Overland

I don't know why I assumed that the two 160W panels would run front to back - it's an easier installation and takes less room to keep them all running side to side. What's cool is all the options these 80W panels open up. Oliver could easily change their standard package to 400W, and offer a 560W package that still allows the customer to keep both the A/C and TV antennas. The third option, at 720W, is probably pushing it, but who knows - it only depends on where precisely the A/C and bathroom fan are located. I know the size of those but not their location front to back. But from the photos, the rear of the A/C looks to be a bit in front of the rear of the awning. I would guess that the A/C could be placed as far back as the awning, though I think the curve on the top of the roof begins a bit ahead of that, which is probably why the A/C is where it is.

Thanks Matt. The caching actually seemed better today, whether it was your doing or not, but page loads were also notcably slower.

I wonder if they'd do a discount on a group order. I'd sign on if they did.

That's cool. I saw an ad for that last year and I assumed it was one of those designs that would never actually become a product.

Randy - I agree on the Kyocera, but I understand that Oliver is limiting themselves to Zamp since it's all plug and play and much easier for them to install and support. My personal opinion of Zamp is that their stuff is way overpriced, but I'm fine with the panels themselves, and if that's what Oliver uses now, so be it. Dave - We've asked Oliver to provide us with a port for adding portable panels. It will be a Zamp port rather than andersen, but that's easy to swap out. My concern with portables is theft, which is one of the reasons we want to maximize the rooftop solar first, and only think about portable solar as an expansion, though your reasoning on positioning the panels is 100% valid. Of course, if we buy the whole kit together, we can take the tax credit on the portables, so it may be worth going ahead and maxing out the system. Buzzy - My primary goal is to have enough solar to not have to think about it. But apart from that, we do our camping in the winter and spring, when sunlight is scarce. Remember that we're adding a 12V fridge to our trailer, so our usage is upped by ~50Ah/day. It seems from others that the typical Oliver usage is 70-80Ah/day (which includes some microwave use, coffee maker, etc.) so adding the fridge to that we're at a budget of around 120-130Ah/day. (And you can probably add another 50Ah if we want to make good use of an induction cooktop or toaster oven, so it adds up fast.) The two rules of thumb that I find repeated most often are 1) size your panels to 2W per useable Ah of storage; and 2) assume 20Ah/day/100W of solar. Some say 30Ah, but for winter camping, I'm sticking with the lower estimate. So for us, you'd start with 2W x 200 useable Ah = 400W of solar, and by that, we'd be good with Oliver's 480W option. By the second rule though, we're falling behind: 360W = 72Ah/day 480W = 96Ah/day 640W = 128Ah/day If you accept those estimates, then 640W solar is what we'd need for our electrical budget, plus external panels if we want to use induction or a toaster oven. We can supplement with a generator at 45A per hour, but of course would rather not. I like my quiet. It does give me pause that we have one rule of thumb that gives us an answer that's 60% higher than the other. So much for rules of thumb, but I suppose it's accounted for in assuming 20Ah rather than 30 per 100W of solar. Perhaps the first rule should be 2-3W/useable Ah of storage. One other thing that pushes me toward the higher estimate is the fact that, at 120-130Ah of usage, we don't have a big cushion in our battery bank for rainy days, shade, snow, etc. I'd love to go with a 400Ah LiFePo battery bank, which would provide 320 useable Ah, but that requires swapping out everything for the Victron system that I mentioned to you before and I suspect that for that to happen, I'm going to have to do it myself. I do know one traveller who is limited to 400W of solar on his roof and he has to supplement with alternator charging (he's in a Tiger, which is very similar to an EarthRoamer). The advantage of the EarthRoamer type vehicles is that they have diesel engines with dual alternators that aren't 25' away from their batteries and can recharge quite efficiently that way, at least for their bulk charging. Alternators for bulk charging + solar for acceptance and float is a great combination. They also use a Webasto diesel system that gives them heat, hot water and a diesel cooktop, so their electricity needs are actually very similar to ours. The Webasto system is awesome, by the way - from both an efficiency standpoint and for travel in countries where propane isn't as easy to find - but the cooktop takes a bit to heat up and cool down so it's not really tuned for American expectations. Plus you end up carrying propane anyway if you want a grill or a gas campfire, so I'm good with the Oliver on that front.

