Dave and Kimberly

John Dorrer: The same thing happened to me once on my relatively flat driveway. It scared the bee-jeebies out of me for a moment. In my scenario there was a slight decline to the right of the Oliver. Afterwards I investigated and believe that the problem was the way I placed the chocks. I placed the chocks behind each of the Olivers back wheels. Then as the tongue came up and off of my truck there was nothing to keep the Ollie wheels from coming forward. The tongue came up and then moved about 10" suddenly to the right (towards the Ollie's right). I believe that my Oliver "pivoted" on the right rear chock and because there wasn't anything on the left side to keep it from going forward.... it did. Since then, I have put my 4 chocks front and back on each side. It keeps both sides of the Oliver planted in place. I also think that because I was on my concrete driveway...and maybe the hard plastic chocks didn't "grip" on my concrete well ... it was a scenario that allowed the Oliver to move even quicker than it might have on a gravel camp-site.

Anyone else out there a Joe Bonamassa fan? Here is one of our favorites... especially when we are on the road with our Oliver.

Steve Morris- Those are great pictures that you got! You can clearly see the solar flares on the sun! Great pic!

Well... here is what I learned. My pictures didn't look nearly as good as what I was observing thru my own eyes from our back yard. I guess you need more fancy gear than my new iPhone. I was kind of disappointed. And then I turned around and saw my wife, my daughter and many of my beautiful grand children, I realized something! The best pictures were all behind me as they were looking up and completely awestruck with the eclipse totality happening... and then our landscape lighting came on! 🙂 The whole experience was really something! I won't forget it for a long time. I hope everybody's day was just as great as mine was!

I know many of you are at an RV camp with others... but where ever you find yourself, have a fun, safe day. Here in Ohio we have family all around us and we will share the time with them. If you have a great pic or story from your experience share it here so we can all enjoy it with you!

Certainly this is of concern to all of us that had purchased an upscale travel trailer to know that in the event of some service issue we couldn't perform ourselves, we would always have the Hohenwald factory service to back us up! I'm not going to be at the rally this year and I expect that this will be a good opportunity to talk, face to face, about this decision and for not only Oliver to be able to explain their rationale... but also the loyal customers to explain how they feel. I'm sure whole thing will come up at the rally. I hope someone will report back here and share what they learn.

My rear window was sealed by the same guy that did JD1923! In retrospect... it's possible that something along the lines of the "chemical incompatibility" mentioned by a few of you took place. The instructions Oliver Service gave me was to use this "black rope like" caulk around the inner flange of the bathroom window during the installation. Then they sent a tube of silicone sealant to finish off on the outside (I should have taken note of what it was, but I'll assume it was the ASI-335). It turned yellow as it dried. There was no mention about waiting for one to cure before using the other... and the "white" sealant never actually touched the black caulk they sent... but there could have been some off gassing that created some coloring of the outside sealant. Wow... that ASI-335 and the ASI 0240 cleaner is expensive!

I didn't see an answer to the question of what is the sealant to use on our Olivers? I just inspected the various sealant places on the roof of our Ollie while washing and waxing after we got home. It doesn't look like it needs it yet but I want to be prepared. I have noted and recorded the above recommendations for both the cleaner and sealant. Which brings me to my next point. When we picked up our Oliver in May of 2022... we noticed a poor bead of seal around the rear window and asked them to touch it up. They did, but what they used (there in the pre-delivery bay) dried very yellow and to this day, stands out like a sore thumb on our pristine white Oliver. It is completely different than what was used when building the Oliver. Then a couple of months later we had a service ticket for the bathroom window to be replaced and I agreed to let them send me the parts and materials to replace it. I did so... but evidently got the same "yellow" sealant! When time and UV rays do their damage.... I want to be sure to have a replacement sealant that is "bright white"! For those that have done this, what was your experience?

The explanation I've gotten is that any "crud" (lets call it) ... on the inside walls of the black tank can inhibit the sensor (your picture shows it) ability to read the content level inside the tank. We use ours toilet freely as needed. Occasionally while we have full hook-ups... I'll use a dedicated black tank hose and give the black tank a good flushing. This helps break off any crud and flush it away before it becomes a permanent part of our black tank. In addition, occasionally when I know we are going to be towing for several hours, I will first drain the tank... and then partially refill the black tank with fresh water and some Dawn dish washing detergent. As we are driving along this solution sloshs back and forth and cleans the inside of the black tank. If the tank hasn't been properly maintained it is possible that it could take a while to really get it clean again. All this said those sensors are not the most accurate things in the world... but they should be much closer than yours appears to be. Ours (for example) will read about 85% when it's really full.

