ScottyGS

This is what we got in 2016. Matches the configuration for hull # 145. Hope this helps. Scotty PS good seeing you at the rally.

Thanks John... Did not need to go to the water hose extreme. Seems the faucets do not like to flow until the pump completely stops running.... and the pump does not like to completely stop running until it's had a little rest. So, after a few rest stops for me and the pump...it all worked fine. I will remember the water hose trick for the future. And make sure I have a six pack on hand for the next winterization. Thanks! Scotty

In winterization mode... yes I checked and re-checked... the pump operates but does not pull anti-freeze to the kitchen and bathroom sinks. I checked all fittings around the pump to make sure they were tight and antifreeze did make it to the pump... but it seems not beyond. Any ideas? Will cross post to the FB page as well. Thanks, Scotty

Very happy with the chill cube. Here is my post on Johns thread for the Furrion: Heat Pump update At the Oliver Rally in Lake Guntersville we had great weather. Daytime in the mid 70's so no opportunity to test the a/c. But at night the temps went down to mid / high 40's. Ran the heat pump every night set at 68 degrees. It would cycle on and off through the night... When it first started it was louder (about 47db) then it settled down to a very quiet purr (about 38db). I ran it up to 73-74 and it came on strong and warm still about 47db. Easy to live with. Can carry on a conversation even at its loudest. Very happy with the unit. My wife, Donna, is very sensitive to propane smell and reported a slight headache when we woke after using the propane heat. During the rally, she said there was no headache at all and she loves the heat pump. I am certain that after the 900ah upgrade we will be using the chill cube pretty exclusively for heat and a/c. It does remain to be seen how the condensate issue does in the East during a hot summer. You'll have to wait on that report. Scotty

Heat Pump update At the Oliver Rally in Lake Guntersville we had great weather. Daytime in the mid 70's so no opportunity to test the a/c. But at night the temps went down to mid / high 40's. Ran the heat pump every night set at 68 degrees. It would cycle on and off through the night... When it first started it was louder (about 47db) then it settled down to a very quiet purr (about 38db). I ran it up to 73-74 and it came on strong and warm still about 47db. Easy to live with. Can carry on a conversation even at its loudest. Very happy with the unit. My wife, Donna, is very sensitive to propane smell and reported a slight headache when we woke after using the propane heat. During the rally, she said there was no headache at all and she loves the heat pump. I am certain that after the 900ah upgrade we will be using the chill cube pretty exclusively for heat and a/c. It does remain to be seen how the condensate issue does in the East during a hot summer. You'll have to wait on that report. Scotty

I think if anyone is getting kicked out it will be me. I just re-sealed the Maxx Fan and used 3M Marine Adhesive Sealant - Fast Cure 4000 UV. Found it very easy to work with... used painters tape about 3/16" from the edge and ran the bead very easy. While I was doing that... I started thinking... Damn this stuff is WHITE! I mean like BRIGHT WHITE.... Then the light bulb went off and just a little dab over the caulk in the old drill holes and it is now an acceptable level of whiteness for Donna. So, no one has to sleep outside. Looking forward to seeing you at the Rally. Maybe you will give us a quick tour of the new battery system. #145 goes in to Easton in November. Scotty

When I first saw the title of your post I thought you were fighting the dreaded No-see-ums that get past the screens. I would second, or third, the recommendation to get CGI to do a ceramic coating for you. They really are experts and outstanding young men with an awesome work ethic. The two products that I got from them for after care are 1.) Ceraglo - soap to wash and 2.) Shine & Shield - to use after washing... it helps to keep the ceramic coating fresh. CGI will be at the rally and would be happy to inspect your trailer and give you a quote on ceramic coating. Scotty

Recently replaced our A/C with a new unit. The Air distribution box has a smaller footprint than the old Penguin. So, I filled in with white caulk. Of course, the white caulk is not as white as Donna would like it to be. What suggestions do you have for touching up with a whiter white. Touch up Auto paint? These are small... about 1/8th inch in diameter but there are eight of them. Plus they are on the ceiling so they tend to be noticed around bedtime. Help me get a good nights sleep... Please! Scotty

