BBL
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Posts
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Posts posted by BBL
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On 10/18/2022 at 2:16 PM, Sak said:
Trip the 200 or 300A Inverter Breaker located under the street side bed access panel area. The breaker is located up & under next to the side of the battery box.
Just wanted to share with everyone that Oliver’s labeling has improved over the years. This is a picture of the circuit breakers for the inverter in our trailer. Clear labeling really helps.
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2 hours ago, MAX Burner said:
73 de W0ABX
Hello and 73 to you! I have been a ham since the early ‘90’s and have been active most of that time.
My call sign is, AF1US (cannot get a better call sign for being retired USAF!). I regularly work Parks on the Air (POTA) and enjoy portable, mobile, and base operations.
My wife is KV4SF (also an Extra Class) and we are training Storm Spotters for the National Weather Service (NWS) supporting SKYWARN and ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Services).
I am presenting “A Conversation on Communications” at the Oliver Rally and will discuss Amateur operations as well as many other forms of communication. I am also planning a POTA activation since we will be in a State Park!
I have a Yaesu FTM-300 in my truck and typically carry my FT-991A and Chameleon vertical when we travel. We also take a variety of handhelds (HT’s) along with us.
From the description you would think I am a Yaesu man but my home shack is mostly ICOM, IC-7610 and IC-9700 along with a ACOM 1200S for some added power. I run that through a Mosley S-33 (40m, 20m and 17m) all other bands are on an EFHW long wire.
Looking forward to some more talks, ideas, activities.
73 de AF1US
Brian
PS - I have no intention of installing any type of radio IN the Oliver. Ok, maybe a remote…
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24 minutes ago, John E Davies said:
Do you mind sharing your mpgs towing and empty?
Not at all. I have the 10 speed transmission (a collaboration between Ford and GM) and generally use it in ECO - Mode when not towing. Around town I get around 13, highway I get around 15 and towing I get around 11-12 unless I am in the mountains and it goes down considerably.
All this will likely change now that my total rig weight is 2,000 pounds lighter than towing the 30’ AS.
BL
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2 hours ago, John E Davies said:
But the rational part of my head says buy a Ford Godzilla V8.
I agree with @John E Davies assessment. IF you really wanted the new Ram engine, don’t buy it first year.
Having said that, I bought my F-250 Godzilla 7.3L V8 in 2020, the first year it came out. The reason behind my decision was Ford’s exhaustive testing of that engine and the fact that it was essentially a replica of some very successful engines they have fielded in the past.
Ford tested this engine in Class C RV’s with Bob Tiffin for a year before announcing they would replace the V-10 that was being used in all those vehicles. They also deployed it to several metropolitan areas in utility trucks without revealing that it was the “NEW” V8 and logged over a million miles with the engine just in that category.
I have 55,000 miles on the truck now and over 30,000 of that was towing! We lived full time in our Airstream for over a year and we never had any issues with low or mid range torque or HP climbing passes out in CO or WY.
Best of luck in whatever you decide.
Brian
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13 minutes ago, Ollie-Haus said:
The primary difference is in height of about 6 inches.
You are correct and I went through all those dimensions and measured my truck carefully. I have a full-size Bed Slide rated at 1500 pounds so I lost some height due to that. An additional 6" would make it nearly impossible to fully open without sliding it out every time. I also have an ARE topper on my truck so that was part of the consideration.
I installed L-tracks onto the Bedslide to make tie down points and I also have the insulated cover that stays on the fridge at all times.
Not saying yours won't fit or be a good fit for your needs. I just got a smaller one and, so far, it fits our needs perfectly.
My wife won't go to the grocery store without it now. Sometimes we go over to Ft Campbell and shop at the commissary. That is about a 45 minute drive back home and this fridge keeps the frozen stuff frozen. For those trips, a C73 could be very useful.
Brian
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4 hours ago, Ollie-Haus said:
If you like Truma and have been considering a cooler this price is as good as you will ever find.
That is one big cooler for the back of your truck. I kept measuring and evaluating what we really need and the space I need/want in the truck. After visiting Truma at the Overland Expo in VA I chose the C36. Nowhere near as big as yours but it does the trick for us.
We also found the Isotherm in the Oliver to be very roomy so we won't need a larger fridge. Our fridge in the Airstream was slightly larger that the one in the Oliver (5.0 cu ft versus 4.5 cu ft in the Oliver) and we never had an external fridge. Occasionally, I would take my 50 QT YETI along to keep the barley pops cold but that was the exception, not the rule.
