Try2Relax

With the problems I had earlier this fall. I too researched this solution, I've decided on this solution https://www.amazon.com/Post-Battery-Master-Disconnect-Switch/dp/B001N729FS I have yet to order it though, I'll update when I do.

Grayson, Yes, you'll want to draw water through the rear port, so it will be clean of anti freeze the next time you have to use it. I'm cautious and my wife swears she tastes it, so I will do all freshening sections at least three times. Do not undo the heater bypass until ALL has been freshened, so until the next step is to actually use it. Try to fill fresh tank at least 1/4 - 1/2 so that you can draw enough water out to rinse all lines (for at least 1 minute each) nose up helps to get more water out past the tube lip in the tank. Then switch configuration to city water and do it again, with city water I'll let each valve run for a few minutes and be sure to run kitchen sink half warm and cold so it mixes Then I fill fresh water tank from side port and do it again at each valve for a minute, around and around, until I'm out of water. Depending upon how long storage was, I might bleach the system and refresh the same way too, to start the season. According to my wife, you can't rinse it out to many times.... One you've finished rinsing and think you're all set to go for a trip, unbypass the heater and let it fill with fresh. Good luck

Welcome Jim, The one thing I always say is, know yourself and your limitations. These trailers are easy to lust after and in my opinion the build quality is second to none. We too looked at and researched Airstreams, and came away disappointed with the quality issues. We purchased our Elite II used last Feb and hauled it cross country this summer and loved it. We are no where near retirement so hopefully will be able to enjoy it for at least 25 years, which it should handle fine with minor upkeep. The know yourself part is that I would never refer to it as something I live in, it's always been something we live out of, whether that's sitting outside on BLM land or base camping from it to anything interesting within a 100 mile radius. We got it used because the previous owner purchased based on its quality and longevity, after owning other trailers, and sold it at less than a year after realizing that using it as a "home" while doing onsite work, after work what he really wanted was recliner to relax in, so he went back to a 26' trailer with a fireplace. Congratulations on retirement and good luck with your decision and purchase, if not the factory, be sure to see a trailer in person in your area.

I agree with the aluminum backing. I ordered mine from Amazon. This supports a mount from the original mfg but their heavy version as I hung a Samsung 40" 4K HDR on it @just under 20lbs. This definitely does NOT meet fire code and while it fits and works perfectly, I am concerned about the egress time and may drop it back down to stand on top of night stand and travel face down on bed, until I redesign mount to allow for faster egress

Welcome. I'm sure most here are happy to answer any question you come up with. On airforums the other day, I stumbled upon one that linked to the following discussion about our Olivers and a very well detailed tour of the factory. She starts out along people for questions and follows up with her visit, is a good read and look.

Thanks. Being in New England I'm in the same boat as you, it's also why mildew didn't dawn on me as the reason, I guess being in TN it makes sense the factory would recommend it.

Why remove all the fabric covered cushions?

I've found that my belly band has slight "waves" in it, and this might throw off your level, if yours does too. I use the bottom of the frame, front and back to measure from, of course you could always use the frame bottom for your level too. You say it "appears lower" and mention your perception, do all your checks come out good then and it just "looks" off? Mine rides 1/2" lower in front and I'm good with that. When your taking about perception, if your truck doesn't appear perfectly level too it can throw off how your seeing the trailer sitting, ie: if it dips at all in the back it can make the trailer look like it dips in the front. Disconnect the trailer, level it out and then step back and see how it looks by itself. Post a picture and then we can all see it.

Another option, if you feel the controller isn't offering enough, Dexter makes a more aggressive lining for their 12" brakes From Dexter's website, if it helps. BRAKES - How can I increase the aggressiveness of the 12"x2" brake? It is not possible to put a larger magnet in the 12"x2" electric brake. However, we do offer a more aggressive lining. The lining kit number is K71-127-00. http://www.dexteraxle.com/inc/sdetail/731

Bill, Those look great, did you round all the corners off too, I use the same thing except I have a long and short one, as I use them on their sides stacked and this allows for different heights. I am not the pride of my neighborhood however, no handle or coating, just pressure treated, I like the handles though. As John referenced, are you using them standing on end? John, I've found no inconvenience using them, they travel right inside the door (with wheel chocks) have never moved and are the first thing out for set up.

At this time I am having SERIOUS power issues and have been on the phone with Blue Sky a bit, the red switch your reference ONLY cuts off the solar feed, so that if you are working on it and the sun comes up you won't get killed. There is no disconnect from the batteries, the red goes straight to the inverter, thru a huge fuse bar and connects to each of the thermal breakers next to the red switch. I've had to manually disconnect each of these physical connections to isolate the batteries from the system. Hope this helps and keeps you safe

At this time I am having SERIOUS power issues and have been on the phone with Blue Sky a bit, the red switch your reference ONLY cuts off the solar feed, so that if you are working on it and the sun comes up you won't get killed. There is no disconnect from the batteries, the red goes straight to the inverter, thru a huge fuse bar and connects to each of the thermal breakers next to the red switch. I've had to manually disconnect each of these physical connections to isolate the batteries from the system. Hope this helps and keeps you safe

Mike, If you've got that sweet overhang, wish I had one, and plugged in to a 30A feed, just leaving the thermostat set to electric heat and set to a low temp should be plenty to keep the trailer at temp, then if the outside air drops so badly it can't maintain, and goes more than 5 degrees below your setting then furnace will kick in to get it back up and go back to electric. Living in New England this is what I did last winter and it worked great and used hardly any propane, the furnace pretty much only ran when it got down to mid 20's and below to help.

