donthompson
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Posts posted by donthompson
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I may join you. I plan to make my annual trip to visit my sisters in California (Balboa Island and Palm Desert) by tow vehicle/Ollie rather than airplane so I can explore Death Valley and Joshua Tree. I'll travel on I-40 to Santa Rosa, NM and then drive south to I-10 at Las Cruces. We'll be on the same route from there. I'll keep in touch as I work through my plans. It would be great to camp with other Oliver owners. Steve, I met you at the factory when I visited after my shakedown cruise after picking up my Oliver in March 2016. You were there having some repairs done. It would be nice to see you again.
Don
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Alex,
I have the Blue Sky so I can't comment on how the Zamp compares. Reed is very knowledgeable and I respect his opinion on the Zamp. He also makes good points in favor of the Truma tankless water heater. If and when my Suburban bites the dust, I think I'll install the Truma!
Don
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Alex,
I ordered my Elite II in October 2015 and picked it up at the factory in March 2016. The map below shows where I've traveled with the Ollie. I've towed it over 14,000 miles. As Mike mentioned above, many of the options I opted for in 2015 are now standard.
Here are the options that remain options that I am very glad I ordered: 320-watt solar package with the 200-watt inverter. Add the 4 AGM 6 volt batteries and you have a very good boondocking camper. These are essential options for the type of camping I like to do. I also like having the wireless backup camera because I'm a solo camper until my wife retires. The 30 lb propane tank upgrade has been well worth the cost. I left Iowa in mid-January last year for a lengthy camping trip to Bib Bend NP, etc., and having the larger propane tanks gave me many extra days of heat during the winter camping months. I also like the storage basket on the front. You don't want to add much weight to the rear of the camper. I use the storage basket to transport my Weber Q1000 grill. I recently replaced the standard toilet with a composting toilet. If you like to boondock, this is an important option. You save the fresh water you would use to flush the toilet and you never have to empty a black tank. You can empty the black tank using a garden hose in many places in the west.
I have options I could easily live without: the cell phone and wifi boosters. I absolutely wouldn't order the wifi booster again. The only time I've used it is in commercial campgrounds where the wifi is so bad that I use my cell phone hotspot again. The cell phone booster is marginally more useful, but if I was looking to cut costs, I'd eliminate it. I've never used my front and rear propane quick connects. I wouldn't order these again. I have an extra awning. It's nice to have, but I haven't used it very often.
Of the options you've listed that I haven't addressed, here's what I think. Recognize that we all approach things a little differently and what may not be important to me very well could be to you. I agree with the fiber-granite option-I have it and I think it's worth the money. I wouldn't want the Easy-Start or the 30-amp Convenience Connection because I hate camping where I need the A/C and avoid that kind of weather. I've only had the A/C on a couple of times and it drove me to pack up and head for higher ground.
I have the standard water heater and it works very well. I wouldn't spend the extra $$ for the tankless heater. I wouldn't put the shower rod in. The wet bath is small and adding anything to it is a mistake in my opinion. I use the shower in the camper infrequently. I use showers in campgrounds when available and the outdoor shower when boondocking and away from other people.
I don't think I'd spend the money on the electric keypad entry unless it made the camper more secure. I don't know enough about this to make a judgment on its effect on security.
There are many different opinions on the Andersen hitch. I didn't have a choice. I can't use a weight equalizing hitch with my tow vehicle. I've been very happy with the standard bulldog hitch and have had no issues with sway, etc.
Welcome to the Oliver owners' family. I think you've made a good choice and I envy your location--camping in Alaska should be great in an Elite II!
Don
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I second the motion on the toilet valve, but I have a question about it. Last year, I winterized using compressed air, antifreeze through circulated with the water pump and the boondocking inlet and pouring antifreeze into the two sinks and the shower drain. To make sure I had antifreeze in the toilet valve, I flushed the toilet until the flush ran pink.
In January, I met Stan and Carol Moyer in Lawrence, Kansas, and we headed to Big Bend National Park. I filled my fresh water tank in Lawrence where I started using the furnace at night (the weather was really mild during the day when traveling) and the next morning, I discovered the toilet valve was cracked and spewing water in the bathroom. Luckily I found a small RV repair shop. They replaced the valve and I only had to wait a couple of hours.
Any idea why I had this problem? The answer may benefit many of us.
In Eastern Iowa, the weather has changed drastically this week. It's 25 degrees now at almost 7 a.m. Glad I winterized last week!
Don
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I really like my Scepter Military Water Canisters. http://civ.sceptermilitary.com/water_containers I have two 20 liter containers. That's 10 gallons total of extra water. They are easy to fill. I can transport them easily in the cargo area of my SUV and they are very easy to sanitize using a bleach solution. I can carry a full 20-liter container which is a big plus. You could buy 4 and have 20 gallons. I looked at bladders but they seemed impractical given my needs. Biggest drawbacks are transport and cleaning/sanitizing. The Scepters are very high quality and should last as long as the Oliver!
