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ScottyGS

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Everything posted by ScottyGS

  1. Hi Annie, I have the LE 2 and am new to towing a trailer. TV is a 2016 F-150 and it handles very well. I would advise you get the rear mounted camera option. It acts like a rear view mirror for traveling on the road and for backing in. I would imagine that the difference (from the T@B) would be in HEIGHT and WIDTH. The Elite looks a bit taller and wider than the T@B. Before picking up the Elite 2 I was concerned about the view in the standard side mirrors . The F-150 and the LE2 are the same width and the visibility in the side mirrors is good. I don't have the tow mirrors. Check your width on the MB 550 and if you are 6' 6" or wider, you should have good mirror vis. If you take things slow and steady you should be fine. This is more of a brains vs. brawn issue so the girls just might have the advantage here. :-) Best of Luck, Scotty
  2. Hi Lauren, Thanks for letting me know. That sounds like the toilet vents into the black pipe in the closet, which I believe is also the vent for the black tank. Hope you order your OT soon and are as happy with it as we are. Scotty
  3. Hi Elgie, The fan is wired to be always on. I am pretty sure that is a good thing. Never had a concern with power for the fan. It's such a small draw and the solar panels keep the batteries topped off when in storage etc. On the vent issue. I can only give you half an answer. The vent hose connects to the wall to the left of the sink. Where it goes from there I am not sure, but I would like to know as well. My guess would be either A.) to the black tank vent pipe which runs through the closet and up to the roof OR B.) down underneath the trailer to whatever opening they fabricated. If you ask Anita or Tommy... please let me (and the group) know what you find. Our set up is with a black tank installed but not used. This way if we (or a subsequent owner) decide to switch to a more conventional set up we can. I specified this when ordering our trailer. You might want to make sure that is the standard configuration OR explore other options with Oliver. Please let me know if i can answer any other questions but keep in mind we are still new to the CT and our experience is limited. So far.. so good though. Safe Travels, Scotty
  4. Randy, Thanks for suggesting the BW tank to FW tank modification. I was glad to see a new thread start up on the Composting Toilet option so we could discuss the actual toilet and not lobby Oliver Trailers for a dual Fresh Water tank mod. I realize that some folks are interested in that but we already had one thread that was covering it pretty well. As for the Toilet Ladder...... Yes, that is definitely something to consider. It doesn't bother me too much and I have not heard a lot of complaints from the 5'4" better half. We had a nice visit to Cherry Hill state park in PA to see the meteor showers and I dumped some coffee grounds in the solids tank one morning. I read that this was a good idea to control odor somewhere on the net, and just put some in for the heck of it.... NOT because it was needed. For two people the liquids tank gets emptied every other day or so. Not an unpleasant task. I can't imagine having to deal with the busted Slinky scenario and quite frankly was not looking forward to having to deal with an un-busted one either. I am still new to the CT experience, but am happy to answer any questions I can.... and to resist the urge to make up silly answers for those I can't. Safe Travels, Scotty... and Donna.... and the Flying Sea Turtle... and the Blue Whale.
  5. The Flying Sea Turtle ... Hull # 145 has a Natures Head composting toilet. There is a lot of information out there on composting toilets for RV's, so I won't go into a lot of detail about CT's in general. You might want to google "Gone with the Wynns" and "Composting Toilet" for videos that will provide a lot of good information. So let me give you my thoughts about the CT and the Oliver Trailer. In our case the LE2. Using - There is a bit of a learning curve in using a CT in the Ollie. The unit is a bit tall, so you have to be careful getting on and off in the small bathroom. The main thing you want to ensure is that you COMPLETELY SEPARATE solids and liquids. See the video and other sources for info on this. Loading & Dumping - IMHO... easier than dealing with a black tank dump on the road. For two people on trips less that a few weeks, you wont have to dump and re-charge the solids area. You can leave that till you get home and then LEAVE IT longer until the next trip. The longer it composts the less offensive the dumping job is. In any case, when changing out, I remove the top portion of the toilet and put it in a medium size (the white ones) garbage bag to take it out of the ollie. I do the same with the bottom portion but use a contractor bag for that. This prevents any mess inside the trailer. Then i turn the bottom portion over and dump the contents into the bag and give it a few whacks to dis jar any loose material. The liquids bucket is easy to dump and urine is sterile, so you can dump it just about anywhere. There is some smell when dumping but not when the unit is