Jump to content

Steph and Dud B

Member+
  • Posts

    1,030
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    10

Everything posted by Steph and Dud B

  1. Don't be nervous. The Yamaha will be fine. Just get the grounding plug and adjust setting #28 like @rich.dev said. I do it through the wall control panel rather than the app. I've found some odd behavior when using the app to change that setting.
  2. The salespeople need to know the product and engage.
  3. @Tom and Doreen, that's basically what I suspected. Energy in a campground can't be magically created, only redistributed. Those with autotransformers will be able to use more during a low voltage event than those without, until the load exceeds the overall capacity of the grid.
  4. There really hasn't been that much difference in our use of the Ollie wet bath compared to the dry bath in our fifth wheel - except height. At 6', I have to bend over to wash my hair in the Ollie, which I didn't have to do in the fifth wheel, but that isn't specifically because it's a wet bath. We have the OTT-supplied shower curtain to keep the commode area dry while showering. We used to wipe down the walls of the shower enclosure in the fifth wheel just like we wipe down the shower walls in the Ollie now. Not really all that different. (The one thing I really miss was specific to our last fifth wheel. The bathroom was right next to the furnace and there was a floor heat register in the bathroom just outside the shower enclosure. You'd step out of the shower and stand right over that heat vent on cold days. Wonderful.)
  5. Here's an article about some big fiberglass trailers from the past, including a 38' fifth wheel prototype (which looks very cool): https://www.theautopian.com/this-prototype-fiberglass-camper-is-a-38-foot-beast-filled-with-brilliant-ideas-that-never-made-it/
  6. @CRM, what is the effect on the larger grid? I can't imagine everyone could run autoformers without some measurable increased load on the grid or we'd all have them in our houses. When using one, aren't you further reducing the amount of power available to others on the grid? I'm not saying a single RV would make much difference, but there has to be a cost somewhere.
  7. This is explained well here: https://changinglanesrv.com/hughes-autoformer/ (Electricians feel free to correct my interpretation here...) Volts: electrical potential (think water stored in a tank). Amps: flow of electrical current (think water pushed through a pipe under pressure). Watts: work done by the electricity (think a water wheel at the end of the pipe). You need both volts and amps to do any work. Volts X Amps = Watts. Low voltage in the campground means you have to use more amps to do the same work, but amps generate heat in the wiring so they're limited by circuit breakers for safety. (Our Olivers are limited to pulling a maximum of 30 amps from the campground grid.) Even with an autoformer, you will never be able to pull amps (current) from the campground grid faster than the campground's pedestal circuit breaker will allow, so in that way you're no different than any other camper. However, in a low voltage situation, you will be able to get more usable power (watts) from that pedestal by jacking up the voltage in your trailer, so now you are potentially using more power than your non-autoformer neighbors. The power company bills the campground for the number of watts consumed per hour, so someone using an autoformer in a low voltage situation is costing the campground more power per hour than someone who isn't. However, you're still only using the amount of power (watts) you would have used if the campground grid was operating properly at the correct voltage, so you're not "stealing" anything. (A bigger question is, how does this affect the larger power grid? Is the campground voltage low because the utility company has less capacity than normal? If lots of campers in the campground are using autoformers could they overwhelm the entire campground grid and cause it to fail because they are using more watts than the grid is capable of supplying at that time? I assume there's a limit, correct?)
  8. We did see the Oliver trailers in Springfield, both an LE1 and an LE2. The Olivers were displayed next to several Intek Sol trailers (which seem like decent campers). Asking price for the LE2 was slightly over $100K. Saw a couple glance at the LE2 price tag and say, "Are they crazy," so we engaged them and told them about the superior construction of the Olivers. Chatted a bit with one of the sales reps but I think we were more excited about the Olivers than he was. No Oliver family present at this show. While we were there, we did see a couple go inside the LE2 and sit down, a good sign. It was really good to see OTT represented, for sure.
  9. Excellent! Glad you are able to finish your trip. My gut feeling is you have a bad EMS unit. OTT should get you straightened out.
