Minnesota Oli

This makes me think of the plastic that would plug the screen on the suction side of the pump, now if the screen could be installed wrong and let it get by that I don't know. The fact that both toilet and sink run slow I would think the problem is some where before the pipes split to feed those two areas.

Looking at the second picture the tear in the side of the hitch shows a rusty fracture except for the last half inch. This tells me it was disaster in the making for awhile and it's another area to pay attention to in our walk around inspection. Will be interesting to hear the official analysis of the cause of the failure. I believe you have guardian angels looking out for you and your family for it could have been a much worse outcome then just a breakdown in the middle of a camping trip.

I wanted to add more capacity to my factory 340 watts because you have to remember those are rated watts not what you actually get to use, and the amount you actually get to use depends on where you are located and weather conditions. What I ended up with was additional Zamp panels, three 90 watts and two 45 watts equaling 360 watts. I went this route because it was the easiest way to fit them on the roof and merge them with the existing panels. Another consideration is when parked in partial shade the individual 12 volt panels wired in parallel that is shaded is the only one that is affected by that shading unlike when you have panels wired in series. So I have a total of 700 rated watts on the roof and in prime conditions here in Minnesota I can harvest a little over 500 watts. With that said it makes it harder for me to justify a dc to dc charger for when traveling for it has no problem keeping my 400 amps of Battleborns charged up. So far I'm happy with the outcome of the upgrade.

We payed for Hot spot on our phone plan, so I found that placing the phone on top of the blind next to the indoor antenna made a difference of weather our devices would work or not in poor reception areas.

When I repaired my fan cover I had to replace my old gasket. I used a adhesive backed foam molding that comes in a roll from the hardware store. I match the thickness of the old gasket which was thin about 1/8 of a inch, so far that has been working.

I had this issue with my 2019 Oliver. What I found was the two screws that attach the handle to the plastic cover over time had deformed the outer cover around the screw head. When pulling the handle down to close vent the plastic around the screw head made contact with the sealing surface and the rest had a small air gap which allowed air to get under and lift the cover up. The link shows what I did to remedy the problem and I'm happy to report that I no longer have that problem.

I have been following the discussion on this topic and just want to restate that with a mod done to the furnace duct system and zero changes to the water piping and adding no extra insulation I have tested in sub zero temperatures for two and half days with water system not winterized and experience no adverse affects. I have read about many different mods to accomplish the goals of a four season camper and the troubles to hit that goal. I will admit that I have not had the opportunity to do further testing such as how it would do traveling with the furnace on, or if parked and experiencing very windy conditions. I think the initial test show very promising results and the mods to the duct system were not that difficult to do. I know this is relying on the heating system functioning but even a house up in Minnesota relies on the furnace working to avoid plumbing freeze ups. I did my mods not so much to camp in the winter but to have a bench mark of what it could withstand if I got caught in a cold snap while out camping. Here is a link to a how to for anybody that is trying to get the Oliver ready for winter camping. Here are some temperatures in different locations in the camper during testing.

Has this been a issue from day one. The reason I ask is on my 2019 the mount brackets are not aligned and my awning has a visible twist in it from front to back, is it possible the middle mount is not in line with the two outside ones. Maybe pulling a string on the back side of the awing mounts would verify alignment. Just a thought of a possible explanation. Paul

That would be water in the plug. When wet inside power from wire that leads to battery shorts to wire going to the lights.

This is a interesting topic. My first trip with the new to me Oliver was in October in my home state of MN along the north shore. The temp at night was in the teens and just below freezing during the day. I was nervous about the conditions because I found my AGM batteries were in a low sate of charge just from running the furnace over night. It was decided right then that I was going to come up with some solutions so I could enjoy camping without worrying about freeze ups and low batteries. I made some modifications to the heating system simply by adding two extra runs of heat ducts. I identified the weak points in the water system and targeted those areas. I tested my modifications by spending three days in sub zero temperature with water on board. I added no extra heat sources other then the furnace and left no compartment doors open on the interior. Now I have no plans on doing sub zero camping but now I know what the Oliver can handle and can just enjoy camping without worrying. The issue with the AMG batteries was addressed by switching to lithium. Here are a couple of links that explain my modifications.