assembled. Re-charging - Very simple. Put another white garbage bag into a bucket and put the Sphagnum peat moss in and add water until it is the consistency of dirt. Not too moist or too dry. Then put it back in the base. Not a hard job and not offensive. Oliver Configuration - When we got this option we made sure that Oliver plumbed the black tank and everything else as if it were the standard RV toilet. That way if we or anyone else wanted to revert to a black tank set up, it is easy. Good for re-sale when the time comes. I have read in the other thread that Oliver refuses to not plumb a black tank in and the reason is that it would be near impossible to convert to a standard toilet if it were not there. I know many people have differing opinions, but for me this is my preference. As for water conservation.... I would imagine it would conserve more that a standard RV toilet. Probably more important to those spending a lot of time out west. Happy to answer any other questions, but please limit to the CT and the Oliver. Safe Travels, Scotty
  6. John, Thanks for the information. I will keep in mind as I walk through the project. Finding a capable welder and then designing the frame to accept rack components will be a challenge but I really don't have a deadline, so no pressure. To be clear... My intentions are to buy the Yakima Holdup rack and use that on both the F-150 and the Ollie until / if / when I get motivated to build a custom frame. So, no issues on the F-150 carry. License Plate - I thought about re-locating the LP so it is visible when hauling bikes. Donna had a good suggestion. We might take a picture of the LP and then print a life size photo and laminate. We would place this in the rear window similar to where Oliver put the temporary registration when we bought the trailer. Might not be perfectly legal, but I don't think many cops would be too motivated to make an issue out of it, and might appreciate the forethought. Opinions on this are very welcome. Electric Bikes - I will do a post in General Discussion in the near future on our E bikes, including the search for a carrier that will work with the LE2. For now, we purchased the B&H easy motion for Donna and the A2B Alva plus for me. We are planning on giving the B&H to my son, Donna will take the A2b, and I am waiting for a Pedego Ridge Rider delivery. The A2B and Ridge Rider are great bikes and worth a serious look if you are interested. (rented the ridge rider for a few hours to test it) E bikes are very cool. They make riding a joy. Not effortless but they do make hills and headwinds easy to deal with. I would recommend that you look for a local E bike shop that will let you test ride, or better yet rent them for an hour or two. Thanks again and Safe Travels All! Scotty
  7. Grayson, Very nice indeed. We have recently acquired two electric bikes and I am looking for a rack that will be used both on the Ollie and our F-150. I was looking at the Thule brand, but their hitch and locking mechanism requires that the hole be set back 1.5" in the receiver. I measured the Ollie rack and found it to be 1.25". A quarter of an inch does not sound like much but with the weight of the E bikes and rack.... I don't want to chance it. Plus the Thule has 1.25" tube with an adapter for the 2" receiver. Not my idea of a solid connection. We will probably purchase the Yakima Holdup for a 2" receiver. That rack looks like it will serve well on the truck or on the Ollie. It has an actual 2" square tube that will fit 2" receivers. All that being said... I like your mod very much and will most likely follow in your footsteps at some point. Do you have a drawing for welding up the Aluminum Tube that you would be willing to share? I have access to the raw materials at a good price but would need to have a local fab shop make up the frame. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks for sharing this awesome mod! Scotty
  8. Hey Gang! I just completed two small... very small ... mods on the Flying Sea Turtle. I added a second Ruggid RV Rug to the steps and installed EZE Gutters. EZE Gutters - These have been very extensively posted about and Thanks to all who shared their wisdom. I can add that I chose to run the gutters all the way down the sides for each of the three big windows. I ordered two 10' pieces and cut the needed length from each to do the windows above the bunks with a single piece. For the window over the dinette, I used two pieces with a splice in the middle top of the window. Not enough left over to do the bathroom window and that was just fine for me... Bathroom gets wet anyway. Alcohol to clean before putting the gutters on, and now they are on tight! We all know what they look like so i wont post pics on this. Ruggids RV Step Rugs - We bought one of these on the road and liked it so much that I sent away to Camping World for another. They install easy with the provided LARGE Zip Ties. We all know how easy the steps on Ollie get dirty and how hard they are to clean. These look nice, help keep dirt in the trailer down and even reduce the noise of folding the steps a bit. Pictures attached. They are about $19 each from CW. Safe travels everyone! Scotty .... and Donna who is napping on the couch... and the FST... and the Blue Whale. Later!
