Tom and Doreen

That is some fine work, John, excellent job!! You'll not only have the confidence in your equipment going forward but you'll also have the knowledge (and tools) to tackle any situation that comes along should something go wrong. Regarding having the parts and tools required at hand I still struggle with that as it seems like no matter how simple the job I find myself running back and forth to the garage several times to retrieve nearly all of the tools I own!!

That guy seems to know his ........( stuff ) 😜 I will disagree with him on one point though and that is with his suggestion to leave the grey tank valve open while connected to the sewer. Unless you create a trap with the sewer hose you risk getting sewer gasses ( and possibly bugs ) from the campground sewer rising up into your grey tank. The problem becomes worse when some other trailer on the same branch dumps their tanks and displaces the gasses in the line. We have a composting toilet so we're only concerned about the grey tank. While at the rally I asked the tank clean guys what to use to keep the tank clean and they handed me a recipe which I've been using. They also said that this recipe helps to lubricate the gate valve. We also are very careful to not get too many food particles in the tank.

Congratulations and welcome to the community! Tom & Doreen #1321

I’ve had problems with the under the tank ultrasonic sensors so I purchased the Truma hand held sensor. It’s expensive but it works well. I’ve also used the (free) method by which you pour hot water down the tank and then feel for the temperature change. The Truma is as accurate as the hot water method (which is very accurate).

Awesome job, thanks!! You should start a YouTube channel!

The braking system in our Olivers is inherently simple and designed as such for reliability. Like all things components can and do fail on occation but in most cases the failure is easily found. Olivers have electric drum brakes, a description of which can be found here. Olivers do not have an ABS unit but otherwise the diagram contained in the link is correct. I think you've established that by pulling the brake-away pin that the brakes do in fact work which eliminates most of the wiring, magnets, and the brakes themselves. That really just leaves connectors and your proportional controller ( truck side ). There are methods for trouble shooting the remaining components one of which is to use a DVM to assure that voltages and connections are correct. There is a method to simulate the brake controller but unless done properly can cause more damage than good so in that case I would enlist the help of a friend with another truck / controller and see if that works. Do you have another Oliver or trailer owner near you, most are willing to help.

We purchased a portable induction cook top and have hardly used the propane cook top however we're glad to have it as an alternative if need be. It's nice to have options especially when boondocking. The portable induction also gives us the option of cooking outdoors using the outside AC outlet, I like having both options. Luckily our pots / pans work with it. We use the Furrion system in ARC mode when watching YouTube and movies. It's not audiophile quality but it's pretty good for it's intended purpose. Its frequency response seems to favor applications like YouTube and movies and somewhat less for audio / music reproduction, not a lot of dynamic range.

I don’t mind supporting the infrastructure at that amount, which is likely their intention. They haven’t disclosed at what speed they will limit speed to. Unlimited data at low speed, depending upon the speed, may not be all that useful. AT&T did that to our cellular plan which rendered it virtually useless.

It appears that Starlink is going to charge a $5.00 monthly fee for roam plans that are paused based on the email that I received today. I’m not certain if it’s possible to opt out of the $5.00 standby mode.

@Snackchasergreat idea!

That's true, Truma will only provide parts / components to Truma certified technicians which is not great for do-it-yourselfers. I will say that service at their Elkhart service facility is top notch though if you need something fixed, those techs know their systems very well. We had service work done there and they were excellent. With specific regard to the soft start, there is an aftermarket product that is said to work with the Truma which appears to be pretty straightforward with regard to installation however it will certainly void your warranty and there is currently no data to indicate it's effects, good or bad, on the longevity of the Aventa once installed. I know that Truma does do field installs of their certified unit if there is a certified tech in your area.

Wow, Tom has some impressive engineering skills for sure! Amazing what engineering feats he can accomplish living in such close confines as his trailer including a 3-D printer, awesome!!

I've heard really good things about Meriwether's Retreat B&B as @Dennis and Melissa mentioned. If you have a dog that may not work. We've stayed at The Commodore Hotel in Linden in the past ( because we have a dog ). The Commodore is a little "funky" but ok and they allow dogs. My first choice would be Meriwether.

You need one of those! I had to change a tire in Yellowstone and I was glad to have mine! Mine is the 1/2 inch.

Upon examination it appeared that the original application of adhesive did not adequately fill the gaps between the mounting board and the fiberglass as a result the mounting board was only adhered to the fiberglass in a few spots ( along with the black tape ). I followed the recommendation of @John Dorrer and applied Gorilla Max Strength Construction Adhesive making sure that the adhesive bead was adequate to more than fill the gaps and surface area. I'm pretty sure that this bond will last longer than anything else in the trailer.

@John Dorrer Thanks John! I'll see what I can do. It's good to hear that yours is holding up after the fix.

Thanks very much! I agree with the "dusty surfaces" as being part of the issue. I've cleaned powdered fiberglass residue out of most places including switches and speakers among other areas.

I had the same thought! ...It has lasted two years though, surprisingly. It's definitely a lot of weight to be hanging off a vertical surface especially when subjected to shock forces bumping down the road. I like your installation which supports the weight on the bottom. I also like the Victron stuff.

Durning my preflight inspection I noticed that our Xantrex inverter had become detached from the fiberglass sidewall. Has anyone had their Xantrex inverter mount detach from the sidewall? Any recommendations as to what type of adhesive or alternative fix for this situation? It appears that the adhesive that was used at the factory did not stick to the fiberglass and was possibly only holding on with the sticky black tape.

Those look great! How was the installation and do they have a mechanical on/off switch or are they touch activated?

I believe that the filter / screen utilizes an 'O' ring for a seal and it's on the low pressure / suction side of the pump.

You can try setting your valves to the normal position, turn your pump on, then turn the valve circled in the picture below 'on' briefly. You will hear water rushing into your fresh tank. What this does is pump water from your fresh tank back into your fresh tank. This will purge the air out of the pump and associated components. This has happened to me many times after traveling and arriving at a site, somehow air gets into the system.

We have a BougeRV CRD45, 48Qt portable refrigerator. It's dual zone ( interchangeably), runs on 12VDC or 120VAC, and has an optional battery available. We've used it continuously on our recent 10 week trip out west and it's worked perfectly. It also fits between the beds in our trailer when traveling.

This is the method that I've used. Also it's a good idea to have the trailer connected to the tow vehicle for safety while jacking the trailer. I also block the wheels on the other side of the trailer. The second picture was a parking lot tire change from a failed tire valve. If you have rubber tire valve stems and you have tire pressure sensors installed I suggest that you change the tire valves to metal tire valves. Luckily we were close to a Discount Tire location and had all the tires valve stems changed to metal.

I don't have an RV specific GPS but I have been in areas where there was no cellular service, the on-board truck navigation ( based on cellular ), Google maps, and Apple Maps would not work as a result. I'm glad that I had my old Garmin GPS. I would imagine that an RV specific GPS would be helpful. I know that maps can be downloaded and used off-line but I never seem to be able to remember to do that.