John E Davies

I was just wondering, with Western temps in the 100 to 130 degree range, if your trailer is stored outdoors, have you thought about taking the lithium batteries into your home or other air conditioned building? That kind of heat, especially cooking for a week in direct sunlight, can possibly damage them. It is supposed to get to 110 by next week here in Spokane , a huge record for this date, but “Mouse” is indoors, and the temp in the RV bay, aka the Hanger Deck, should stay below 90. https://www.npr.org/2021/06/19/1008248475/the-record-temperatures-enveloping-the-west-is-not-your-average-heat-wave If you are camping in the open in your Ollie, how do you stay comfortable? Be safe. John Davies Spokane WA

Nobody mentioned this excellent resource. …. https://www.ultimatecampgrounds.com/ If you change the search filters from default to “Corps of Engineers” it will show you just those campgrounds. HOWEVER, you need to be aware that sometimes a different bureau will actually operate those facilities. For example, along Lake Roosevelt National Recreational Area (Columbia River) in Washington there is a whole nest of wonderful Corps CGs that are operated by the National Park Service. All the green icons are NP operated, the red icons are Corps operated. Click on an icon, then an info box pops up with details and links. John Davies Spokane WA

I thought yours had the manual switch? If so the power wire will be a direct run from there to the fan motor. The power to the switch will come from a fuse. It is super easy to check this stuff, if the fuse is OK you will need a cheap volt/ ohm test meter to do some simple electrical checks of the wires. The later hulls did away with the manual switch entirely. Unfortunately.... The earlier hulls had the fan sitting up high where it can be reached easily from outside, without having to remove the entire fridge. John Davies Spokane WA

Well, that certainly looks like an engineering decision to me, tho the execution could be a lot better IMHO. It is sure unsightly. If you can get Oliver to send you a length of the chrome trim, you could carefully notch out the bottom edge to clear the shelf. It would look odd when the shelf was removed, but no odder than a completely missing piece. And it would look terrific when the shelf was installed. My guess is that the missing piece is a cost saving measure. I removed my two peeling stickers and mounted a single one in their place outside the frame, the view out the back window is much improved. The stickers are a visual distraction, they force your eyes to focus on them rather than the scenery beyond. On your setup, I would install a new one to the right of the street side red handle. And the EXIT sticker at the top should go a few inches forward, on the ceiling, so you can see it when lying down. I am not sure it even meets code where it is now, half hidden by the blinds frame….. . I guess that all the sticker locations are by code, but as an owner you do not have to leave them there. John Davies Spokane WA

That is a “Danger Will Robinson!” indication of movement of the brackets. The second pic especially! You need to remove the awning and brackets and inspect underneath. If everything looks OK, reinstall them with a good adhesive/ sealant including underneath the brackets, and keep an eye on them regularly. I just inspected my five year old brackets a couple of months ago, there is no sign of sealant (or metal) cracks. If you can’t get to this ASAP, I would immediately remove and store the awning to eliminate any further possible damage. It could eventually crack the roof structure. But it is probably OK, you just never know until you take a look. BTW there are supposed to be heavy (thick) flat washers between the bolt heads and the aluminum, to help distribute the load. Be sure to add them. Are those iron oxide internal Allen bolts? it is hard to see. I don’t know how you could possibly get a proper hex tip into that tight location. These should be STAINLESS hex head bolts IMHO. Could those be a rubber cover? That is an entirely different setup from the early hulls, the small boots appear to be covering the sharp ends of self tapping screws. Mine are machine screws with self locking nuts. What is your model and hull number? Please add that info as a signature, it helps other owners to be on the lookout for issues. Have you filed a service request? John Davies Spokane WA

I haven’t done more than glance at their website. Is it intended for a ducted system? Your Ollie has a ductless setup - all the air comes out at one place. Right over the bed(s). https://rvairflow.com/products/rvairflow-coleman Can you post that video link? I will add my negative review to others about the $170 cost. It is grossly overpriced, but they need to make up their R&D costs I guess. I would wait for that to drop by $100 before I would be remotely interested. The actual materials and molding costs are probably less than $10… It is too bad that the appliance designer could not be bothered to optimize their unit before the sale🙄 John Davies Spokane WA