Frank I think you hit a home run with this mod and also in the write up. Thanks for sharing. Paul

The only place I added insulation was behind the battery compartment door and that was a piece of 1-1/2 inch open cell foam and I probably didn't need it. To answer question though I did not do anything to the windows.

I was impressed with the Olivers ability to hold heat. I did a modification to the heating system by simply adding ducting to the street side. With full fresh water tank and pump turned on I spent two days in sub zero weather, negative four down to negative twelve. I had the thermostat set at seventy degrees and was burning .274 gallons per hour but was toasty warm inside including the bathroom.

I believe the sold blue wire heads to your relay board on the furnace. I believe the blue with the white stripe is 12 volts hot. Check with a voltmeter to verify with fuse for furnace in place. If you touch those two wires together it will start the furnace, you will have to let the furnace time out before it will shut back down. If that checks out then you will splice one unused thermostat wire to blue and another unused thermostat wire to the blue with white stripe. Then back at where the thermostat wires come out of the wall you will use those two newly allocated thermostat wires to hook up the new single mode thermostat. Hope that helps. Paul

I have also bought the Yamaha 2200 and was profoundly disappointed, after a lot of back and forth between Yamaha representatives I found no fix for there design flaw of trying to achieve fuel economy by using a under powered engine. It is incapable of handling the load of the AC from eco-mode. I ended up buying a Honda 2200 that utilizes a larger engine, this was my solution to my problem. This was a costly solution and I had done my research but did not find any indication that there was issues in that regard. Here is a post I made back in February of 2021 to try to warn people about the Yamaha 2200. Minnesota Oli Members 86 Posted February 3, 2021 Good Morning Yes it does require a neutral ground plug, with the adapter I use it is workable. I thought the fuel gauge and the lit front instrument panel were nice features also, but if it is not capable of running it's claimed max load from eco mode with out suffering a temporary low voltage it neglect's the purpose of a inverter style generator. I tried to politely tell Yamaha that in the long run they were going to lose a lot of costumers in the RV market by enticing them with the RV receptacle and then fail on performance. That is the problem when the bean counters have more input then the engineering and R&D departments in product development. I also included pictures to show the difference in physical size. Paul Ray and Susan Huff 1 Quote

I also installed the Micro Air EasyStart on my Houghton AC. I wanted to ensure that my Honda 2200 which is set up with propane conversion would be able to start the AC from eco-mode. In my mind it defeats the purpose of the the inverter generator if it can not function from eco-mode. I also think it's make or break when running off batteries with the 2000 watt inverter. The captured inrush amps before installation was 67.1 and 48.9 after install. Paul

Eyebrow For Bathroom Window Well to finish off this project short of the testing, I had to design a eyebrow for the bathroom window. Since this window frame is mounted vertical it required a different approach. I thought it might interest some of the readers to see some pictures of the machining processes. Also I changed the finish on the mounts for all the eyebrows to a polished finish, I think its a better look.

What if you slip on a rubber grommet to help support the valve stem from the centrifugal force of the spinning tire. Just a thought.

I have used it in my Oliver storage shed that I heat to only to 55 to 60 degrees, I store my garden produce in the same shed. If I am working on the inside of my Oliver and I want to heat it up that is what I used and it does a very nice job. I have a brother that installed the very same AC when I did mine and he stays in electrical provided spot quite often and he is very happy with the heat pump availability of this AC. So I think if you are going to utilize electric sites it would be a useful feature, It does run quieter and you are saving propane.