Hey Everyone, Hull # 145 2016 LE2 Furrion Chill Cube A/C upgrade 10/1/2026 We finally gave the heave ho to the noisy jet engine Penguin 2 air conditioner and installed the Furrion Chill Cube with heat pump. Installation was done at Miles RV in Hendersonville NC. Performed at under two hours of shop labor and included the installation of a Lux Pro thermostat to control the LP heater. When installing the Furrion the heat and A/C will operate independently so a new thermostat will be required. For reasons unknown to me, the Dometic thermostat that used to run both will not work with just the heat. The Lux Pro works fine and shows the current temp in the display. You have to turn the fan from auto to on and the heat from off to on and then control heat with the up / down setting for temp. After that it cycles on and off normally. The Furrion A/C is controlled independently with either the remote or the buttons on the air distribution box. This concerned me quite a bit, but in talking with the shop supervisor, he said his tech guys would have no problem. And, they didn't. Why I chose the Furrion A/C: Two main reasons... 1.) NOISE and 2.) Energy use. The main difference between the Furrion and other units is how the compressor / fan combination operate. The fan is not a round propeller type, it is a cylinder. That may be one of the reasons the A/C is about 4” taller than other comparable units. Our height went from 9'8” to 9'11”.... still under 10 feet but will avoid underpass's that are less than 10-1/2' in height. The compressor is variable speed... that means instead of the compressor tuning on and off when holding temp, it will, well... vary in speed. We are planning on a 900 ah lithium upgrade in November and expect the run time on this a/c to be measured in days. JD has reported on very good run times and I expect the same type of performance. Testing so far has been plugged into a 20a outlet with moderate temperatures. The 20a outlet is not a problem because the Furrion does not require a “soft start” add on. It's soft start by design. It also has what they call a “gear” function that allows you to set the power consumption at 50%, 75%, and 100%. All tests have been done at 50%. There is quite a bit of difference in noise depending on the setting. When the fan is set to auto, and the ambient and set temp are 8-10 degrees apart, it can be loud. The fan has a turbo mode and when that kicks in it's up about 65+ db. However, when you set the fan to low and the ambient-set difference is 4-5 degrees it is whisper quiet at about 52db. Very easy to hold a conversation. We were in the trailer with low fan and the A/C dropped the temp 5 degrees in about a half hour. All in all, I expect that it will be noisy when first turned on and trying to cool down the trailer from high temps to reasonable ones. Then when holding that reasonable temp it will be very quiet. Oh... and HEAT... I set the heat on 85 degrees with the ambient temp at 70. The unit took a short while to start, but when it did, the noise was very low at 51db and the air coming from the vents was nice and warm. The gear function does not work when heat is selected, so I did not leave it on very long. I have carried a ceramic cube heater and a Buddy Jr. heater when camping in cold temps as back up in case there was a problem with the heat. After the battery upgrade, I don't think I will need to do that any longer. There are some other nice features. There is a timer that can be set to either turn the unit ON or OFF. Nice if you are arriving back at camp after a hot day exploring or to set to turn on an hour or so before you arrive at your campsite. Our "Flying Sea Turtle" turned 10 years of age (notice I did not use the word "old") this summer and once we have the lithium upgrade done we will be set up for the next ten. Thanks again to John for his extensive testing and reporting on this unit. Furrion owes a commission on my unit. All for now... Happy Camping, Scotty

You Dog you!...

The BIG question is.... What are you planning on adding to the truck? Cap? That's about 300-350 lbs. Slide? Add another 100 lbs. If you look at the real simple payload math a 1/2 ton with 1500 lbs payload is an OK tow vehicle. Hitch weight = 600.... Man, wife, dog = 400... That's 500 lbs in payload left. Add a hard tonneau (150 lbs) and you have about 350 lbs left over. You can do that. BUT... if you add that CAP... Your payload goes to about 150 lbs in camping gear. You can eat that up real quick. Especially in the mountains... if that is where you live and can swing it dollar and life style wise. 3/4 ton is the way to go. Also you should educate yourself on towing math. Youtube has some good videos on this. And finally RTFM! Get the manual and read the hell out of it for any TV you plan on. Best of Luck to you. Scotty

I put trim lok over the lighted Oliver sign. Thought it would be good insurance against leaks from the seals aging on the sign. Many folks have had that problem. Scotty

Thanks JD... Good info on the Epoch batteries. I figured I was all square being that for this project I am "I F S L" rated. (that's I follow Steve Landrum for those of you not certified). Figured Inverter Services would be on top of their game but checked anyway and they did spec in the Essentials series. Currently trailer is getting the Furrion A/C upgrade and will be scheduled for the Epoch / Victron upgrade in November. We did a short trip out to "Land Between The Lakes" in KY a few weeks back and temps were in the 90's every day. We got by with the Penguin but I kept running into situations where it would be so much easier with the upgrades. Like being able to leave the dog in the trailer and go into a restaurant or store. Or, being able to stop at a harvest host or Walmart and not have the windows open and fan running and have to deal with any noise or bugs. Planning a big trip out west in spring to give it all a good workout. Hope to see you at the rally. Scotty

You TEASE YOU!.... seriously.. you need to stop that.

