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AlbertNTerri

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Everything posted by AlbertNTerri

  1. Additional Update: I received a call from another person at Truma to follow up on the problem and repair (this individual called from the office in Indiana, the one I'd been dealing with previously was based out of Tampa/Lakeland area). He had viewed the video, I described the course and outcome. He informed me that they were aware of the collar nut which fastens the propane source to the burner assembly not being torqued to the appropriate level on some of the units that left the Truma factory and that they thought they had addressed this issue. He informed me that, "Out of the multiple thousands of water heaters they have produced, only a handful, less than a dozen, have had this problem, and they thought they had fully addressed it." He also informed me that they have been in touch with Oliver since it seemed to happen more often with units that were installed in Oliver's trailers. He told me (Truma) would like to see the unit and evaluate the repair themselves and suggested I bring it to the Lakeland FL location when we head north at the end of April. I told him that when this was initially discovered and I started talking to them last week about it, I was about 2-3 hours away from that facility and was happy to head over there (albeit in the opposite direction from our destination at the time). I actually started heading that way when they called me back and said they could not see me until the end of March due to their current schedule and work load. the gentleman from Indiana scoffed at that and told me that they will make the time to see me whenever I can get to them and to just call him when I'm heading that way so he can arrange me getting to the front of the line. (Currently we're settled in in Key West which is 5-7 hours away from Lakeland, traffic depending). For now, the unit is working well, no evidence of gas leaking. When we start heading north in April we may make the effort to swing by Lakeland since that will add less time to our journey north then stopping by The Mother Ship in TN. I'll update as needed. TAKE-HOME SUGGESTION: If you're so DIY inclined, I recommend removing the 2 star-head screws holding the bottom of the burner assembly in place, slide the burner assembly out enough to get a wrench on the collar nut (where the gas line turns upward 90-degrees and attaches to the burner assembly with a compression fitting) and make sure it is good and snug. I've reached out to Truma again and asked for their recommended torque for this nut, I'll update when they reply.
  2. PS. thanks Galway Girl, per your recommendation we submitted a report to the NHTSA and they called me the next day for additional info. The guy I spoke with was not aware of your report last year, I made him aware of it and pointed him to the Oliver Forum to see your post about it. He commented that since Oliver has such a low production number that they probably didn't do much with it, but now that there's been two reports, they may move forward with investigating this. After seeing the problem, I'm thinking this is more of Truma issue and not so much an "Oliver" Issue.
  3. Update (and resolution?) We're currently in Key West until late April. The soonest Truma could see us at their facility in Lakeland FL was in March. Oliver sent a list of places they have blessed, the closest is about 5 - 7 hours north (traffic dependent) but they (La Mesa RV in Port St. Lucie) won't work on an Oliver since they don't sell them, so the next closest place is further than that. I discussed the problem with a local mobile RV repair guy who was highly recommended by a friend (name and address below), he took a look at it, reached inside and discovered a loose fitting, he pulled out his tools and in about 15 minutes he had the problem diagnosed and fixed (see below). $300 and he was on his way. A bargain! I Called Truma and Oliver to update them on the repair. Mike from Oliver said he would likely be able to mail me a check for the $300 later this week. Problem: Looking at the Truma from the outside with the cover open, the gas comes in from the right, goes into the burner assembly then makes a 90-degree turn upward and then attaches to the assembly with a large (about 3/4 inch) collar nut to hold the compression fitting in place. The collar nut had come loose and was freely spinning. You can't see it from this prospective, to access it there are two star head screws on the bottom, once removed the entire burner assembly is able to be slid out enough to get a wrench on the collar nut. Tighten it down, return the burner assembly to its home position and Viola! The