topgun2

Yes, heck of a Rally. Lots of information, great presentations, meeting lots of people (at least half of which I don't remember the names - sorry!), meeting those very hard working people from Oliver that gave up their weekend, eating a bunch of food (provided by Oliver), meeting vendors who were very gracious with time and information and watching the joy of those people that won one of the numerous door prizes given away. Coy did a great job as MC and organizer. Matt Duncan was the point man for registration, t-shirts and paperwork, etc. A bunch of folks from Oliver and volunteers handled the food and cleanup after the food. The Oliver service guys were always seen running taking care of anything from display units to a music stage to helping owners with "issues". Of course the sales staff was there too answering questions from current and future owners alike - and this includes being there on Sunday morning! A big thanks to the Oliver family, Coy, and everyone attending for such a friendly well run event. Hope to see you next year! Bill

Yvonne&Doug, Thank you both for the kind words. Glad things worked out well for you and for 223. Be sure that many adventures await in that good looking rig. Bill

Nice to have met Bob last night at the rally. In true Oliver style Bob gave me a15 to 30 amp adapter so I could get electric. Truly generous and certainly save me a trip to Wally World. Bob's Maine graphic on the nose of his Elite II is very nicely done - and he gave credit to Mike and Carol for inspiration. Bill

Bill, Welcome from those of us who are at the owners rally in Hohenwald. I'm looking out the dinette window at the rear of Bugeyedriver's (Pete ) smiley face camper. Hope your weather is a bit better. Maybe next year you can get here. In the meantime, safe travels and have fun with that rig. Bill

Krista, You are correct - there is NO gravity water feed on the Oliver. However, this is not a bad thing. No more lifting the pail, jug, bottle, etc. at eight pounds per gallon. No more splashing the water all over your shoes and down the side of your camper. No more trying to hit that little hole in the side of the camper. With the Oliver you simply place the water at the back of the camper, put a short length of hose in it, attach the other end to the camper, turn the water pump to on and watch the water disappear into your fresh water tank. In addition, if you are really out in the boonies and have a creek or lake near enough, you an simply draw the water directly into your tank without even filling the bucket. I originally thought that not having the gravity feed would be a bad thing. But, once you do it the Oliver way and watch people come over asking how you did that, I'm guessing that you will become a fan like I did. Bill

Reed & Karen, Nice digs! And it looks like a great day. Doesn't get much better than that. Thanks for sharing. Bill

geO, I think that I'm in site 21 - stop on by (Twist could use the company). I like your color choice - kind of beachy or making me think of Margaritaville. Look forward to meeting you at the Rally! Bill

geO, All the inverter does is convert 12 volts to 110 volts. Depending on the size of the inverter one can operate virtually any electric appliance up to the inverter's capacity. Assuming that you have the standard 2000 watt inverter that Oliver typically sells with its campers, you could theoretically operate any 110 volt electric appliance up to 2000 watts. However, there is some loss in the conversion from the 12 volts to the 110 volts (and a couple other technical things), thus it is best to not try operating anything above about 1500 watts. This 1500 watts includes most hair dryers, toaster ovens, coffee pots, TV's, radios, computers, microwaves, etc. Simply look on the appliance you want to use to see how many watts are listed - if it is below 1500 you are good to go. If it is above 1500 watts or if you can not find the watts on the appliance then it would be better to not use it. Also, don't forget to add up those watts if you are trying to operate more than one appliance at a time - you still should not go over the total of 1500 watts. Mind you that this is a simple explanation and not all inverters are as good as the one in the Oliver. So, do not use this as a blanket statement for all inverters. Hope this helps! Bill

Not withstanding the above, a seldom mentioned argument FOR a tandem axle trailer is the additional safety it provides. In the event of a problem with one axle there is always the other axle there to serve as support. Yes, I know, there is also twice the chance of something going wrong. But, if one is mindful of maintenance issues I think that this is greatly reduced to the point of only exposing ones-self to unusual or chance occurrences. Perhaps it is still the "old" Boy scout in me that wants to "Be Prepared". Bill

When I picked up Twist a year ago - February, its propane tanks (20 pounders) were full. Bill

Dave, When I saw your post yesterday I was in a bit of a rush basically doing the same thing you mention and thought that by now you would have had a bunch of replies. Short answer - yes, I "do" the heater. Even though I leave the heater dry over the winter I think that it is just too easy to lump it in with the rest of the fresh water system when I sanitize. Therefore, in goes the bleach, let it sit overnight and today I'll flush the whole thing. Sometimes I wonder exactly why I do this in that I never actually drink the water either from the tanks or from "city" supplied water while on the road or camped - I bring along "bottled" water. I do this because of sensitivity to changes in the water's mineral content versus being all that worried about bacteria. I any case, I know that ALL is as clean as I can make it. Bill

Is there anything else I need to do, other than getting our Rockwood ready & hitting the road? Bring beer/wine? Twist is always thirsty! Hope to meet you at the Rally. Bill

I'll second ScubaRx's comments regarding the motel in Hohenwald. The beds are not too bad and it was fairly quiet. The last time we were at Fall Hollow they didn't have our reservation and there was no room. However, even though we didn't eat there it sure did smell good. But, I don't think that they are open for meals on Sunday's and Monday's. Have a safe trip and we look forward to all those photos. Bill

