Steph and Dud B

My tire shop, who I trust, was very leery about torquing the nuts to 120, even after I showed them the Oliver spec. 120 is right at the top end of the range for those lugs and torque wrenches do have some deviation.

We haven't had any issues with our replacement RV Lock after applying sealant to cover the gap between the top of the lock body and the door. We do this, even with the RV Lock, just in case it fails.

If it's not the cable, it could be the valve itself. Our last trailer had a tank valve where the seals were very tight against the gate, making it hard to operate. Adding some RV tank valve lubricant every spring solved the issue. You just pour some into the tank before a trip.Thetford RV Drain Valve Lubricant... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BGK2L0?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

Cracking a roof vent will help with internal condensation. You want to create a convection airflow, where warm most air inside rises and leaves via the roof vent. We usually crack ours just a little to accomplish that. If you also crack a window, I'd use the one by the dinette instead of over a bed and, again, just a crack to let cool dry air replace the warm most air leaving via the vent. Not running the furnace may be contributing to your problem, too. The furnace warms up the space between the hulls a bit so the outer hull is the one in contact with the coldest air. That should cause most of the condensation to occur on the inside of the outer shell, then drain out the bottom. I hope Service is able to help you get this resolved. Good luck.

Yes, we'll have a service panel in the new building but we just got news that our utility provider is requesting to DOUBLE their rate: "Eversource supply rates will double from 12.05 cents per kWh to 24.2 cents per kWh, resulting in an $84 per month increase for the average user." Solar would also help keep the trailer charged during power outages, which are becoming more frequent and longer here. A week ago we lost power for 14 hours after a very small storm.

With some big life changes happening - first Steph's cancer and now our son getting married - we've changed plans and decided that our current home in CT will be our retirement home after all. That means making some changes to the property. #1 will be adding a detached garage/barn, and that will have a bay for Eggcelsior. Until now, she's lived outside in full sun. There was a plus to that. With the lithium and solar we never had to plug her in at home, at least not until now when we're getting freezing weather. (Lithionics advises keeping the 315 aH batteries on the charger in freezing weather to power the internal battery heaters.) But when we put her in a garage, the solar will be gone. We'll have to plug her in. How much power will she need? Up until now we ran the fridge on gas in the yard and the solar kept up. Now, we'll need to run the fridge on electric. Anybody know how many amps the fridge draws on AC? (I'm having trouble searching the University with my Android devices since the site redesign. When I enter a search phrase the Android keyboard won't let me hit Enter to start the search. A topic for a different post.) I was also wondering... Could we put solar panels on the roof of the garage and run a cable to the Zamp port on the outside of Eggcelsior?? Has anyone ever done anything like that? Would the cable run be too long? It would be cool...

You have a beautiful home, John. Jealous of that RV garage.

It's Setting #28 on our Xantrex. Set it to the highest amps your source will allow (15 if it's a standard household outlet with nothing else on the circuit). I actually have ours set for 5 when we're at home because our house is old and that outside outlet shares its circuit with several other loads. With everything in the trailer turned off and the solar panels on, 5 amps has been adequate to keep the batteries charged so far, even with the batteries' internal heaters running at night. (If that changes in colder weather, we'll have a dedicated outlet installed.) (And, yes, a bulk charge for lithiums can overload a 15 amp circuit if the Xantrex is left at the factory setting of 25 amps.)

Not sure about the Oliver site, but most of those things are available elsewhere. Amazon, eTrailer, etc.

Why do you want to keep the trailer interior warm? Is someone living in it while it's in the driveway? If it's winterized you don't have to worry about the water system freezing. There's no problem running the furnace with the water system winterized. It does use a lot of 12v battery power but you can recharge that with the solar and 120v shore line power from the house. Or, you can run a 120v space heater. Just make sure it doesn't overload the extension cord you're using to connect the trailer to the house. If it's a regular household outlet I'd use a heavy 12 gauge cord with a small space heater set on Low. To be safe, I wouldn't pull more than 900 Watts through a 12 gauge extension cord plugged into a household outlet.

In the up position the TV hangs down from the mounting screws. I'd expect the TV case design to account for shear, since they normally hang vertically on a wall, but not for loads applied pulling against the back of the TV.

My dad served with the Army in the Pacific in WW2. My oldest brother was an Army rifleman in Vietnam. Many thanks to all who served in the past and those who serve now.

I've been thinking about this. It does seem that the raised position puts more stress on all the mounting points than the lowered position would. Right??

Congratulations! The wait is over!

It's the Front Runner setup offered on the Diamondback site and, yes, we had to drill the cover to bolt the rack tracks on. A little tricky to get it just right.

We have wedge pillows we put on the bed to recline, watch TV, etc. inside. We put them on the dinette seats when we want to sleep at night.

Absolutely, there's no "one size fits all." We loved our diesel when we had a fifth wheel. Effortless towing.

@DaveAndBecky_NorthernMI, so glad to hear you're scanning clear! I'm so impressed with what they can do with treatment now. I hope we can meet someday and share success stories over a few drinks.

After reading all the classifieds of Ollies for sale because of "health reasons," and one person who said they bought their Ollie "one year too late," we decided to push ahead with our purchase before actually retiring. Then it happened to us. Steph was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in July, just two weeks after we took delivery of Eggcelsior. Our little Ollie allowed us to find last minute reservations at state and COE parks and get away a bit during the initial treatments. The change of scenery was good for both our souls. At the moment, Steph is doing spectacularly well, with no cancer detected in her last PET scan. She's not cured, but it's very, very encouraging! We've pushed our retirement up a bit and we're hoping we can continue to enjoy good heath and get out in Eggcelsior as much as possible in the coming years. I think the message here is: don't wait for retirement to live your best life. We've seen friends and coworkers put off their adventures, waiting for a retirement they never got. If you've got the means to get out there and have your adventures now, in an Ollie or not, strike while you can. You just never know. Be safe and well, everyone. We'll see you on the road!

Wow! Too much excitement for one day! Glad everything is fixed, or getting fixed, and there were no casualties besides Bambi. Interesting info about the tank and pipe fitment.

@Mike11 what are you downsizing from?

We do fine with our gas 3500. While I enjoyed the torque of my diesel, I couldn't justify the extra expense of DEF and the higher repair and maintenance costs of diesel for a 6500# trailer. Maybe if we were full timing or traveling extensively in the mountains.

Hi, Mike. We spent a lot of time on this forum, first deciding if we wanted to buy an Oliver, then learning all the particulars so we were well prepared and equipped when we took delivery. One note: the online search function here is terrible. We use Google and start the search phrase with "Oliver trailers" followed by whatever we're looking for. Have fun browsing.

We've found the 15 gallon black tank to be adequate, but it's the smallest we've ever had in a trailer (even our 26' Sunline held 30 gallons). 20 would've been nice.

Congratulations!