DavePhelps

Steve, On our Elite (2015), the condensate drain off the AC unit was not connected to the condensate drain installed by Oliver. Oliver's drain line is a white pex line that diverts the condensate to the outside. I bought a piece of silicone tubing to fit (can't remember the exact size) and connected to two tubes. The black fitting goes to the exterior, the white is off the AC unit. If you remove the interior cover, you should be able to see if they are connected. Other than that, I've heard pine needles can cause issues up top. Remove the top cover and make sure everything is clean. Haven't done this in a while so sorry for the somewhat vague description! Good luck. Dave

That was a great repair you did csevel, very clean!! This whole lense issue seems seems to be a pita to me. They all eventually leak, and the way Oliver cuts them in is just not good practice. Referring to John's pic above, a square corner cut has no place in fiberglass work, especially work that is subject to the stresses that boats and trailers are. Why Oliver does not properly radius their corners really bugs me as I know they must know better. Square corners concentrate stresses to a point greatly increasing the likelihood of fracture. I already have small fractures in the gelcoat radiating out from my rear lense corners. In fact, all the cutouts in my trailer were hacked out with what looks like a sawzall! Some corners are even overcut! It is just poor workmanship plain and simple. It may seem trivial, but when I lift up my seat access panels and see overcut square corners, it just makes me feel bad, as I know Oliver could do so much better. And they should do better if they really want to live up to their claim of building a superior trailer, which I will admit, they almost do. But, they still have lots of room to improve.... Personally, I'd prefer a small light bar up there or nothing at all. Finally, I believe a continuous ribbon of good quality marine butyl tape with a tight, carefully scarfed butt joint will not leak (best done on a cool day). Follow up with a thin bead of 3m 4200 around the exterior perimeter to clean it all up and you should be good to go for a very long time. My 2 cents! Dave

John, A bit late to this.... This mod has been on my mind for quite some time! But for different reasons though. The sound deadening potential of moving the cold air return (CAR) away from the furnace unit is one I hadn't thought of, but I think it is a great idea and probably would make a difference deadening the rocket. I have the Elite. The furnace is under the front dinette seat next to the bathroom wall. The CAR is also right there cut into the seat riser. There has been lots of discussion of ways to heat between the hulls while boondocking and using the furnace. For us Elite owners (don't know about the Elite 2, but maybe similar?), the rear street and curb side between the hull corners are problematic in cold weather. What with the water pump and associated plumbing being on the curb side, and the check valves for water fill, and the exterior shower on the street side, they are relatively exposed. There is no space to run supply ducts to this area, so my thought was why not move the CAR back to the rear of the trailer. This way, when the fan kicks on, conditioned air from the cabin would be drawn down between the hulls at the rear of the trailer and make its way forward to the furnace fan. Even if the return air is not as warm as the supply air, it is somewhat warm and just having the air movement between the hulls would really help prevent any freezing down there. The main issue that has come up regarding this is that the blower could potentially receive less air due to passage restriction and/or have to work harder to get the air, causing overheating and furnace shut down. This is what Jason brought up when I posed him the question, but he wasn't sure. He said he would bring it up during the next design meeting. I don't really see this being an issue as there is lots of free space down below for air to move, just no space for duct work. One other potential drawback that I can think of is the fact that RV furnaces don't filter the return air like our home furnaces do. So whatever return air that makes its way to be blower will be recirculated in to the living space. There is a lot of dust from construction between the hulls. Oliver isn't as tidy as I wish they could be. Don't know if this could be a problem or not. Maybe the slow movement of the return air would not pick up any of the fiberglass dust and all that is down there. What I plan to do is tape off the current CAR. Cut out the required space in a sheet of cardboard for a new CAR and tape it to the removed rear seat cover (dining table seat, curb side) and see what happens. I'm buying some remote temp sensors (thanks contributors on the forum for recommendations) to place in the furnace compartment and in the rear basement to see if there is any change in temperature. I'm not an HVAC person, but this seems like it's an idea worth pursuing for the cold weather campers out there. I'll post back in a few weeks when I get my test all completed. Cheers, Dave

The F150 HDPP is available with the shorter 6.5" bed with the Crew Cab. At least I've configured it that way many times! Dave

Topgun, Did you mean you got the OEM 36 gallon tank? Or did you get the 45 gallon tank from Transferflow? Dave