  9. Hey Gang! I just completed two small... very small ... mods on the Flying Sea Turtle. I added a second Ruggid RV Rug to the steps and installed EZE Gutters. EZE Gutters - These have been very extensively posted about and Thanks to all who shared their wisdom. I can add that I chose to run the gutters all the way down the sides for each of the three big windows. I ordered two 10' pieces and cut the needed length from each to do the windows above the bunks with a single piece. For the window over the dinette, I used two pieces with a splice in the middle top of the window. Not enough left over to do the bathroom window and that was just fine for me... Bathroom gets wet anyway. Alcohol to clean before putting the gutters on, and now they are on tight! We all know what they look like so i wont post pics on this. Ruggids RV Step Rugs - We bought one of these on the road and liked it so much that I sent away to Camping World for another. They install easy with the provided LARGE Zip Ties. We all know how easy the steps on Ollie get dirty and how hard they are to clean. These look nice, help keep dirt in the trailer down and even reduce the noise of folding the steps a bit. Pictures attached. They are about $19 each from CW. Safe travels everyone! Scotty .... and Donna who is napping on the couch... and the FST... and the Blue Whale. Later!
  10. Hi Keith, If you are trying to match a color exactly.... I would recommend that you visit a local sign store that has an Oracal 651 color book. That's what i did to match the blue stripe to the flame blue of the F150. Monitors won't give you true colors. Depends on how exact you need to be. Scotty
  11. Would some of our more SOLAR - ly advanced brethren provide a quick primer on managing power OFF the grid? I thought that the IPN ProRemote manual would give me some tips on that but I might be missing something. The back button on the remote switches between the "Battery Volt/Amp" screen and the "Remaining Battery Capacity Screen". Here are my questions about those screens. "Battery Volt/Amp" screen - What exactly does the voltage measure? I have the 4 AGM batteries, six volts each, but this screen maxes out at around 13.3 V - How do i use this figure to tell me the state of remaining power? "Remaining Battery Capacity Screen" - Should I interpret this screen like a gas gauge? Would 50% capacity indicate that all 4 AGM's are now at 50% and I should stop trying to get any additional power out of them. How do I know when I am critically low and should be shutting everything down to avoid damaging the batteries? And finally... What in my ignorance have I forgotten to ask about managing battery power? Thanks in advance for your help and just so you know... I did manage to set the monthly discharge rate after reading the IPN manual. He can be taught! Thanks, Scotty
  12. Congrats on the New Truck Mike! "Won't fit in the garage... (yet)" HA! I know where you are coming from. Good Luck. When we got back from picking up the Flying Sea Turtle, i went to put the F150 in the garage and thought... might as well remove the hitch from the truck. Good thing I did. The truck will NOT fit with the hitch ball on it. Congrats again and safe towing. Scotty
  13. Hey Everyone..... If you are looking for towel racks, hooks, bins, clips, paper towel holders, tissue box holders, shelves, soap holders, racks.... <stop for a breath>...that attach with suction cups that WILL NOT fall of the walls of your Oliver. Look no further! www.fecausa.com These things are pretty awesome. I am not connected with this company in any way except that Donna bought some hooks and a paper towel rack and they just WORK. It's like they had Oliver in mind when they came up with the idea. Hope you all find this useful. Scotty
  14. Update on the trailer disconnect problem. I put a meter on the jumper from the ground to the grounding block and the connection is good. So, it is NOT the ground connection. Will try some more grease and then get that trailer emulator to see if the problem is in the BRAND NEW TRUCK! That would figure ... wouldn't it? :-)
  15. Steve, I checked / traced the wires coming from the 7 pin connector and found that the jumper from the white ground is attached to the grounding block. My next steps are to 1.) get some dielectric grease and make sure there is enough on the connection, and 2.) get a trailer emulator to make sure the problem is not with the truck. This may well turn out to be a ground problem as the connection goes south after hitting bumps in the road. Will keep all advised and if you think of something I am not.. would appreciate the advice. Thanks again, Scotty
  16. We had to put the Anderson Hitch Ball in the top position to get the truck trailer to ride level. I just uploaded a close up Pic to my profile of the hitch ball. Air bags would make things much simpler, but imho... not needed. At least for me. YMMV. Hope this helps. Scotty
  17. Steve, Thanks for that information. Is this something I can fix myself? Any info you can provide would be much appreciated. If I need to make the trip back to TN, I guess i can. I would bring my golf clubs and play at that local course we passed between the Fall Hollow campground and Oliver. Scotty
