topgun2

Looks like it was a great trip home! That sure is one hefty puppy you've got there. The picture along the Arkansas is certainly my favorite. Bill

Yes, but the Oliver has that "foil" insulation between the hulls. So, unless you are trying to communicate with the "Mothership" by sitting close to the windows you still don't need the hat inside the Oliver. Bill

I stumbled on this YouTube video ( ) yesterday which shows a "hack" in which with a couple of CD's or DVD's placed around a coax cable coming from your cable TV supplier will allow you to be able to get all channels supplied over that cable without the need for a de-coder box. That got me to thinking - several days prior to my last trip when I had my "trailer disconnect" issues start happening, I placed some foil "duct" tape on the interior of my Oliver to seal around all of the marker lights and to secure the wires from those lights in a better fashion. If what the individual in the video says is true then it just might be possible that current in those wires is being affected by the foil tape I used. This Sunday I will be bringing Twist home to stock, clean and organize prior to my fishing trip out West. One of the first things I will do is remove most of that tape - it can't hurt! Of course, I'll post the results here. Bill

With my first cone replacement, like Mike, I too could not get the parts separated. Yes, I did the heat thing, and the dead blow, and the inverted jack lifting the back of the truck thing and the sledge and the rapping on the sides and the ...... I finally gave up and since I was going to Hohenwald anyway I figured that they could use a press. Well, after trying for about two hours even the guys at the plant gave up and swapped me for a new one. For the second replacement, Sage (at Andersen) simply said that he would ship me a new one and, again like Mike, the return of the old one was pre-paid. No arguing, no hassles, no problem. Bill

Good trip and great to hear that you had no problems. I must have looked at your picture with the stream for a solid five minutes to see if there were any "risers". Just has to be some nice fish in there! Yellowstone is just about my favorite place on earth - if one could just reduce the number of people that go there! Also, love the horses - my wife and I have done 8 to 12 day horse trips through much of the mountain west. There is simply no better way of seeing the back country up close without all the work of a backpack. Thanks for sharing! Bill

Justin - Looks like you have got a bit of a learning curve thing going on here. The whole deal really isn't that difficult, but, it would be best to try to take it one step at a time and understand just how the various systems in your camper work - separately and together. I'll try taking a stab at answering some of your questions above. 1. the 450 ah batter(ies) that you mention are really four Trojan T-105's. These are lead acid batteries. I mention this just so you don't get confused with either the standard batteries that come with an Oliver or with the "AGM" batteries that have 400ah. 2. I would not place a strong bet on the 640W option but you could always add "portable" solar panels if you needed them. 3. Propane - your fridge, cook stove, water heater and furnace all can run on propane. With the standard two 20 pound propane tanks on my Oliver I can go as long as just about two months running the fridge, cooking meals, and heating water for showers on a single tank. Be a bit careful with this information in that I do run the fridge virtually all the time on propane, BUT, I use very little heating water for showers (I use a sun shower most of the time) and almost never use the furnace. 4. A/C - Simply put - even with the four batteries there is simply not enough power to run your a/c. Of course you could always add more batteries, but where would you store them and batteries are very heavy to be hauling around. The problem really circles back to how much energy do you have and how much energy are you using. An A/C uses way too much energy for typical camper batteries to support. Therefore, you either need what is called "shore" power (regular electricity like you use in your house) or "generated" power using a generator. There are some fairly quiet generators on the market and virtually any generator can be made to plug directly into your camper just like one does with regular "shore" power. 5. Electrical power (shore power) - yes, assuming that there is an available outlet, you can plug directly into your friend's house. The only "problem" here is that most campers use what is called 30 amp service and have a 30 amp service electric cord and plug. Most of the circuits on most homes are wired for 15 to 20 amp connections - therefore, any single line (circuit) from the house will not supply enough power for you to use ALL of the things inside the camper that you might want to use (say, both the a/c and the microwave) and the design of the plug will not match. While you can easily get around the design of the plug (adapters are sold for this purpose), you can not get around the power issue without tripping circuit breakers, blowing fuses, or simply reducing the amount of power you use at any given moment. 6. Wind power is a great idea, but, there are reasons why one does not see more of this in use on campers - noise, lack of wind, size of equipment, weight of equipment, etc. Hope this gives you a start on your camper education road. However, only you can get the information you need regarding how much power you will use. Again, it appears to me that one of the first things you should do is educate yourself on a bit of electrical knowledge - the relationship between amps, watts, volts, etc. Good luck! Bill

