John E Davies

The manuals have always had questionable content, which appears to be bulk “cut and paste” from other sources with little regard for how it applies to an Oliver. In the 2017 manual the warranty section talks about dealing with a problem - “talk to the dealer that sold it to you”.... And the tires section is excessively full of generic technical information like sidewall date codes, tread wear and speed ratings, information that is readily available everywhere, but there is nothing about the correct pressure for an Ollie. And five years later they still have nothing about that item. Omitting detailed electrical diagrams in the last two years’ books is inexcusable! Sometimes I wonder if the folks who write the manual even own and use a travel trailer; if they did, the written guidelines might make a little more sense. John Davies Spokane WA

Add a couple of super strong cargo tiedowns in less than a minute, assuming you removed your third row seats. Full thread is here : https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/add-2-solid-cargo-anchors-for-less-than-10-at-the-third-row-seat-latch.1247368/ FYI this should work with any SUV with third row seat anchor in the wall or floor, but you might need to use a different size hook. John Davies Spokane WA

I think that using the black tank as you suggest would work, but personally I would be horrified to have the big ugly pipe just sticking up out of the floor. How about instead, using the vent pipe as a fill tube? Install a hinged waterproof access hatch under the vanity as others have done, tee into the vent and bring a new pipe out to where it can be accessed. If you could figure out a rubber gasketed coupling that would allow it to pivot, that would be more excellent. I would not like to dump cooking waste where it might spill and run down inside the hull 😬 I also wonder how you will clean all the new parts, the black tank was never intended to store greasy stuff, just more natural, errr, organic deposits. A regular flush of nearly boiling water when you are connected to a sewer might work. Or do what we do, just wipe the pots and pans with a paper towel and put it in the trash bag - no solids and very little grease goes down the sink. John Davies Spokane WA

Since access is difficult, I chose to make two backing plates from aluminum 6061 T6 with 5 mm threaded inserts. That allowed me to install the posts by myself; if you have a helper, you can use self locking nuts and flat washers instead. Locate the post positions as shown. Using a long bit (6" or more) drill the center pilot hole, it has to go all the way through the two walls and that big gap between them. Drill the two screw holes in the battery compartment wall only! Then drill the middle hole to 7/8". Inside the cabin, tape off the area around the pilot hole and drill a 2" hole . This hole is scary, since it will show with the seat cushions placed against the outside wall. It will be covered with a white plastic plug after finishing. Use a razor knife to cut and peel away the foil bubble insulation, do NOT leave it in place.The silver foil is conductive, so it should not be close to the positive cable. Sand the 2" hole smooth with coarse sandpaper (80 grit). If you are using nuts, get your helper and slide in the post from the battery box with the short post facing you, and secure it with screws. There should only be one or two threads extending past the nuts, or they will interfere with the cable terminal end. If you made backing plates, cut off a couple of long screws, thread them into the inserts and place it into the box. Place the post over them and then remove one. The other will serve as a grab handle so you can hold it while you get the other screw started. Repeat these steps for the other post. Shorten the big cables as needed and attach them inside the big gaps, access is easy: Cover the holes with plugs. These work OK, but they have to be glued in place with clear silicone or they will fall out: ... 2" White Plastic Hole Plugs If you are anal, make warning placards for the posts. FYI I did not use any epoxy to bed the flanges, it could be added carefully, but I don't think it is needed. It would certainly strengthen the connection. John Davies Spokane WA

This is a thread I was very hesitant to start, it is pretty complicated, it fundamentally changes the factory design, and it is not for the faint of heart, it involves drilling big holes and reworking a lot of cables. But a couple of members have expressed interest, so I will post my pics and comments, with this caution: don't attempt this if your trailer is still under the initial 1 year warranty. And definitely don't attempt this if you are not comfortable making high quality cables. PLEASE UNDERSTAND: This mod is designed for the standard 2000 watt inverter (with 250 amp main fuse), a larger one will possibly draw too much current, especially if you run the air conditioning!!! This will work for up to three Battle Born 100 AH lithiums, I have no idea if it will be OK with other brands or models. Before doing this mod, I relocated all my small positive and negative cables inside to common bus bars. Here is the original factory wiring on my Hull 218 (2000 watt inverter and four AGM batteries). A little messy: Here is my new lithium battery setup: Each battery has its own 175 amp terminal fuse block and two short, equal length 00 gauge cables that connect to Blue Sea Terminal Feed Through Connectors, rated for 250 amps each. Access to the posts is very easy with a full sized ratchet handle and socket, simply remove two nuts, pop off the cables and slide out the tray. There is room for a third battery, and the cables for it will be identical. You need one of each color, with the 5/16" terminal stud. This matches the other terminal eyes in the wiring and batteries. prices vary wildly, shop around! Holes on the flange are sized for 5 mm screws, I used stainless socket head ones from Amazon, there are lots of sources. First you need to get out all the old cables, that might be a little tricky, since the access is very limited in the "slots" between the battery box and the surrounding inner cabin wall. You can get one arm up there, but it is really awkward and itchy from the fiberglass dust. You can do this from inside the box: Remove all the cables, you can leave one of the small wire glands in place if you need to run an extra wire there, such as a temperature sensor or a power wire for a battery monitor smart shunt. Cover the open holes with aluminum tape if you like, or leave them as-is for some ventilation (lithium batteries ONLY) More.... John Davies Spokane WA

