ScottyGS

Hi Everyone, Waiting to speak with Jason about several issues and thought I would put up a post about this one. I found a small cut off screw on one of the bunks. Then found another.... and another....and... you get the picture. Took off the window shade and found that several screws have come loose from the window frame. They look like they were sheared off. I tried replacing them but they won't screw back in. I will ask Jason about this when we speak and share anything I learn. It might be worth pulling your window shades to make sure you don't have a screw loose. If anyone has solved this little dilemma, please let us know. Thanks, Scotty

Yep... meant for Bill. Sorry about that. I ordered the Tow Ready 20142 and will try that. For less than $25 from etrailer it seemed like a no brainer. I will prep a jumper wire too just in case. The turn signal fault is new... and happens just before the disconnect issue which leads me to believe its the same problem. Might very well be a ground issue. At least we have several fixes to try and a place to compare notes. At the same time I am juggling the furnace issue, the IPN Remote issue, the broken screws on the window issue, and the loose rivet issue. (OK, the rivet thing is maintenance and the easiest thing to fix - but when you are on a roll .... pile on! ) Thanks everyone.

Randy, Hate to be the bearer of bad news but........ At first it was only the rain with us too. Then it was the bumps. Then the turn signal faults started preceding the disconnect message. If I could find a way to disable that damned bell chime sound I might just call it a day and live with it. Let's hope one of these fix's works and we can move on to fixing stuff that breaks on the Oliver. Sheeeesh! It's like owning a boat. There is always something. :-) Thanks again everyone, Scotty

David, Randy, & Karen, Thank you very much. All good information on this problem. We have two things to try: 1.) the 57003 Curt thingie and 2.) the jumper wire. I will try the jumper wire first and see if that does it. Then move on to the 57003 (or smaller version) if need be. Question on the 57003 - This goes between the trailer cable and the truck receptacle. So, I assume that we would plug the cable side into the truck receptacle and then plug the trailer plug into the side with the spring loaded door. Is that right? There is no picture I can find that shows what is behind the door. If this works on the F-150, then we can assume (there is that dangerous word again) that the issue is the Truck computer does not recognize LED lights. Thanks again for you help. Appreciate it very much. Scotty

It sounds like a mouse... or RAT wearing full medieval armor got stuck in the fan cage.... But probably not. Have had the screens since we picked her up last June. It will be interesting to find out exactly what is causing this. This is what the Suburban manual says about noise. ( I am betting on number 4 ) B. Blower Is Noisy: 1. Check for lint accumulation or debris on the blower wheels or possible damage to the wheel. 2. Check for excessive voltage and correct, if present. 3. Check polarity. If reversed, the motor will whine and run backward. Air delivery will be too low to close the microswitch. 4. Wheel may be hitting the housing. Remove the combustion air housing and adjust the wheel with a T-handle 1/8" Allen wrench. On the room air wheel side, a 90* angle 1/811 Allen wrench will be needed to remove or adjust the wheel. 5. At times, insects such as mud daubers and wasps will build nests inside the combustion air housing, coming in from the fresh air intake. Remove any foreign materials and check the combustion air wheel for warpage. 6. If the bushings of the motor are worn and noise persists, replace the motor. Check both wheels for balance and, if not proper, replace the wheel or wheels.

Bill, I have a phone call schedule with Jason tomorrow about several issues I am having. I will ask him about the product and see if I can locate it. Stay tuned for what I learn. Scotty

Thanks Mike. I sent Anita and Jason an email about this and some other issues and hope to speak with him in a day or two. Will report back. Scotty

Is anyone else having an issue with the Furnace NOISE LEVEL? We just got back from the New Hampshire Spring Fling and found that the furnace has developed a rather nasty knocking sound. It sounds like the fan / wheel is hitting the housing. It's loudest under load and pushing on the side of the furnace will lessen the noise. Here are some videos of the problem: (you might need to copy and paste the URL) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPu6qkB3E54 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66qzXefR4R8 Has anyone else had or solved this problem? Does anyone know how to remove the Furnace? It looks like if you pop the rivits on the exhaust and then remove the screws that mount the unit to the frame you would be able to lift it out. Of course you still need to disconnect power and propane. Any help would be much appreciated. Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145

