John E Davies

I agree that you may have a supply problem, do you have a GFCI tester? You NEED to have one of these in your galley drawer, for routine checks at campgrounds before plugging in to shore power... Any brand similar to this, with the GFCI button on it, will be fine. The local hardware store will have one. Sperry tester Check all your Ollie outlets with it also, including the one above the microwave. Test the functioning of your GFCI outlet, mine is located below the dinette. Your dog bone adapter may be faulty, you need to check everything. Many cheap ones are poorly made. Buy a 15A male to 30 A female one, plugged directly into your side connection, and try plugging a regular 15A extension cord into the trailer - if that fixes the problem your other adapter is no good. You don’t need to use your big cable over the winter, a heavy gauge 15A (10 AWG) cord is fine. If your home outlet and your cords and adapters check OK, then you need to contact Oliver. Not before. Good luck. John Davies Spokane WA

Just do it, you know they will look very cool. My next set of truck tires will be these, I would not mind adding them to the Ollie, but not for a few more years. https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/cooper-discoverer-at3-xlt I doubt that you will be able to tell any towing difference on paved roads, or on gravel for that matter, but they will be more resistant to rock damage. And cool. John Davies Spokane WA

Chill out, your Escalade will be 95% fine for an Elite, I would not even use the Andersen for this setup. Just make sure your truck is in good mechanical condition, all fluids fresh; brakes, tires and shock absorbers in good shape, and go for it. It won’t have the many safety and towing features of a new truck. Just try it out for a season, that will give you the basic towing education, and you can decide if you want to trade it in on a newer tow vehicle. You will need a brake control unit, plus a GM adapter wiring harness, I suggest the Tekonsha Prodigy P3. Other than that it should be fine as is, assuming it is in very good shape. With the Andersen you could safely tow an Elite II, so the smaller trailer should be a piece of cake for this truck. OTH if it is not in good shape AND if it is not economically practical to make it so, trade it in and get something a few years old. It is up to you to decide if you are ready to spend a lot to fix it up. On a nearly twenty year old vehicle, that is a big factor. So, if it is a beater, get rid of it, if it is a gem, keep it. If you don’t know, take it to a good independent shop and ask them to perform a full safety inspection, which will give you a list of all the good and bad things. John Davies Spokane WA

Any 3/4 ton pickup will work fine without the Andersen hitch, choose whatever brand and 4wd model you like best. If you want to know about engines, search past topics here since this gets discussed about every couple of weeks.... there is an active “How many mpgs towing” thread, have you looked at that yet? Fuel economy is only a fairly small part of the overall ownership picture. I personally like the newer Ram 2500 trucks. Choose a nice interior because you will spend many long hours sitting inside, looking at it. Drive them all, choose your favorite, then shop for the best deal on it. BTW, we hear all kinds of reasons to change vehicles, I do not recall anyone choosing one because they already have a nice hitch....🙂 John Davies Spokane WA

Driving south along the Mississippi River IS downhill. At least, the last I heard, even if it is only 600 feet change from Iowa to the Gulf... 🙂 Just like the Great Plains, ignoring wind effects, you get a little better mileage headed east than west .John Davies Spokane WA

This is confusing, because I have read you should store at "about" 50% (30-70) and then do a full charge/ discharge cycle to 50%. That isn't the same as just topping it back up to 50%. I think long term storage at half charge makes sense, but you should also give the system a full workout once every six months. I have also read that you should just charge to 100% every three months, (as per the instructions for my Viking LiFePO4 car booster). I compromise and charge it every six months until the built in charger turns off. But if this $70 unit fails, no big deal.... a multi-thousand dollar RV battery bank is different in this respect. John Davies Spokane WA

Mine is an inReach SE+ (no maps). I have so many other nav options I did not feel the need for them in this device. If I were a back country hiker I would have got the map version... https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/camping-and-hiking/personal-locator-beacon/garmin-inreach-explorer-plus John Davies Spokane WA

Do you really want to rely on a cell based design? There are lots of places out West where it will be completely dis-functional. A satellite based locator will work anywhere that it has a reasonably clear view of the sky. It may not work if your stolen trailer is stashed in a steel roofed barn, but normal buildings and moderate tree cover is not a problem. If a satellite is not in view, it keeps trying until one comes along. Normally it takes a couple of minutes, very rarely as long as ten minutes. My inReach works flawlessly through the roof of the Ollie. I guess the Oyster 2 would be great in an urban area, but not in the boonies (OTH the odds of theft there are greatly reduced). John Davies Spokane WA

SPOT annual (prepaid) subscription services are overpriced. In some cases grossly so. And very punitive; if you have to cancel - they keep it all... That is the primary reason why I bought an inReach for $350 and dropped my $50 (on sale, rebate) SPOT Satellite Tracker. Their web interface, at the time I cancelled, was clunky and awkward to use. Garmin’s is not great, but it is better. I would never recommend any SPOT. I don’t know if any theft devices offer a monthly subscription. My inReach monthly plan can be “paused” by going online. At the end of that month it stops until I restart it. No penalties or limitations. I don’t need it for camping five months per year, but I do travel in the winter, so I keep it active all year long, for that purpose. John Davies Spokane WA