  18. Just wanted to post a few observations about towing an elite 2 with a Ford F150. Mirrors - I thought I would need the trailer mirrors or the cheaper slip on plastic alternative. Nope.... The regular mirrors are just fine. The Ollie is just about the same width as the F150 and with the curves the regular mirrors provide a good view. Add the rear view camera to act as a rear view mirror and you are good. At night I switch the camera off to reduce panel glare. Ride - Read a lot of comments like.. "you don't even know the Ollie is there it tows so sweet". Sorry.. it's about 6k lbs. You KNOW it's there. That being said it tows very well. Some buffet from passing eighteen wheelers ( not much ) and if you get too close behind one you do get some buffet that makes you want to back off a few hundred feet. NO SWAY at all. Thank you Anderson Hitch! On bumpy roads you do get some pogo effect, but the truck trailer combo takes it well. MPG - the F150 computer showed north of 12 mpg and it was backed up by good old fashioned pencil and paper... had to take my shoes off, but the numbers stood up. Go V6 ecoboost. (The bigger one) Backing up - WHOA! I am NOT an experienced trailer guy. Ok..... I have NO Experience whatsoever! Pro back up assist is AWESOME! Read the instructions, place the sticker, put the numbers in... And it is easy! EASY! Really.... It's EASY! Sticker fits real nice just behind the bulldog hitch. Electronic Brake Assist - when first hooked up the gain was set at 10 and the trailer wheels were free turning. Tommy Staggs said he would be surprised if 10 would lock up the trailer wheels at all. After a bit of playing around I settled on a 6. Appreciate any comments or advice on this. BIG HILLS! - drove some pretty big hills. The kind where there are all kind of signs warning the big rigs about speed. The tow haul mode provided automatic engine braking and helped control speed very well. Big Plus for the Ford. FLAWS & Problems - Not all fun and games. We had a problem with a trailer disconnect message that kept coming up. At first no problems. Then we hit some rain and got the disconnect message. Stopped and checked to make sure the lights were all working and they were. Noticed some moisture in the connection so I took some electrical tape to tighten the connection. Didn't seem to help and kept getting the message even when it was dry. Would appreciate any thoughts, suggestions, etc. about solving this problem. Not sure if it is the trailer or truck. All in all very happy with our choice of the F150 as a tow vehicle. Disclaimers - This post is just MY observations about the F150 and the Oliver LE2. Before picking up the Ollie I did a lot... LOT... of wondering how things would work out. Wanted to share my experience with others ... AND... happy to have advice from other F150 towers out there. Really... very happy.. .in fact, ecstatic! Especially about the trailer disconnect message. Gotta get that fixed. Thanks and Happy Travels! Scotty
  19. Thanks Bill! Who knows why things happen on the web. Tried it again and it worked... But earlier in the day i tried to post from IE and Chrome and my ipad and it would not go. Got her posted now.... The FST has been washed and it sitting at home now waiting for the next trip. Scotty
  20. Donna & I picked up on June 2nd. Sorry it took me so long to post but long ride home and lots to do when we got here. All in all a very pleasant experience. We arrived early and were greeted by Chris and Anita. Then introduced to Tommy and Mike. Mike did our delivery inspection and took us to the campsite to set up. He even checked on us the next morning. We did have to return to get the rear power and usb outlets working. Had a chance to tour the factory and even got to see Buzzy's trailer coming back from being weighed. A BIG SHOUT OUT and THANK YOU to Rodney Staggs for doing such a wonderful job on our sea turtle graphic. Here is a link to the inspiration for this design. Delivery Day photo's are up on our profile page. Travel Safe Everyone! Gregg & Donna - and the FST!
  21. Can't post because I keep getting this message. Well in the delivery day forum anyway....
  22. David, Congrats on taking the leap! Your pick up date will be here before you know it. We are picking up next week. On the whole tow vehicle thing.... This is something that I went round and round on for quite some time. It sounds like you have some good advice and resources for Audi information already. There is only one thing I might add. Or, pass along because I got this from this forum. Ok here it is..... READ the MANUAL! Down load the Audi manual and read the heck out of the towing section. Pay special attention to those footnotes in tiny tiny print. It seems the car manufacturers love to hide stuff in the small print. Good Luck! and post some pictures on pick up day! Scotty
  23. Unfortunately... Something has come up and we will not be at the OBX for this event.
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