Zodd

@VBistro I agree, that is why I am confused. My 80 number comes from Jason in the video when he states the invert amp rate is about 10x. So if your device draws 8amps it is drawing 80amps from the battery through the inverter. Maybe I miss understanding the video (take a listen at the link, the link starts right where he says it).

The cradlepoint is one of my hangups as well. As you noted the required subscription and the 2x2 antenna that is not going to work (at least well) with 5G is a no go. I would probably opt out and have to install a more capable system later.

@SeaDawg fair enough, cheap is probably not a great word here as they do make good stuff. My understanding with the Zamp ZS-30AP PWM charge controller is that you can only do 30 amps over it. So with 340 watt solar array you are right at the upper limit of it. So if you ever wanted to increase your array you would be forced to upgrade the charge controller. This plus as you noted if your draw down the battery all the way it will take you a few days of sun to get them fully charged back up with just the onboard solar array. If you had something to augment it with (generator, additional solar panels you can plug in to the side Zamp port, etc) the extra juice is nice. Just don't expect the solar array to charge it from "empty" to full in 5-6 of sun in a day. A MPPT controller sure would be nice though, especially for someone like me that lives in northern area of the US so the additional efficiency would help a lot. At about a 4k upgrade price that is about what 3 Lithionics batteries will cost you, plus you get the upgraded 3k watt inverter and AC soft start. And now you have batteries that will last longer, you can pull more power from them and they have a BMS which makes management/protection of those batteries easier for the owner (Assuming the firmware update makes the SOC reliable. If not maybe you would want to spend this money on different batteries that are reliable as it seems 50% of the list is all about SOC monitoring. Will be interesting to hear @Fritz follow up on it). Also reading this again if the inverter only causing the decibels to go to 60 that is not to bad (still in green and conversational level). But given how long it could take to charge these it means it could be running all day. There is one thing that is throwing me off. In this video Jason says the inverter efficiency is 10x. However, my understanding is the inverter (assuming I have the correct one Xantrex 817-3000 Inverter) it has a 91% efficiency rating. So unless I am not understanding the math a 10x amp draw does not sound right. An 80amp draw from a laptop for someone like me who works remote on a 390 Ah battery is a concern (gives you 4-5 hours being plugged in). This thread has caused me to do a lot of researching and been very educational on the power front!

Thanks for the info! For all the things I like about Oliver for the price point there are a few things that really bother me. I am very surprised they are still not using an MPPT controller. They do nice things with the solar setup but the lack of an MPPT controller and an inverter that creates a hum inside the trailer is a big miss IMHO. One that makes me question a money out lay like they ask. The loud non-ducted AC and the use of a 2x2 antenna instead of a 4x4 are a couple of the others. My first impression was they used quality components (as much as they could understanding they are limited by outside quality). The more I research though the more I am finding things like this were they seemed to just go on the cheep side. PMW? Really?

@Kathy111 have a look at this video about working with the inverter. The Oliver channel has some great videos going over the whole trailer. Since you could not do your walkthrough I would suggest watching their 2021 walkthrough video.

I would love to hear thoughts from owners out there that are 6'1" or taller. I am 6'1" and recently got to see one in person. The biggest concern I had was the shower. The owner had a wood floor insert in there (look great but), which reduces the height by 1 inch. When standing in the shower though I was short about 2 inches. My head hit the roof and I had to duck pretty good. Most smaller TT (< 28 feet) I have been look at seem to suffer a similar problem (head room in the shower for people over 6 feet) but not as bad. I believe the beds are 72 inches (including the dinette). So right at 6 feet it is a little tight too. However, I don't normally sleep in a totally straight and upright position so it is less of a concern for me then the shower is.

This has been the other one on my radar as the layout suits us a bit better. So it is a tug-a-war between the layout versus the 100% molded fiber glass (screwed in cabinets just beg to come lose 🙂). Plus the Oliver egg shell aerodynamics for towing. And just the general dislike of having particle board in the trailer.

I ran into this video on YouTube and just thought of this thread. His review is honest and good about the quality people are dealing with. Not that Oliver excuses people from regular maintenance and up keep. However, I take a little exception to the phrase "they have to be built cheap and crappy". I think it comes down to his last statement about how we live in a disposable world so buy cheap, expect it to be cheap and buy a new one in a few years. I don't own an Oliver yet though so what do I know. Reading this forum and doing research has certainly changed my mind about having to settle for a poorly built trailer.