Justin - Yes, a litter box should fit in the area you mentioned. I generally keep a closed storage bin there with cleaning, waxing, etc. supplies when I'm on a long trip. If I'm traveling solo I often keep the bathroom door open (while camped) to aid in ventilation while I'm gone for the day out fishing and hiking (the bathroom vent is left open and the MaxAir fan left on automatic. When traveling with my wife or fishing buddy that open door limits easy usage of the dinette seat closest to the bath. Bill

Pete & Boskar - just be sure that they don't confuse "Old Pete" for "Old Harry"! Have a good time playing in the sand. Bill

Reed & Karen - 12.1 would suggest that you are at just about a 50% charge level assuming that nothing is on at the moment. Bill

John - Over the 1.7 years that I've used the Andersen I have had to have the "cone" replaced twice due to noise. The hitch itself has always done what it it supposed to do and the hitching/unhitching ordeal that so many people complain about is certainly no more difficult than with other systems that I've used (on previous trailers using the Equalizer mainly). The customer service is excellent and Andersen's rep - Sage - is a member of this Forum. As far as I know Andersen only has one "model" (for the Oliver) and the brackets on mine have not moved even a fraction of an inch. I understand that the original installation is critical to this issue. Since I've never removed the brackets I really do not know about frame damage, but, a visual inspection of that area reveals absolutely nothing. There doesn't seem to be anything "wrong" with the procedure from OZ. I know that for most Olivers at the factory the starting point is to make sure that the hitch is about 24 inches from the top of the hitch to the ground. Brackets are then installed and the Andersen chains are then tightened so that 6 threads are showing at the rear. To fine tune this starting set-up one can either take before and after weights on the two vehicle axles (see Buzzy's discussion of this) and the red bushings should show a visible slight "bulge", of course, the trailer should be fairly level as should the TV. Of course this rough guide is only a starting point and the "final" settings will depend on the TV, the (changing?) weight of the trailer's tongue, the weight and distribution of that weight inside the TV, the suspension on the TV, etc. With all the "ya's" and "na's" concerning WDH, I fall solidly in the "ya's" category. Particularly with the Andersen, not only does one get the desired distribution but you get "anti-bounce" via the red bushings and the sway control that (with the Oliver) is probably only going to be needed in the event of a true emergency - I've never had my Oliver sway but I've never been in anything near an emergency situation with it (hopefully never will). Anything that I can do to increase the number of contacts between the TV and the Oliver is great by me and is fairly cheap insurance in the event of that possible emergency. Finally with regards to your #7 above - I actually not only recorded this number, but, I placed a label of the Andersen's "whale tail" to remind me. Again, while I don't usually change this number of threads showing, they can be changed easily to adjust for those things I listed above.

Justin - I really don't know just how to start to answer your question. I've been in my Elite II for as long as four weeks without plugging into shore power and the batteries never went below 95% capacity. But, the answer to your question lies in just how YOU want to live and use the resources that are available to you. I'd suggest that you become familiar with a little electrical knowledge in that assuming that you will have 400 amp hours of battery capacity (which equates to about 200 usable since you never want to go much less than 1/2 of your total or you'll risk damaging your batteries) you have to manage that capacity in such a way as to not run out - so, total usable capacity minus what you use plus what you put back in via solar or generator give you what is available to you for any usage that you may desire. And, remember that if you are not on shore power and not running a generator (of sufficient size) you can not use you air conditioner. Hope this gives you a start - Bill