Mine (Hull 218) has had a slight gap at one top corner since new and it has a little motion there, but I haven’t bothered fixing it yet since it hasn’t gotten worse in four years. It is 1/2” HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) board, which is way too thin IMHO for securing a heavy inverter vertically with four small and short self tapping screws. It would be barely adequate for a horizontal mount.... I may simply drill straight through the board and bolt it all down hard using big stainless machine screws and nylock nuts. The surface it mounts onto is 1/8” thick fiberglass (no extra core), and it is not especially sturdy. Snomad, consider adding a Poll to your top post, so we can vote and see how many units have a problem. This could turn into a service bulletin... it is not a safe situation. John Davies Spokane WA

Those are fast for the installer but I hate them, IMHO any crimped splice is better than a “poke the wire in the hole and hope it stays connected” one. I won’t replace all mine, but in the future if I am chasing an intermittent connection those fast splice things will be the first place to look. I think they have no business being on a travel trailer that is bounced and shaken, at the very least they should have some stain relief (wire ties) to prevent individual wires from moving around. Do that and I think they will be pretty reliable, just not 100% reliable. FYI on Hull 218 there are some that are completely buried under multiple layers of electrical tape (!) and practically inaccessible, such as: I replaced those two with crimped butt splices. Good luck, please start a new thread about your fan problem and what you discover. John Davies Spokane WA

I agree that Prime is hard to beat, OTH there is no need whatsoever to drive all over the place to check stock, just about every major box store’s website shows current inventory or when it is due, and some like HD even show the isle and bay numbers, and if they don’t, a phone call usually gets the answer. And Walmart and others now offer free home delivery on many items. I am a huge fan of Prime, but if I can save $40 on a $90 purchase by driving a few miles, I will always do that, if it doesn’t take me out of my way too far. Some things are “Amazon only” which IMHO is really weird, I never understood that sales model. John Davies Spokane WA

I have used those for decades to carry emergency gear in my trucks, they are great, but not even water resistant, make sure you have some drain holes in the bottom, and don’t put anything inside that you don’t want getting damp. Prices vary wildly, search well and don’t assume the current Amazon price is the best.. If you are not in a hurry, return that one (free) and wait for a price drop.... And REI has it for $50, if there is a store near you, pick it up there.... https://www.rei.com/product/634288/rubbermaid-action-packer-24-gallon. If you are not already a member, join for free and save 20% on that purchase..... John Davies Spokane WA

You can buy custom length cables of any type and size, and they are quite affordable, but this really limits how well they will fit and also you have to wait for them to be made and shipped. I don't believe they will install anything but straight ends, but you can order one unfinished, with one raw end for you to complete. They also sell high quality battery cable by the foot, they have all sizes. The prices are a little lower than most other suppliers. A good crimper is essential, a crude "beat on it with a hammer" one will be acceptable if you can access the parts away from the trailer. If they are in a tight location, or to make perfect crimps, you need a good hydraulic tool: TEMCo Hydraulic Lug Crimper Tool TH1818 DIELESS Indent 10AWG to 400MCM And some heavy self adhesive heat shrink tubing to cover and reinforce the connection: For cutting, a big cold chisel and that great big hammer will work, with the cable laid onto a piece of steel plate or a bench vice. This is way more elegant, it gives precise even cuts, it won't slip and smash your hand, and you won't say any bad words: That particular tool will fit over the big 4/0 welding cable that Oliver uses (with inverter) but only if it is slid down the length of it from one end. If you need to chop a long 4/0 or larger cable in situ, you will need a big size cutter. I had no troubles using this medium sized one on all the Ollie cables. TEMCo TH0001 4/0 (0000 Gauge) Wire and Cable Cutter – with 12 in. Handles Sometimes an angled end terminal fitting will be useful, to allow the cable to lie in a more natural position. These are very hard to find locally, and it is not recommended that you bend a straight one, it can cause cracks and eventual failure. Choose a terminal end with the exact hole size you need, or one smaller (you can drill it larger). For any cable carrying high current, do not install oversized ends on a smaller post, it limits the contact area and could possibly cause issues like overheating or loosening. I hope this is useful. Measure three times, cut once! John Davies Spokane WA