Make sure that protection starts with a FOUR....

Hey Everyone, I posed some questions about Alternator load with a DC/DC charger to Easton Ford at Inverter Services. Here is the info I got back from him: Q: When you install a DC/DC charger, what considerations should you have on the alternator in the Tow Vehicle? A: What I take into account is how much load you have on the alternator with all of your heavy electrical loads running, then I clamp the alternator wire to see how many amps it is pulling, I then Add 50 amps(DC/DC) and I see if that number is above 75% of the full capacity of the alternator. If its under everything is good. If it is over I would let you know that its over and if you didn’t want to do the DC/Dc I would take it off the ticket. If you still wanted the DC/DC it can be turned down to draw less from the alternator. Q: Can the Victron DC/DC charger be set to draw a certain amount of power. A: Yes, the Victron DC/DC charger can be turned down from 1 to 50 amps Q: My tow vehicle (2024 Nissan Titan XD) currently has a heavy duty 200 amp alternator. For me specifically, what would you recommend? A: For this vehicle I think one DC-DC would be fine no issues. If you want to have two DC-DCs I would want to clamp the alternator wire to make sure that we are not cutting it close. (2 dc/Dcs would equal up to 100Amps but it is highly programable to set it anywhere from 1-100) My plan going forward would be to have the alternator load tested and if it's within parameters, fine... if not, I will ask them to turn down the DC/DC charger to the appropriate number until I can arrange an alternator upgrade. Hope this helps to answer any Alternator questions anyone else may have. Happy Camping, Scotty

Welcome to the Family.... Thanks for letting us know that Happy Hour starts at 1730 hours. That's FIVE THIRTY for you non military types. What site will you be in at the rally? Should we bring beer or snacks? And... by using the greeting "Aloha"... I fully expect to see at least one Ukulele at the campsite. Happy Camping! Scotty

I have a 2024 Nissan Titan XD. The stock alternator is a high output 200 amp unit. I am thinking I would be good to go for a DC/DC install... which is happening in November. Does that sound right? Thanks, Scotty

Yes... Saw the N R L on the dust caps for the axles. Whew... CRM... don't scare me like that! Scotty

Final update on the Nev-R-Lube axle upgrade. The clearance between the shocks and tires turned out to be a non-issue. Axles installed and performing great. Scotty

Hey John, You were spot on. Once everything was assembled, the clearance between the shock and tire was fine. They did a decent job and the trailer rides well. Look forward to seeing you in October! Thanks again, Gregg

Another update. After unsuccessful communication with Oliver Service, I went ahead and sourced the axles from a Dexter authorized distributor. HF = 68.75 SC 50.5 dimensions were matched by Dexter and they shipped the correct axles to the dealer. See below photos of original Redneck axle and the replacement labels. I learned that Redneck Axle was bought out by Dexter and my original axles were made in that plant in AL. Trailer is due for pick up tomorrow but wanted to get some opinions on an issue the mechanic brought to my attention. He said he was concerned that the new axle was a bit shorter than the old one and was concerned that the shocks may get too close to the tires during tight turns when the axles shift a bit. I lined up the old next to the new to compare the HF dimension and found it to be almost negligible. If anything it's an eighth of an inch total which would put it at 1/16" for each side. Sorry that I forgot to take pictures of that. The inner hubs are closer together but I don't think that would be a problem as many folks have changed from the D35's to the D52's with the larger hub and brakes and have not heard of this issue. For those folks that have done that change... (D35's to the D52's with HF of 68.75" and SC of 50.5") A.) Have you noticed the clearance between tire and shock being an issue while turning? B.) Even if you haven't it might be something to inspect. When I get the trailer back I will take it to a parking lot and do some tight turns both forward and backward and see if there is an issue. Thanks in advance, will provide another update tomorrow. Scotty

Not the ones you see on the virtual tour. Those are the 2026 shades. <moment of silence for those that bought in 26'> The new 2027 shades have a white frame around the window.