I'm interested in the stone stomper also, though I haven't devoted any time to researching alternatives. John, have you spoken with them or Oliver about how to attach it or how well it would fit? Thanks also for posting the Kimberley link. I always forget about the articles they have on their site and they're almost always a good read. The video with the snorkel looks promising. It might be difficult to run a pipe up the front of the trailer due to the curve, so maybe a roof mounted solution would be better? You might be able to come directly down to the closet next to the plumbing vent, maybe in the valley between the curb and the awning. Raspy - that's a good thought on the vacuum behind the fan. Maybe it's worth trialling it with a taped on filter like GreyGhost is considering, just to make sure it works before installing a fancy vent cover. It's also good to know that the main door seals well. I like the double gaskets on the basement door - I'll ask about that for mine and see if they could do the same for the battery box.

I hadn't thought of that. I wonder if with the skirt you could ever seal up the privacy room so tightly that the exhaust could become a health concern? It would have to be an extreme situation - middle of the winter with snowfall sealing the bottom and the furnace running all night.

Thanks to the new narrow panel size that Zamp designed to fit Airstreams, I think you could make it work. No TV antenna, of course, like the 480W system. The trick would be to straddle the AC and MaxxFan with the narrow panels. There's just enough width between them and should be just enough length to maintain the Penguin II clearance requirements at the back of the unit. Here's how it might work. The three panels at the front are what Oliver will do for a 480W system - all I did was add the two narrow 80W panels to the rear. Worst case, they'd just need to use a low profile plumbing vent to slide the panels forward enough, or slide the AC back a bit, just to maintain the AC clearances. Add a couple Zamp 200W portable panels, and you've got yourself a 1kW mobile power station.

Thanks - so long as it's under 30 minutes to put up or take down, then I'd be O.K. with it. I wonder if it would be advantageous to attach a clip of some sort to the belly band of the Oliver so that you could velcro the pole to the trailer and give it some midpoint bracing. I'm just thinking about wind hitting the side panel and wanting to bend the pole. Though I guess if it proved to be a problem for that pole you could easily run a guy line to the middle of the pole and stake it out.

Does anyone ever have issues with dust or water getting in around the front door? I couldn't tell when I visited Oliver how well the door seals up when closed.

Thanks for the measurements. When I gat some time this afternoon, I'll see if I can find anything. I think that a temporary solution like taping a filter to the ceiling is surely good enough. Personally, I'd like to find something that I can leave up permanently. Not only will it be easier to deal with, but I don't think that the fan itself is particularly attractive anyway.

There's at least one wrapped Oliver out there - http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/our-custom-vinyl-graphic-insall/ I'd love to see it in person.

How long did it take to set up? Buzzy, we're still debating adding one to our order.

Yeah, I know. But a man can dream. I do think that they'd get a batter reception if they did the interior in something other than stark white. I saw both the red and black Ollies in person, hanging out in the factory parking lot. They were both painted, if I remember correctly. At least I think I saw paint on the weatherstripping around the windows and stuff like that.

If you google for 'filter grille' then with a little research you should find something you like that will fit the maxx air. You can get anything from the standard stamped steel vents, to wood, or extruded aluminum. Just be sure to check both the vent size and flange size to make sure it will work. One for a 12" duct would probably work. I think you'd need 1.5"-2" clear depth for the grill and filter so to get that you might need to rig a spacer to hold the grill off the ceiling a bit. But the grills all fit standard 1" pleated filters which you can find most anywhere though 12 x 12 might be hard to find - never looked for one that small. You might even be able to squeeze in a thin electrostatic filter in with it. Something like this - https://www.priceindustries.com/products/details/80fh-filter - can be made to a custom size and looks like you could actually get 2" worth of filter in there. Probably deep enough to need a spacer I'd think, but it's a start. Actually, if someone will measure their vent I'll do some research myself since this sounds like a mod that I'll want to do. I'd need the inside clear dimensions, the outside dimensions of the existing flange, and the depth from the flange to the fan housing. I assume that it's ok to cover the controls since you'd have the remote. The little knob doesn't turn when the fan opens via the remote does it? If so, you'd have to be careful not to impede it with anything.