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Jason Essary at Oliver advised me that the only way to make sure there is no drain on the batteries in storage is to disconnect the cable to the negative post in the battery compartment. I have 4 6-volt AGM batteries. There is a main negative cable that is easy to disconnect. This is the method I used until yesterday.
I now have electricity in my indoor storage space, so I won't have to do this in the future!
Don
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I'm curious about this discussion. Why do so many Oliver owners use small electric heaters like this rather than just turning on the furnace? I'm sure there are good reasons, but I haven't ever talked to anyone about it. The downside is having anything taking up valuable floor space in the camper.
Don
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Washed, waxed, winterized and in storage. A couple from Sioux City, IA is planning to stop to view my Ollie tomorrow. A couple from Ames, IA who looked at my Ollie this fall are on their way home from Washington State with a slightly used 2017 Elite II. By my count, we now have three Ollivers in Iowa: my 2016, the 2017 en route and a 2018. Photos below.
Don
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I winterized my Ollie yesterday and took it to a shop where they lovingly care for my 1986 Porsche Carerra Coupe. https://www.hartek.org/. I didn't have time to wash the Ollie yesterday, so I helped one of their employees wash it inside and left before they started waxing it. I've included a couple of photos including photos of a much better brush than I have used for washing the Ollie. They use a brush on an extending pole that is sold as a paintbrush! Much better than what I have used for the past couple of years.
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I can confirm that Jason has two email addresses. jessary@olivertraveltrailers.com and jessary@olivertechnologies.com.
Don
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Effective immediately, the number for scheduling service or ordering parts is 866-205-2621. This number will be answered and/or monitored by Jason Essary.
Steve, what number (and who should we call) if we have a question about service that has been performed, a problem that may not require a service appointment or part, etc.? I need to call tomorrow to follow up on a freshwater tank issue that relates to service performed at the factory last week. I assume I'll call the number you supplied and talk to Jason about it?
Don
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What a wonderful tribute to your mother! My parents retired in their late 50's. They purchased a used Airstream before they retired, but didn't travel with it very much. Once they retired, they moved to a house in the mountains in Eastern Arizona at 8200 feet. They left in late October or early November each year in a series of riveted trailers (another Airstream, an Avion, and a Streamline. They traveled with their trailers until the snow melted--usually in May. I took one of their Airstreams on a trip from Nebraska to the Canadian Rockies when I was 20 years old and didn't camp with an RV of any type until I purchased my Oliver in 2016. I think about my parents everytime I hitch up and hit the road. I hope your Oliver gives you as much pleasure as mine has given me and that you continue to have fond memories of your mother as you go camping.
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Hi Grayson,
The weather is beautiful in Iowa but snow and a low of 28 degrees is forecast for Saturday. I took advantage of mild temperatures and sunshine to complete my winterization this morning. I used compressed air and antifreeze. I followed the routine in the Oliver video when adding antifreeze. This included using the hand-pump connected to the city water, fresh water, and black tank flush inlets. I did them all.
I've collected all of the advice on winterization that I follow in three separate documents. At some point, I'll put all of the info in one document. If you want me to send the documents to you, please send me a message with your email address and I'll send them to you today. Going for a bike ride now. Still have to clean the inside of the camper and wash it before it gets dark.
Don
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I registered with Oliver and the State Park this morning. I'll be in space E-39 on May 3 through May 7. I think I'll plan my spring camping trip around the rally. I'm looking for suggestions of places to visit and camp before and after the rally. I am an avid hiker and cyclist. I no longer ride on the road for safety reasons. I ride on bike trails and I'm not picky about what type of surface I ride on--hard surface, gravel, etc., are all ok with me. I also ride frequently on lightly-traveled gravel roads. I've given up single-track mountain bike riding. I'm fit so 20-50 mile bike rides and hikes up to 10-12 miles are ok. I also like to paddle but I'm not sure I'll have my solo canoe with me.
I'm thinking about camping near Chattanooga so I can spend some time in that small city. I'm also considering Great Smoky National Park and Cumberland Gap National Historic Park. I plan to be away from home for 4-6 weeks, so I'm open to suggestions that will involve traveling 400-600 miles from the rally location.
I'm also interested in finding places where I can hear good music. While I'm primarily a jazz guy, I like bluegrass and roots music as well. I've never driven the Virginia Crooked Road Music Trail, but it's appealing, so places with that kind of music would interest me.
Please suggest places with good campgrounds (I usually avoid commercial campgrounds--prefer good state park, national park and BLM campgrounds), access to hiking, cycling, and if possible, access to good, live music.