I was out on a family road trip this weekend hoping to spot a Oliver out in the wild. A tall ask given we are roading southern Idaho. Sure enough, though, headed north on Monday 9/27 about noon between Twin Falls and Mountain Home and red/maroon truck towing a Oliver II with red/maroon pin strips goes by on the other side of the freeway. Wish they would have been headed the same way as us because I would have followed you 😀. Thanks for being on the road though, I told myself seeing a Ollie in the wild this trip might be a sign, dough, what to do now!

@fairmontrvparkfor those that are remote and needing satellite I am just wondering if anyone is using HugesNet or Viasat as those seems to be the only big players right now. Viasat says you can get up to 100Mbps and HugesNet is only 25Mbps. Just wondering of those needing this type of service what you are using (Based on this thread it seems obvious none of the current satellite players and fulfilling the need).

I tend to be with you all. Big grills seem to be trendy right now but this one just seems to envelop the entire front. I do like that they have added things like coil or air bag suspension to try and match the Ram's ride quality. Will be interesting to see how well the trailer assist technology really works.

Ha. I had the same thought. Took my eyes a couple of minutes to process that picture.

@ScubaRxgreat thought about having it on the rig. I will have to think about that. May have to message you or resurrect that other thread to get your thoughts and more details on it. @mossemiI just figured everyone was talking about the Cradlepoint setup. I did not realize it was a relatively new change. So, I just wanted to make sure I was not misunderstanding something.

Can I jump in here and ask for a point of clarification? When this topic comes up it seems everyone talks about cell booster and wifi booster and I think the wifi booster gets only one aspect of it covered. The aspect everyone talks about is the ability to "boost" an existing wifi signal (aka the campgrounds wifi). However, my understanding is that the "wifi booster" is actually the Cradlepoint Wireless WAN which is much more then just connecting to the campgrounds wifi. True, it can connect to the campground wifi boosting it and then using the connected router to seamlessly provide an internet connection to all your devices. However, for me the real power comes in the ability to use the same cradle point WAN endpoint to pull connections from wireless networks (AT&T, Verizon, etc). It is unclear in the Ollies add-on package what type of Cradlepoint router comes with the install. I think this is where most people's comments of "using our phones as a hot spot" comes in. True, they play the same role assuming your phone can get a strong connection inside your Ollie. If it cannot people have mentioned this is where they just connect a MiMo antenna attached to the window to something like their Jetpack. Our Technomadia friends have a great run down on all this. This works as well. However, my understanding of where the Cradlepoint Wireless WAN can be really powerful is 1) The omni-directional antenna mounted on the outside of the Ollie allowing for strong cell reception (less interference and stronger antenna then your cell phone alone). 2) The ability to have dual sims with cradlepoint so it can stream your connection through whatever provider has the strongest connection and doing all this without requiring you to change the Wifi endpoint your device(s) are connected to. Am I over stating what that add-on provides? Like I said their specs are not clear on what the actual hardware is that comes with that add-on so not clear if it is the version that allows dual SIMs. Even with a single SIM though the idea of an externally mounted strong omni-directional antenna for a cell single connection is a win over just using your cell phone. Good thread here. I think there are fair arguments about the cost versus waiting for something like Starlink to be viable or the complexity of this for the avg. person or the subscription cost. All fair topics. But I think talking about the "wifi booster" as just a way to "boost" the campground wifi is really understating what it is.

I would just add one more to this list. I agree allstays and campadium are good but they are iOS only. So if you are an Android person you are a bit out of luck unless you want to stay only on their website. The Dyrt is another great campground finding/reviewing app. With the Pro version it provides trip planning capabilities along with offline mode so you can keep your route and information even when you lose your connection. I also just became aware of these which can be very handy. Highway Weather - Shows you the weather along your route and can even give you recommended departure times to avoid most the weather. TruckMap - For those that have taller longer trailers it is more helpful as it provides routes that support your size of rig.

@Trainman Interesting you both got the RAD bikes. This is the model I have been looking at as well. The ST model seems small for my wife and I. I am 6'1" with an inseam of 32" and she is 5'6" with an inseam of 30 inches. According to their chart the RadMini ST can be small once you break 28 inch inseam. I like the ST through as it has a spot for a water bottle where the RadMini 4 does not. @Mike and Carol As for class I have two really popular trails up by me and only allows class I and the other class II (Hiawatha Trail and Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes respectfully). So it is really case by case. But the laws really differ by state as well. Here are some resources to help. I am still trying to get this all figured out in my head as well so figured the research may help others. https://ebikegeneration.com/pages/e-bike-laws-in-the-usa-by-state https://www.peopleforbikes.org/electric-bikes/state-laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_bicycle_laws#United_States https://quietkat.com/blogs/articles/the-best-e-bike-trails-in-the-united-states