Wayfinder

Okay. First small project completed. I was able to remove the remaining, old butyl tape, (so it appeared to be). Some was already missing from top and sides. I used a plastic scraper and tweezers to remove old. I would recommend plastic picks or bone tools, but could not find any local. I then carefully cleaned up the edge (gap around the Oliver lens) with asetone, careful not to touch the black sticker (vinyl) on the Oliver sign, in fear it would remove the back vinyl. I did use a marine-grade sealant, recommended by a sailor friend with fiberglass sea water boats. We'll see how it goes in coming years. I was not able to budge the Oliver lens (glass). The old butyl tape seemed to still be holding well. But it appeared to have been repaired before due to two different colors of sealant. One white (outer), one grey (inner-most). It looks better than it did, and should not leak, not that it had started yet. The rear window also needed some love around the upper corners. There were unsealed gaps between the fiberglass and the window frame. I cleaned and sealed those small areas as well. Good luck with your projects. PS. DO NOT USE THE SEALANT I USED. 3M 5200 is TOO strong. Chris

Here's a pic of my rear Oliver light/sign. Looks like someone either tried to caulk the edge, or it came from the factory like that in 2016. Someone will tell me, I'm sure. How should I tackle this? Other than removing old caulk, should I seal from inside the sign or just use butyl tape, or use good caulk, from the outside? I do have new butyl tape on hand, just in case I needed it. I know there's a "caulk fight" going on in the threads too. LOL What are good options for fiberglass AND future removing of said caulk when old? I know it's pretty easy to get to the sign from the inside, although I have not yet pealed back the insulation in the back cabinet. I'm sure there is a thread or two on how to do this, though I have not yet found them. Not sure how folks refer to the "Oliver light/sign". I think some just refer to it as the "third light" or something like that. Thanks again. Top-shelf bourbon will be on its way soon enough to the most helpful. LOL Will deliver in person. (Bottle sealed naturally). Picture: https://photos.app.goo.gl/uREFN1dLoUHr88q48 Chris

Erika and I have been listening to Craig Alanson's Expeditionary Force series (book 12 on June 1st). Columbus Day is the first book. It may seem a bit slow at first (build back-story), but about the time you think the story is over (1/2 way through), you'll be introduced to a VERY interesting character named Skippy. He'll be in every other book thereafter. Joe and Skippy really make the entire series funny. This is a amusing Sci-Fi series, but not too deep nor technical. You won't have to think too hard on any technical terms. It's written for "dumb monkeys", you'll get that reference soon enough. Narrated by R.C. Bray. He's absolutely the best. https://www.amazon.com/Columbus-Day-Craig-Alanson-audiobook/dp/B01MQR08XA/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= Enjoy. Chris

In our 2016 LEII, we noticed we can change the pitch of the "buzz", "hum", or "tinnitus" like noises coming from the trailer. I, Chris, had a difficult time even noticing it due to tinnitus. Moving different switches in the trailer to different positions produces different pitches, some higher than other sounds. Even turning on or off the booster(s) will produce the noise. The LEDs don't even need to be turned on to hear the noise, though more difficult for someone with tinnitus to hear. Has anyone experienced this before in the Olivers? Is this a potential issue, or simply the tech in the rigs? Would newer LEDs, if they’re the issue, produce less of this noise? I know LEDs can produce an electromagnetic (EM) hum when on dimmers, but we don’t have any dimmer switches (that we know of). Chris

Here are two pics. Taken while on power. Should be raining tomorrow, and we have a great deal of shade around use this weekend, so not sure about any good solar.

We're just trying to learn as much as possible to make sure everything is functioning as designed. Thanks for your help & everyone on the forums. Chris

Oh, sorry, just flooded.

@ScubaRx, thanks for the great idea. I did find that the original WeBoost was shot. I got "lucky" and was able to replace the old one with the new. The power supply was also within .5 volts and was able to power the new. Though both external and internal antennas seem to work "well enough", and like @GraniteStaters mentioned, I too am wondering if the better cable and newer external antenna will provide minor improvements. The old internal antenna is in quite a useless location, over the dinette table between the lights. Using a Network Cell monitoring app on the phone, I see that the best signals to the phones or a hotspot/puck is basically touching the front of the internal antenna. Better yet, simply Velcro the hotspot next to old internal antenna. You cannot do that with the antenna over the table with a cell phone in hand. Even three feet away you will lose valuable signal strength with these booster antennas. I'll likely create a video about that on YouTube when I have time. Other option: I'm considering using strong double-sided tape to hang the new internal antenna in "nearly" the same location as the old one, but much closer to the window where a dedicated hotspot can rest on the window shade frame and nearly touching the antenna. That should work great, as it does with my phone now. The hotspot will broadcast throughout the trailer and outside, freeing up my phone for chatting and moving around. Tomorrow, I visit Verizon for a dedicated hotspot. Pics to following later.

Thanks @SeaDawg. Everything looks to be working really well. Batteries take a charge in the Sun, and on shore power. I will start with the link you provided, than call Blue Sky as you indicated. The dealer who changed the batteries, does have a good technician for all their Battleborn upgrades. We'll see if they did what was right. They have very high reviews overall. We were surprised at how smooth everything went, though I allowed for a week or more get everything done. Just a small dealer, nothing huge. Thank you again!