Transferflow also makes a 46 gallon gas replacement tank for the Tundra. AFAIK, this tank and the one for the F150 are the only two gas replacement tanks available. Also, it seems for 2021 model year, Ford is still only offering the HDPP package on the F150 up to the Mid XLT trim, nothing higher. I saw a build sheet somewhere and that was the case. Kind of disappointing.... I suppose when the trucks actually are produced, things could change, but I'm not holding my breath on that. Dave

There seems to be a pretty good thread over on the Fiberglass RV forum you should check out. https://www.fiberglassrv.com/forums/f55/you-can-repair-fiberglass-52498.html Good luck! Dave

My trim in the bathroom also started coming off after a year or so. It's a difficult area due to all the moisture, etc. If you want to go the extra mile when it comes time to reattachment, I would also highly recommend using this 3M adhesive promoter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RY8L9U6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 After you clean the area with isopropyl alcohol, just wipe this stuff on before applying the trim. It has worked very well for me. Dave

Hi Mark, Here is a pic I posted some time back of out Elite1. Oliver has since changed the hitch design (no more telescoping hitch) but I would think that would not affect the measurement. Our trailer is as level as I could make it for the pic. Don't forget to allow for the rear end of your TV to drop a bit when you do your calculating. Tongue weight on the E1 is around 450 lbs +/-. Good luck and congrats on your new Elite1, we love ours. Dave

One thing I would like to see improved is better between the hull heating, especially the lower hull where all of the vulnerable plumbing resides. One idea I thought may help is moving the return air vent for the furnace as far away from the furnace as I can place it. So as the furnace cycles on and off, hopefully some of the warmer cabin air would be drawn down between the hulls on its way back to the furnace. Even if the temperature wasn't raised a whole lot, just having the movement of air down there would be very helpful. On our Elite1, the return air vent is located under the front dinette seat which is also where the furnace is, so this offers no help. Think it might work? The AC really needs to be worked over. It's loud to the point that we don't use it. Plus it's just way oversized for our trailer. Hope everyone is staying well! Dave

That's a nice saw for sure. All I could recommend is a HD contractors garbage bag to put it in. Not too glamorous I know.... For those without a generator (like me), I would highly recommend a Silky Katanaboy 500 or 650. I have the 650 and it is razor sharp and cuts very quickly, almost as fast as a traditional 2-man bucksaw. Get some pocket wedges and you're good to go. Enjoy your Makita though...know your binds and be careful! Dave

City water and FWT fill both leaking like that? My guess is that both check valves froze and busted open. That back corner of the trailer is the most vulnerable in freezing weather. Especially with all that plumbing back there. The pex lines won't rupture but the fittings sure will. From all the water coming out your weep holes it should be easy to find. Good luck. Dave

I'm away from my trailer so can't show pics. In my 2015 Elite: Front dinette, completely filled by furnace. Rear dinette, that is where our solar charge controller is located, also lots of other electrical fuses, etc.. It's the best place for the controller as it's very close to the batteries, and the main electrical panel. Street side dining table, battery box fills half the space, the other half has a lot of plumbing. Curb side dining table, hot water heater, water pump and associated plumbing, pretty busy area. This is all from memory, so hopefully accurate. The sales folks at Oliver could give you best details on the newer models and how they are configured. Dave

Yes it's a real bummer that Ford limits the HDPP only up to mid XLT trimmed trucks. I would love to have LED headlights and some of the other options you mentioned. I guess Ford wants folks to buy the F250 Lariat Ultimate or above trims if they want capability and some extra safety and comfort options. That Transferflow 50 gallon replacement tank for the F150 really has me thinking though. We'll see if Ford opens up their restrictions on the 2021 HDPP. They used to offer it for the Lariat in 2018.... Dave

John, Like SeaDawg mentioned, Purogene may be what will work for you. I haven't personally used it yet, but bought a quart when I bought my filters. It seems to tick all the boxes for sanitizing the water system. A little spendy compared to bleach for sure, but a little is supposed to go a long way...and it is available! Dave

Kind of late to this party but I have enjoyed reading everyone's thought processes regarding these trucks. Yet another option to consider is the F-150 with the Heavy Duty Payload Package (HDPP). The only potential drawback for some is that it is not available above the XLT model. With the Max Trailer Tow option, it comes with the 3.5 ecoboost engine. HDPP gets the payload up to around 2400 lbs. It comes with 18" LT, C load rated tires, along with other desirable upgrades. I also learned recently that Transferflow makes a 50 gallon gas replacement tank for the F-150, so that should help with range! I wish they made one for the F250 as well.... Lots of options for diesel tank upgrades but few for gas. I never knew it could be so hard shopping for a truck! Dave