Thanks in advance!
Don
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John,
Thanks for the advice. To clarify, you're talking about using compressed air to flush out the faucets, right?
Don
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I believe the honeycomb core material is Nidacore. Very expensive, lightweight and very strong.
That sounds right. Thanks for filling in the blanks on that.
NIDA-CORE STRUCTURAL HONEYCOMB FIBERGLASS LAMINATED PANEL – The Nida-Core honeycombs are cellular structures with an 8 mm mesh made of polypropylene, which are used to form the core of structural sandwich panels. Their surface coating (non-woven polyester) can be laminated or glued to practically any type of material, for applications in many domains: construction, transport, yachting, industrial equipment, sports, recreation, etc. Specially made for contact and spray lamination. The polyester non-woven material present on the Nida-Core has a surface that is perfectly suited to impregnation with thermosetting resins (polyester, epoxy, etc.) The heat sealing method used to stick this non-woven material to the cellular structure provides a perfect bond. Finally, the plastic film placed under the non-woven material seals the cells and reduces resin consumption. Naval authorization certificate issued by DNV. Germanischer Lloyd certificate.
Nida-Core’s Pre-Laminated Panels are made from their H8PP panels and have 1 layer of 1810 fiberglass laminated on each side with Polyester Resin. Nida-Core’s H8PP offers a density of 5 lbs/ft3. Product is sold by the individual sheet. Sheets are 4′ x 8′ (32 sq.ft).
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I encourage anyone visiting the factory to arrange a factory tour with Brent. I can't pass on all of the new things I learned about how an Oliver is built, but a few of things stand out. The first is the material they use to reinforce the fiberglass where it needs extra strength. I don't recall what the material is called, but it has a tight honeycomb construction and is relatively thin and very strong. Oliver uses it where other manufacturers of fiberglass products (especially boats) use wood. Brent showed me an area where pieces of this material cut in various sizes and shapes are stored. The second thing is that Oliver employees use small rollers to hand roll the fiberglass to remove air from the fiberglass. The rollers are very small and I watched two employees use these rollers going over a small area of fiberglass many, many times to remove the air. Brent said it is very unusual to do this by hand, but it's very important to make the fiberglass strong. A third thing I was struck by is the fact that Oliver makes all of the wiring harnesses in the campers in-house rather than having them made overseas with cheap labor. They think it's really important to ensure quality. These are expensive campers, but I'm convinced that Oliver is driven to employ methods and materials to endure high quality, longevity and low maintenance rather than finding less expensive alternatives. You get what you pay for!
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John,
Thanks for the additional information. I agree that putting absolutely no toilet paper in the head is best for decomposition, but I'm not ready to do that. Instead, I'm using a very small amount of TP that goes in the head and baby wipes that go in a small ziplock bag with a paper towel liner. I toss the ziplock every day. I plan to call Natures Head tomorrow to talk to them about the fine coir I have on hand and to ask whether I can store the camper for months in the winter without emptying the composting material. I have indoor storage without any electricity available. I disconnect the batteries to avoid any drain during storage, so the toilet fan won't run. I assume the composting process will continue and that the purpose of the fan is to dissipate odors. Do you agree?
I started using the composting toilet Wednesday evening and returned home late Saturday afternoon. I was the only user and the liquid tank was about 3/4 full when I arrived home. I camp alone most of the time so I think I'll be able to get by with one tank, but time will tell. I'll order an extra cap but hold off on a spare tank.
I failed to answer your question about the water supply valve for the old toilet. Oliver left the valve in place. On some earlier conversions, they removed it and capped the line. Some people have returned and asked to switch back to the regular toilet and the cost to do so was higher because they had capped the line. Now they leave it in place in case you or a subsequent purchaser wants to switch back. Richie advised me to open the valve and pour antifreeze in the valve using a small funnel. This is now part of my winterization routine.
Don
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A couple of additional comments about my initial experience with the composting toilet. First, I hadn't considered the amount of fresh water that flows into the black tank each time you flush the standard toilet! I would guess that a high percentage of the contents of the black tank when you dump it is water from flushing. The compositing toilet will help me conserve water when I'm boondocking or camping where I have electric service only in a campground (many National Park campgrounds provide electric-only hookups). I always have a 20-litre jerry can to lug water from a spigot to the Ollie, and this will make those trips less frequent.
Second, I purchased Coco Coir and took a couple of gallon bags full to Hohenwald anticipating using it after the composting toilet was installed. I didn't buy the "brick" type. My bag contains very fine particles of the coir. I decided to use peat moss after I arrived in Hohenwald because I didn't know how much moisture to add to the coir.