There seems to be more and more F-150's out there on the forum. I am creating this topic for all of us who have an F-150 and are experiencing or will experience the dreaded Trailer Disconnect Message. This topic will hopefully help us 1.) Understand the issue and 2.) Find a way to lessen / live with it. To start a hearty THANK YOU to all those I have talked to about this, especially Steve / ScubaRX. I also have a request for any who read this thread: PLEASE LIMIT this discussion to the disconnect issue on the F-150 ONLY. Many helpful people who know a lot more about trailer electronics than I do will undoubtedly want to help diagnose grounding issues etc. For the F-150 that would send most folks down a very deep rabbit hole. OK.. and thanks in advance for your help on this. This is what I know / have been able to surmise about the situation: IT's the TRUCK! Not the trailer. If you google F-150 and trailer disconnect you will get a huge amount of hits going back a very long time. Ford must know about this and just not care about fixing it.DON'T worry about your BRAKES! - All the lights and turn signals work fine even when the trucks computer tells you the trailer is disconnected. AND THE BRAKES ARE WORKING TOO! The good news..... no danger, but it still sure is annoying. If you want to check this, use the manual brake controller to apply the brakes when the trailer is showing disconnected. You can also go to the trailer status screen and see the gain when you apply the foot brake. < I worried a long time about the brakes and now its nice to know that they are still there doing their job > This is what I think we might be able to do about it: I read that running a ground jump cable between trailer and truck might help. That is if it is a grounding issue that is causing the trucks computer to think the trailer is disconnected. I am thinking this would involve wire, connectors, screws and drilling some small holes. Does anyone know how to do this? Any help on placing a ground between the truck and trailer would be appreciated. I will get er done and report back on the next trip.Has anyone SOLVED this issue? Either with the help of Ford or on your own?I plan to address this with my local ford dealer, but frankly don't have much hope that they will have a solution. Finally for those planning on buying an F-150 as an Ollie tow vehicle. Everything else about the truck is great. Lots of power. Nice ride. Tows great. And, the Pro Backup Assist helps very much for trailer newbs like me. This is the only issue that drives me a bit crazy. Thanks Everyone... Smooth Roads and Blue Skies! Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145

If you forget to turn on your propane and the truma water heater is on you will hear a weird sound as it tries to fire up. This will keep you awake until you decide to investigate. Do not ask me how i know this. :-) Scotty Hull 145 FST

Yvonne & Doug, CONGRATS! and welcome to the family. Glad you had a safe trip home. I hope you got the Pro Backup Assist in your new Lariat. It makes my life a whole lot easier when in reverse. Would you please post more about the bike rack? Did Oliver do that for you? We have the old style and I would like very much to upgrade. Pics of the rack would be much appreciated. Thanks and Good Luck! Gregg, Donna, and Piper (our 9 month old Westie) Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145 and the Blue Whale - 2016 F-150

Stan & Linda, Congrats and Welcome aboard! TWO Olivers in NJ! Who'd a thunkit! We are headed to the New Hampshire Spring Fling on May 11-14. It would be a great shake out cruise for your new Ollie. This is a fiberglass trailer event but you would put the number of Ollies at 4. Best of Luck Gregg & Donna Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145

Ok... Stupid question maybe... But...If you go to a propane refill place that services RV's they would likely fill your propane without removing the tanks. The Class B's that have propane with permanently installed tanks can't remove them. You might have to call around to find a place that will but it's got to be easier than lifting those tanks. Scotty Flying Sea Turtle Hull # 145

Hey Fred... NJ Here too. We are in the Caldwells. There are several Ollie's planning on hitting the NH Spring Fling in May. It's a fiberglass RV event. If you come to that you can see inside as well as out. No Drooling! :-) If you want a tour send me a PM. I store the trailer about an hour away and will be picking it up for the May trip. Good Luck and hope an Oliver is in your near future. Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull #145

Hi Everyone, Had this issue and was advised by Oliver to use Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure. I used a very small brush to put this sealant on the black gaskets. It solved the problem. No more black streaks. You can get this at West Marine or on Amazon. It was a pretty simple cure. Did this last fall, so not sure if / when i need to re-apply. When I spoke to Oliver on this I asked if there would be a problem taking the lights off to replace the gaskets. My concern was that a nut might fall off the back of the screw and make things difficult to put the lights back on. I was advised that this would not happen. Good Luck, Scotty Flying Sea Turtle hull # 145

OH MAN! When did Oliver add the Saturn V option???? And can they retro fit one for me? :-) Happy New Year everyone! Scotty... and Donna.. and the Flying Sea Turtle... and now... Piper! Newest family member. Picture of Donna and Piper attached.