I'm very interested in hearing other people's experiences and tips as well. My intuitive answer would be that if you can find or make a really good filter for the maxx air fan, then you can run it on low in reverse while driving to pressurize the cabin. If you could make that work, then I think it would go a long way toward keeping dust from getting sucked in through the window seals and such. Beyond that, the fridge vents seem like a prime spot for gathering trail dust, and if you can't seal those then at least remove them at your destination to inspect and blow the dust out so that it doesn't affect the fridge's efficiency. One other spot of concern would be the weeps at the bottom. I suspect that you could get a good bit of dust in between the hulls through those. Which would them become mud the next time you get any condensation. I'm considering replacing them on ours with something I can cap off. But if you can stuff something into them then that might be good enough.

Ah, so what's all this then about them not being able to do colored Ollies? I'll be getting a Dakota Black Elite II, thank you very much.

Randy, thanks for reminding me about asking for the cutouts. I remember reading about that many months ago but had completely forgotten. Those pieces could be quite useful, even apart from pyro testing. Buzzy, yes those are the ones. They also make a version with a 10-year battery. I don't have any experience with them personally, but they get good reviews, look nice and are tiny enough to fit pretty much anywhere. I'm sure the one that Oliver supplies is good quality, but the Atoms seem a lot more attractive and I have to imagine they work just as well. Like the one Oliver supplies, they're photoelectric - I've read that the ones with the ionization sensor can set off false alarms when used in a small trailer, from cooking fumes and even from steam from the shower. Pete, I like a guy who has his priorities straight. Pups first. I think we'll need to do a practice drill getting out of that window.

As an update to this, Jason mentioned to me on Thursday in his comments to a list of requests I'd given him that they thought it was possible to do flush-mounted exterior speakers, rather than the barnacles I thought they'd have to use. I was supposed to get with back with him yesterday but got slammed at work, but if I can call on Monday I'll see if I can get more details.

Yes, I agree that it's hard to infer much from a single sample, though I do my best. They did at least imply to me that they make the fiber granite themselves, as they told me that they didn't have the moulds to make a different sized table. But that may have been a stretch - like you, I thought for sure they were outsourced. Still, it would have to meet the same standards regardless so there is likely some similarity between that and the hull materials. But if nothing else, I'll be less likely now to absent mindedly place a hot pan down on the countertop.

