John E Davies

I have done exactly what you described, it happens when you get distracted and start operating on autopilot…. I doubt that you will do it again; it is like forgetting to open the grey tank isolation/ vent valve - running water in the bathroom sink and soaked socks is a good lesson learned… Did you flush the WH tank? Get much white crud out? Do you have a 3/4 MPT tap or thread chaser? They are spendy! You can get an internal square drive pipe plug like this at NAPA for maybe $5. Use a hacksaw to cut about a dozen deep cuts (all the way past the threads) parallel to the axis. Clean up the cuts with a wire wheel. Voila, now you can cut out all that white crusty stuff that is blocking the water heater drain threads using your 1/2” extension. Blast the debris out with water or air. This also works very well if you have to replace a valve or fitting on your home water heater.,… John Davies Spokane WA

For a boat that sits in the water long term (in a slip), you definitely need to fill cracks and chips in the gelcoat, it can cause blistering and possibly delamination and rot otherwise. Your Ollie is not a worry. You will see a lot accumulate behind the rear tires, under the curve of the hull, unless you add mudflaps. Those chips can be unsightly, but most likely only the person who washes will notice. Once there are a few bugs stuck down, nobody will notice chips. John Davies Spokane WA

I think everybody would love to see that! Can you post a few pics please? John Davies Spokane WA

Blocking the rear jacks is prudent… if you have a major brain fart aka senior moment and drive away with the jacks down, they will hopefully survive without bending. I flag my gear shift with red surveyor’s tape whenever the trailer is hitched AND a jack is extended… John Davies Spokane WA

You need to have blocks, either wood or the yellow Camco lego style, You can raise one side up with the stabilizer enough for the tire to rotate and block the underside of the axle on that side if you feel like it. I don’t ever bother unless I am about to crawl underneath the trailer. I really doubt that your truck jack has enough lift without using blocks under it. FYI: https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6549-recommend-a-heavy-duty-mechanical-scissor-jack/ John Davies Spokane WA

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/2202-how-to-fix-and-flip-your-blinds/ John Davies Spokane WA

Class 3 (28 mph pedal assist), big battery for serious hill climbing and good range, big dual piston brakes for going back down, belt drive, internal wide ratio gearless hub. Built in the Netherlands. This bike is beautifully engineered and an absolute delight. It’s hers but she lets me ride it sometimes. 😬 I have peripheral neuropathy, so this lets me ride when a regular bike is just too difficult. https://www.gazellebikes.com/en-us/gazelle-ultimate-c380plus-hmb The rack is custom, with a 1-Up Super Duty single tray. The bike is loaded as I type, and ready to go, I am headed to Heyburn State Park ID to ride parts of the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes, which is dead flat, paved and has stunning scenery. John Davies Spokane WA

Steve, why did you choose 12 ply tires? That is a head scratcher for me. I have actually considered downsizing to Load D (50 psi max) 15 inch. *For my LE2!* Sorry for the thread drift. John Davies Spokane WA

A lot of EVs were flooded in Florida and are now catching fire due to internal salt water corrosion….. those conflagrations are super difficult to extinguish, and very bad news if they happen to be inside a building at the time. The same is probably happening with all those recently acquired ebikes, though I haven’t read any stories yet. But an ebike battery exploded in a NYC apartment killing some people not too long ago. The problem with the cheap models is that they use crappy batteries and chargers, unlike the ones from Bosch or Yamaha. I am very leery of all my lithium batteries, I keep them isolated in the garage as best I can. I think my wife’s new Bosch ebike battery is going to stay in the house over the winter, but I am going to keep it inside a ceramic pot. …. https://electricbikereview.com/forums/threads/fireproof-battery-bag.27254/ John Davies Spokane WA

The Search function here is beyond awful. Try this - Copy and paste the following phrase into Google: olivertraveltrailers.com and winter and camping John Davies Spokane WA

https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/6812-check-your-rear-jack-mount-hardware-bottom-frame-bolts-were-1-turn-loose/ John Davies Spokane WA

?? What do you mean by “torque pressure”? There is a mechanical slipper clutch in the drive gear on top, that clacks if you run the jack to the full up or full down position. But there are no electronic sensors inside. Is yours blowing one of the two fuses? Does the light still operate? If your attach hardware is loose, the jack body can tilt too far and it will bind up, but it still makes those clacking sounds, but the ram doesn’t move…. John Davies Spokane WA

I am glad you made it home. What tire pressure in the Ollie? Please add trailer and tow vehicle info to your signature. What is next for you? A four week jaunt around Olympic NP? 😁 John Davies Spokane WA

My wife’s new Acura RDX has a crazy bright hi beam indicator, it is simply blinding at night on a deserted road. One would think that the dash programming would dim it when it is really dark outside 😳 I added a single dot over part of the symbol, it should be less bothersome now. If it still is too bright I will remove that and put a bigger dot over the entire symbol. I really like these dots, highly recommended! John Davies Spokane WA

That drawing is fine, that is how the factory does it, but ONLY if you do not plan to use the black tank for either grey or fresh water storage. If you do NOT (edited) plan to do that, use the tank, you should also disconnect and cap off the black tank rinse port under the front dinette area. It is important to “idiot proof” mods so somebody who has a senior moment can’t flood the trailer or burst the tank, if it isn’t vented correctly. Overfilling the black tank (with the black vent pipe connected) will send the overflow water back down the grey tank vent pipe and will flood the bathroom through the shower drain hole. John Davies Spokane WAj

https://www.dealerrater.com/ncdn/u/NotSet/Documents/DealerRater-KBB-Integration.pdf John Davies Spokane WA

No thanks…. John Davies Spokane WA

You can connect the NH vent flex hose to the existing ABS vent plumbing any way that works and meets code, what is really important is that the old black tank vent pipe is completely terminated, and that a new overboard vent line for the black tank is added. If you are just going to add grey water to the tank, that is all you need to do. If you want to carry fresh water in it, you need to disconnect and cap the big black tank drain pipe and add appropriate PEX plumbing from that point, back to the water pump area. I don’t know what effect the solar roof vent cover will have on the airflow through the toilet. It might be beneficial, but OTH I don’t thing it is actually needed. Have you been having issues with smells from the existing roof vent? John Davies Spokane WA.

