2008RN

We only have 10 days worth of camping, and haven't emptied the compost yet. We just got back from our last trip and I need to do empty the compost now because of the colder temperatures the defecation will not break down. I think we could make it at least 15 days without emptying the compost. One day was diarrhea. Have had no problems with smell or urine in the solids, nor clean up. Again as other have stated, a spray bottle of 25% vinegar/75% water used after urinating keeps all odors away. JohnL, WOW 3-4 days of Urine tank fill. We get about 32-36 hours if using the Oliver for all of our bodily functions. I never dreamed we would fill the urine tank that quickly, I guess we drink a lot of water. We did buy an extra Urine tank for longer trips, I am glad we did. One of us just carry the urine tank to the outhouse/park bathrooms to empty it without a bag. I figure this is camp ground. no big deal. If I have to go into a McDonald's in order to empty, I will put it inside a bag. Both my wife and I are nurses. Dealing with our own bodily waste, is preferable to dealing with someone else's waste products spilled around the dump stations. I really hate walking through waste at the dump station and then transferring that stuff back into the vehicle/Oliver via my shoes. Had that happen a couple of times when we had a Greyhound bus conversion. We dump the gray back at home. Planning on using a pump to fill the Black tank with gray water to expand our ability to stay out longer without using a dump station while on a road trip. I will get to find out this next summer our alternatives for dumping while on a 3.5 week trek. The only negative so far is feeling like you are sitting in a high chair. The compost toilet sets several inches higher than the regular toilet. The Compost also takes up slightly more space in an already tight space in the bathroom. The decision to compost or not is totally a personal decision and what you are comfortable with. No right or wrong answers, only different choices in the way you deal with the waste.

I have 30# tanks. Like Mike & Carol, I two have back and shoulder problems. I have to use a 3-step ladder and I walk up the tank a step at a time until I get to the top of the ladder handle and then I can lift it over. I never look forward to changing out tanks. As I run out next year I am drop back to 20#. I have 5 20# bottles around the house. The bigger tanks are nice for weed burning.

We are really new to the Oliver. We have only camp about 10 nights and have the twin bed model. We use the Lagun quite a bit. I like the extra table space. We play cards on it. We have afternoon snacks on it. We usually watch a movie every night and will put our drinks/snacks on the table while we watch the movie. I have also have made a way using hooks and shock cord to store the table and leg against the inside wall of the closet. The things I don't like: 1. The table deflects with minimal pressure. I think there needs to have more support on the mounting section through into the storage area. 2. I can not raise the table high enough to get it out of the way at night time. So I take the table and leg down every night and store it. You can buy a longer leg to make it possible to move the table over the top of the night stand at night. (see lagunusa.com for a longer leg) 3. I can not access the night stand drawer without taking down the table. You can get to the contents of the night stand by removing the night stand top, and storage box to reach the inside of the draw from the top, but that is a pain also. Needless to say we are not storing much in the drawer. I knew I wanted a Lagun table before I bought my used Oli. So about 2 months before purchasing my Oli, I bought all of the metal from another Oliver owner to make the laguna setup that Overland has. I never figured I would have actually purchased an Oli with the laguna table. I believe that the setup Overland has would take care of the 3 problems above. (1) I am be wrong, but I think that the Overland setup would be more sturdy with less flex. (2) The added height of the Overland setup will allow the table to swivel over the night stand at night. The support bar would force me to get out of bed about 7" further down is the only down side. (3) I would now have access to the to the night stand drawer. This also would allow me to put in a access door into the storage bay. My wife likes the idea of putting a door to the storage area. so most likely I will try to get the overland setup made over the next year. This also allows for a custom lagun table top. As far as the cell phone booster we have tried it 2 times, it might have helps some. But I set at the kitchen table just a foot or 2 away from the receiver.

I will be praying for a full recovery, and strength for Tali.

