Steph and Dud B

We were in York this summer and rode our bikes to Nubble. Great place. Olivers definitely draw attention.

Is there an Android app for the Oliver Forums? I just had a pop-up in my browser ask me if I wanted to "Install Oliver Forums?" A quick search of the Google app store didn't turn one up.

We had an electronic lock on our last trailer and really liked it, so we ordered the RVLock Oliver installs. Don't like it as much as the one we had, which seemed to be better quality. It was made by LatchIt. It's an easy self-install. Same here. Great on the highway and I also use it if I have to back into a site solo. I put an orange leveling block on the ground as a target where I want the back of the trailer to end up. I'm going to use it backing into the garage, too. (Always better to have a human spotter when you can, though!) We like our upgraded non-KTT mattresses, so that's a matter of taste. You should go to the factory and try them out if you can.

I use one of these to check the angle in degrees: https://www.harborfreight.com/8-in-magnetic-torpedo-level-with-angle-finder-63692.html I put it on the top of the fridge frame after leveling with a bubble level outside. There's better digital ones, but this seems good enough.

@John Welte, that's not great. These fridges work by boiling an ammonia solution in a tank at the bottom. The vapor rises up a set of sloped tubing, condenses back into a liquid up top, then flows by gravity back down the tubes to repeat the cycle. When you are more than 3 degrees off level front to back, you exceed the slope of the tubes, so the fluid pools in the tubing instead of returning to the tank. The fluid left in the tank continues to boil, getting more trapped in the tubes. Potentially, the tank runs dry and the remaining solution crystallizes in the tank. This could potentially lead to a fire. The Norcold manual specifies a max incline of 3 degrees front to back of the trailer and 6 degrees side to side. In your situation, sometimes I put the trailer on the ball and do the rest of the hitch up, but I don't close the Bulldog. I raise the trailer nose back to level. Then, in the morning, I just lower onto the ball, close the Bulldog, and drive off.

The most common cause of failure is the 7 pin plug and connector between the truck and trailer. Check the contacts on each for bent connectors or corrosion. (I've been able to resurrect a trailer connector in the past by gently bending a prong back into place with a flathead screwdriver, but with a trailer so new yours shouldn't be that worn.) CAUTION: Pin 4 on both truck and trailer may be "hot" (connected to the battery) at all times in some installations, so don't short that one out.

Did they work for you before and just stop working? How old is your Oliver?

Can't imagine anyone doing that (?). Lithium batteries and solar are a perfect match because lithium takes a charge so easily. The bulk of the expense is the batteries. You wouldn't save much by deleting the panels and controller.

John is right on the money here. The YouTube videos don't give you the whole story and those people aren't you. We rented before we bought our first trailer and it was very instructive as to what we needed and wanted. RVing has as many problems and frustrations as regular house living (maybe more) and those problems are different than the ones you're used to.

You can't run the A/C off any of the non-lithium OEM packages. With the Platinum lithium package you can run the standard A/C for a few hours. But, you still have to put that energy back in the batteries somehow. That leaves you either running the generator or going to full hookups to recharge. In actual usage this summer we ran the generator on the Platinum battery system for about an hour before bed on a few nights of a 2 week trip. The solar wasn't able to to completely replace those watts the next day but we had enough total capacity to get through the trip without needing the generator. In other words, we were able to run the A/C off battery for short periods on the really bad nights. I think each hour used roughly 10% of our total capacity. When I get a chance, I'll check my notes.

Oh, yes. We have a maple syrup story, but it was in our kitchen instead of the Oliver. A mess that keeps on giving!

That's exactly what we carry, too. Just used it yesterday, in fact.

Our 2022 is flat plate. Must have been an interim thing.

Count us as another saying that solar is worth it. Our previous trailers were lead-acid batteries and generator. The solar package is so much better in every way.

There's a couple on YouTube that just took their new Ollie to Alaska: https://youtube.com/@HardAleeAdventures?si=x3xpbvrJ5jftzF4J

If the valve is closed, and you put water down the bathroom sink, it will back up into the shower pan. If your valve is open and sink water is still backing up into the shower, I would suspect a clog in the sink drain line downstream of the shower drain.

Ours usually reads 100% well before water comes out the overflow. Not exactly precision instruments.

The Avions were kind of cool.

A couple of things here. First, the pump kicking in and running non-stop. This usually indicates a water leak somewhere. That would also explain the initial low tank reading. With water in the tank and the pump running, or hooked to a water source, look for water draining from any weep holes under the trailer. Next, the erratic readings. I have seen our fresh water readings jump significantly with minor changes in trailer level front-to-back or side-to-side. Haven't seen a 0-69% variance, though. I would experiment with multiple readings, adding water/draining the tank without moving the trailer.

For best performance of any radio repeater, the repeater should be located roughly 1/2 way between the transmitters and receiver, at a slight elevation to avoid obstacles. Also, the antenna on the repeater should be oriented the same way as the antenna on the receiver. However, in practice, the distance from our sensors to the TV dash is so short, pretty much any installation (short of the back bumper) should be sufficient. K1PDB

For the trip home from Hohenwald, I put a cigarette lighter plug on the booster and used Velcro to stick it on the wall behind the front dinette seat, plugged into the outlet below the seat. Worked fine. A year later, every time I plug it in before a trip I say to myself, "I really need to mount that permanently..." 🤔

Good question. I don't know.

Yes, you need a bonding plug to get power from most generators into your trailer. That should solve your initial problem. I don't know if Hull 590 has an inverter. Most Olivers do. Do you have a black control panel labeled Xantrex in your trailer? Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Schneider-Electric-Solar-Inv-808-0817-01/dp/B0756BJQCN/ref=asc_df_B0756BJQCN/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312094677816&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10946446638069115879&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9003252&hvtargid=pla-519123927354&psc=1 If so, you have an inverter. Instructions on its use are in Oliver University, linked from the main Oliver website. Basically, if you have no shore power, pushing the round silver button in activates the inverter and creates 120v power for your outlets, microwave, etc. from your batteries. The green LED next to the battery icon will indicate it's working. Note that this can consume a lot of battery power, especially running the microwave, so use it sparingly. The inverter does consume some power whenever it's on, even if there's nothing plugged into the outlets, so turn it off when not needed.

We've had Coach-Net for years. The coverage includes any vehicle we drive or tow, including rentals or borrowed vehicles. We've used them for an RV mobile tech to replace a brake assembly, a tow for both our dually and fifth wheel and, just last week, a tow for my wife's car after mice chewed the electrical system. Our experience was positive each time, with quick and appropriate services dispatched.

According to my Lithionics manual for the 320 Ah batteries you can also leave the batteries connected to a reliable shoreline connection for the winter (they recommend leaving the solar on, too). The batteries' internal heaters will protect them from the cold while the shoreline connection/solar keeps the heaters from discharging the batteries.