So after listening to all of his (guy in the video) points... and considering the "how" its done by thieves; it seems to me that the moment you take it out of that faraday pouch the signal can be picked up. If you are at the grocery store and they pick up your key fob RF signal as soon as you take it out and use it... then they already have you even if you then hide it back in the faraday pouch. Lock your truck up in the driveway at home and if they can do this from up to 300 feet away... then isn't this like closing the barn door AFTER the horse has already left? If this is really such a problem it seems that the manufacturers have some responsibility to resolve this? Insurance companies won't want to keep paying for some thing that as it turns out... wasn't really "locked" after all. Seems to me that the convenience of an always on key fob is the culprit.

posted... looking forward to the results

I'm glad to hear that the quality of the blower and string trimmer implements are good! While I might get away with using an electric trimmer and blower... I have way too much grass to give up my 60" gasoline mower. The future is certainly coming where more and more of the items we use will be electric instead of fossil fuels.

Yes... I'm with you Snakeriveridaho! I think Patriot has cost me $350 bucks too! It was good timing though. I've been planning on getting a small (less powerful) corded electric blower just to keep the back of the truck, campsite, and top of awnings cleaned off but now I realize how nice it would be to have that EGO 765 power available to dry truck and Ollie off after cleaning. We too, roll better, with a clean and shiny rig. An FYI: I also checked that the EGO string trimmer is a pretty highly rated. My Stihl blower and trimmer are starting to get tired, so I like the idea that all the EGO implements use the same 56 volt battery (which are UL approved) and therefore would be interchangeable.

Basically nothing- especially if you get an honest 20 amp outlet. I am able to run my AC and microwave on my 20 amp plug out of my garage. At the very least you will be able to run one or the other... meaning maybe you couldn't do too many heavy users at the same time. (example, electric toaster, microwave and AC)

I agree completely GJ! My specialty is making furniture and I've found over the years quality tools are nearly always the best way to go. Typically they are expensive for a reason. Quality materials... quality tools and some quality skill sets! The young man in the video is a bit long winded... but one can tell he knows what he's talking about. I can do some simple wiring, but while I recognize good work when I see it, I am a bit intimidated by doing some of the projects I hear others taking on. I'm sure I could do it once I set my mind to the task... but I'm not there yet. I hope someday to install a dc to dc system so that I can utilize charging benefit while driving from point A to B. I seem to remember JD doing something like that and if I remember correctly it had the main component installed on the Oliver... and not in the truck, which makes a lot of sense to me. The advantage being that the capability stays with the Oliver and not the tow vehicle that is likely to get traded out at points in the future.

I've been thinking about this and my gut feeling is that you shouldn't... because where do you go from here... eventually the others slowly die off... each time replacing it with a new one. I'd agree with Bill.... just change them all out at once. That said...I'm wondering... if the others are still "good", why could't you continue operating on those remaining batteries until they die as well. I'm thinking 12 volts is 12 volts and the number of batteries simply creates "capacity". So just continue on with the remaining batteries until the your capacity becomes unacceptable for your needs. (I have lithium... but I suspect the same logic would apply) Then when its time... upgrade, replace... whatever, and start over.

That's a nice and neat solution to the problem. Fortunately I was forewarned (thru this forum) about the correct OTT tire pressure (50 is what I fixed on). I did notice that the metal straps seemed a bit sub-par in securing the furnace and water heater. I like your solution better. (another someday project)

So if I could chime in here... and if one of our moderators believe it should be a separate post please delete this. This is my second winter where I've winterized my Oliver (here in Ohio). I leave the my Lithionics 390ah batteries on so that the battery blanket can protect the batteries from the cold. I've tried to make sure that anything that could be a draw on the batteries is turned off. This of course includes the inverter, lights, fans, furnace, Truma water heater, Furrion system, 3-way fridge. Because I store at home, I simply plug in and re-charge the batteries as needed to maintain the battery heaters. With all of the above... does a daily loss of 2~3% seem reasonable? Note: Last winter I could barely make it 3 weeks before I'd have to hook up and recharge.