  10. With lithium, you need to change a Xantrex setting before trying to use a small generator. The Oliver's converter (charger) will try to draw more power than the small generator can produce. So, stick with the 3500W genny for now. Also, are these inverter-type generators? Industrial jobsite generators may not produce "clean" power. If the power is drifting in and out of spec, the Oliver's electrical management system may start rejecting/accepting that power. That could be the cause of the clicking. Are you getting error codes on the display in the attic? Next, is the 3500W inverter-type generator producing electricity when not connected to the trailer? Test it with any handy electrical device. If not, the generator's circuit breaker might have tripped. If the generator is producing power, look next to the connection between the trailer and genny. As @topgun2 mentioned, some generators (inc. Honda) require a grounding plug inserted into one the the genny 15A outlets before connecting to an Oliver. If the plug isn't present the EMS will cut the power and the display in the attic will show an error code. The clicking under the dinette might be the transfer switch if you have the optional shore line connector on the front right side of your hitch near the propane tanks. What happens if you plug into the optional front shore line connector instead of the one on the driver's side? When connected to the generator does your microwave have power?
  11. If your trailer will be exposed to freezing temperatures while in storage it's very important to do the full winterization procedure. It's not just the Trauma that can freeze and crack. Water lines and plastic fittings throughout the trailer are susceptible to cracking or splitting because of water expansion when it freezes. After bypassing the Truma (or getting it repaired) reconnect to city water (with a pressure regulator on your hose) and check for other water leaks. Look underneath the trailer and see if you have water coming out of any the scupper (drain) holes on the bottom of the trailer. Another way to check for leaks is to disconnect city water, fill your fresh water tank, and turn the water pump on. If the pump runs for more then a few seconds, with no faucets open, you are losing pressure somewhere. Good luck.
  12. It happens. I'm just wondering why you have damage by the water heater. If the pipes were winterized that area shouldn't have frozen, even with water in the fresh water tank.
  13. Aside from not draining the water tank, did you winterize the rest of the water system last fall?
  14. We're going to the Springfield, MA RV show next weekend, which we do every year, but this year there will be an Ollie there! That's great! This is the largest RV show in New England. Really happy to see OTT doing this.
  15. That was our experience with them. They sent a huge flatbed for our 4x4 dually and a heavy duty wrecker for the fifth wheel and towed them both to the nearest Ford dealer - after arranging for the dealer to leave the gate unlocked because they were closing before we got there. Excellent service.
  16. We've never met anyone personally who had a trailer stolen, but there are plenty of online tales and news items of it happening. Most stolen rigs seem to become homes for the homeless or meth labs in the woods, so they're not too worried about registration, title, etc. The Oliver group is a very small sample size, so I'm not surprised we haven't heard of an Oliver being stolen yet. We use a hitch lock and some other measures to try to avoid being the first.
  17. Is this the rebranded FMCA? No, different company. Now owned by Blue Compass. We've had to use them several times and they were good.
  18. Nice rig. Should suit your lifestyle well, I would think. Enjoy.
  19. That pretty much describes just about every other RV out there. They look flashy and cool, until you look inside the walls. Ragged holes, construction debris everywhere, fasteners that missed studs, rats nest wiring. Last year we looked at a really expensive Super-C motorhome. Beautiful full body paint, leather seating, etc. Walked away after taking one look at the drawer construction.
  20. Definitely stick around. Looking forward to hearing more about your new rig and your adventures in it.
  21. This thread got me thinking. We use our Verizon tablet's hotspot for wifi when there's none available at the campground, and that usually works fine. But there have a been a few areas where Verizon coverage wasn't available, so we wanted a backup on another carrier for basics: email, light browsing, etc. No need for another high-usage plan. The Solis line of hotspots now come with 1GB of free data per month for the life of the device. That's not a lot, but it's enough for 40 minutes daily of web browsing or 20 minutes daily of social media apps (source: https://3g.co.uk/guides/how-much-data-do-i-need). That should be plenty for our occasional needs. Also, any additional gigs you buy from Solis never expire, so there's no waste. The Solis devices work on both AT&T and T-Mobile here in the states (they choose the best available at your location), and they also work internationally. They're relatively slow connections (which shouldn't be an issue for our use) and additional data is relatively expensive, but we don't expect to buy much. Seems like a pretty good solution for a backup system. We just received our Solis Lite unit yesterday, so I'll do some testing soon. Here's a link to it on Amazon: SIMO Solis Lite 4G LTE WiFi Mobile Hotspot, Local & International Coverage Router, Multi-Carrier Access, No Contract or SIM Card Required, 10 Connected Devices, 1GB/Month Lifetime Data https://a.co/d/fOrM7Fv
×
×
  • Create New...