tech hypothesized that the collar nut was never tightened appropriately at the Truma factory. Since there was no evidence of burned wires or other burn damage (see videos in the first post) we thought is was fine to continue using the unit. If there had been any concerns of damage then we would have had to replace the unit, Truma had already agreed to replace the unit since it was still under their 2-year warrenty. Fortunately the Gas fire ball only occured 2-3 times and the odd sound it was making prompted me to take a look at the unit. After seeing the "fire in the hole I opted to allow it to occur one more time (this time with a fire extinguisher in hand) so I could get a video of the symptom to send to Truma, Oliver and share with all my friends. I suppose the Take-Home message should be: if it's not looking or sounding like it has in the past, something has probably changed, go take a look at it, whatever it is.... RV Mobile Repair in Key West, FL: I highly recommend Vern for any RV concerns if you are on the Florida Keys. He's been living there for about 2 years, moved from Michigan. He has a very impressive tool set-up in the back of his pick up, a secure topper with tool boxes all the way around, very well organized, and clean. He is polite, responsive, knowledgeable, he arrived when he said he would and cleaned up after himself when he left. He apparently worked for another RV repair place in the past and is making a go-of-it on his own. I'm glad to support his efforts and will absolutely use him any time I have any issues. This is however the first time he had ever laid eyes on an Oliver or a Truma water heater. He was excited to see the Oliver first hand since he'd heard of them in the past and had seen them in pictures. GBoyz Mobile RV Repair LLC. Vern@gbzllc.com (269) 370-3905 65821 Overseas Hwy Long Key, FL 33001
  4. We are working with Truma and Oliver on this. The trailer had been winterized for several months, we packed it up and drove to Florida, de-winterized it and when we started up the water heater, this is what happened. The only telltale sign was it sounded a little different and louder when it would start up, the water got hot, just as usual. Glad I stepped outside to take a look at it. When I took that video, I had the fire extinguisher ready to go. Truma initially said “shut off the gas on the trailer,” but then came back later and said it was fine to leave the gas on “just leave the water heater turned off.” Per the person at Truma this is a problem unique to Oliver and they are in contact with each other trying to figure out a solution. We are working with Truma and Oliver on this. The trailer had been winterized for several months, we packed it up and drove to Florida, de-winterized it and when we started up the water heater, this is what happened. The only telltale sign was it sounded a little different and louder when it would start up, the water got hot, just as usual. Glad I stepped outside to take a look at it. When I took that video, I had the fire extinguisher ready to go. Truma initially said “shut off the gas on the trailer,” but then came back later and said it was fine to leave the gas on “just leave the water heater turned off.” Per the person at Truma this is a problem unique to Oliver and they are in contact with each other trying to figure out a solution. IMG_2031.mov IMG_2031.mov IMG_2031.mov
  5. When Elon Musk and his Space-X honchos started successfully landing rockets on boats in the ocean (to my knowledge, NASA has never remotely landed a rocket anywhere, let alone on a floating platform), I figured that his engineering groups are head and shoulders above anything that has every been seen before. When he proposed a class 8 semi EV, Bill Gates made headlines saying that it was physically impossible (IE, against the laws of physics) to make such a vehicle since the weight of the batteries would preclude it from having a functional hauling capacity. This too proved to not be the case. The Tesla semi continues to rack up miles and data which is looking more and more like the wave of the future. I expect the cybertruck is just the tip of the iceberg, and that in the next few months and years we will be seeing more and more improvements in the technology and capabilities to the point where in the next few years I expect that internal combustion vehicles will go the way of the buggy and steam locomotive.
  6. Looks like your pooch in the back seat is smiling too!!!
  7. Here, Here! We've replaced one of them once and another one twice, all under warranty. Love the concept, a great idea when they work. First one failed in about 3 months after picking up the trailer. They need to find another light to use, probably just go to one with a switch. albert
