John Welte
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Posts posted by John Welte
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7 minutes ago, Dave and Kimberly said:
Well... isn't that a surprise! I understood that I needed the original part to do the decalcification process as well. I have looked everywhere for that part and thought that I either never received it... or put somewhere that I wouldn't forget?? I was about to just order a replacement part so that would have it when the time came. (I have the tablets).
I can't wait to get the cover off and see if mine has been hiding in plain sight all this time as well! 🙂
I picked up on November 7 and had ordered the electric antifreeze option. They asked me if I planned to winterize before leaving Tennessee, but I chose to wait. They hooked up the antifreeze cartridge and put the original cartridge in the lower right corner. When I did winterize I removed the electric one. Too bad there's not two places to store the cartridges in the water heater. One is in the lower right, and the other is in the trailer in a drawer.
John
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4 hours ago, ScubaRx said:
I do not own the truma so I know only a little bit about them. It is my understanding that if the filter is removed it should be stored inside the compartment to the far right between the unit and the wall. That would be where I would expect them to put it after the exchange. Sometimes my expectations are greater than reality.
You're right, about where it's stored.
John
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5 hours ago, bhncb said:
Oliver should have also provided you with the original filter they remove when the Antifreeze kit was installed. It's in the kit installation instructions to retain the original filter for use when decalcifying the unit.
That is correct. You use the original filter to put the tablets in. I have both the original and the electric antifreeze cartridge (filters).
John
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14 minutes ago, Rivernerd said:
If you define "extended period" as 6 days, our experience towing our new Elite II home from Hohenwald to Idaho in mid-November is instructive. We used the Varioheat furnace for 6 straight sub-freezing nights in Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Idaho, 4 of them above 4000' elevation. The overnight low on three of those nights was in the teens, and 9 degrees F once (in Colorado). The Varioheat adequately heated the cabin with the CP Plus wall control set at 68 degrees F, and more important to us, kept the underbelly of the trailer where the tanks and water lines run, above 38 degrees F.
It ran almost constantly at night, which we suspect is because the trailer is not all that well insulated. It consumed about 1.5 gallons of propane per night. We figured that our two 5-gallon propane tanks allowed us to safely heat for 5 nights without refill.
The exterior walls remained cold and sweated a bit, but we do not blame the furnace for that. That is to be expected where, unlike in a home, the supply air ducts are in the middle of the heated space, not along the walls. We remained warm enough (and both my wife and I like to sleep warm, so we used sleeping bags), but because we could not get very far away from the exterior walls when sleeping , we did not feel "cozy."
We believe one reason the Varioheat furnace system kept the underbelly at least a few degrees above freezing is the addition of a return air vent from the bathroom to the open area under the front dinette seat. There has been extensive discussion on another thread suggesting that additional return air ducting from the cabin into the underbelly area will help improve Oliver furnace system performance. See:
As my wife and I did not purchase the Oliver for winter use, we find the Varioheat furnace adequate for our needs. We do not believe it is undersized. We were just happy that it performed well enough to get us home in reasonable comfort, given our mid-November delivery date and the colder-than-average temps we encountered!
Similar experience for me also. No sweating on the walls, but it was only me. Walls felt cool, but not cold in 5-10°
John
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2 hours ago, Patriot said:
We kept it fairly simple 13’w 11’h 25’L and no doors just an all steel building. Having a (3) car garage upper attached and a lower basement garage we just did not need another garage. So we had an “Ollie Hangar” built 6 months ago. Lead time from when we ordered was two weeks. In a day and a half we had our Ollie under cover. The concrete pad is 13x55. This has worked perfectly for our needs.
From this -
To this-
They did a nice job. Love the "airport lights" and pad area.
John
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33 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:
I don't think that, from the posts
if someone routinely camps in cold temps, it would be a consideration.
For those like me, who occasionally get caught in cold temps, I'd say no.
30 pound bottles are really heavy to transfaer, and we've found zero places that will fill in situ.
I'll stick with my 20 lb, manageable bottles, and carry a spare or two in the truck bed, in cold temps.
Everyone has a different camping style. We like sleeping cold, in the 50s. If the forecast is for below freezing for days, we winterize. A bag in a bucket works fine. Luggable loo. Overnight freezing, if days are above, not a big deal.
