MAX Burner

The braided brass bonding straps (as wide as possible) provide, as you'll recall from training, a continuous ground plane from which your antenna can better transmit its signal. By bonding all the metal components of your TV, for example hood, fenders, doors, roof, all body panels including frame you'll be providing a much more efficient ground plane for the antenna (especially if you choose to operate HF). It makes a difference for 2m antennas but not as much. Its tedious and a bit time consuming to bond these components but its really worth it, IMO.

@Cort: Something to consider here, Cort - If you could provide pix of your interior/compartments as @Boudicca908 suggests, if it can be determined that there's enough mounting space you should be able to install an inverter. Further, suggest checking with Jason Essary at OTT Factory and ask where inverters were installed for your interior layout and Hull#/MFG year. We're happy to discuss, via PM, the possibility of making our ProWatt 2000 available to you because we're considering upgrading to a Victron 3000. We boondock most of the time as well and the ProWatt comes in quite handy - it's a single function inverter in that it doesn't charge the battery bank - it only inverts stored DC electricity into AC for the outlets and AC-powered accessories. Just a thought, PM when able, if you're interested. Cheers,

Correct. I wasn't specific about the outside switch location, but inside the battery compartment works, further, I didn't realize newer OTTs now have a master DC cut-off switch with certain battery bank options. But, IMO, it would still be of value to have the capability to externally secure DC power from outside the Oliver in the case of emergency.

Same here - largely because of what we've gleaned from this and similar threads....

We used 2 Lippert friction hinges on our door - wonderful!

@Rivernerd; couldn't have described your suggestions better; well said!

Concur 100%, @Patriot; thankfully, we're having a new DCT shop being built within 4 miles of our home and will no longer need to drive the 25+ miles to our current shop. We've had nothing but positive experiences with them for 15+ years as well... Glad to hear they took good care of y'all @AlbertNTerri up there in Montrose! Cheers to DCT!

Hey, @Badger: Like mentioned above - there's really no option for a permanent mounting location other than the cargo basket or perhaps a covered aluminum lockable cargo basket. @Patriot has a well thought out mounting arrangement for his 3300W Honda, FYI. However, if you could give us an idea of your OTT's general configuration such as: Solar output (Watts)?, Inverter output (Watts)?, Battery bank storage capacity (AmpHrs), GENSET output (Watts), etc., we could help you with ideas of how to transport, use, and secure your GENSET. For example, when boondocking - our GENSET will stay locked in the TV and will likely not see the light of day unless there's many days of cloudy, dark, nasty WX where the solar modules can't keep up with replenishing the battery bank and they'll need "topping-off" using the generator. Everyone's OTTs are configured slightly differently and owners have their particular "style" of camping - this combination tends to drive different uses of their GENSET, if even needed at all. At a high level, there's no "right way" or "wrong way" of doing what you're asking - but we need more details to give you our suggestions. Glad you've reached out to the forums - there's a ton of expertise here and owners willing to share their ideas... Cheers!

@topgun2: Sounds like an awesome fix - can you share some pix? We are still on the fence regarding the microwave - we removed it for several trips earlier this year to increase storage options (for a wine/whisky bar); then put it back in for the last several recent trips. It actually came in handy recently. Low priority on the "To Do List" ATM.

Why OTT initial builds do not come with a master battery bank cut-off switch is not understood by this Oliver owner. I'm sure there's an explanation and that some of the owners on the forums know the answer - just haven't had the occasion to ask them back at the Mother Ship, "...why no DC cut-off switch?" One could make a safety argument for having the switch accessible from the outside in the case of a fire inside. Securing the battery bank immediately after escaping an interior fire situation could save some of the trailer, or certainly keep responders from experiencing electrical burns while attending to a trailer on fire scenario. Not that it means much, but our vintage AS rigs ('72 Overlander and '84 Sovereign) came with such a switch, FYI.

Way to go, Jason!

@John Dorrer: Try sending a few pix of the affected area - we may be able to come up with a collective "FIX" so you won't have to just "live with it". There's always a work-around, brother!

@GAP, @Ronbrink: If understanding the problem correctly, it would seem that if y'all have a 350amp BlueSeas Systems master switch at the battery bank selected to the "OFF" position, it would be able to maintain the Lithium bank SOC (except for the 1 - 2% SOC normal monthly loss) during storage. Shore power would energize the heater/humidifier and not affect battery bank. Or, I might be missing something.

For the exact reason you've described above, we installed Lippert "Controlled Motion" Hinges last April from eTrailer: We've logged in excess of 7,500 miles since then during much of our windy springtime season and this simple upgrade has saved the bacon on several occasions. The 2 additional hinges make the door "stiff" to open but makes it stay where you want it - we've not used the exterior door latch at the bottom of the door since installing them. For us - this was a simple fix for a condition that literally can come out of nowhere... Cheers!

Jason: Good morning, welcome, and CONGRATS on your decision to join the Oliver Family. Not using the term, "family" lightly, you'll learn and experience that owning an OTT opens up a true "family-oriented community" to you and your spouse. IMO, Oliver Owners are a wonderful group of consumers with a long laundry list of common behaviors, attitudes, expertise, and above all - the love of seeing our country from what you refer to as a small (we call it "cozy") camper. Many enjoy that view from a commercial campground, Harvest Host site, a USFS area, or a non-designated public land boondocking location. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter, as every Oliver Owner has their own and unique style/interest in "camping mode" - but we typically all come together and make new friends, share experiences, work out challenges, fix systems, and modify our trailers through these Forums. As noted above, don't be shy, ask questions, use the Oliver University link often, and expect that "The Wait" over these next two months will fly-by at Mach speeds. We all look forward to hearing about your "pick-up day" experiences and the many "Oliver Travels" you'll log in the future. Cheers, A & D

Happy Bday, Marine Corps! Semper Fi 🇱🇷

We modify a Truly can (or other narrow beverage cans, Red Bull works) by cutting off the top half of the can and placing the bottom piece over the hitch ball when not connected. Just pinch the bottom and voila - it stays in place and will aid in keeping one from soiling yourself with ball grease...

FYI: It's actually a fairly straight forward DIY option. Took longer to run the cables from the TV engine compartment to the hitch area than actually mounting/wiring the DC-DC Charger in the OTT. Some owners prefer mounting the charger in the TV for more user options - such as offering roadside assistance to others when not towing Ollie.

Nicely done, well thought out. Thanks for posting!

@JWalmsley: What do you have planned for Turkey Day, Jason? Halloween, Day of the Dead, and Samhain are in the rearview! HA! Boo!

Same here - the black should last longer. It looks better too, iMO...

FYI: We added a heat strip in our previous camper's non-ducted Coleman Mach 8 AC unit - easy install and we loved it. Dometic Penguin II has a heat strip kit also (from Amazon) that may work for your unit - best to double check with Dometic or OTT Factory to be sure. Definitely worth examining, IMO. Our Hull #226 has a heat strip installed before we bought it and came in very handy last weekend with morning temps in the Hi 30's - Lo 40F's, FYI. We control the Dometic with a Breeze Air Touch Screen thermostat - it's 100% compatible with the furnace and AC unit, we've got it set to cycle between the two for ease of maintaining internal temps where we like it... Cheers!

110# of Huskies in the back coming home from our first 2-dog adventure - they pretty much take up the entire back seat...

The boys are ready to rock a 5-mile hike this morning in the Chiricahua mountains just east of our boon dock location near Willcox, AZ...

...yup, yet another un-caught typo. Our's is a 30amp DC-DC charger, I'll fix it post haste... TKX!