Steve and MA
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Posts posted by Steve and MA
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On 10/24/2022 at 11:52 PM, Margaret said:
Hi all,
Anyone have an idea why my gas furnace can’t catch up to set point (I.e. temperature set on thermostat)? It blows out warm air, but struggles, and ultimately, the ambient temperature gets colder and colder.
I should add that I had a distinct leak. I smelled gas, and the furnace worked as long as I had gas in the tank, but after about four or five days, the furnace would sputter (and have trouble catching up), the stove would die, and I would have to refill my tanks. I also got brand new tanks, just in case.
The RV repair guy claims to have fixed the leak (I will know in a few days) by replacing the hoses in the nose where the propane tanks are located, but now the furnace, though it blows warm air, is unable to catch up to thermostat. It gets colder and colder inside.
I told the repair guy, and he said he would be back to fix it, but well, you know how that goes. He isn’t answering the phone or his texts. I realize he is swamped with work orders, and his truck has mechanical issues, but that means I have to rely on space heaters that are expensive, and that also don’t adequately heat the space.
Thanks, Margaret
How cold was it outside? When you replaced/refilled the propane tank was it completely empty? Just a thought, but if the furnace performed adequately on a full tank but sputtered before it was empty, then it could be that the tank is losing pressure as the propane vaporizes. Vaporization causes liquid propane to drop below ambient temperature. The liquid propane temperature would fall more on a tank near empty than when full. The colder the liquid propane, the lower its vapor pressure. It could be that as a tank's liquid volume falls, the propane can't vaporize fast enough to keep up with the demand of the furnace.
I'm not an engineer, so I could be misinterpreting the information on this web page. Propane Information – Flame Engineering It suggests to me that 10 lb of propane (a half-full 20 lb tank) would vaporize 38,000 btu of propane at 20° F. That seems marginal for a 40,000 btu furnace.
Real world experience: Last February we went on a weekend trip in Junction TX. Nighttime temperatures were in the mid 20's. I only had the valve open on one of my 30 lb tanks. Around 3 or 4 AM it was getting cold in the trailer; the furnace had stopped running. I switched tanks and was able to restart the furnace. Later, when I had the tank refilled, it only took 26 lbs to fill it. Either the rating is off, or there was still 4 lbs in the tank. It seems reasonable to me that the liquid in the tank had become too cold to vaporize, at least not fast enough to run the furnace.
We're planning to visit our daughter in Durango CO for Thanksgiving and expect to encounter nighttime temperatures in the 20s, or even teens. We'll see how well the furnace does at 6500' in freezing temperatures.
Steve
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Ralph, do you know whether the Truma can use Oliver's internal condensate drain? This link to the operating instructions suggests that it can be done. Please let us know.
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If you preorder your Tundar today it should come in by April 1.
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You can run the AC on battery power, but the solar panels can't recharge them as fast as the AC drains them. Don't expect to run the AC continuously on solar and battery alone.
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Assuming no power losses when using an inverter or charger, wouldn't a 1000 watt generator producing 8 amps at 120 volts be able to charge a 12 volt battery at 80 amps?
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Ours was made (assembled) in Mexico. The duct is connected between the inner and outer pieces of the AC. It's connected by the installer, not the Dometic factory. However, I wouldn't be quick to blame the Oliver installation. Before disassembly I had been taking measurements of the noise levels, including with all vents closed. This could have caused the duct to be blown off the flange.
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This weekend I thought I’d peek inside the Dometic AC ceiling distribution box in my 2022 EII with the idea of looking for a way to quiet it down. I did line it with Noico 80 mil butyl mat. Noise was only reduced by 1-2 dB, so hardly worth the effort, and any improvement by the mat is difficult to assess because of another issue that I corrected.
After removing the distribution box, I found that the duct between the fan and the box wasn’t connected. The duct is a mylar tube wrapped with a wire coil. It’s supposed to be attached at the top with a zip tie around the flange by the fan. It's held in place by a grate at the bottom. In my case, the zip tie and duct were not completely wrapped around the flange.
Though plenty of air seemed to be coming out of the five vents of the box, the gap was large enough that a good portion of the cold air must also have been redirected right back into the intake. It’s not easy working in the tight space, but I was able to reattach the duct. Hopefully it will remain connected. If you think you’re not getting enough air volume from the vents, then this may be worth looking at. I imagine this could affect the frequency that the compressor cycles, and possibly cause the evaporator to freeze over, but I hadn’t had these issues.
I’ve attached pictures of the disconnected duct, as well as a picture from Dometic showing the locations of the eight screws that hold the box to the ceiling. The zip tie in the pictures is exactly like I found it.
Steve
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These Rhino Fitting Wrenches (camco.net) work for us.
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We have the Parkit360 Force 10K and use it to pull the hitch end of our LE2 into a corner. A front receiver would be no help since we pull the hitch to within about 6 feet from a wall. Speaking of the hitch, the Bulldog doesn't work well with the dolly without the EZ Connect Hitch Adapter. The manufacturer says their dolly doesn't work with the Bulldog hitch, but this guide was published before they made the adapter: Your Guide to Different Hitch Styles: Choosing the Perfect Trailer Dol – Parkit360
The dolly has enough power and grip on pavement to easily move the trailer, but it probably wouldn't work well on gravel. Sometimes the wheels slip on smooth level pavement, usually when pushing the trailer wheels over irregularities like the driveway apron.