Is anyone using the fine particle coir rather than the bricks? If so, any advice on how much water to add to 2 gallons of the stuff? I want to switch to coir after this first fill with peat moss for a couple of reasons. My son, a soil biologist told me that the mine peat moss and that coco coir is a better ecological choice. Also, the peat moss has a pretty strong odor. When using coco coir, what does your Natures Head smell like?
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John,
They charged $1,000 for the composting toilet and $400 for labor. The rest was sales tax. I'll post photos of the installation at some point. I'm very happy with the installation. I plan to dump my grey water using a garden hose. The stinky slinky is going into the garbage can. I can run the hose from my driveway into the woods at home. I anticipate using the hose in dump stations sometimes when I can't dump the grey tank using the hose at a campsite. I think I'll be able to do this while boondocking and maybe at some BLM campsites in the west.
I won't go into detail, but Jason and Richie treated me very well during the service. They did a number of things at no charge and treated me very well on a large issue that could have cost me $500-$600. I don't feel free to share details, but I left Hohenwald feeling very satisfied with the fairness of the overall experience.
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John, they charged $1560.83 with tax for the composting toilet. $400 of that amount was labor. Sorry, I didn't take photos of the factory tour. Oliver should produce a video of the kind of tour I experienced. I'll follow up on the composting toilet after I've used it for awhile. So far, I love it. I believe they capped off the water supply to the toilet, but I'll confirm with Richie.]
I really appreciate the information you posted on the forum about the composting toilet. Having that information made it easy for me to make the decision to add this.
Don
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I spent a couple of days at the Oliver offices. Left at 5:30 p.m yesterday. They have a voice over internet phone system and they have had serious issues with their internet and phone service. It was off and on during the two days I was there. More off than on yesterday.
Don
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I called Ritchie Carroll a couple of months ago to schedule service for my Oliver Elite II. I made the appointment for 1 p.m. on Tuesday, October 17. When I arrived, I sat down with Richie and reviewed the work order that he had prepared based on a couple of telephone conversations and a few email exchanges. Oliver is using a new system to create and update work orders. I was able to view the work order on Richie's monitor and approved what he had prepared. Service included installing a composting toilet, installing the new bike rack (mount only--I plan to rig it with Thule components that will work with my fat tire bike), a new cable for the basement door, repair the chain to cap connection on the fresh water inlet, fixing a leak in the hot water heater at the anode, installation of the water accumulator, the fresh water tank fix to allow it to be filled completely, and installation of the new window blind clips (they now use 6 clips per blind). The work was completed by 5 p.m. on Wednesday. The work was done professionally and the camper was thoroughly cleaned inside after they completed the work. While in Hohenwald, I spent quite a bit of time at the sales office. Highlights included meeting and talking to both new Oliver owners picking up and owners in town for service. It's so nice to actually meet and get to know people you've communicated with on the forum. Oliver owners are the best. I also can report that Anita and Heather are as sweet and welcoming as they have been since I met them. Anita even brought food to the office and offered lunch to all of the office employees and the customers who were there for service and pickup. The food was delicious!
I met and spend quite a bit of time talking to Brent Robinson, the new Business Development Director and Kelly Robinson, the new Sales Manager. They have significant experience in the industry and I believe they were great hires by the Oliver family. Brent gave me a factory tour yesterday. I toured the factory in October 2015 when I ordered my Elite II, but I learned much more during the tour Brent gave. He has dug deep into the manufacturing process and shared so much knowledge. For any current owner or prospective purchaser who wants to know more about how these campers are built and why they cost as much as they do, a tour led by Brent is a must. These campers are built on a philosophy that is the opposite of what drives most of the rest of the industry. Decisions are made on what components/processes will create the best, long-lasting product, not on what will be the least expensive. Kudos to Oliver for being committed to building by far the highest quality camper in the U.S.
As most of the forum members know, Oliver has grown substantially in terms of the number of campers sold. They are having growing pains, but my two days at the office and plant convinced me that they are working very hard to ramp up and to provide the same high-quality sales and service that marks the quality of their product. I don't think the people at Oliver would argue that they are there yet, but rather than making excuses, the comments I heard from employees focused on their high goals and efforts to reach them.
For those of you who have asked for a higher degree of customization as your Oliver is being built, it's clear that Oliver is moving away from offering the degree of customization that characterized their approach in the early days. They've made the most popular options standard equipment and avoid customization to keep the campers moving down the line more efficiently. I think the result will be an increase in the already high build quality and an ability to deliver more campers to more customers on a timely basis.
So, my service visit was positive, productive and very educational. It reinforced my opinion that purchasing my Oliver was a great decision!
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Introduction and Options
in Introduce Yourself
Posted
Alex,
You were smart to seek comments from owners and you've made great choices for solid reasons. Welcome to the Oliver family!
Don