Spike installed a 9.5 btu in his elite 2. Here is some info that Spike relayed to me. unit: 9.5 • Input needed for cooling: 1370 W • Rated current for cooling: 12.6 A • Maximum power input: 1590 W • Maximum current: 14.6 A unit: 13.5 • Input needed for cooling: 1300W • Rated current for cooling: 12Amp • Maximum power input: 1550W • Maximum current: 14Amp So there's very little difference between the two units as far as power consumed to run them but you would be giving up the heat pump feature that the 13.5 has. When I tested my 13.5 for amp draw, Olivers monitor that is in the attic was reading 10 amps when the compressor was running.

John These are made from 6061 aluminum and have been glass bead blasted to help break all the sharp edges from machining, so it gives it a even texture. The leading edge of the eyebrow does have the radius to help deflect any object that would strike it. It could of been a longer taper but I was limited to sheet stock drop I had on hand. I think they are tucked in close enough that the benefit of having them outweighs the risk. The eyebrow with out the mounts weigh in at about 2-1/2 pounds. But this is just the prototype and there is always a better mouse trap. Thanks for the complement and I appreciate your comments. Paul

I intended for them to stay in place. They are removable for window maintenance.

When I took my first camping trip with the new to me Oliver I was thrilled with the experience it gave me, and as I added more trips I started a mental list of things that I could tweak or add to the Oliver that would make that experience even greater. Today's post is addressing one of the items on that list concerning the windows and how they are limited to only being able to be open in fair weather conditions. Because they lean inward at the top of the window they can create problems in rainy conditions whether the window is opened or closed. When closed they have to deal with all the water that runs down from the roof and sidewalls, this can overload the drainage holes in the window frames which can result in getting the bedding wet. Many Oliver owners have installed rain gutters to help alleviate that problem, but there's still the problem of having the windows open while it's raining to mitigate high humidity or that closed in feeling. What I came up with for a solution I'm calling window eyebrows. I created a list of design parameters or considerations that I wanted to hit for this project. The first one was I did not want to alter the Oliver in anyway, that included the drilling of hole to mount the eyebrow to the windows, this really slowed my project down. I'm the type of guy that builds it in my mind before the prototype is built, I went through many different design ideas before I settled on this one. I designed a mount that clamps into the window frame and to spread the load out over a larger area I utilize three of these mount per window. The mounts are inserted into the window frame and the screw on the bottom is tighten which draws down the 5/16" diameter rod in the tapered slot which then spreads the mount to engage the ribs that are formed into the window frame that hold the rubber molding in place. I inserted a still picture in the following video showing that process. To remove the mount you have to take that screw out with the 5/16" rod and there is a hole on the bottom where that same screw is inserted and when tighten it releases the mount. The eyebrow itself is made of 3/16" thick x 5" wide x 29" long aluminum which has 3/4" of the outer edge turn down. I used a neoprene edging trim bought from McMaster-Carr along the length that mated with the Oliver, my hope was that it could be pushed tight enough to seal the water from coming between the eyebrow and the side of the Oliver making for a easy instillation. When I tested this in the rain it looked like it was going to work but after about ten minutes I noticed each window developed a drop of water by one of the mounts and it would fall and hit against the screen about every couple of minutes. So plan B I was forced to use a 1/4" wide weather strip tape between the neoprene edging and the fiberglass wall of the Oliver. There was one more problem, I had to incorporate a drip edge to the eyebrow to keep the water from following around the edge and falling towards the window. This eyebrow is fastened with two stainless steel 1/4-20 button head hex drive screws to each of the three mounts. This makes for a quick install or removal of the eyebrow, Here in Minnesota we had a warm up and it rained one day so that is all the testing I have been able to do, so time will tell if all is well with the design. As far as the rigidity of the eyebrow I'm extremely pleased you can literally grab onto them and push and pull with no flex of the eyebrow. EYEBROW.mp4

Don There is a wire that goes out the back to the light for the license plate, there is plenty of room to run the extra wires and this is all very accessible. Paul

On my Oliver there are two inline fuses, one just inside the wall where the wire comes in from side wall solar port and if you follow that wire as it heads to the battery compartment, there is a second inline fuse just below the battery compartment. Why mine end up having two I don't know.