I've said this before in another post... but at the risk of repeating myself again... Oliver is not a "club" or like most of us, a bunch of retired people who have already accumulated enough wealth to sit back and be philosophical about how we would do it. It's a business that has several hundred employees who come in everyday to the Oliver factory trying to earn enough money to get to the place most of us owners enjoy right now. Warranty work (every dime of it) is anything that fails or wasn't done right the first time... it costs the factory money and is a cash drain. Service work could and probably is somewhat profitable and self sustaining part of the Oliver business, but the real cash cow that the owners and every employee counts on (remember they have their own life dreams too) depends on selling new Olivers. With hull numbers around the 1500 mark they have likely picked the low hanging fruit. Now they need to dig deeper into the existing marketplace to fulfill the burden and obligation to pay for tools, equipment, buildings, benefits, healthcare, wages and everything else that those several hundred people working there are depending on so they can make their house payments, buy groceries and maybe even someday own and Oliver and travel around the country seeing and doing everything we all are doing right now. Growing the business by selling new product doesn't mean forgetting the customers that have already purchased Olivers, rather it is doing both in a way that is fulfills everyones goals. It's not easy. Sometimes feels like a balancing act. There will be the occasional mistake... but I'm counting on the Oliver management to provide that "North Star" to keep the companies core moving in the right direction. We were just recently in the extreme north west and several times had conversations with folks who might have been prospective buyers... they just rolled their eyes when I said you could only buy and pick them up at the factory in Tennessee. All of us need to remember that if we want an experienced service team that is equally invested in our Oliver the factory where they are built needs to survive and grow. Otherwise, "who ya gonna call"?

Welcome to the family! I didn't see if your set up included Lithium batteries or not... but I'm betting, based on your description, that you do. We have the 390Ah lithium battery pack... and when we plug in (especially when capacity is low), the system draws a lot of energy fast. It's called "bulk charging". I have discovered that it will trip the electrical breaker on any standard 15 amp outlets. I have to plug it into one of my 20 amp plugs to charge the batteries. As a side bar: watch your EMS (Electrical Management System). It will first make sure all electric coming into the Oliver is "clean" (meaning correct voltage, Hz) it will tell you what, if anything is wrong, with the incoming electric. If it sees anything wrong (low voltage, high voltage, bad ground, etc) it will stop the flow of electricity to your Oliver (protecting it). It will show an error code indicating what it found wrong. I keep a copy of the "error codes" posted right next to the EMS. This helps you know immediately if there is a problem at the electrical source. If all is good coming into the Oliver, then if anything is still not right... you can start checking fuses and such.

Here is are some I'm considering for our replacement. I have had one of the touch lights go our almost every trip. (Ok...just three times) I've never really liked that the OEM touch lights seem a bit more yellow than the other Oliver lights. These are 4000K (instead of about 3200K) and think the mechanism might not be so inclined to fail as the tiny OEM spring-contacts. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093G9KFFB/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?pd_rd_i=B06ZZDM19W&pd_rd_w=2zJDd&content-id=amzn1.sym.0d1092dc-81bb-493f-8769-d5c802257e94&pf_rd_p=0d1092dc-81bb-493f-8769-d5c802257e94&pf_rd_r=AA9JC71TZA2WYECYSY4Y&pd_rd_wg=nbZUW&pd_rd_r=b8cd43aa-08e1-4b47-a826-58d019991397&s=automotive&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWwy&th=1

I've replaced two of them (supplied under warrantee from Oliver) and have a 3rd one now flickering on it's final days. I don't want to replace them with simply more of the same. They seem like a good idea that just didn't pan out. In addition... mine seem a little bit more "yellow" than the other ceiling lights (maybe a 3000k vs 4000k?). I'd like to find a better quality replacement and then change them all out.

I have experienced some mixed results trying to charge my lithium batteries (same as your 390Ah) with a 15 amp circuit and with a shorter 16gauge extension cord. I bumped up my 50' extension cord to 12 gauge... and now currently only use a 20 amp circuits...and now no problems. I have been surprised at how much the lithium batteries pull...the Lithionics app says 45~50amps... when it's bulk charging. Could it be that the mixed results reflect how much energy the battery is looking for? If it's near the top of its charge it switches from a fast and hard 45~50 amps to a much lower 15~20 amp draw. Again, this voltage is all from the Lithionics app. Note: all of my settings are whatever Oliver originally set for me.

(edit) Thanks to all for your educated responses! Its what I suspected. I've shared this all with him... and strongly encouraged him to take them out and bring them home this winter and put them on the appropriate charger (mentioned above). We've worked thru a lot of the more basic items for providing our Ollies with the tender loving care they deserve. He's off to a good start going forward now.

Thanks for that! It was my suspicion that something like this was the case... but I was hoping there was an ON/OFF somewhere between the solar panels and the Zamp charge controller that I had overlooked. If this is done (pulling it off the wall and unplugging it) does it then lose it's settings (ie battery type, float charge, etc.)? A related question: Since I have noticed that mine goes off at night and then comes on with the daylight (with the solar charge starting up)... maybe the phantom drain isn't such a big deal. My original concern (for my friend) is that he is putting it in storage for 3 ~ 4 months, and leaving the AGM batteries in place... that any electrical draw, no matter how minimal is not a good thing.