That vent pipe you see behind the drawer has an air admittance valve on the top. It allows air to go in to vent the system, but doesn't let air out, for obvious reasons! Kind of like a back flow preventer in a water line. These valves have been known to fail now and again so that could be a reason. If Oliver installed it right, it should screw off for easy replacement, haven't checked mine lately. For what it's worth, I also always add Happy Camper black tank treatment to the gray tank as well, especially in the summer, it works great for both tanks. Follow the pipe down to the tank, check all the connections, the problem could also be as Mike described above. Good luck! Dave

Yes, the older trailers had the Bargman fixtures. https://www.etrailer.com/s.aspx?qry=Bargman+Porch+Light+Lens I replaced mine and sealed them with butyl tape. Don't get any solvent on that plastic "chrome" or it will come off. The amber lenses are awesome. Dave

Oops, posted in wrong spot.

Is this what you guys are talking about? https://www.etrailer.com/s.aspx?qry=Bargman+Porch+Light+Lens The Bargman fixtures are what came on our 2015 Elite. They came with clear lenses but I swapped them out. I really like the amber lenses!! They are also available on Amazon. As far as the new fixtures go, I can't say. Dave Dave

Yea, I saw that upper eyebolt right off. Ughh. You want to keep well away from rigs like that. Really, I think any passing Police Officer should ticket the owners of such negligent and dangerous setups. Dave

Well it depends on how much you take with you and what accessories you have loaded on to your truck. For example, for my still unpurchased new truck, I use this personal list: Elite 1 tongue weight: 450 lbs (the Elite 2 is around 600 lbs for most I believe) 2 adult passengers: 300 lbs (generous for us wee folk) Truck topper on the back: 200 lbs Spray in bed liner and a mat: 100 lbs (guessing here) Canoe and rack on top: 50 lbs So adding all this up, before I have even put any cargo in the truck, I have accumulated 1100 lbs of payload weight! With the Elite 2, I would have 1250 lbs. This is how fast payload adds up, and each person needs to do an assessment of their particular needs and weights. Adding higher load rated tires, or airbags, or other "load enhancement" devices will not increase your payload capacity as it is written on the sticker of your door jamb. A double cab Tundra 4X4 Limited, with the 6.5 bed (my preferred setup) has a payload of 1570 lbs. The SR5 is 1630 lbs, so not much more. There is just not a lot to play payload wise with the 1/2 tons. Ford does better with their F-150 and they also offer a Heavy Duty Payload Package, but not on the Limited and above trims...go figure. As much as I don't want to drive a big HD pickup, that may be where I am heading, especially because we may someday move up to the larger Elite 2. I'd love to get the Tundra but am worried I'd overload it (based on the stickers). Maybe the Ford F-150 with the HDPP would do it. Dave

Someone please chime in if I am incorrect here, but payload is calculated by subtracting the vehicle's Curb Weight (which includes the extra weight of all included options), from the vehicle's GVWR. While upgrading the P-metric tires (on the 1/2 ton trucks) to LT E load rated tires has many positive benefits, and is a good idea for towing, it will do nothing to change the payload rating. The GVWR is based on the frame strength, axle weight ratings, etc. I don't see how the tires factor in to that. For example, the axles and frame will be weighted the same whichever tire you use. I've been in the market for a new TV and the Olivers are kind of right on the edge weight wise between the 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks regarding payload. Makes for a hard choice, but either way, I don't see a truck having a payload below 1600 lbs, or more preferably, as being a suitable TV for an Oliver. That is for my particular use and ease of mind, for safety and keeping myself protected from liability in the event of an accident. YMMV. Very curious if Dodge will amend their payload sticker based on different tires. Dave

A section of the chrome strip between the bathroom sink and toilet started to come loose. I used This tape to reattach it. It has held up great. Be sure to clean the area well before taping (remove all old tape residue with MEK), and then use 3M 4298 adhesion promoter as a "primer" so the tape bonds even better. You can buy them both together on Amazon. Dave

What I have read is that 400 ft lbs of torque is available starting at only 1500 rpm. Looks to be a great engine for those not wanting/needing a diesel. Hope the mileage is respectable. It's floating to the top of my new TV want list.... Dave