DunnYet

It’s simple math. Sell and Oliver, you have a happy customer but their trailer is going to last a lifetime, need minimal service, and provide them a wonderful experience. Sell them a Stick Built, you are going to see them in the service department every three to four months with an expensive slide out issue, leak, electrical failure, or suspension collapse. And in no more than five years you are going to sell them another one. Bonus, you will finance each of these and get the lift on that. We were talking to a couple with a Grand Design at a park a couple of months ago who had been camping 20 years and had gone through 10 trailers. What dealer does not want to have people like that as “customers for life.” (We met them when they stopped to look in our Oliver - they were looking to downsize from their 5th wheel and had heard all the good things about Olivers 😀)

Not going to be one of those people who never closes out the thread… My adult supervision found out that the Dometic was not going to be available any time soon. (She really wants a working fridge.) She also had concerns about a situation where I was going to be in proximity to Hull 1364 wielding a jigsaw or an oscillating tool. (And I don’t even have an oscillating tool, so now I’ve lost my (current) excuse to get one.) So - after all my pledging to never own another Isotherm, I am now the proud owner of a new isotherm with a damaged in shipping door. At least they are going to replace that. Hopefully the information in this thread will be helpful to others. Watch for a new thread asking the smarter than me people on this forum questions about how to make my new Isotherm (which because of supply chain issues is 12v only) operate on shore power. 🙂

We have the LE II '23 so it has the fold up table and the vent at the top of the refrigerator compartment. The diagram for the Dometic in an RV install says airflow under and exhaust out the sidewall at the top or back into the cabin. I think we will go external since we have the existing vent. (B in the image below.) So I need to make sure I have some type of support for the unit that will allow (an unspecified) amount of airflow.

Thanks @jd1923 - I have not taken a look in the LE I from ‘22 to see what it has. In the ‘23 they used two different panels - one for DC and one for AC. Will take a photo tomorrow morning of the front and post. Appreciate the grounding tips - will run that test in the morning as well. Rebecca wants me to finish up the wiring projects so she can get the beds back together.

@jd1923 planning on getting the Dometic NRX 130 C that will be available in late August. Really like the freezer design (plus the fact that you can remove the freezer entirely if you wanted to use it as a fridge only and use a portable freezer. It’s 12/24 volt only, which should not be a problem as it will run off the batteries when rolling and when on shore power will still run off the batteries. From the tech notes it seems to be very power efficient as well. It’s just taller than the current Isothem 130 🙂 Thanks for the tips!! Well - I went and pulled the link to the NRX 130 C and forgot to paste it - 🙄 https://www.dometic.com/en-us/outdoor/boat/boat-refrigerators/boat-refrigerators/09-0904-090426-090426021-333336?v=9620017097

Adding a 12 volt run to the nightstand, and looking at the grounding bus bar which appears to be full. Previous owner had an accessory added and doubled up a ground, which my understanding is a no-no. I could swear that I had seen a discussion of grounding on the Oliver in the past, but searching “grounding” “ground bus” and “ground bar” didn’t get me anywhere. While familiarizing myself with the back of the 12 volt fuse panel, I found what looks to be a completely unused ground bar. It appears to head out through a floor penetration in the outer hull, I assume to a grounding point on the frame. Is there a reason this is unused? If I am connecting to a new fuse point for this 15 amp run to the nightstand would this be a valid place to connect. And yet - I am removing the accessory that the previous owner placed 🙂 It was a “Smart Hub” and I have the TPMS switched to the built in Ford and we use a different temp monitoring system. So that “no-no” will be going away.

Would appreciate advice from those that have modified the fiberglass on their Ollies. We are considering a fridge that is about 3 inches taller than the current Isotherm. To meet the install size I will need to do one of the following: Go up - leaving very little fiberglass below the grey countertop. Go down - requiring removing the current fridge support structure. Combine the two. My concern is removing so much material at the top - will that lead to unintended flex and cracking in the fiberglass under the countertop? Is there a way to add strength back to that area? If down, do I need the flat surface or just use square stock to build back up? Any advice from those that have removed that fridge support structure - I could not figure out where to start. If both, how much should I target to leave at the top? And finally, what is the best way to cut fiberglass out of an area like this? Any and all tips would be greatly appreciated. Photos of the current situation attached.