Does anyone in snow country tilt their solar array toward the sun? This will keep most of the snow and ice off. The lower panel may get obscured by snow buildup, but the top one should remain fully clear and operating normally at full output. It takes just a few minutes and $10 worth of aluminum to make strong support arms. I recommend lowering them back to the normal position when a strong wind storm is coming..... and no, I have not actually tried this. “Mouse” lives inside. John Davies Spokane WA

The grey valve should always be closed when opening the black valve, otherwise when you use the black water rinse feature, if you choose to do so, you can get some fecal stuff backed up into the grey tank. Not good. I personally feel bad about interconnecting the two systems at all, black waste should always remain fully separated from grey. But with Oliver’s two into one discharge design, they have to meet at the very end, in front of the outlet tube. Just try to keep them separated upstream from that. If you are going to flush the black tank complete that before touching the grey handle. My hull 218 did not come with a 90 degree adapter. John Davies Spokane WA

Thanks for the kind words. How about you start a new thread with a POLL so we can vote and comment on your question...? I personally am OK with six to eight hrs, but that is on secondary two lane highways. I usually avoid freeways. A whole lot depends on terrain and weather. Twisty north Idaho highways for example, will beat you up, big time. John Davies Spokane WA

There are anti static coatings that will stick to ABS, such as .... https://www.techspray.com/a-permanent-esd-safe-coating-with-clear-benefits..... I wonder if such a product could be misted inside the sewer pipe and tank. Apparently they do not need to be evenly or heavily applied. They work kind of like rubbing with a dryer sheet. John Davies Spokane WA

Overland, could you indeed use the existing big (4”) sewer pipe and also the black tank, as a kind of huge plenum underneath the NH toilet? I am just throwing things out here, since I never for a second thought about running heat up the street side of the floor. Once the warm air gets to the black tank, I am at all not sure how you would get it into the bathroom itself. Maybe some sort of riser/ register duct in the front of the partition wall where it connects to the hull wall.... A nice white gelcoated item with moisture baffles from Oliver would be the most elegant way. Just having a bunch of warm air flowing through the tank and out again (somewhere) would do a lot to warm the bathroom floor, and some would leak up through the hole under the toilet. If nothing else you would have a warm toilet to sit on.... Oooh, oooooh - how about cutting off the black tank vent under the vanity and run that to the existing register? That could work pretty well, I think. You could even add another 1.5 inch “vent” pipe from the tank if you needed more airflow.... With this design you could also use the black dump valve as a flow regulator, with the outside cable removed. And of course the black rinse pipe removed! John Davies Spokane Wa

If you tape around the joint, use a gloved finger to press and fair in the edges, then pull off the tape, the 4000 UV gives beautiful results and is not at all difficult, Lots of pics here: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2082-how-to-install-a-big-bubble-level-no-drilling/ I resealed the roof fan over the summer, no worries. John Davies Spokane WA

I have decided to never buy a fire extinguisher until I actually need one. And life insurance, I will wait until I am about to die. And I won’t fill my truck up with gas until it starts to splutter. Chains.... yep, I will just wait until the storm hits and then go get a set. LOL. Don’t plan on buying chains in middle TN in December. Do they even sell them there? Walk into Wally World and ask for chains and they will just stare blankly at you. Read: .... https://nashvillest.com/2017/01/10/snow-nashvillians-cant-drive/ Buy now when on they are sale - use https://camelcamelcamel.com/ to track Amazon prices - stash them away, and pat yourself on the back. At your Ollie delivery you can take them out for your sales person to marvel over..... “”What the heck are those?” 😬 John Davies Spokane WA

SOME National Park campgrounds are really tight, like Glacier and Olympic, as are MANY older state parks that have not been "modernized" and renovated, and lots of NFS campgrounds. Anything in heavy trees may be problematic. Many COE and Dept of Wildlife spots are pretty darned tiny. Many are awkward for maneuvering. Not that you can't find a spot, just that you will find way less to choose from. I find the LE2 to be a fine size generally, but when I see that really nice 40 ft back-in site with a tree or large rock at the very end of it, I wish the trailer were five feet shorter. And we have't even mentioned doing u-turns..... If I were a lone camper I would be much happier with an LE1 behind my Land Cruiser. John Davies Spokane WA

