Steve Morris

10 days to go. 4-6" of new snowovernight in the driveway, and 8" near the house and on the sidewalk. This is our first real accumulation of the year here in northern Ohio (only 0-1" prior.) The bad news is that it will not get above freezing before we leave next Monday, so I won't be able to de-winterize and fill the fresh tank before leaving. And we'll also probably be at a motel the two nights coming down instead of at Cracker Barrel. I'm sure glad we got a full hook up at the Eggs 'N S'mores Rally this year, so I can flush the lines and fill the tanks when we arrive at the rally! I'm going to have to find a truck wash to get the salt off of everything before getting to the rally.

We are cruising out of Jacksonville. This past January, we made arrangements with Retro Reno there in Jacksonville to work with CGI as a spot to do our ceramic coating and they'd told us to stop in if we passed that way again. So we contacted them late this summer to see if we could rent a spot. Since we were last there, they've become Escape and Casita dealers, and built a new shop, so I was concerned that they might not have room. Daniel called me, looked at their schedule, and said they would have room for us. He also offered to have us camp there the night before departure, and he will drive us to and from the ship port to avoid parking at the dock. All at a price I was comfortable with, and only a bit more than the RV/oversized spots at the port. I was dreading leaving the trailer at the port with the e-bikes on the back and valuables inside! So this was a huge relief for us.

We have the Oliver front storage basket, and use a Rubbermaid Action Packer 24. There is extra space around this, as it doesn't completely fill the basket. We'll sometimes stuff wet tarps of carpets in there rather than inside the trailer or SUV. RollerCam, the best in the business, and made for continued use in the sun. They started out in the rafting industry, and expanded into other fields. https://www.rollercam.com We use one across the ActionPacker, and if leaving the trailer unattended for short times, we also use a bicycle cable lock.

Deb and I are trying wintering in Florida this year for a few weeks. We couldn't get into state or federal parks in the southern half, due to all the snowbirds who've planned further ahead than us. If you're near where we're staying, drop us a message and maybe we can meet up! Eggs 'N S'mores Rally at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park near Live Oak January 15-20 Blackwater River State Park January 20-26 Fort Pickens January 26-31 A couple of nights at Best Western in Tallahassee to stretch out January 31-February 2 Salt Springs Recreation Area February 2-12 Retro Reno in Jacksonville February 12-13 A four night Carnival Bahamas Cruise for a change of pace February 13-17 After that, we'll wander north, with possible stops in Savannah GA and/or Columbia SC, depending on the weather.

For anyone planning to recover their dinette cushions, and never has guests sleeping on that bed, I suggest making the seatback wedge shaped. One of my only complaints about the Oliver is how my bad back hurts after sitting at the dinette for too long. After only a couple outings, I added a length of pool noodle split in half lengthwise behind the bottom of the backrest. This 1-1/2" ish tilt made all the difference! Whenever we need to get the cushions covered, we will have the padding and covering made wedge shaped to match this angle.

Update: It is t Crystal’s after all. Very similar! Big mudflaps and street side awning, and what looks like the same truck and capper. But not theirs.

Found the owner; It is hull 1380, @Crystal Mills who saw the post on the Facebook group. It was right at 14 minutes into this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Detnj71NfD4&t=840s

That was our first thought, until I realized it just had an empty front basket, instead of the Sea Biscuit box on XPLOR. Taking a photo on the TV leaves a lot other be desired as far as quality goes. Here's a better one from my computer.

Who’s this in the background of a YouTube video we watch? It was somewhere between Tioga Pass and Las Vegas. I don’t know the timing of the video, but I’d guess late summer or early fall.

That's what came on ours in March 2023.

Ah, you are entirely correct! That's a page I hadn't found searching their site. I'm sorry to confuse the issue. It looks like the Oliver kits are $10 more than the head alone, which is probably a better deal than buying just the head and my cost to ship the adaptor to you. I recommend one of the kits with the trickle valve, to keep your water temperature consistent. Enjoy!

Where are you seeing this on the web site? I just looked, and couldn't find it under the regular heads nor the RV/Marine heads. That would be cool if they did, but would add a lot of SKU numbers for all the RV and marine possible combinations.

@Patriot Ah, I see. You have an additional set of the female half of the quick connects. That’s an expensive cap! Thanks for clarifying. 👍

@Ronbrink Thank you! Now on order.