Bob - Take a look at Calmark covers and/or do a search on this Forum for a review I did on mine. Same fabric as ADCO uses but Calmark uses "straps" around the camper to take the stress off the overall material. Good Luck! Bill

I've never had my nightstand drawer open (during travel), but, I like the idea. Also, I like the hanging "basket" on the wall at the rear, but, hope that its not someones undies. Bill

This chart shows what your "readings" should be when the battery is at rest. Rest means that you are not on a charger and it has been at least a couple of hours after you were on a charger. While on shore power or while solar panels are working you will be getting a charge put into your batteries that is in excess of what this resting battery status will be. If you are worried, simply unplug (or turn off you solar panels if you have them) wait a couple of hours and then look to see what your batteries read. During this time you should also turn off all things (that you can) that draw battery power. Bill

Mystery solved! And, Mike - have you ever thought that just maybe its NOT the Oliver they are interested in? Bill

ZZ - any idea of the graphics color and tow vehicle? Was it an Elite I or II? Bill

I must admit that I don't really understand about 50% of what you guys are talking about regarding mppt's, adding more panels, and flex panels versus rigid ones. However, I do know that my solar charges my T-105's back to 100% no later than 10am each day regardless of being in a shaded site or in full sun. I admit that I really do not use much electric but I do watch a DVD every other night (on average), I do listen to music most of the time when I'm in the camper and I almost never use the inverter or furnace. Of course, I do have the Blue Sky system. Given that there are a number of others that also have the Zamp system and there doesn't seem to be a chorus yelling about its performance in Olivers, it leads me to believe that there is something else going on here. Certainly there have been cases of the Blue Sky controllers malfunctioning and/or wiring being completed incorrectly. This just doesn't make sense to me. Bill

If you're taking votes - I'd go with Quill. Like the sound and the reference and the fact that not everyone knows that a quill was (is?) used for writing. Bill

Brad - the valve works great. I've not had one drop get by the closed valve. Bill

Not surprisingly, I returned from my local Ford dealer this morning with a piece of paper that says," No SSM or TSB found for this vehicle. Cust supplied SSM does not apply to this vehicle as it was built after 4/11/15. There are no updates to the TBC at this time. Self test of TBC and memory codes found no DTC. Checked all fuses - all good. Visual inspection found no concerns. Verified voltage at pins - no concern. Found working to specs at this time." Note: my F-150 is a 2017 model built in February, 2017. So, I still have the TowMaster to try and the Oliver to check. Unfortunately, both those things will have to be done while I'm headed to Colorado for two months of fishing in about two weeks. I'll update if I find something. Bill

I agree with John - there is no "real" problem with either the slide valve or the operating handle in the bath. On the 2017 models there is an option for an electric switch to operate the slide valve versus the standard mechanical one. The reason I placed the word real in quotes is because I have forgotten to open that valve when camped. Thus, I have had a wet floor (and wet feet) in the bath due to my own inability to remember to open the gate to allow the water from the sink or shower to flow into the grey tank. Bill

John - you're right about the resolution. I spent less than $125 for my camera and transmitter plus the $125 I paid Oliver to install the wiring, on/off switch, and plate and my resolution is about the same as yours. I guess that I could spring for a better camera, but, as with yours, the resolution is adequate for seeing that big rock or tree or even kid before one backs into it. I've been pleasantly surprised with the camera reception in low light conditions. I do think that your camera location is a bit better than mine because you will get less road spray. Certainly a BIG benefit of your install is that you do not need yet another screen in you TV just for the camera. Given that I can use either my Andriod tablet or phone to view, I too didn't have to add another screen to the array inside my truck. Bill

I'd guess that the tech knows the kind of place that he is working for and wanted to try to make things right. I'd also bet that this tech will not be working for these people for very long unless he has absolutely no other choice. Glad you got it fixed but sad that it cost you $50 to find out what you already knew. Bill

HMD - most of had that dream and most of us can attest that dreams do come true. Keep on dreaming until they come true for you. Bill

Jason - email sent with pictures attached Hull # 117 Named "Twist"