Your setup has a manual switch, so this recent post is appropriate. You can read the rest of the thread further up but it doesn’t apply to your Hull. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/3296-how-to-dometic-refrigerator-cooling-fan-noisy-disconnect-the-power-wire/?tab=comments#comment-59902 It should be quite easy to replace, just remove the upper louvered cover. I would not use a computer fan, that is a very hot , dirty and harsh environment, so it needs to have sealed bearings and be waterproof too. Please post some comments on that thread. John Davies Spokane WA

Most likely a drive gear broke, this will help you figure out what is going on. The grease in my tongue jack was like Pla Dough. I haven’t pulled the rear ones apart yet…. Have you tried retracting it using the handle? That may work, depending on what broke. That tall squared off shaft sits directly over the jack screw, so if a gear broke it should still work. Maybe….. Please post an update. Good luck. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/4094-how-to-vip-3000-electric-stabilizer-jack-service/ John Davies Spokane WA

It sucks to get old, I feel like an idiot. I put the frame back up and tried inserting that 16x25x1” filter, and it went in fine. When you lower the top blind and raise the bottom blind just one inch it holds it firmly in place with hardly ANY gaps. The window and screen slide perfectly. Inside views: Outside views: The only issue is with this 25” long filter the window won’t fully close. If somebody has a 16x24x1 filter that you use in your furnace PLEASE TEST THE FIT, see if the window will close and latch. See if there is a gap at the front, where the center divider is located. Try repositioning the blind frame further to the back (mine is centered) - moving it rearward might do the trick, since the blind frame is what retains the filter. If the glass will latch, you could leave the filter in place with the window closed while traveling, or if it starts to rain. You could even install three filters in all the long windows of an LE2 if the air was horrible. Here are the 24” ones, I have used these Nordic Pure ones for a long time in my HVAC system, they are affordable and effective. Nordic Pure 16x24x1 MERV 12 Pleated AC Furnace Air Filters 6 Pack $43 I will test my 25” filter on the next trip. There may be a little dust seepage around the outside of the blind frame, there is a 1/4” gap there, but it would be easy to seal with foam weatherstripping. Some owners have done this to reduce cold air infiltration…. John Davies Spokane WA

I had considered that but I would prefer to use that fan for exhausting heat that collects at ceiling height. I have never even run it in reverse, is it at all effective that way? John Davies Spokane WA

That is pretty gross, but paint the snout to match the body color and it would look less so. I wonder, are those twin intercooler openings? I hope that they are functional, I despise fake air intakes and exhausts. The belt line is too high. The windows look too narrow, sort of like a newer Camaro. The integrated offroad LED light bar is nice. Oh well. No more Land Cruisers in the USA and now this. If I wreck my LC I will get a Power Wagon. John Davies Spokane WA

Rleog, nice job, that looks great. Just a word of caution, this doesn’t really matter on the Ollie tongue beam which is massively oversized, but generally you should not scribe or scratch lines into a stressed aluminum part, for example a bike rack mount. That could lead to a crack forming after several years. This mostly applies to aircraft, where parts tend to be smaller/ lighter/ and thinner, but it is good practice to just not do it. For steel parts, no worries. Thanks for the kind words, enjoy your bigger safer cooler hitch. John Davies Spokane WA

I already have a floor HEPA filter which works great when all the windows are closed tight, but I would like to be able to block some of the wildfire smoke from entering with a window cracked for ventilation. Sometimes I would have the AC running but fresh air is always a good thing when the temperature is cooler. Actual window opening size for the big window is 16 1/4” tall x 22 5/8” x 5/8” deep. A filter that would wedge into that opening (screen removed, slider partially open) would allow the blind to operate. This obviously won’t work, this is the 16x25x1 MERV 12 filter I use at home, but it shows the gap that would have to be filled. However they do make a non-pleated flat version just 1/2” thick that perhaps could be trimmed to fit (round two corners). You would need to figure out a way to retain it in the slightly larger opening, maybe with 1/4” stick-on weather stripping... a little air leakage would be OK but not desireable. These are quite expensive, I don’t want to order them only to find that they won’t work, though Amazon has free returns, but these do not ship for three to five weeks. Any comments? Source for the filter material in bulk? With a vent fan running I think there would be some airflow through it. John Davies Spokane WA

This is pure magic for tar, bugs and tree sap: ... 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner. Body shops use it for body prep before painting, you can buy a quart can for $14 at any auto body supplier, that is half what it costs online. A good coat of wax applied semi-annually will help to keep the tar and grime from sticking too badly. John Davies Spokane WA