@mossemi at the risk of bringing this thread back (at least close) to it’s original starting point, can I ask you a couple of questions about your cutout? Is that the original cutout from the factory? Or a larger cutout that was made to fit the new fridge. We are currently looking at a Dometic NRX130C and it needs 32” height. Out factory cutout for the Isotherm is 29 high. Measuring it looks like the 32 will take it right up to the edge of the grey countertop, which looks very similar to your cutout. With some more effort I could go down, but would have to figure out how to remove the support that the factory put in before the hulls were put together. Have you seen any flexing / cracking on the top of the fiberglass with so much removed? Or does the panel that SeaBiscuit made provide additional suppport. (Unfortunately I would not have room for that.) Would appreciate anyone’s advice on going up, going down, or both. I want to make sure I don’t set up a situation where I reduce the structural integrity right in the middle of the trailer.

(Warning - rant which may or may not be justified.) I promised an update after the RV Texh came out. Well - lesson learned. Not only are Isotherm refrigerators garbage, their business practices align quite tightly with their quality. RV Tech found power board problems ($280) and called isotherm. Three weeks later Isotherm got back to him, said it would be under warrenty if he did an additional test. So today he came out and did the additional test. ($140) called Isotherm and they wanted him to bring in a different person to do an additional test. Oh and they have determined that, regardless of the test he did today, the unit is not covered under warranty as the warranty is not transferable. So I spent $420 to learn what I already knew - it does not work. That’s spending a 1/3 rd of the cost of a new unit for absolutely no benefit. Trying to call Isotherm tomorrow because I think they should cover the $140 since they lied to the tech, but pretty sure that’s tilting at windmills. But next time I’m just replacing whatever it is myself rather than having a professional tell me “it’s broke.”

Thanks all - I actually did find a mobile tech back at our home base that quoted me $280 for the visit - diagnose - and fix if no extra parts are required.Scheduling for Friday so I will update this with his findings. Hopefully this is all fixable and my frustration will turn to delight. Nope - and yes being that refrigeration is not my wheelhouse you are likely correct. I just read all the stuff that you real engineers do on the forum and convince myself that a computer “engineer” can do it to. 🤣 However, since we have an Oliver I never sleep in a Holiday Inn so should be careful with that. I did stop a Chinese threat actor in 8 minutes last week, so that counts for something…. 😁

I guess my concern is that getting a mobile tech to come look at it will cost what a new one would, and then I would still have to buy the new one. (Facepalm) Some people are scared of spiders, I’m scared of hiring skilled professionals 😆

When we purchased the trailer the previous owners included the Chinese knockoff fridge freezer cooler that they used to keep food. As LE I owners we didn’t think much about that since we were used to the Tri Fuel and the small amount of space. We should have tested the fridge more. Our first trip to Colorado we pretty quickly learned to not keep anything we expected to be food safe in the Isotherm.

Unfortunately we purchased 1364 from the original owner, so no factory warranty for us. Jason looked at it when we were at the Texas Rally last year and suggested possibly putting additional insulation in the wall behind the fridge. I also got advice on recharging it. I thought I would have to put in a pin valve but I found the artfully concealed recharge port under the shrink tubing and tape. I can’t even find anyone who will work on the thing (as hard as it is for me to admit I am out over my skies on this). I called the Isotherm dealer in Dallas who basically said they did not do service but if we wanted to roll the dice again and buy a new one they would be happy to help. Currently it’s 77 in the evening here in Central Texas. The camper interior is 78.2 and the fridge is 60. The high point for the day (84 degrees high) was 62 - not sufficient to keep food safe. The overnight low on the fridge interior was 52. I must admit I am stumped.

I have recharged, insulated, etc etc this Isotherm “not a fridge” in hull 1364. Still not a fridge. At best it takes 10 degrees off ambient. Has anyone replaced the Isotherm with a Dometic or any other fridge that works? What model and mods were needed? Need to figure this out because hauling a extra dometic cooler to replace the fridge when the weather is above freezing is getting old.

We just took the brackets off the wall and stored them 🙂 Didn’t let the anchors bother us. You could use a white square plate and a white flat head screw to fill it.