Cheers,
Brian
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11 hours ago, Ollie-Haus said:
installing them on the camper shell Yakima racks and doubling my solar capacity in the combined rig
Chris,
That sounds like an interesting approach. I was actually thinking of installing a flex panel with about 100w onto the top of my camper shell (no rack up there yet). I think overall, you will be impressed by how quickly these panels put power back into these batteries.
We still need to generate some use cases after we really get into the camping season. Until then, I am just guessing.
Brian
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21 minutes ago, mossemi said:
My trick for remembering parallel vs serial is this
I am very familiar with the "trick", when I said I think they are in parallel, I meant I don't know if these are 24 v or 12v panels. I am assuming they are 12v. The Victron MPPT controller can take either 12 or 24 volt panels so it would make sense if you put them in parallel to keep the voltage at 12v but sum the current.
I am not the most fluent when it comes to solar panel install and I have not had much time to explore the package on my own trailer.
Thanks for the post --
Brian
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6 hours ago, Steve Morris said:
I have the Lithium Platinum package, which includes two 315 Ah Lithionics batteries, 400W of whatever brand the current solar panels are, and the Victron SmartSolar 100/50 MPPT charger. The inverter is the Xantrex 300W version (oh how I wish they'd used the Victron Multiplus II instead!)
@Steve Morris Steve, The brand of solar panels is Newpowa, I "think" they are in parallel. As for the Victron Multiplus II, I was told they looked into is and it is too large to fit in the space where the Xantrex inverter/charger is and there was no better place to put it.
Brian
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10 hours ago, SeaDawg said:
I'd relax on the hand-wringing, at least for now. Aquisitions happen all the time in rv component world.
I know you meant this in a positive and supportive way, however, I don’t think people are doing that. We are just discussing how these M&A’s are happening all over the RV industry and how it “may” impact one company to another. OTT has their own relationships to manage and I would not suppose to tell them how to manage them.
Just having some healthy dialog around a growing phenomenon.
In my opinion, Lithionics is one of the better choices out there today. I am very impressed with them so far. They even invited us to tour the plant when we are in FL this fall.
Thank you for the support.
Brian
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6 hours ago, Coddiwomple said:
Did you use any backing or bracing on the other side of the fiberglass? Or is the fiberglass strong enough to hold the weight?
I believe if you look at his very first picture, you will see a piece of plywood with holes in it. I think that is the bracing for the inside of the fiberglass.
Brian
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5 hours ago, Sak said:
Not sure for other model years, but for my 2021 Elite 2, I can access the the drawer by taking the top cover off. It's only held down by Velcro straps.
2021 was the last year the cutout was under the nightstand top. It has now been eliminated and a taller drawer installed.
Brian
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28 minutes ago, Galway Girl said:
A key phrase is: "Lithionics will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Winnebago Industries."
Very nice summation of the acquisition process. Strategic sourcing is a valuable part of this decision. Many lithium batteries are coming from overseas and this will help them as an on-shore source as well as the valuation of the company.
That being said, just because Lithionics will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary, doesn’t mean Winnebago won’t have priority in terms of delivery commitments.
These M&A’s (mergers and acquisitions) are happening all across the RV segment. Even some of the suppliers, like Dometic, are acquiring any company that shows promise in their particular line of business.
All very interesting to watch from the sidelines.
Regards and again, thank you for the insight your provided.
Brian
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Hello all,
As you know, Lithionics is the brand of choice for lithium batteries for OTT factory orders. It was recently announced that Winnebago has acquired Lithionics primarily to address issues in their supply chain. Click HERE to read about the acquisition.
I guess the question to ask is, if this is to primarily solve Winnebago’s battery supply chain issues, are these batteries going to be more difficult to acquire by other brands?
I am very pleased with Lithionics, some of the best RV’s, Boats, and Homes use them and they have a great customer service model.
What are YOUR thoughts on the topic?
Brian
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2 hours ago, Bryan in NC said:
Half of them were filled with empty vehicles (I assume the occupants were inside the store), causing traffic jams, as people were jockeying for the remaining lanes.
Hello Bryan and Sondra - congrats on the Oliver and missing all the storms in TN on Friday.
We have been to many Buckee's and have had the same experience. Down in TX, people don't seem to gas up, pay and then just leave their vehicle at the pumps like they did in the one in TN. Buckee's should post something about this. There is no reason for anyone to do this but they may think that there are so many pumps they won't be in the way. We all know that's wrong!