We all figure it out, for our own style.
We chose 20# propane containers for the very reasons you wrote. Hauling those 30# ones back into the trailer would be very hard to do.
John
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On 11/18/2022 at 8:31 PM, AlbertNTerri said:
Wedging a custom sized pool noodle on either side of the TV (in the up position) has become one of our check list items for breaking camp. It took a couple of tries to get the right lengths (the left and right will be slightly different) but one noodle provides plenty of material to make a few attempts at it
Is that to keep some tension on the TV so if the trailer bounces, the TV doesn't come down to viewing position? Any pictures of how you do that?
John
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2 hours ago, topgun2 said:
The EZTire TPMS (like this) also does not have to be rotating to read temp and pressure..
Bill
Bill, my TST 507 gives readings without needing rotation also. It takes a few minutes to get readings from all the tires so I typically turn it on ten minutes or so before we leave. I haven't needed to install the repeater for the trailer.
John
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On 12/7/2022 at 7:51 AM, dewdev said:
I use the TireTracker TPMS system. Using the instruction manual, I found it very easy to program.
My TV already had its own TPMS system so I added only the Ollie to the TireTracker system. For those without a TPMS on their TV, the TireTracker system has enough capability to add both the TV and the Ollie.
I bought the TST 507 tpms for both the LE2 and the TV. My reasoning for the tv sensors was that as I understand it, the vehicle sensors are for pressure only. I wanted to see the temperatures too. I bought a ViAir to air up the tires as needed.
John
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5 hours ago, ChrisMI said:
@Patriot the eu3000is is actually the ideal generator with it being quieter and having electric start. I just couldn’t get it up into the bed of our 1 ton. Do you find it vibrates the trailer while running it in the basket? Nice setup!
Chris, somewhere I thought I read that Oliver doesn't recommend running the generator while in the basket. Any concerns?
John
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5 hours ago, Dave Mazone said:
Hi John,
No, I had a local detailer here in Bakersfield, CA do it for us. I googled "ceramic auto coating" and received about 5 detailers in our area that professed to do it. After checking all the reviews, especially companies with lots of reviews, I choose my company. FYI: I paid $500 per coat (which I think was a very good deal - and the detailer confirmed it was far more work than he had anticipated). With the PPF film I paid $1300 for the entire job.
Good price. I bet the next Ollie they do will be higher. 😂🤣. I wrote back and forth to CGI and I thought since our trailer is #1290 that the prep would be very minimal. They said that they still have to prep new trailers so the cost wasn't decreased. I did put Rock Tamer mup flaps on and towing back to Oregon, it looked good.
John
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9 hours ago, Rivernerd said:
Although it was hard to swallow the $3800 Truma upgrade cost (versus the $1500 cost of a RecPro, since we believed we would be o.k. with the Suburban water heater and furnace), we are now glad we have the Truma Varioheat furnace, the Truma Aquago water heater and the CP Plus wall control. The benefits of the Varioheat furnace, which we did not know were part of the package until we took delivery, include more robust ducting and a return air vent in the bathroom.
Since we had to drive home to Idaho in sub-freezing temps, we were also glad we had the Truma antifreeze kit as part of that package.
In hindsight, we feel we made the right choice for us, and received good value for the upgrade cost.
I agree. I didn't know about the Truma Varioheat furnace until almost delivery date. It's a great furnace that worked well in sub freezing temperatures. We both got lucky with the Truma package being available for the last few trailers in the 2022 production run. I believe it was money well spent.
John
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11 hours ago, Dave Mazone said:
We had our 2022 coated (with two coats - supposed to give 5 yrs of protection). It isn't necessary, but WOW what a shine and no more factory swirls! Also, VERY easy to clean. You can do it anytime, but it shouldn't just be coated. There needs to be a good polishing in prep. I am VERY happy with the result. Also had PPF put ont the bottom 1/2 of the front to protect feom gravel, rocks, etc.
Waxing is ok, but every 6 months is too much work and not as much protection - in my opinion.
Dave, did CGI do it?
John
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Welcome to the family. We're recent members ourselves!