Might be. From an engineering standpoint it is a very bad idea…. The factory design has 0.5” wall thickness. 1/4” wall thickness is inadequate, especially if you install a 1-Up rack which uses an internal steel ball as a rocker stopper. That will eventually wreck the aluminum. If an owner insists on using a knocked out receiver, please, always add a stout cable lock around the bikes and crossbar, in case it all departs unexpectedly. It is easy to bolt on a steel receiver so there are no worries. John Davies Spokane WA

This is not good! It violates code, and may cause serious problems. You should seal the cap properly and install a 3/4” vent/ overflow line which connects near the top of the black tank and goes out the belly (just like your fresh tank). Your design allows somebody to connect unregulated city water to the black flush port, which will probably rupture your tank or drain plumbing, which is not designed to contain that kind of pressure. A large drain line will also allow your tank to drain correctly, which it won’t do as it is now (it will “glug glug glug” back through the drain pipe). Also you need to add a 2.5 or 3 amp inline fuse to the toilet power wire, as per Natures Head’s instructions, to protect that small gauge wire. The awning fuse is probably 15 or 20 amps! The water pump switch is fine, but I am not sure why you felt it was needed, you can simply unplug the round connector from the toilet vent fan, you have to do that when servicing the compost tank anyway. Normally you leave the fan running 24/7 when there is human waste in it, otherwise it gets gross inside. John Davies Spokane WA

Your Ollie is not welcome at OE events! It is quite ironic that they welcome the factory display trailers but won’t allow a privately owned LE1 or LE2 to camp there because they are not an overland trailer. https://www.overlandexpo.com/east/faq-east/ Hopeful this attitude will change, maybe the Oliver factory reps can convince them to change their policy. I have camped at a local overland rally with no issues and it was a wonderful experience IMHO. John Davies Spokane WA

If you have a thin foam sleeping pad, bring it along, you can lay it between the mattress and wall to cut the chill that seeps through that area. I really like the blue “egg crate” ones, but they have skyrocketed in price. $46 on Prime (!), I paid less than $20 for mine locally. And I use it when I am up on the roof, to kneel on. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ozark-Trail-Closed-Cell-Foam-Blue-Camp-Sleeping-Pad/634956813 John Davies Spokane WA

Keep in mind your day length in October, it is really hard to recharge with only a little DIRECT exposure when you only have maybe nine hours of adequate sun. The first hours at dawn and dusk don’t contribute any power. It is much easier in summer when the sun is more directly overhead for many more hours. The panels don’t work much if partially shaded…. Consider using a portable panel so you can “chase” any bright spots near your site. You can modify a standard unit so it will work fine fifty feet or more away from your shaded Ollie. This is especially true for your LE1 since you have less built-in capacity both in the batteries and in the roof panels... Here is my 100 watt Renogy panel. This size unit, tilted and directly facing the sun, potentially increases your 240 watts of roof solar power by 40%. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/5478-how-to-remote-mount-the-controller-of-a-suitcase-solar-panel-not-inside-the-trailer/ But a 1000 watt gennie (using the onboard converter) charges much much faster than an extra panel ever could…. John Davies Spokane WA

Never mind about picking an ideal spot for solar, if you are talking about Mt Pisgah on the Blue Ridge, there won’t be any suitable sites. You will need to run your gennie daily. DARN TREES….😳 John Davies Spokane WA

Your furnace fan uses about 3 amps when it is running. How long it runs in a day depends on your thermostat setting, both day and night, and whether you have any solar gain (heat buildup) during the day. If you keep it at 70 degrees all the time it is going to run very often during the night. What is your comfort level when sleeping? Do you each have warm sleeping bags or plain blankets? How warm will it get outside during the day? I set the temp to 58 degrees when I am by myself, in a summer sleeping bag (35 degree rating). My wife wants 65 under a bunch of blankets. I don’t think anyone can comment constructively about your situation until you tell us how you both sleep and if you are OK with it getting colder inside than your home usually gets. These trailers are well insulated, they are quite slow to heat up during the day and also slow to cool down at night. You are going to have to experiment, but one night isn’t going to kill your batteries. Just be sure to run the fridge on propane, and try to do do any “energy hungry” tasks (charging phones, running the microwave) early in the day so the solar can catch up before dark! Don’t start cooking a couple of frozen tv dinners at 6:00 pm! If you are not camping directly in the open, you will have to use your generator. FYI when I choose a site in summer, I try to get one with afternoon shade and morning and or noon sun, to reduce heat buildup. In cooler months I try for wide open (no shade whatsoever) to maximize solar gain and solar charging. Google Earth helps to find the right kind of site to make your solar panels as useful as possible, by studying the tree cover and sun direction... John Davies Spokane WA