The factory wiring leaves those great big cables unprotected between the batteries and the main fuse. This mod adds individual fuses at each battery positive post. The fuse size you pick should depend on the battery maximum current rating. For my Battle Born lithium 100 amp hour batteries, 175 to 200 amps is appropriate. NOTE these may not work on the factory wiring, a lot depends on how much room is available and if the cables have enough length and if they will fit properly. You might need to replace a cable end with a different shaped one. This thread is a FYI for folks who might want to modify the factory setup. Search for discounted prices, these Blue Sea parts can often be found at marine suppliers for way les than Amazon Prime and they often include low or free shipping too. The blocks and fuses are sold SEPARATELY. Be sure to buy a couple of extra fuses for your spares kit. John Davies Spokane WA

Maybe cottonwood seeds? Those look similar and they do make a real mess. My daughter’s Outback had a huge mouse nest, blocking about 90% of the airflow. Yuck, fortunately no signs of chewed wires, just grass and fur. Regardless, you should be changing that filter annually. Cheap generics are fine if changed frequently. John Davies Spokane WA

Before using a lube, try removing the steps and filing the slots smooth, follow up with fine sandpaper like 360 grit Wet or Dry. Mine has never needed any kind of lubricant. If that doesn’t take care of it, then you can try a dry lube. While you are messing with it, if you have a drill, add some drain holes as needed so water doesn’t pool when the steps are stowed, since that isn’t good for aluminum. https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/1993-how-to-drain-holes-in-the-lower-step/ John Davies Spokane WA

That is really cool, pun intended. Home Depot sells a similar foam but it is 3/4” wide and slightly lower at 7/16”, do you think it would work? It is way cheaper. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frost-King-3-4-in-x-7-16-in-x-10-ft-White-High-Density-Rubber-Foam-Weatherstrip-Tape-R734WH/100151221 This is going onto my Honey Do list. John Davies Spokane WA

The terminal feed through posts are Blue Sea, they might be installed without drilling extra holes, but I bit the bullet and put two 2” access holes on the inside of the hull, which made attaching parts there super easy. Then I covered the holes with white plastic plugs. They are not noticable. I will try to get that thread going, it will be a long one, though I may break it down into smaller ones. John Davies Spokane WA

If you use a steel blade it can damage the gelcoat, this works well and will be gentle on the finish. It is useful,for removing stickers and all sorts of other tasks. Plastic scraper Any decent white silicone sealer will be fine, you do not need to use a super duper type like on the roof. I have been using the JB Weld stuff in various colors and it works fine. Or just pick up something locally. JB Weld Silicone Sealant Tape the perimeter of the area carefully, apply the sealer, wipe smooth with a finger, then immediately remove the tape. Pretty! John Davies Spokane WA

Yes, two 5/16" nuts on the side terminal posts, all connections can be accessed very easily with a full sized ratchet handle with the tray in place. Flip the cables off the posts, slide out the tray.... each battery positive post is individually fused. This will be a future thread.... The temp sensor is not required for the BB batteries, their onboard BMS takes care of any temperature compensation, I installed it so the VictronConnect app would show the temperature, so I can keep track of conditions inside the box. Using the app's Network feature, my new Victron MPPT controller also shows that info on its own solar display. The cable has two wires and a mini fuse, so it takes the place of the power-only black one that comes with the BVM-712. So, not needed at all, but very handy. https://www.amazon.com/Victron-Energy-Temperature-Sensor/dp/B08NHQ6TF4 John Davies' Spokane WA

I mounted a Victron MPPT controller under the street side bed, so I had a really big hole to fill where the Zamp one used to be: Super heavy duty vecro ... Velcro Professional Heavy Grade white A 2.1 amp dual USB charger mounted inside, spliced into the stereo power wire with an inline fuse: My old iPad Mini 2 will support a Split Screen (but only a Mini 4 or later will support Dual Screen, where both windows are active). My main purpose was to have an easy to view head height display for my VictronConnect App, which shows both the battery and the solar status. I can also send or receive text messages from my Garmin inReach, view map apps, or just about anything else. This unit has a cellular chip, so the gps works, but it does not have an active cellular account, so I need to be near wifi to get new new data. OTH I can download lots of maps for offline use for my Pocket Earth Pro and GAIA Pro nav apps. Even dimmed it would be way too bright at night, so it will get put to sleep. John Davies Spokane WA

