Steph and Dud B

Hi, Craig. We contacted Oliver and they quickly hooked us up with owners about 40 minutes from our house. As others have said, using their "See an Oliver" program is the easiest way to see one in person. (BTW, we were worried about the fridge size, too. Seeing one in person convinced Steph it would be fine, which it is.)

Few, if any, other manufacturer's dealerships will service an Oliver (or any other RV that they didn't sell) but most of the components in an Oliver are standard RV equipment and can be serviced by any RV tech. We use a local independent RV repair shop and there are mobile techs that will do it, too. For a damaged hull, others have used boat repair shops with good results.

We often extend the awnings just enough to shade the windows.

The batteries can actually take a charge faster than some small generators can provide. That's why you may need to adjust your converter settings to avoid overloading your generator. Either way, they charge very quickly on a generator or shore power.

The generator feeds the converter through the shore line. The converter converts the 120 VAC to DC to charge the batteries based on the settings in the converter. The solar panels also provide DC power to the batteries through their controller. The two systems supplement each other. As the battery level of charge rises they lower their charging current until the batteries are charged. The final say is the Battery Management Software in the batteries themselves. If they aren't happy with the amount or type of charge they are receiving from those 2 systems they shut down charging.

Which it's doing again now. https://www.rvia.org/rv-roadsigns-quarterly-forecast#:~:text=2023 Spring RV Roadsigns Forecast&text=The new forecast projects 2023,493%2C300 wholesale shipments in 2022. It's good that RVs are only a secondary product for Oliver Mfg. That helps them weather RV sales fluctuations like this when other RV manufacturers might close their doors permanently.

I know it's notoriously wet in the PNW, but please tell me this wasn't the first rain-free weekend in 2 years!!

Have fun!

Don't wait to retire longer than you have to. Things can change on a dime and take time away from you. That's my best advice. As for RVing, consider renting 1 or 2 and trying the lifestyle before you commit big dollars to a new purchase. Some people find it isn't for them. Don't expect a problem-free idyllic RV lifestyle like you see on RV ads. You'll need to be flexible and handy with basic repairs on the road. Read, read, read RV forums. Good luck.

An LE2 with dual awnings makes a cameo at the end of this HappilyEverHanks video: Who could it be?

It was a bit chilly on our recent trip and sometimes I'd turn on the propane and run the furnace during lunch stops. Every time we got back on the road I'd ask myself, "Did I put the cover back on?" I'm determined to throw that cover on the front seat of the truck during stops from now on.

Yes, they have a separate charge controller.

True that. I have trouble getting a decent discharge on our 640 AH lithiums to exercise them. The solar keeps topping them off. And we only have 340 watts of solar.

Correct. One of ours started to come loose and we just twisted it back in.

K1PDB. Mostly got my ticket to work with Emergency Management, so not particularly active, but still keep a little Baofeng in the truck at all times.

A motorhome's toad rolled into our fifth wheel in a campground after the owner forgot to set the parking brake before disconnecting.

Also after you put your stabilizer jacks down.

If a Chevy Express does have a 10,000 pound tow rating it might be a good choice. That would probably be the cargo version. I think the passenger versions have much have much lower tow ratings, which is too bad. Years ago, we towed a trailer roughly LE2 size/weight cross country with a Ford E350 passenger van with the V10 engine. It was a great travel vehicle: tons of power, lots of interior cargo space, and captains chairs for all of us. Only got rid of it when we went to a fifth wheel. Wasn't there an Ollie owner on the forum towing with a full-size cargo van?

You can use a small generator to charge your lithium batteries through the 30 amp shoreline cord but you'll have to change a setting on your Xantrex converter if your generator only has a 15 amp outlet. The default setting on the Xantrex will attempt to pull up to 25 amps, which will trip the breaker on your generator. You can change setting 28 to 15 amps (or less) when you're charging with a small generator. Note that the little genny will work hard making those 15 amps. I might choose 5 or 10 amps so the generator doesn't work so hard (and loud). I don't know about connecting a generator 12v DC output to the external solar connector. You'd have to make sure you're within the wiring limits. The good news is, the solar panels do a great job. If you aren't running the A/C off the batteries, and you have decent weather, you probably won't need the generator much.

The tank vent pipe runs through the closet. It may be damaged/leaking fumes and/or not connected through the roof properly. There should be no odor.

Wow, that's silly.

Weekends can still be tough to find sites, depending where you are.

Our rear escape window is stiff to slide. Not 2 hands, but close. We've used an ear wax bulb syringe for this. Allows you to really control the water.

Here are my usuals. The ones you can't read are Wandering Labs and All stays.

Anita is wonderful. She stepped in for us when our initial salesperson was indisposed and she was a great help. We wish her a quick recovery.