  8. Love the storage idea and great catch on the propane valve!
  9. Our Oliver Elite 2 #1125 was one of the 25 or so units that had balance beads in the tires from the factory. My understanding is that the wheel/tire combos arrived at the mother ship already mounted and with the balance beads installed, a fact that was unknown to Oliver at the time. Once this fact became know to OTT, they mitigated the problem by sending out a set of 5 valves that have a sort of filter screen to prevent the balance beads from plugging up the valve mechanism which would result in the valve being held open and lead to loss of tire pressure. OTT also provided a visa debit card loaded with $25 to cover the cost of a tire servicer to replace the valves. We did the replacement last year and assumed all would be fine. The trailer has been sitting for about 2 months, a couple of weeks ago when I was prepping it for a voyage I discovered the TPMS was not functioning due to the batteries in the sending units having gone bad so I pulled out my trusty tire gauge and set out to check my tire pressures, only to find that when I removed the TPMS (caps) that the air was flowing freely out the valve stem, exactly as it had been doing before installing the "filter" valves meant to solve this problem. I immediately replaced the cap to prevent any further pressure loss, kicking the tires to determine if they seemed inflated enough for the 60 mile journey to the tire shop, which they were. Discount Tire in Montrose, Colorado was prompt to break down the tires, including the spare, thoroughly clean out the balance beads, replace all the valves, balance the tires the normal way (without balance beads) and remount the tires on the trailer, took about 60 minutes and they had 4 techs working on it at the same time. When I went to pay the bill the service manager smiled and said, 'Don't worry about it, just come to see us the next time you need tires." I told him that they had nothing to do with the balance beads installation, he acknowledged that fact but held his ground and refused payment. What a wonderful experience. To any of you who have had to deal with the Balance Bead issue, the solution of the filter valves is inadequate, the tires need to be remove from the rims and the Balance Beads physically cleaned out...Be Aware!!
  10. BTW, I'm just using it for gray water since we have the Nature's Head
  11. So what's the consensus? Do we think the Orange/black Rhino Extreme, Thetford Titan (black with green ends), or the big green Waste Master? I'm standing by ready to order on Amazon!!
  12. I could be wrong with my calculations, but it looks like your TV weight went up 600-620 pounds when hooked up which makes your tongue weight (600-620). Interestingly, the anderson shifts about 40 pounds from the rear TV axle to the front TV axle and shifts 20 pounds from the rear axle of the TV to the trailer axles (I thought it would be more than that), but...there you have it. Trailer weighed in at 6440 pounds
  13. probably not ideal, can you keep it hooked up and just raise the nose 6-8 inches to be closer to level? just dont forget to lower it before driving off...
  14. Thanks John for all your input and help. Good luck on all your future endeavors, hope to see you on the road sometime. albert & terri
  15. Disconnect the hose from the outside (or at least shut off the water source), shut off the pump, get some towels and look under the curb side bed at the pump (where the valves are to change configuration for boondocking etc.) On the inlet side of the pump is a clear plastic cup-like structure that has a screen filter, unscrew the filter cap (clear plastic cup) and see if you have debris in the screen that need to be cleared. Put the towels down to catch the water that comes out when you unscrew the filter cover. Clean it and then put it back together, it doesn't need to be more than finger-tight. If that doesn't fix it then I'd call OTT in the morning. It may also be related to the back-flow valve which is on the inside of the line right after where you hook up the water hose (on the street side. If that's the issue than it should be under warranty and you'll want to open a service ticket.
  16. Yeh, I was hoping someone would chime in, but alas, I just submitted a ticket. I'm hoping it won't be too much of a hassle to pull the fridge out and figure out what it will take to re attach the top piece of plastic. For the time being it's being held in place with some nice wide blue paper tape. We were getting ready to move the trailer when I noticed the loose piece so I really didn't have the time to fully address it, there's no problem with the function of the fridge, but I'm glad I caught it before driving the 5 hours down "the hill" to Denver, otherwise we may have found a different problem when we arrived. We've put over 14,000 miles on the Ollie since picking it up last June so I suppose a loose piece of plastic here and there are to be expected. Take home lesson: Always check everything before rolling
  17. Hull #1125 Norcold model N412.3F top plastic piece that contains the control panel/buttons is loose along the top edge. There's no obvious screws to tighten, I'm thinking I'm going to have to slide the fridge out to access the top of the plastic piece to tighten it down, Has anyone had any similar problems with this unit? it just turned one year-old. I have not opened a service ticket (yet).
  18. It might pull off from the other end easier, clip all the wire ties to leave the wire in the bathroom then pull the toilet with the hose still attached and deal with it outside which will give you more room to work... that may make it easier to get off too
  19. or maybe using a heat gun on low, but I'd be real apprehensive about using the heat gun
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