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Everything posted by DavePhelps
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Tire Pressure Monitoring System
DavePhelps replied to hardrock's topic in Mechanical & Technical Tips
Does anyone have a feeling about the TSP flow thru sensors (available on the 507 only)? Might be convenient, but is it that hard to remove the standard sensor to air up? Great thread, I'll be getting these for sure. Dave -
Furrion Faultsmart 30A Electrical Cable Plug
DavePhelps replied to rideandfly's topic in General Discussion
Bill, when we park at home, I have the same setup as you do. We plug our Furrion cord provided by Oliver into a 30 amp/110V to 15 amp/110V adapter and that plugs into a standard 15 amp/110V home receptacle. When plugged in this way, the blue LED light on my Furrion plug does indeed come on, as should yours. You should check your house plug for irregularities, ie. open ground, cross polarity, etc.. There are simple, inexpensive plug in testers that will do this for you: https://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-RT100-Receptacle-Tester/dp/B005GYBFA4/ref=zg_bs_14244461_13 If all is well there, then check your adapter while plugged in to the house receptacle in the same way. If these both check OK, then you may have a faulty Furrion cord- it could be just a bad LED(s). My guess is that it's the Furrion cord as I think if there was an issue with your power source as mentioned above, then the red LED should be lit up. That's my understanding of it at least. Dave -
I put the Towtectors on our van. https://www.realtruck.com/towtector-aluminum-mud-flaps/R183268P1999Y722MA.html So far they have worked great, but I haven't been to Alaska either (yet). We have traveled many miles on gravel roads with no chips. More time on the road will tell as we're just getting going with our new Ollie. But these got very good reviews. It is important that the bottom of the skirt has the proper 3" to 4" clearance from the road for the best effect. Dave
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Hi Mike and Carol, This being our first trailer, I am still figuring a lot of this stuff out myself but I can offer a few comments. 1. Brake controller. I can't comment on this critical adjustment. Ours is an aftermarket Tekensha. I have it adjusted about the same as you have and so far it seems to work well. But I would be very interested to hear what more experienced haulers would have to say. 2. I am guessing the white tube is the condensate line for your AC. Buzzy will know! So no worries if water is coming out there. 3. Bathroom fan. It is easy to just pull down one side of the fan housing when closing, leaving the other half of the housing sticking up to catch the wind. When opening or closing, make sure to have the pull/push bar parallel to the fan and not at an angle. Hopefully that will fix it for you. 4. Water should not be dripping out your AC into the trailer. Best call Oliver on that one. Maybe there is a kink in the condensate line somewhere...? 5. I don't worry about liquids in the gray water myself. I do add a little Happy Camper additive and water softener to the tank when starting out. My main worry for the GT is hair. So, when showering inside, I unscrew the floor drain stop (easy) and lay over a flat store bought sink screen that keeps any hair from going down the drain. 6. Your RAM has 8 speeds and I would use them on steep descents! Going 70 mph down a 7% grade would scare the heck out of me. Definitely downshift that excellent transmission of yours and let it work for you. Save your brakes for when you really need them. Personally, when cruising in the mountains, I look less at the speedometer and instead listen more to the engine to make sure it's happy and not straining too much. When it's not straining, I'm not stressing! Hope this helps. Dave
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Hi Don, just saw this so hope I'm not too late. The HDMI cable I also ordered from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014I8SIJY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 And yes it is the std. male to male plug. Hope this helps and have a great trip! Dave
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Well all right, I have some good news to report. I hooked up my Roku streaming stick (3600) and it works beautifully. The entire install took less than 20 minutes. Getting logged on and setup was about an hour and was a bit more frustrating, but got it figured out eventually. More tech savvy folks could probably do it faster. I ordered the Fosmon HDMI switch that DavidS referenced above. It's only 2" square. I also ordered an extra 3' HDMI cable to connect the Fosmon to the TV. I originally was going to install it in the overhead bin as there is a plug in there and easy access to the TV. After reading the instructions for the Roku, they mentioned for best results, not to place it inside a cabinet as this would reduce reception. I was also nervous about putting it in there anyway because of heat buildup and because we keep a lot of our clothing up there. So looking around, I decided to put it on the wall between the window and the TV. Fits perfect in there and is not so noticeable. It is also easy to switch between the Roku and the Furrion unit in this location. I velcroed it to the wall. Very solid. Hookup was easy once I got what was going on, thanks to posters here. Furrion (the HDMI that is currently connected to the TV) and Roku on the two input side . TV (the new cable I bought) on the output side. The Roku is powered by a USB cable that comes out of the end of the Roku and then plugs into the unused (thankfully) USB port on the TV. When the TV gets turned on, the Roku powers up. There is also a 120V adapter included if you want to power the Roku from a standard wall outlet for different locations. Can now play DVD when the Fosmon is switched to the Furrion (set TV remote>source>HDMI). Stream Netflix, Fosmon switched to Roku, (TV remote>source>HDMI). Or watch over air TV broadcasts via antenna, Fosmon switched to either Furrion or HDMI, doesn't seem to matter (TV remote>source>TV). All audio comes via the AV cables (on my rig) and was not affected by the add on whatsoever. One last thought. If you have the Wifi Ranger, you need to log in your Roku through this device with the password you created for it. Don't try using your home wifi password, it won't work. Thanks for everyone's help with this. If you're thinking about this add on, I would recommend it. We won't be watching much TV, if any, while boondocking, but when parked at home, and when at more "civilized" campgrounds, this will be a very nice option. Dave
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Bill, a dimmer switch for the cabin lights? That I would like to find out about. Dave
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LOL! It's always some crazy simple thing like that! Glad you solved that mystery. Now on to the next one ;^) Dave
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Don, remember that the water has to be in the drain to come out the drain! Leaky supply lines would not end up in the drain but between the hulls, or on the floor, unless I'm missing something here. This is kind of a mystery... hmm. It would take a long time for a slow drip in the sink to fill your shower floor, longer than 4 hours unless it was more than a drip. Keep running your sink faucet, there could be a bunch of air in the hot/cold lines that got in there when you lost prime. Can you hook up to city water? Easier to listen for leaks without the water pump making noise. Dave
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Steve and Tali, yea, that's another good idea. Don't know if the sink drain connects into the shower drain uphill of the backflow shutoff or not, but it would be good to check out. Also, one more possibility to check out is that perhaps the toilet water shutoff (part of the foot pump function, not the external shutoff behind the toilet) is not closing fully. Was your toilet bowl full of water? If that valve doesn't close properly, it would overflow the toilet and onto the floor.... Don't we all love plumbing? Dave
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Video - How to Get Sound From TV through Stereo Speakers
DavePhelps replied to MDuncan's topic in Mechanical & Technical Tips
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
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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
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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
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Video - How to Get Sound From TV through Stereo Speakers
DavePhelps replied to MDuncan's topic in Mechanical & Technical Tips
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 -
A living design. How mods become standards . . .
DavePhelps replied to bugeyedriver's topic in Ollie Modifications
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
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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