While I've read about how the space between the hulls, on the Elite II, is supposed to have some of the heated air directed into it, can someone tell me if this is direct or indirect? In the various things I've done in these areas I've never noticed that there is anything that would indicate it being direct. This brings me to the modification part. If it is indirect, that being the cold air return, to the furnace, coming from the vent under the curb side bed, would it be feasible to locate that return vent under the forward dinette seat instead, as it is now the draw is as close to the furnace as possible, the new location would allow the cabin air to flow across all the tanks and components to increase the cold weather performance of the double hull design. I ask because a few days ago it was in the mid 20s and with two sensors, one in the channel near the drain valve and the other in the channel near the black tank rinse, there was a 17 degree difference, with the furnace set and maintaining temp, the readings weren't checked during it running or close after so I would call it a static check. Thoughts? Opinions?

As John said, sounds like the check valve might be reversed, remove the cover under the forward dinette seat, the check valve is the grey piece right before the tank, it's about 1 1/2 inches long. Funny, I just happened to check mine 2 days ago.

Water heater rinse education

SLBENSON, Currently I believe the Lone Star Oliver is heading north through your area, maybe if they see this you could meet up, otherwise I will be heading to DC in about a week and a half, depending on where you are maybe I can help. That is if you can't find one locally.

While I do not have one in the trailer, I did install one (tankless) in my house. The only true benefit is endless hot water, until you run out of propane anyways. If you are a boondocker (classify as you will) and do not have hookups then it's pretty much a wash. Either way, the line to the shower is wasted water, without a recirculation system. The benefit to the home system is that you can specify the temp and thus never use the cold. As far as a cold blast, this is based on water pressure and the cold usually overriding the hot, simply cut the hot pex and install a check valve and it won't happen either way. While I love new technology, I will always research to justify value. In this case if you are not a campground veteran, with hookups for long showers, (I've never run out with my 6 gallon tank) in my opinion the price tag isn't worth it. (I think it's a $1000- $1200 option if I remember correctly)

A couple of things to consider. The twin bed comes with the night stand between them, the king bed does not have the night stand, thus is a full length area, place a mattress topper down and wire a switchable light and most boys up to early teens would be fine here, in their "sleep cave" while the other is on the dinette. This way the path to the bathroom is not blocked. With any bunk situation, the AC is fairly strong across that height level in the trailer. Once the kids are old enough you can consider using the following option. http://newatlas.com/sheltapod-camping-awning/45147/pictures

Hi Pete, Welcome, I agree that you can never have enough research. Luckily for you, there are now a few trailers in the state that you can look at, I'm in the middle Buzzy's in the south, there might be one on the Maine border shortly... so if you want to check one out before going all the way to TN just let out a shout and I'm sure you'll have no problem. Good luck on the research, we did for more than a year before lucking into finding our used Oliver.

Go to your happy place Ray, Reading and following you on airforums, when you first started with your Wyoming trip I seriously considered further investigation, being new to the whole thing and not being able to swing your dates I did not. So I spent a month and a half touring and learning from Boston to Zion, mostly without hookups, albeit not too far off the beaten path. I for one, would definitely be interested in what you might plan and await learning more...

Just remember that black will heat up the spacing between the shells more than it already does, in the summer time. As shown by one of our other owners, maybe you could just wrap it to a color you would like....

My numbers on the state weigh station scale Steer Axle 3240 Drive Axle 3660 Trailer Axle 5280 Total Weight 12160 I don't believe I have my Andersen completely dialed in correctly (not enough bulge)

My favorite so far, is driving back to NH from Vegas, there was an accident that stopped the highway for 20 minutes, in Missouri, two different people walked up to ask questions and tour the trailer, parked in the fast lane.

As Overland said, a trailer that requires a WDH shouldn't be on the road, I completely agree with him. While I bought the trailer without the WDH (used) I towed it home 700 miles with just the ball and had no problems, never towed anything before, except a little utility trailer to dump. I installed the Andersen myself, not because the trailer needed it, but because after all the research, I found that after 5 to 10 minutes extra per hookup (if that long) the extra edge it is capable of providing when things go south quickly outweigh the minor inconvenience at hookup and now that I'm used to it, it isn't really anymore. As Buzzy pointed out, with the hitch stamp photo, if you're driving an F150 then pretty much every one is going to max out at 5000 lbs without WDH, unless spec'd out during build with higher class. This is a result of the hitch assembly and not the truck, if you don't want to be limited by this number because of weight ability, you can always replace it with a class V hitch. That's what I did on my GMC 1500, for a different reason though. You can get a Curt on Amazon for about $150 or less and it took about 1.5 hrs to change out. Keep in mind that your entire system is only good as it's weakest link. Truck GVW Axle GVW Hitch GVW (WDH or not) Tire load rating and air pressure