My Eley Quick Connects arrived today. Those are beastly things! David, I'm confused. How do the threaded black caps fit on the quick disconnects. They are much too small on mine. @Ronbrink Are the white caps that you shw in the above photo these? For some reason, I have them in my Amazon Oliver wish list, but I added them in late 2022, even before I had my trailer. I'm guessing someone linked them for some purpose, and this is all I can think of. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CEQ433S

In a case of odd timing, I received mine yesterday, too. Just a day after I finish my bathroom fixture replacement... I now have one of each style. If anyone has or will be getting a High Sierra shower head to replace the original Oliver pull-out faucet head (just the head, not the hose or entire faucet) let me know, and you can have either of mine free. The adapter with a male hose connection is for Oliver Travel Trailers pre-2021 and the adapter with a female hose connection is for the later model. I can bring them in April to the rally, I'll be at the Eggs-n-S'mores rally in Florida in January, or you can pay to have one shipped to you. https://www.highsierrashowerheads.com/shop/adapter-for-oliver-travel-trailers-chrome/

Exactly! I intercepted the hot water line under the sink, and sent it to the diverter instead of the faucet. One outlet on the diverter then went to a "T", in turn going to the faucet and shower mixer. The other outlet went back to the fresh water fill, into a "T" placed just after the check valve. I briefly thought of adding some sort of temp sensor inline with the recirculation line, but instead, I'll just run it for 10-15 seconds until I get a feel for how long it typically takes to get hot water to the tap. Attached is Mike's flow chart for the system. He and I use a Scandvik SCA10623 single lever mixing valve without on/off feature for the diverter. Here's the link where I bought all my fixtures. I have mine oriented so that pointing up goes to the faucet and shower, and down goes back to the fresh water tank. https://www.mauriprosailing.com/us/product/SCA10623.html dog house bath remodel.pdf

Hi Catherine, Not related to your sound, but you can save propane by turning the Truma water heater off until you need it. We only have ours on first thing in the morning for bathroom use, and in the evening if we need a shower. And then whenever we wash dishes, which might only be once a day.

Done and tested at pressure! We now have separate bathroom sink faucet and shower mixers, and a recirculation system to send hot water that's not hot yet back to the fresh tank. Once the actual hot water is at the diverter, twist the handle and we'll have a hot shower with zero wasted water! Right now, the whole system is at pressure overnight to check for any seepage, and then I'll button things up, drain everything, and winterize. A huge thanks to those who have done this modification before, and especially Mike @mossemi for answering questions, showing me how his system worked, where I took several photos, and for diagrams and a shopping list of very high quality fixtures. All told, including buying specialty tools, quality carbide hole saws, more PEX than I'll ever use, etc., this project totals right at $1000. Could it be done for a lot less? Absolutely! But the result is an absolutely elegant system that will last as long as the trailer. Mike, stop by in May April at the rally for a generous pour of whatever's in the cabinet. Thank you!

Everything is now plumbed under the bathroom sink, and pressure tested except the recirculate loop. I have the PEX recirculate line installed from under the the sink back to under the basement floor. But haven't cut into the fresh water fill line to install the "T" yet. I ran out of time today. So far, 17 new connections, and zero links first try. I did end up getting a PEX crimper, and replaced the PEX to 1/2 NPS firing that connects to the original faucet lines. As noted previously, the washers were buggered, so I got new brass fittings to replace the plastic ones. In the back, I'll use a SharkBite "T" due to limited space. The circled gizmo in the photo below is the back flow preventer, correct? @mossemi said to place the "T" after that, and I want to make sure what's what before making a cut! The only trouble I've run into is that two of the screws that held the basement floor in place had the Phillips head stripped from the factory. I dug out the oscillating tool and zapped them off. If the weather holds, I should be done and pressure tested again tomorrow. I've already drained the water heater, so I'll find out in Florida how well it works not having to waste water down the gray tank until it gets hot. Then it's time to winterize. We're supposed to get temps in the low 30°s later this week.