John
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4 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:
Our trailer is 7 years old. No ceramic. I wash after each trip and wax 2 or 3 times a years. Still looks pretty good.
I’m thinking I’ll do the ceramic thing sometime in the near future. Just have to find a window when we’re not out and about. Mike
Mike,
What kind of wax do you use? What do you use to wash it? Thanks.
John
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3 hours ago, Rivernerd said:
I expect most of the cost is the Texas use tax. Use tax is the way states collect tax on vehicles purchased in another state. Since the "sale" occurs outside the state, Texas cannot collect "sales" tax. But, if you want to "use" your trailer, you must license it, so states with sales tax normally tax the "use" of the vehicle at the same rate as if it was purchased in the state.
If you lived in a state with no sales tax (like Oregon), you would normally pay no use tax.
When you buy a vehicle in another state (like Tennessee), you are not required to pay Tennessee sales tax. But, you must pay use tax in the state in which you title and license the vehicle, in your case, Texas.
We were not surprised by our high Idaho title, use tax and licensing fees, because we knew we were bound to pay the use tax when we titled our Oliver.
Oregon has no sales tax, but since January 1, 2018 there is a "use tax" when a vehicle is bought in another state. Ours is 1/2 of 1% of the sales price. I didn't know about this tax since we buy vehicles very rarely. It was a surprise, but not a huge amount. Ours came to about $430.
John
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4 hours ago, ScubaRx said:
I will be in a group of three Oliver's arriving together in late January or early February. We will all be at the Dome Rock area.
I rode my bicycle through the BLM land southwest of Quartzite a few years ago on my way to St. Louis from San Diego. I saw several trailers and motor homes. I talked to one Canadian woman who goes there every winter to get out of the snow and cold of Canada. I want to try that with our Ollie.
John
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2 hours ago, Katjo said:
@John Welte Please do! Thank you
Katjo, I used the remote, selected smartcast and I have tv now. It was on other inputs. The trailer had recognized that there was a WiFi connection, but it couldn't connect until I chose smartcast as the input.
John
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47 minutes ago, SteveCr said:
Google how to do a Vizio hard reset….not the power reset.
Worked for me.
Steve
Steve, I was able to get the TV working by selecting smartcast from the input on the remote. Now I am trying to figure out how to get the sound from the TV to be through the trailer speakers instead of from the TV speakers. Big learning curve!
John
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1 hour ago, Katjo said:
John, We had problems connecting our internet as well. We have a Verizon portable MiFi unit which works great connecting to all our devices…except the tv!
We never did get it to connect, it’s on our list of “things to figure out” for next camping season!🤔If I figure it out I will let you know what worked.
John
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Great looking cover! We don't have enough space on our lot for that kind of structure. Great job on it
John
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I am slowly learning all the systems on #1290. We have a new ORBI router that has a main router in the basement and two satellite routers that communicate with the main router. We did a signal test inside the house and outside and there's a good strong signal now. The Vizio TV recognizes that the ORBI is available but when I put the password in during TV set-up it doesn't connect. No internet connection. Anyone have an idea what needs to be done? TIA
John
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46 minutes ago, topgun2 said:
Two years ago my wife and I had a fire in our home office due to the failure of the battery in a laptop while being charged.
Thankfully we were only 40 feet away when the individual cells began exploding out the back of the laptop and the fire only consumed about half the office.
Buy and know how to use several extinguishers - we have ten of THIS TYPE all around the house and garage along with four LIKE THESE.
Certainly they saved our home!
Bill
That was scary. I have seen ads for a fire blanket too for a kitchen fire as a lot of house fires start in the kitchen. Good that you were able to put out the fire. That must have been a frightening experience.
John
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3 hours ago, topgun2 said:
I have an EEZTire TPMS like GJ above but since most of the more popular brands of these work in a similar fashion, I doubt that there are significant differences. I've found that I get about 2 years out of a set of batteries. However, when I have Twist stored I take the sensors off the tires, and, remove the batteries.
I'm sure that Matt will be happy to hear from you.
Bill
Good idea about just removing the sensors and batteries.
John
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Decalcifying TrumaGo
in Mechanical & Technical Tips
Posted
That's a great spot for remotes and the cartridge.
John