Don't be this guy, always scout difficult terrain before deciding to tow anything large..... Google Earth is really helpful! "A Colorado man driving a 38-foot motor home is finally free after spending about a week marooned on Lime Creek Road, a narrow and rugged dirt road high in the San Juan Mountains north of Durango. The driver became stuck about June 5 after failing to negotiate a left turn, causing the left rear wheels to slip off the road, said Wayne Barger, owner of Animas Towing and Recovery in Silverton, which helped free the vehicle Sunday. “He just took the corner too sharp,” Barger said. “He said the road gave out and his back left duel went off the road.” The driver was also pulling a sedan on a car dolly." He apparently thought that removing the car to drive for help might send the RV 400 feet down the cliff...... https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/rv-is-free-after-spending-a-week-stuck-on-lime-creek-road/ John Davies Spokane WA

That definitely looks like one, however it may be this one: One way you can check is to heat that up with a heat gun (not a hair dryer) and see if the fan kicks on while running on AC power with your switch tuned to ON. I partially blocked off the vent and let the propane burner light off, but I can in no way recommend that risky process! A heat gun is way safer. Good luck, and thanks very much for posting that pic of the Oliver Installed Fan. PS Your rubber fan mounts have failed, you should see if Oliver can send you some replacements, otherwise it could break loose and flop around, damaging coils and stuff. Plus the red wire needs to have some protection like high temperature split loom, or at least secure it somehow. That is a hot area, I am not sure why it runs that direction.That is where the propane burner exhaust goes upwards. If that is the fan power wire, it could have shorted out and popped the fan fuse. Did you already check it? John Davies Spokane WA

My understanding is that in these very early numbered hulls, if there is a manual switch, you don’t even have a temp sensor. When the refrigerators started arriving with a built-in fan and sensor, Oliver decided to eliminate the manual switch entirely. Some Dometic RM2454 fridges have cooling fans located between the upper and lower coils, in an area that is completely inaccessible without removing the unit entirely. Jason in Service told me that they started receiving these units in mid-2017 (mine was delivered in May '17), and that previously there was NO Dometic fan installed. On those units Oliver added their own fan, positioned high above the upper coils where it was easily reached, and I believe these fans also had an inside On/ Off switch. Yay! Good thinking. I can’t tell you how hot it has to get for the sensor to work, mine would turn on the fan on a blistering hot day (100 degrees plus) in full sunshine all day, and the fan would blow non-stop far into the (hot) night. In 2018 the fan bearings went out so It was squealing and keeping us awake. I eventually disconnected the power wire to it since accessing the fan on #218 requires removing the fridge entirely. So far the fridge works fine, but if it seems to struggle I will just remove the louvers. (It has not been in those extreme conditions since I took off the fan wire.) The lack of a manual switch (or an accessible fuse) when there is an INACCESSIBLE fan and sensor seems like a bad concept to me…. FYI, if you have any specific comments about how yours is setup, could you please add them on the following page? : …. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/3296-how-to-dometic-refrigerator-cooling-fan-noisy-disconnect-the-power-wire/ If I ever pull out the (functioning) fridge I could install a new fan up high, with a manual switch….. but most likely the aging (five seasons) fridge will get scrapped in favor of a DC compressor one and an extra lithium battery to deal with the additional electrical load. John Davies Spokane WA

I was given a nice powerful adjustable lamp that straps onto your forehead, it sounded like a great idea. The first evening I used it to hike to an outhouse I was swarmed by bugs, drawn right into my face. I no longer use that light, it got donated, I prefer a bright handheld light so the bugs will go down there. I think a zapper might be OK, but it should be located a fair distance away from where you are sitting, to lure them in that direction, to their noisy doom. 😬 There are not that many flying bugs where I normally camp, but there are ticks. I hate ticks. John Davies Spokane WA

“VAIL, Colo., June 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Harvest Hosts, a membership program giving RVers access to unique RV camping options, announces today its acquisition of Boondockers Welcome, a community of RVers helping other RVers where hosts allow guests to stay overnight on their property for free. Built by RVers for RVers, the companies share a mission of giving travelers opportunities to make memories while camping in unforgettable locations. There are 2,900 hosts in the Boondockers Welcome network, and 2,420 in the Harvest Hosts network, for a combined 5,320 locations--with hundreds more being added each month. “ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/harvest-hosts-acquires-boondockers-welcome-celebrating-the-companies-shared-love-of-the-rv-community-301309826.html John Davies Spokane WA