The following video popped up on my YouTube recommendation list a couple of weeks ago, showing a new Bluetooth enabled replacement panel for the SeeLevel II tank monitors. I thought that this would be a handy upgrade, so I called to place an order, and it arrived yesterday. Installation was simple. I removed the original 907-P3 panel (Model 907, with Pump switch and 3 tanks) by taking out the four screws holding it to the wall. Then I pulled off the three connectors for the water pump, and removed the Molex connector on the circuit board. The new panel is a 907-BTP7 (Model 907 with BlueTooth, Pump switch, and up to 7 tanks) and came with a new wiring pigtail. In the video, James shows using WAGO connections. But Oliver leaves very little slack in the wiring for the tank monitor, so there's not much room to cut the existing wires and connect the new ones. And, there's no need to do so. Since we do not have an LP monitor, nor an alarm, we only need the four existing wires; just in different pin locations. The above photo shows the original Molex connector, with, starting from the right: White, Blank, Red, Black, Blue, Blank. As shown in the attached wiring diagram for the new 907-BTP7 panel, all that's needed is to move the last three to the right one pin position, as follows: White, Red, Black, Blue, Blank, Blank. Push on the Molex connector, reconnect the three water pump wires, and replace the panel on the wall. Done, in under 30 minutes! Safety protocol would of course be to switch off the solar disconnect and turn off the batteries before starting, as the Molex pins are not insulated, and bumping them together could cause a spark or blown fuse. Download the SeeLevel app for IOS or Android, and follow the instructions to get it set up. Of course, we do not have an LP monitor, nor more than three tanks, so the ALT and LP buttons will not be used. Garnet used to offer a 907-BTP3 panel, but that was several years ago, and is no longer available. Now, the obvious question, is why would someone want this panel with Bluetooth? Oliver's fresh water tank, like most, has an overflow, so observing tank level isn't really needed for filling. And there are inline flow gauges for much lower cost. But if you're in line at a low flow water fill, with impatient people behind you, it might be nice to know your progress. or maybe you're in the shade, hanging out in your hammock, and suddenly wonder if the shitter's full. Now you can check! 🤣 I'll use it to watch how full the black tank is when I'm flushing it, and monitoring the gray tank when I'm back-flushing it from the drain outlet. It'll be easier than running back and forth between the monitor in the trailer and the faucet on the side of the house. And, simply because I enjoy fiddling with tech stuff like this. I see that the price has gone up considerably since I ordered on November 7th. It was $109.99, and is now $146.37. That's a 33% increase in four days! Here's the link if anyone is interested: https://shopusa.garnetinstruments.com/solutions/holding-tanks/c-709-btp7-709-btp7-display

Installed, and loosely plumbed. The fittings on the end of the PEX that connect to the threaded “T” have questionable washers. So I’m getting more tomorrow. Next I’m going to run a PEX line from the diverter (top) back to the fresh water inlet, and add a SharkBite “T” to recirculate the hot until it actually gets hot. Then test the whole thing under pressure. I don’t want to get to Florida in January and find out I did something wrong!

Thanks, Bill. I don't have any PEX in our house, so I had no need to learn, nor buy a crimper. I'll get the SharkBite "T", and a couple spare straights and elbows. I appreciate the reply.

No going back now! @mossemi Did you use crimp on PEX fittings for the "T" into the fresh water fill for the return line, or a SharkBite "T"? I've never messed with PEX before, and I know some people don't trust SharBite fittings in trailers. So I'm not sure which one I'm likely to have not leak... I'd be further along if the weather was better, and if I hadn't wasted a bunch of time on other stuff. For instance, I spent an hour or so trying to figure out why my EMS wasn't working. I pulled the cover, and there was only 40V AC coming it. I figured I had a bad connection in the external port like I've seen with others, and it was fine. Couldn't be the incoming line, because the light is on on the power cord. Turns out it was getting electricity, but not much. 20 months of having the garage door shut on my 14 gauge extension cord must have cut enough wires it was barely feeding power. And I was running a space heater on that just last week! 😲 Now there is a 12 gauge extension cord going through a notch cut in the bottom of the garage door seal. No more pinching.. And while it was warm enough, I painted and installed the courtesy light deflectors that @Ollie-Haus showed me at a small fiberglass rally here in Ohio in September. I think I'll still add some amber film to tone the light down some more. And, I wasted a couple hours trying to find a flush-mount outdoor rated 110V AC outlet to insert into the panel under the side table, where the propane fridge lower vent was located on older trailers. No such thing! And I really didn't need to do that now, with other stuff needing done before winterizing and then getting ready to go to Florida in January I'm usually good about scheduling my time, but not lately.

Unfortunately, not since 2006. 🤨 They list the couplings under "Watering Tools" Fabrication & Packaging United States - Garden Hose (Reno, NV) China - Hose Reels & Watering Tools That's an interesting idea! 45° or 60° would have been great. I'm not sure coming in from straight down would be beneficial.