No info is display under the bunk. Only the state indicator is the charge status light.

Thanks MIke! That totally did the trick. Now to read more from the other replies. Take care, Chris

Our old Blue Sky remote panel seems to indicate the charge status well enough, but there is absolutely no information or text on the display, no matter what buttons are pressed. Im not sure if someone's previous modifications may have disabled the display. Is that display info provided by the main solar boost module under the bed or from another shunt somewhere? Not sure what to check for. Also, when hooked up to shore power for over a day, the charge status indictor goes to solid green. Is that normal? The reseller dealer did change out what I think were 4 x 6 volt AGMs with 4 x 12 volt flooded lead acid. Maybe a config issue? But without display I cannot tell. Thanks, Chris (a computer guy and wanna-be smaht camper energy systems guy)

@SeaDawg the new antenna has this small coax (SMA?) connectors. The old antenna on the Ollie is the tiny magnetic type. Pic attached.

Has anyone replaced the cellular antenna on legacy Elite 2 (2016)? I have a new antenna and wondering how easy it will be to pull through the new cable using the old cable.

Yes, ma'am. Thanks so much! We're excited to be a part of the Oliver family.

Thanks, Jim. We don't have a Truma, so we'll give the vinegar flush a try.

Thanks @John E Davies for the idea. Will try first and let you know the results.

Looks like this will be a sizeable project in order to change out the bathroom faucet. The faucet in this 2016 Elite II is dripping quite significantly. I saw @overland post his upgrade recently. I just want to change cartridges, but I am unable to unscrew the cartridges. They are quite frozen in place. I'm afraid to brake faucet or counter, or water lines under counter. How tough is it to remove the towel rack insert below the sink? Just cut the cauk? I hope!! What are my other options? @overland mentioned that removing the counter top was quite the job too. Thanks. Chris

Adding in @John E Davies. Sorry to bother everyone! We want to get the Andersen WDH added to our "new-to-us" 2016 Elite II. Either we will add it ourselves or have the RV dealer do it. They do have a service guy who is familiar with the Olivers, but to what extent, we do not know yet. The dealer is highly rated (4.6 to 5 stars), so that's a good thing. I'm pretty handy myself, but I've only seen Mr. Davies' guides showing how the Andersen is actually connected to the bottom of the Olivers. There is a 2017 Oliver at the dealer, which does have an Andersen WDH connected to it. I'm going to take pics and videos of that one today to get a better perspective on the installation. We "intend" to pickup on Monday, and go just a few miles down to the lakes to camp through the week and holiday weekend. Here's to getting a "first available" empty site early in the week. QUESTION: Which model of the Andersen is Oliver installing on their trailers. Again, in my case, the 2016 model. I'm looking at the Andersen site, and we "think" it would be one of these two. The bracket size is my biggest question, again, we think that's my biggest question. I know John has upgraded to the larger size, but I won't be doing that. Again, we will be towing with a 2020 RAM 1500 Limited with the tow package and factory-installed self-leveling air bags. From: https://andersenhitches.com/collections/wd-hitch/products/4-drop-rise-weight-distribution-hitch Thank you again for any assistance.

Which Andersen WDH drop/rise height did you go with? We have the 2020 version of your TV and I'm not sure if we need the 4in or 8in for the LE II we pick up on Monday. Thanks! Chris

I just took a look at the owner's manual & you called it. Any trailer over 5,000#s requires a WDH. Time to add that back to the "things to buy before pickup day" list. So glad you mentioned requirements for warranty & liability purposes. Chris

Thanks so much for the info!

Thanks for the info! We have so much to learn. 🙂

Chris here. If all goes well, we will be picking up hull #110 on Monday. Though reported earlier on the forums as selling for a very high amount, the dealer came to their senses by the time we came upon it and had dropped the price considerably. Looks like new inside and out, really. Someone took great care of it. I myself have been researching RV'ing and travel trailers for seven years now; certainly didn't rush into anything. It's time to stop watching YouTube only. The Oliver is in EXCELLENT condition from what we can tell. We've visited it a few times and gone over it quite thoroughly. I've been watching any Oliver videos I could find since 2015; not too many out there by private owners. I will ”attempt” to change that. We'll see how we do. We're both software support and video editors (desktop recordings). The only immediate concern we have is the rear Oliver sign and if it's sealed well enough. Does anyone have a link to a how-to for the rear sign? More to come as these TT n00bs get their feet wet. No more tents for us. Also, kudos to the dealer. They even took it camping one weekend and said it tows excellent. They could have tried to sell us an anti-sway or weight distribution system, but said that with my 2020 RAM Limited with 4-way airbags and 3.92 differential (for towing ability), it should not be necessary and to try it first before buying that extra gear. That's a good sign. We're looking forward to upgrading some basic components and making it our own. We'll supplement the 4 new flooded lead acid batteries with our two 1000 watt Jackeries. The trailer does have the 320 watt panel and everything seems to work well. More to come, Chris

I can't figure out how to identify an admin so could you please send them a PM to change our display name to Chris? Thanks!