Note: This is NOT factory wiring! The standard battery tray slots may not work if you install non-standard batteries, like my two Battle Born lithium 100 AH ones. Here are the two types of trays for an LE2 - the current version is on the right, it now has two latches since the single one has been known to fracture. This was posted by an Ollie member, I cannot recall his name. I hope he will let me repost it. Note the strap slot locations. Materials needed: Straps and anchors. Once source is Amazon, there are many universal strap kits of variable quality, pick one with stainless steel parts. This would be OK: .... I prefer to use known high quality parts, especially in a case like this with thousands of dollars worth of new batteries at stake. Order these Raingler straps . ... https://raingler.com/products/tie-down-strap-set-of-4. ... which are available in Mil Spec (zero stretch). I bought the 120 inch version and cut them all to fit. Shorter ones might work for you, but allow at least twice the actual length since these double back on themselves. I used three and kept the fourth as a spare. Footman loops (again, very high quality): https://raingler.com/products/footman-mount-set ...I drilled out the holes and used 1/4"x20x 3/4" stainless screws and self locking nuts. ... Stainless Philips Truss Head Screws ... These screw heads will clear the tracks if you locate and drill the holes high enough! Nuts will not clear them. Tray spacers, inexpensive, easy to cut with a power saw, flame retardant: How to drill large air vent holes in the SIDE of a PVC board - attach a scrap: For my setup, I made a 1/4" spacer strip for the inside, and a 1/2" spacer strip for between the batteries. This leaves enough room for a third battery, and I preinstalled the footman loops for that one to make its installation easy. The front and back spacers were cut to fit, to make a snug fit. Footman loop location: depends entirely on the battery type. Make sure all straps clear any cavities or openings. I chose to install one strap per battery, and also one "fail safe" strap across all of them (side to side). This way if any one strap loosens, the battery will remain secure. FYI, my new wiring design allows the batteries to be easily removed and it also eliminates the extra length of heavy cables that can cause problems. John Davies Spokane WA

One option nobody seems to mention is to extend the tongue a little. The original Ollies came this way. There is no reason you couldn’t do something similar to get extra room up front for bikes (when backing especially), plus as a bonus it lowers the tongue weight. I would check with Oliver Service to see what they say, it will void the warranty for that part of the frame unless they do it for you “in house”... I would not mind an extra 12 inches of tongue, if it could be easily removed and shoved under the A frame during storage. This is my old aluminum utility trailer, I added a square steel receiver and it allowed me to quickly remove the raised Treg offroad draw bar, or swap it for a dropped 2” ball coupler. The latter extended up to 30” for carrying a canoe or long lumber. Normally it was extended 18” to allow the swinging cargo door of the RAV4 to clear it. John Davies Spokane WA

That pump looks interesting, can you buy replacement impellers and gaskets? It doesn’t have a switch, maybe adding a waterproof one would make it safer. Does it come with silicone grease? BTW we really like to look at pictures😀 Thanks. John Davies Spokane WA

Transfer the grey water through a portable pump (with a good inlet filter) into the black tank rinse port (on the left side in front of the tires.) A simple solution indeed, except for keeping hair and food debris from clogging the filter. That could get tiresome....we need pictures please. There is also the problem of venting, the tank connects to the 1.5” black vent pipe that goes out the roof, it tees into it under the sink. If the black tank should get too full, the water will flow into the sink, and then onto the floor, and back into the grey tank via the drain. Hopefully the blade valve is open! What a computer geek would call a waste water Infinite Loop . 😀 That could be very entertaining. Maybe it’s time to revive this thread... https://olivertraveltrailers.com/forums/topic/3213-grey-water-recycling/. It really is a shame that the black tank is several inches higher than the grey one, if they were level you could gravity feed one into the other quite easily. John Davies Spokane WA

I think the Andersen is functional and not at all unsafe if maintained correctly. No brand of weight distribution hitch is zero maintenance and frankly they are all a PITA to use. Applying spring bar tension to one like this is difficult and can remove a finger. The Andersen is however the lightest and by far the easiest to store when not in use. If I were towing a LE1 with a full sized body-on-frame SUV or any full sized pickup, I certainly would not use it. I am unclear as to why Oliver Sales seems to be pressuring every new LE1 owner to buy one.... Just say no. 😀 John Davies Spokane WA

Reposting a pic from the top of the thread.... This is the DC amperage current draw for the entire four brake system, measured at the breakaway switch, with four AGM batteries and no shore power connection, with the BAS switch plunger pulled. (With lithium batteries the current will be a little lower). They are wired in parallel, which is why you see this number - the individual magnet draws of (about) 3 amps each add up. Your brake controller may only be applying 3 amps to all four, depending on how you have it adjusted and the trailer weight, but that is a different matter entirely. Many controllers don't show current, The Tekonsha P3 shows voltage. My (really) old Jordan Ultima 2020 mechanical unit (rheostat with a bicycle-type steel cable that attached to the brake pedal) showed only amps. If you have a P3, you can go into the Troubleshooting menu and get to an ammeter, it shows actual current going through the blue control wire, but this has nothing to do with the full amperage "panic stop" when the BAS is operating: John Davies Spokane WA

One more.... John Davies Spokane WA