The rule in fiberglass boats is that if you have a fire, you jump; i.e., don't try to fight the fire. Yes, like the Ollie, boats come with little fire extinguishers, but really - just jump. The fumes that come from burning plastic (i.e., fiberglass resin) are pretty nasty as they can cause a lung spasm that prevents you from inhaling. That's not something you want. The RVIA has some minimum flame spread requirements, though I believe that those only apply to the exposed surface of the materials. So since the Ollie is RVIA certified, it's probably a safe bet that the surface gel coat throughout the inside contains a flame retardant of some sort. But, what about the bare resin between the hulls where my electrical or furnace fire is going to start? It would be nice to know if that material is also flame retardant or not since, in the unlikely event of a fire between the hulls, that knowledge would probably might make the difference between deciding to grab the fire extinguisher vs evacuating and watching Ollie burn. To the laboratory! To find out, I did some torture testing on one of the fiber granite samples that Oliver gave me. I held a torch to the sample for 10 seconds and then removed it so see if the sample had caught fire and if the fire continued to burn on it's own or if it died out. I did one test in the middle of the sample to test the gel coat surface, another on the edge of the sample to test the structural fiberglass within, and then a final surface test on the back side of the sample. On the first surface test, the sample blistered badly and did catch fire (slightly - it sort of sizzled and popped), but as expected, the flame died quickly when I removed the torch. Clearly, the gel coat contains a flame retardant of some sort, though the fumes were pretty nasty. On the edge test, however, the underlying resin quickly caught fire, and after removing the torch, a good steady flame with thick black soot remained and I had to blow it out. On the final surface test, the resin again caught fire, this time more of a steady flame than was produced on the gelcoat side, but as with the gelcoat side, the flame died after removing the torch. That side smoked a good bit afterward until it cooled. So if the fiber granite is any indication of the other fiberglass in the trailer, which I would think is safe to assume, then it would seem that Oliver does use a fire retardant resin for their gel coats but not in the structural fiberglass within. And it seems like they also do a coating on the inside surface that contains a flame retardant, though perhaps not as effective of one as they use in the gel coat. Verdict - If I have a small cooking fire or something similar within the trailer, I'll likely reach for the extinguisher. But if there's a fire within the hulls, then I guess it depends. If the fire is going strong enough to produce visible smoke in the cabin, then I would guess that the fire has already reached the inner core of the fiberglass and wouldn't easily be put out. In that case, we're getting out PDQ without a thought for saving the trailer. (And then we'll stand well upwind of the fire.) But if we were to catch a fire before the fiberglass began to burn, well I guess we might grab the extinguisher? It's hard to say - I'd have to call it when I see it, but I wouldn't hold a meeting to debate the question. That's probably common sense anyway, so I doubt if this thread is revelatory. But it is good to remind oneself occasionally not to mess about with things like this. I'm thinking that a handful of the tiny Atom smoke detectors placed strategically inside the access hatches might be a Very Smart Thing. I think you'd want to catch a fire between the hulls as quickly as possible and not wait until you get smoke inside the cabin. I'll probably ask Oliver to use one of those for the inside as well, since the one they use is so bonkers big. Oh, Verdict #2: Don't put anything hot on the fiber granite. It will leave a mark. Our victim test subject.

I see that there's a company in Sweden that also goes by the name Telesteps. Their ladders actually look nicer and they have some interesting accessories like adjustable feet. Overthinking this as usual, but I did send them an email to ask if they're related to the US Telesteps and if there's any way to get their products here. It seems like the world has become filled with ripoff products over the last few years, and it's impossible to know what you're buying sometimes. These ladders are just one of countless examples. I'm not sure if I'm following the logic of counting reviews. It seems a given that a $200 ladder will have fewer reviews than a $50 one. I'd be more concerned with the percentage of bad reviews, and what those reviewers are critical of, rather than the total count.

Thanks, Bill. Mine is due to be completed about that time so maybe it will get the revised gaskets. While we're on the subject, what is the general experience with the water tightness of the gaskets around all the lighting? Has anyone noticed excessive condensation or obvious leaks around the seals?

Actually, I'll take back my previous post. It looks like the telesteps ladder that Randy originally recommended is in fact a different design and gets much better ratings. https://www.amazon.com/Telesteps-1400E-OSHA-Compliant-Silver/dp/B003YJLFCQ/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&dpID=417zaxKIYgL&dpPl=1&keywords=telestep&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&qid=1483261094&ref=plSrch&ref_=mp_s_a_1_6&sr=8-6

Tough call - I don't see how this particular ladder is any different from the other dozen or so extending ladders on Amazon that have better ratings. Supposedly the manufacturer is the same. I guess for me the question is if there is some better design out there. I'd like to have something to access the top of the trailer while we're camping, just in case, and I don't know of anything else that will collapse compactly enough to fit in the trailer. I think in the original thread about this, everyone seemed to agree that this was the best comprismise. My gut tells me that for occasional use on the road, this is fine. But at home when washing the trailer, etc., I'd use a real ladder.