No worries Randy. Exchange of information and ideas are what make this forum valuable to all of us. Appreciate that you took the time to comment. AND... you did give me the thought that white single tire covers may be the way to go next time. I got these on super sale at CW for about $20 for both. But, they are a bit small. Will do for this season, but I will probably replace if / when the next sale goes off at CW. Thanks and have a great New Year. Scotty

They are not plastic bags. They are tire covers. Here is the link. http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/elements-black-double-tire-cover-27-29-/84957 Would that still cause a problem? In hindsight I would get either the next size up as these fit a bit too tight or the single tire covers. Scotty

Final Winter Bed Down Yesterday was warm and sunny here in NJ and I took that opportunity to take care of the final bed down for the FST. We had a lively discussion on avoiding flat spots on tires and I was seriously considering using jack stands to get the tires off the ground. After reading about other Ollie owners experience and doing a bit of research I decided on the following: Boards under tires to insulate from the ground temp Over-inflate tires to 90 psi Cover the tires Take just a bit of weight off the tires with the jack stands The jacks did a nice job of raising the trailer so I could slide the boards under without having to hitch up. So, she is all bedded down for a long winter nap. Next trip should be the Oliver rally in May. Hope to see many of you there. Scotty And the Flying Sea Turtle, Blue Whale and of course... Donna

Reed & Karen, Great Suggestion.... Hope you don't mind if I bypass running the vodka through the plumbing system and just consume it direct from the bottle. OK... maybe put it in a glass. :-) Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145

Our trailer is in storage now but operating on memory..... If you close the bypass valve, it should bypass the HW heater completely. So I believe the answer is neither. Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145

Randy, Thanks for taking a look at the Summerization procedure. Appreciate the correction and comments. Your question on that document was: Does the draw / pump fill the plumbing or the main tank, can you select either? I am no expert < That's Buzzys Job! - high five to the Buzz man :-) > but I took that part of the Summerization process from the Winterization process in the Oliver Manual. And, double checked it with the Valve configuration picture supplied by Oliver. So..... With the valves in the winterization configuration, the rear port will use the pump to draw water through "all lines and faucets". That rear port is what we use to put the RV Antifreeze in... so it should be what we use to take it out. IMHO. That's all I have for now. I am attaching the Summerization procedure for any others that wish to review. Have a great Holiday and Safe Travels, Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145 Procedures-for-Summarizing-Oliver-LE2-84RV-1.docx

Don, Thank you checking with Dexter and passing along the information. I hope all is right with your axles and there is no problem. After reading the advice you passed along from Dexter regarding modern radial tires not having to worry about flat spots, I decided to do some additional checking. I searched Google and visited a number of car and RV sites and while there is no clear consensus it does appear that older or very high speed / high performance tires will have flat spotting more often than modern radials. That said... there are still concerns about any tire in storage for long periods of time and / or in extreme cold weather. Both are conditions our trailer will face over the winter. Here are some suggestions I read (Read.... like on the internet the teller of all things true - grain of salt time) that folks may want to consider: Unload the trailer so that minimum weight will be on the tires Inflate tires to operating pressure plus 25% - Think that would be about 100 psi for Ollies put the tires on wood planks - "softer" than pavement or gravel and protect from the COLD ground - lots say this works fine, no Flat Spots Put the levelers down to take just a bit of weight off the tires - the whole weight of the trailer would be bad for the jacks over time Cover the tires with tire covers NOT tarps to protect from UV - strap em down good for the wind Take the trailer for a ride every month to 3 months, but NOT in extremely cold weather Finally you may want to try "Race Ramps Flatstoppers" (google it) - I don't plan on it but it's interesting to consider Many people with large trailers (5th wheels etc.) say they store over winter and do not have an issue with modern tires. I will call my storage facility tomorrow and ask them about this. Will pass along any new info. Don, again... I really appreciate your sharing this. Got my fingers crossed for you. Hope we get to meet IRL at an Ollie rally or something... will pay the beers I owe when we do. Scotty Flying Sea Turtle - Hull # 145

Randy, Thanks for the reply on this. We are not lucky to be headed south to the warmer climes like Grayson and Ann. :-) But.... I am thinking ahead to Summertime. I have attached a procedure for "Summarizing" our Oliver to get the Antifreeze out. It comes from your post and a kind of reverse engineering of the winterizing process in the Oliver manual. Would you please give it a once over and point out any errors or improvables? Thanks, Scotty Flying Sea Turtle Hull # 145 Procedures-for-Summarizing-Oliver-LE2-84RV.docx

Don, I would second that. When I spoke with Tommy he was clear that the choices for placing Jack stands were the sub frame and the axles, not the aluminum frame. It may be strong enough..... but when you have the manufacturer advising against it.....probably best to avoid. I like what you did with the four stands and will do the same. Did the rear electric jack stands have any trouble lifting the trailer so you could place the stands? 'Thanks again for the pics. Appreciate them very much. Scotty