That looks cool but it has a sealed lead acid battery and weighs 30 pounds, the little LiFePO4 version is TEN times lighter. What do you need 250 psi for? Whenever I see a super high number like that I wonder how many cubic feet per minute does it produce and what is the duty cycle? If it takes 20 minutes to inflate your truck tire, it isn’t much good. This is not a compressor thread, maybe we should start one. My SmittyBilt 2781 Air Compressor puts out almost 6 cfm with a 40 minute duty cycle. It blows hard enough to be able to use it to clear dust from surfaces, or to winterize your water system, in a pinch…. It will inflate a 33 inch truck tire from 20 to 42 psi in about 3 minutes. Apples and oranges, I know. But I am not seeing any value at all in that extremely heavy jump box/ compressor unit. The battery will be toast in a couple of years, as you know LA batteries do not like deep discharges. I hope it is a standard size. You cannot buy repair parts for most of these HF power tools, if the compressor or the motor fails you probably will not be able to replace it. John Davies Spokane WA

With a propane-converted generator, do you leave it permanently mounted in the tray or do you use an extension hose when it is operating? John Davies Spokane WA

FYI a replacement Nev-R-Lube bearing assembly itself is extraordinarily expensive and it may require a hydraulic press to install it. So in the event of a failure you will need a tow and a professional automotive or machine shop to fix it - unlike a regular bearing design that can be replaced by a skilled owner with hand tools. A tow will be covered by your roadside assistance insurance, but down time and mental anguish will be high and the shop will charge maybe $100 for labor. You can buy a mechanical puller and do it if you feel capable. Most owners would not be…. http://www.dexterpartsonline.com/files/2036913/uploaded/Nev-R-Lube Bearings.pdf If the failure is catastrophic, it will trash your brake and perhaps your axle. If you camp in the West in remote areas, the NevR Lube bearings are a huge liability. Some RV shops won’t work on them. They DO fail. If you get this kind of axle, buy and carry a spare bearing, because the parts are not commonly found everywhere. The only way I would want this setup is with disk brakes that have slip on rotors. That way you can carry a complete spare hub assembly and change it yourself in half an hour, and then get the failed bearing replaced at your leisure. Google “Nev-R-Lube bearing failure”. PS, don’t overload your axles. Do use a TPMS so you will get a heat warning in time. John Davies Spokane WA

It is really hard to see what you are referring to, can you post a better focused pic? It appears to me that your number 4 Refrigerator 15A breaker (fourth from the left) is labelled 20 amps on the door. There is no 25A breaker. I don’t recall what size mine is, but if your 15A breaker does not pop I would not worry about it. What does the wiring diagram show? My door labels were wonky, I just corrected them with a ballpoint pen. And I used a silver Sharpie to write on the breakers themselves, to make them easy to identify. Air conditioner - AC, hot water heater - HW, Coverter - CH (for charger), refrigerator - FR (for fridge). You can’t read the door anyway unless you lie down and curl up under the table because the hinge is on the wrong side! It sure would be nice if that was fixable, but the front panel only goes on one way. Phhhhhttt! John Davies Spokane WA

There are a few major upgrades that some of us have been hoping for, but there has not been any confirmation as to when they would be available... For example, heavier axles on the LE2 with a disk brake option, or a better heating system (Alde hydronic!). Or a new bigger model LE3. You can’t delay your life and your plans too long in the hope that a new feature might pop up. Just go for the 2021, and enjoy your extra time camping. John Davies Spokane WA

Oops, I learned that you can see the image date, but only when using the desktop version of Google Earth. So that pic of my house is from July 2019: And that recently logged forest pic is really old, from 2017, So one would expect there to be a whole lot more new vegetation, and hopefully no logging truck traffic. This was a big burn in 2015 - and reforestation typically happens within two years. The burn boundaries and some other information shows up on the Hstoric Wildfires layer of GAIA. You can also use the Public Lands and Private Lands layers to see where the land is free to access and hopefully to camp or target shoot.... That particular area is a" checkerboard" of state DNR and BLM lands, mixed with privately owned timber lands. You can usually drive through the private sections to access the public ones, but not always, sometimes you find a locked gate that post-dates the sat images! ;( I wish you could see this date information from a mobile app. I don't carry a computer when traveling. You really need to scout out places like this before bringing in the trailer. John Davies Spokane WA