YES, that is correct. See Buzzy's post regarding the AGM's. Bill

The following information was received from James Cobb at the Trojan Battery Company. These parameter settings should be used ONLY for the four Trojan T-105 lead acid batteries as used by Oliver with the solar option on the Elite II. The Blue Sky Energy IPN-ProRemote Battery Charge Parameters Setup Menu should be accessed and reviewed as per pages seven and eight (figures 4 and 5) of the "Installation and Operation Manual". This manual can be found either as a part of the Oliver Owners manual or at the following: http://www.blueskyenergyinc.com/uploads/pdf/Manual_BSE_IPN-ProRemote.pdf Once in the "Setup Menu" set the parameters as follows: 1. Set Bat Amp-Hrs - 450 2. Set Chgefcy Mode - Auto 3. Set Self-Dischg - 10% 4. Set Maximum Bat Volts - 16.2 Next, go to "Set Bat Charge Parameters" and hit "sel" for select to enter the "Battery Charge Parameters Menu". Then set the parameters as follows: 1. Set Accept Chg - 14.8 2. Set Float Chg - 13.5 3. Set Equaliz Chg - 16.2 4. Set Equaliz Time - 2-4 hours 5. Set Auto Equaliz - 30 days 6. Set Float Curent - 2.0A/100AH 7. Set Accept Time - 2-4 hours Any parameter input not shown above should be left at the factory setting. Also, in response to asking about "dip switch" settings on the solar charge controller for battery "Equalization purposes", Ryan Gurin from Blue Sky Energy sent the following email: "On the the SB3024IL, you need to move DIP#5 to the "ON" position. One the SB2512IX-HV, SB2512iX & SB1524IX you move DIP#4 to the "ON" position. On the SB3000i & SC30 you enable equalization using the set-up button, switching "EqE" to ON." So, if you have the SB2512i(X)-HV (like I do) you will need to set the dip switch #4 to the "ON" position. See page 7 of the Installation and Operation Manual for the charge controller under the Setup and Wiring Diagram - figure 3. Obviously, if you do not wish to "Equalize" your batteries you can leave this dip switch in the "off" position. Hope this helps! Bill

As Per James Cobb at Trojan Battery Company the values to be used in the Blue Sky IPN ProRemote charge controller and battery system monitor for the Trojan T-105 batteries (assuming the standard four T-105 lead acid batterys Oliver uses with the solar option) are as follows: (under "Advanced Display Menu") 1. Bat Amp-hrs - 450 2. Set CHGEFCY Mode - AUTO 3. Set Self-Dischg - 10% / month 4. Set Maximum Bat Volts - 16.2 volts (under " Set Bat Charge Pararmeters") 1. Set Accept Chg 14.8 volts 2. Set Float Chg 13.5 volts 3. Set Equaliz Chg 16.2 volts 4. Set Equaliz Time 2-4 hours 5. Set Auto Equaliz Time 30 days (factory setting) 6. Set T-Comp Slope -5.00 mV/C/C (factory setting) 7. Set Float Curent 2.0A/100AH 8. Set Accept Time 2-4 hours NOTE: The above parameters are to be used ONLY for the T-105 lead acid batteries. See page 7/8, figures 4 and 5, of the Blue Sky Energy IPN-ProRemote "Installation and Operation Manual". This manual can be found either in the Oliver Owners Manual or at: http://www.blueskyenergyinc.com/uploads/pdf/Manual_BSE_IPN-ProRemote.pdf Hope this helps! Bill

So, what were YOU doing while Bosker was completing all this work? Bill p.s. good job and I suspect you saved me some time on down the road - thanks!

Kathy & Clair, If at all possible, do come to the Rally. Not only will you get a chance to meet many of us that are here on the Forum (I know that is not much of an incentive), but you will get to see what many of us have done to our Ollies, what options are available and might be good for you AND the behind the scenes stuff like the plant tour and presentations by some of the component suppliers. Certainly both of you are more than welcome! Bill

Buzzy et al, I contacted Jason for this information for two reasons - 1: Since Oliver must do the initial programming of the solar controller in each particular installation, I figured that they (he) would have that information readily available. 2: Since Trojan nor Blue Sky are the ones constructing the entire system, they do not necessarily have (nor would I expect them to have) these kind of input numbers. I find it a bit surprising that they have been so accommodating, but, I'm certainly glad to hear that they are willing to work with individual Oliver owners. When I get these numbers (from whatever source) I will be certain to post them here so that other can have access to this information. Bill

Once again Buzzy's numbers are great. BUT, does anyone have these same numbers for those of us that own the four Trojan T-105's lead-acid batteries? I've asked Jason for them the day before yesterday, but have not received them - yet. Bill

John, Did you glue it down or just use the screws shown? Weight? Looks good - nice job! Bill

Since DavidS was kind enough to post a Battery Charge Status chart for the Trojan AGM batteries, I thought that there just might be others that would be interested in a similar chart for the Trojan T-105's. So, here it is! Bill

If anyone is going to "do the Trace" on the way to (or from) the Rally and you plan on staying overnight at any of the Trace campgrounds I would suggest planning on setting up camp no later than 3 pm or so in order to make sure you get a spot. Free is good! Bill

Buzzy, Not just you. I rely heavily on the "search" function. But, that requires that you first guess the right search word and then possibly wade through a bunch of additional posts that just happen to have the same search word in them. Indeed, even some posts that are in a general sense not related to a particular topic that you are looking for just might have a mention of something that you are looking for - I'm thinking of my Hohenwald, Natchez Trace, New Orleans post where you asked about the blocks under my jacks. Bottom line is that I too believe it would be helpful to have more topic categories, but, I'm sure that we both could agree that given the room that there is to work with, all our problems will not be solved. Bill

I too would like to thank Buzzy for spearheading this discussion. I know that his knowledge was hard won out of necessity but it is totally unselfish of him to share it so graciously. And, while I'm at it, another big thanks goes out to Steve (Scubarx) for all his help and knowledge on similar items. Bill