartbreak of loosing their rig in the middle of a trip no matter how well they are insured. Dave

Thanks for your advise Pete. I'll look into that GPS unit. Regarding your cable, what length do you use? Would a chain also work? I don't know how much clearance there is over the top of the axle, (or through the hole on the wheel) for a heavy (16mm) hardened chain to loop over. I'm currently thinking something like this may be a better way to go than the hitch coupler lock. That coupler lock is expensive and it doesn't prevent a determined thief from just chaining up the trailer to their hitch and dragging it off to parts unknown. Dave

Greetings everyone, I have been wondering if any of you use some sort of hitch lock on your Olivers. I've been looking at this one in particular: Problem is, it looks like the Bulldog hitch used by Oliver is bolted on to the frame. Probably has to do with the hitch extension feature. But with a hitch lock on, all a thief would have to do is remove the two bolts and drop the hitch, lock and all. At least, that is how it appears. Of course they would also need a new hitch to bolt back on.... So, am I worrying for nothing? How do you all secure your trailers while off in the tules. Dave

Thought I would post a final comment for the record about my battery situation for anyone interested. It took a while, but it turns out that Oliver did change the slide out battery tray in the new Elite. This change, along with a slightly redesigned battery compartment, reduced the available battery height to just over 9". Pretty limiting for anyone needing some serious battery power for extended boondocking (we also got the solar package). After some inquiry, Oliver said that they could use the old style tray giving me a little over an extra inch of height. I hate to be vague with these numbers, but that's the best I could get from Oliver. The good news is that with the extra height, I was able to fit 2 Lifeline GPL-4CT AGM 6volt, 220 amp/hr batteries. I was hoping the Trojan T-105's would fit, but it was not to be. So my trailer is just entering production. Glad to stop sweating the details now and just let them build the trailer. It's been a learning process, that's for sure. Dave

OK, thanks everyone for their responses. Hardrock, or anyone, if you have any energy left, you could measure the available battery box height by first pulling out the battery tray, measure from the tray floor (base of battery) to the tallest battery component (probably the posts). Push the tray back into the compartment, then measure the space between the top of battery (same as before) and the top of the compartment. Add the two together and that's the number I'm trying to find. It's looking like I'll be going with the Lifeline GPL-4CT 6volt 225 Ah AGM batteries. They fit in Technomadia's rig when they had an Elite so they should fit in the new version as well. Waiting to hear back from Oliver on this. Dave

14" square (LxW). OK. So is the height clearance 10.5" (or ??) from the tray up? And as Pete mentioned, how much is this height diminished towards the rear of the compartment? Most of these batteries are 10" to 10.5" long so there should be some room in the back to allow for a loss of height due to the radiused ceiling of the compartment. Hopefully we can put this to rest soon. I really appreciate this. Dave

Hardrock, thanks for the reply. I'm assuming from your post that you meant there is 1.5" of space between the floor of the compartment and the battery tray. Therefore leaving ~10.5" of clearance height for an actual battery. Do I have this right? T-105's spec out at 10.75" tall, the Lifeline GPL-4CT specs at 9.92". If you wouldn't mind, do you have the length and width of the ? Sounds like height is the only issue but I just want to be sure! Thanks a lot. Dave

Hardrock, what is the height from the bottom of your pull-out tray to the top of the battery box?? What if the tray was removed, what is the height then? Thanks Dave