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It seems Truma is developing a rating system for an RV's cold weather capabilities. It will be interesting to see how our trailers compare if/when they test an Oliver.
Company wants to certify new RVs as good enough to live in during cold winter - RV Travel
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21 hours ago, Jim_Oker said:
We love good coffee too, whether at home or camping. Once you grind coffee, a lot of the flavor starts being lost quickly if you don't brew asap. So a good quality small portable burr grinder is a must. We used to use a classic looking Zazzenhaus mill but after many years of use while car/van/trailer camping the burr was shot and not replaceable, so I got a Hario Mini Mill to replace it - it works reasonably well and has no glass (whereas the larger Hario mill has a glass bowl to catch the ground coffee - I'd prefer to avoid glass for a camping grinder...).
For brewing, we both like the Clever Dripper. It looks like a classic filter cone type brewer, but it actually brews more like a french press in that the coffee sits in the cone extracting flavor from the grounds until you put the device on a cup/mug and then a stopper opens up and lets the coffee pour through. But unlike french press, it's as easy to clean as a simple plastic cone with a disposable filter and you get no grounds in your cup. You grind as for french press and let it sit for minutes in the cone with a stir partway through before letting it rip into the cup. It's definitely not for someone who want a high volume of coffee fast but it does make an excellent cup once you get your grind and timing down. We have two Clever Drippers so we can brew our own cups simultaneously (and do our own mix - I do mostly home roasted decaf which is better than almost any decaf beans I've ever found with the one exception being a now out of business small batch roaster/cafe on the WA coast). I love the espresso we can make at home but the Clever Dripper makes equally fine cups of coffee albeit in a somewhat different style. https://www.sweetmarias.com/clever-coffee-dripper-large.html
X2 on the Clever Dripper. It's what I use to fill my travel mug daily before heading to work. It's perfect for making one mug at a time, and it works well for camping. I use an old Hario burr grinder too, but slightly modified. I replaced the knurled nut and hand crank with a 10mm acorn nut. We keep a small cordless drill on board anyway, so might as well use it.
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We’re confident that the folks at Oliver are doing their best to keep deliveries on schedule. When we initiated our order in February, we were told our LE2 would be ready for delivery December 15. By the time we put down our production line deposit in September the delivery date had been moved up to November 29, so we made our travel plans accordingly. Oliver contacted us about a month before our trip with the news that #969 wouldn’t be ready until January 3 due to supply chain issues. We have to plan ahead for time off from work, so we hope this date is firm.
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King Moon posted that he took delivery of hull #948 on November 11. He said his was the last 2021 to be delivered. Has anyone taken delivery of a 2022 Ollie?
Two weeks ago our planned November 29 delivery was moved out five weeks later to January 3, the same relative delay as Coach and Jojo's but offset by one week. If early January deliveries like Jstones's have only been moved a couple of weeks instead of five, then there might be more deliveries at the end of December and early January than normal.
While many seasoned owners are currently winterizing and storing their Oliver, us newbies may get to test its four season capability. Another positive with this delay is that the campgrounds may be filled with new owners while the factory catches up with deliveries, a kind of mini-rally. I hope the weather is nice enough to get out and mingle. January is the coldest month in Tennessee. My biggest concern about the change of delivery date is the increased chance of icy roads.
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We're keeping the GMC. It's a 1975 Glenbrook that was refurbished in the '90's by Clasco. The exterior paint and interior cabinets are in dire need of a refresh. The Onan 6000 is also a bit of a temperamental beast. The mechanicals are solid, with low miles on the engine and transmission, both rebuilt less than 10 years ago. It will be a long time before it's where we want it be. That's where the Ollie comes in. Our camping plans are no longer going to be determined by the the state of the GMC.
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Steve & Mary Allyn in San Antonio here, introducing ourselves to the group.
Delivery of our LE II is just a few weeks away. It's supposed to hatch November 29. We had been considering an Ollie for a couple of years when last January we saw one by chance up close during a rest stop on a road trip. Its build quality and design aesthetic sells itself. We placed our order in February.
As owners of a classic GMC motorhome we're not new to RV'ing, but this our first travel trailer. The LE II is a bit smaller inside than our GMC, but we're already familiar with a wet bath and small walk around space.
We've enjoyed following this forum as our egg has been incubating. Thank you to the many contributors of the interesting and useful posts on this forum. The collective wisdom is awesome. We hope we'll soon be adding our experiences and ideas to benefit the community.
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Photos Interior of Oliver Elite II with People
in General Discussion
Posted
Bill, we have a Canyon too. Even before we owned our OE2, we replaced our mirrors with a pair from Clearview Mirrors USA. They're a huge improvement over the original GMC mirrors, whether you're towing or not.
Steve