Thanks for sharing, finished installing NH last month and I want to use the black tank for additional storage

I didn't find check valve in the outside inlet. Maybe it is the fitting on the tank. And yes I have physically laid eyes on the inside tubing under the front dinette seat. It is routed back behind tank then makes the turn along the front wall, the the tube returns back and turns around the back of the tank and back up to the the tanks flush inlet. I always figured they put other flush port on the opposite side of the tank. It wasn't until today when I saw the diagram when I saw it just loop backs. When I was looking under the front Dinette seat I wondered what they just didn't tee off in the dinette compartment if the were going to plumb another flush port. Now I am just wondering why go to all the trouble to add around 8" foot extra tubing?

Sorry, I know this a long time after the original posts. I just finished my Composting Toilet install. I really like this idea of a temporary transfer pump that does not really affect the rest of the pumping system. I have been looking at Amazon for pumps. There is a shurflo 3 gpm pump 4008-101-A65, and a Shurflo Strainer 255-313. I do have a couple of questions. 1. This is about the Black tank flush system. I noticed that there is no check valve in the garden hose inlet. Is a check valve needed? I also looked at the plumbing diagram in the owners manual. It shows the tubing looping clear back around the back of the tank and then back to the side where it enters the tank. What would be the reason not to just going directly to the tank? 2. Could you use the Zamp external charger connection in the side of the Oli for a 12V supply?

We went through the same thought process. I spent over a year investigating the Oliver before starting to put together the finances. We feel truly blessed to have an Oliver. Enjoy the journey!

I am wanting to get a rear view Camera. I know that Oliver sells the Furrion Vision S, The Furrion seems to be the defacto on RV/trailers. I have talked with other friends with non-Oliver campers. So far a common themes are connection issues, large lag of video. Before I just go out and spend the money on a Furrion I want to make sure it will actually work properly. What is everyones experience with their Furrion? I also saw another camera, Haloview. Has anyone installed a Haloview on their Oliver? Some of Haloview products have a installation much like the Garmin where the Camera communication antenna is wired to the front of trailer, to shorten the distance and interfering walls to talk with the monitor. This greatly decreases lag times and stops connection issues/dropped signal. What other brands has anyone used? successfully? I would prefer to not to have to do a hardware from the cab monitor all the way back to the camera. I am also driving an older Ford SuperDuty without the newer camera solutions. Thanks.

Thanks NCeagle and Minnesota Oli for your ideas and feedback. I love the idea of making the Oli able to handle the colder weather a little better. I have a November trip planned out to the coast, I should be able to experience cooler weather in the Oli. I want to go back in January to do some storm watching. I would really like to do something by January.

I Just keep coming up with questions! With the way Minnesota Oli heated the inner hull areas, would this decrease the amount of condensation inside the cabin (living area)?

I more question. I used my last open fuse slot in the 12V side for my composting toilet. If I added heat tape I could increase fuse amperage in the fuse slot I just used and the split off the back side of the panel and put a heat tape fuse and compost fuse under the rear kitchen seat area. If I wanted to add a switch for the heat tape how and where would be the best place to add a switch? How hard would it be to run line to the area above the rear kitchen seat where the truma controller, sea level tank monitor, and inverter controller are located? Sorry if these are dumb questions, I have a lot to learn all about my new Oli. The wiring is just one area out of many areas that I have not wrapped my mind around.

Minnesota Oli and NCeagle, Very informative write ups. I have been thinking about this topic for several days with the new interest in Cold weather camping. I will probably never see the temps like that in Oregon, but I will still see temps regularly below freezing. I have just installed a compost toilet, and disconnected and drained the Regular toilet line, and do not have to worry about that, or the black tank. I do have a few questions: Minnesota Oli: 1. Did you leave the ends of the flexible heating pipe open? 2. Was the only other opening the hole in the straight pipe, or did you poke any holes in the heating pipe around where the check valve are at? 3. Where did you source the mounting bracket holding the straight tube below the battery compartment? NCeagle: Was the smart bilge fan 12v or 120V? For both of you, and anyone else: Both of the ideas that sound like they would work great while parked. I think the heating tape would work while on the road. I have a Truma water heater. I am not sure about leaving the heater and Truma gas on while on the road in order to keep everything warm while traveling. Any ideas?

We are with State Farm for all of our vehicles. I gave the itemized list of options with the total cost from Oliver, State Dam said they would use this as a base cost. They are charging $240 per year with a $1000 deductible.

Thanks everyone for the info