LOL, my RV660LMT is indeed half useful. “Stop route”, any of the canned commands, work 95% of the time without having to repeat yourself. It is the next step that often tanks, completely. “Find city.” ”What city please?” ”Republic Washington.” ”Did you say Tacoma Washington?” ”Republic Washington.” ”Did you say Wilmington Delaware?” She continues to give increasingly ridiculous suggestions... ”#%*+#£#!!!!!” Types in REPUBLIC while trying not to crash..... There have been some pretty harsh comments directed at Ms Gerty Garmin. On the one hand, it is more than a little entertaining and breaks the boredom. On the second hand, it is a distraction. On the gripping hand, it is dangerous. But I am sure the voice recognition firmware continues to get better. I really would prefer, in my next vehicle, to have Apple CarPlay sync with my iPad Mini 4, so I can use GAIA. But Apple forces you to use a phone instead. GAIA on a phone is harder, less intuitive, and there is way less storage for maps. Apple’s decision doesn’t make any sense at all. John Davies Spokane WA

Calling a gas powered generator an inverter is confusing at best and is simply incorrect. Many cheap generators have no inverter at all. The better ones are “inverter equipped” to provide a clean non-ripple AC power which is safe for electronics. IMHO everybody should just call it a generator, and save the term inverter for your onboard hard-wired one, or a small portable one. You could accurately call it an inverter generator, but normally that full phrase isn’t used except maybe in technical articles. John Davies Spokane WA

That should be a good unit but I bet you a nice steak dinner that you turn off the RV warning nanny after a week. Maybe if you had a 14 ft tall motorhome, but with the Ollie, it is just noise. The campground database isn’t so great either, and the icons clutter up the screen. Many of them are never need anyway with the composting toilet, since you will be “dump station independent”. Please post a report here. If you want to load individual 24k state topo maps as an additional map option, let me know, and we can start a discussion about that. Be sure to play with the Voice options, my daughter prefers the New Zealand one. You can download custom or funny ones too, but that seems a little silly IMHO. But I do have to admit a Tom Selllck or Jessica Rabbit voice saying “Turn right in three hundred feet” might be cool. This will give you a head start. .... https://www.gpsfiledepot.com/tutorials/how-to-load-maps-on-my-garmin-gps-unit/ John Davies Spokane WA

I am not sure about the bezels. My guess is that they do come out by careful prying with a plastic body tool, not a steel tool! Maybe a call to Service would be a good next step, if you can wait until Monday..... You have a wiring issue if it affects both light units. If just one, then it could be a light failure. LEDs do fail at random, but never all at once. Boards and soldered connections however do fail, possibly rendering the entire unit dead. Good luck. John Davies Spokane WA

Any other description is completely dependent on which way the person is facing. Curbside never changes, it is always the side you normally park on, on a two way street ie the passenger side of your car; it’s the side of the Ollie with the door. You should never park a trailer the wrong way on a street because the cabin door will open into traffic instead of onto a sidewalk. This is similar to saying “the drivers side door” of a car, it is 100% clear which one you are referring to. John Davies Spokane WA

There have been mentions of tools for crimping battery cables, I had been making do with the kind you smash with a big mallet, crude but effective. I decided to buy a proper tool. This one is dieless, unlike most others. It is made for just electrical terminals, so it is limited to 5 tons. Many of the big ones (10 tons or more) are intended for stuff like stainless steel fittings for a porch railing or yacht. This one is very nicely made, has an infinite adjustment range, almost, from small 10 AWG wires to really big ones, much larger than the 00 cable Oliver uses for the inverters. It is easy to use and feels like a really high quality tool. The head swivels 360 degrees so you can position the handle properly in a cramped space. It has a 5 year warranty. I just wish it came in a nice plastic case instead of cardboard.... This is the reason I decided on this type: The instructions have a guide about how many “pumps” are needed for a given size wire, but in reality you pump and pump, and when the die starts to bottom out, the resistance starts to noticeably increase. A couple of more pumps and it is done. Don’t keep going or you can drive a hole clean through the copper. I have only done the one test but I am sure it will be useful the next time I have to make some big cables or repair one, like when I install lithium batteries. I really like and recommend this model. TEMco TH1818 Dieless Crimper at Amazon John Davies Spokane WA

I don’t know of anyone who has lifted an LE2. It has been much discussed. Overland had the factory test a spring-over-axle mod before he took delivery and it did not work out well, and it looked pretty silly. Maybe he could post a picture of his test mule. I would love to do something, given enough spare funds. I lean towards the Timbren independent system, for ease of installation and low maintenance, that should give around 4 inches of travel, which is a great improvement over the Dexter axles. But more importantly, it will give a progressive soft bump stop instead of a hard steel on steel CRASH. But I don’t want to do the R and D, and risk screwing up my trailer big time, or making it unsafe on the highway. If you will do all this, and post a How To thread, I will be happy to follow in your footsteps..... https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/4265-timbren-independent-rubber-suspension/?tab=comments#comment-42548 I lift “Mouse” all the time with just the onboard jacks, not enough to get all the tires off the ground normally. OTH I do remove all four wheels with it supported by them, to rotate tires for example. BUT I won’t go under the frame without adding additional safety jack stands under the axles. That is just common sense. John Davies Spokane WA

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/3263-how-to-move-the-factory-cargo-tray-to-a-rear-rack/ John Davies Spokane WA