What part of NC are you from? I may have asked before but I don't remember doing so. I am originally from New Bern and now reside in TN.
Brian
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On 3/30/2023 at 5:42 AM, Bryan in NC said:
Woohoo, congratulations Steve and Deb! We’ll see you in Hohenwald in a couple of hours!
@Steve Morris @Bryan in NC Were you guys staying over in Camp Oliver last night? It was a wild night with tornadoes all across SW TN and we saw Hohenwald got hit but not sure what part of town that was in.
We had one touch down several miles from the house but all is good here.
Brian & Brandelyne
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2 hours ago, Ollie-Haus said:
new Oliver owners that just switched from Airstream
We watched this a few nights ago and could relate to their transition although our Airstream sold last July and we had to wait until March to pick up our Oliver. They went from an Airstream Classic (huge amount of room and storage) but a very long trailer.
We noticed they had the Hensley hitch - people swear by that hitch for anti-sway but it is so heavy and so expensive. We went with the Blue Ox setup and, honestly, I don’t think we even needed that.
It worked good for weight distribution but I never had any sway issues with the F-250.
I like the simple setup I have now. Drop it on the ball and go!
Thanks for the share — shouldn’t you be heading to TN soon?? 😉
BL
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1 minute ago, Ollie-Haus said:
Had I the choice I would have skipped the display for $35.
I also cut the little screw tabs off the display and used a command strip (clearly visible in the picture).
BL
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33 minutes ago, mossemi said:
Are you also using the Mopeka app? Just wondering if the wall display is needed?
I am using the App and like it, the wall display is NOT needed but I wanted it there so my wife can easily check the tank levels and relieve her anxiety on those cold nights that we have enough propane to get through.
She has no interest in getting the App but likes the wall mount. SO, here we are!
BL
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12 hours ago, Ollie-Haus said:
I just got my Mopeka propane monitors
@Ollie-Haus PS —- Chris, did you get the Mopeka Tank Rings too? Those will protect the base of your tanks and give some distance between the floor and your sensors. Highly recommend!
BL
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12 hours ago, Ollie-Haus said:
😃I just got my Mopeka propane monitors, and have been looking for the perfect tank security method. Love what you have here. And I have the Gastops in my Oliver shopping list on Amazon for a purchase after we get back home.
Getting close to delivery day! How exciting, congratulations.
Thank you! I really like the Gastops and wanted to make it work. When you get your trailer, you will see what I mean about the regulator. The “hold down” bar is put into place then the regulator bracket it just placed between the hold down bar and the wing nut. So when you go to replace just one tank, you have to let the regulator hang there while you are working. Not something I was a fan of.
Mopeka is great, I got the PRO model sensors. The only thing that threw me at first was the wall display. It was reading 100% on both tanks and I knew one tank was at 55% from viewing the app. In the app, I had already changed my bottles to 30# so I “assumed” the display would follow. WRONG — you have to program the display so it knows what size bottles you are using. Once I did that, the app and the wall display match.
Cheers,
BL
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On 3/11/2023 at 7:31 AM, Ollie-Haus said:
Now y'all have started something. I've got three of those locks so this may be my first mod to the camper once it arrives. 😉
These are some great mods to the propane set up. I chose a slightly different locking mechanism (since I had it left over from my AS days) and I didn't like the way the regulator assembly was just placed on the threaded rod. SO, I went and got two 1/2" nuts and matching washers to secure the regulator assembly to the rod by itself. Then I installed my "GAS STOP" devices and my Mopeka tank monitor sensors. Finally, I got my Torklift Fortress tank lock in place. Picture below along with second pic of tank monitor wall mount console.
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3 hours ago, Dwain Kitchens said:
When maximum length is given for National Parks, is this number only for TT length or the combination of the two?
Some National parks have a "Max Rig Length", for example, when we were towing our 30' Airstream, we often came across parks that had a 45' "Total Rig Length" and we were 53'. It is because of the narrow roads and tight turns. Now, with our new LE II, we are well within the 99 percentile.
BL
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We will be in E20! Looking forward to seeing everyone there.
B&B
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"CQ, CQ, CQ..." Any HAM Radio Operators out there in Ollie-World?
in General Discussion
Posted
This is my Mosley S-33 and 18' Diamond Dual Band antenna up on my Universal, All-Aluminum tower. It also has my Acurite weather station.
73 de AF1US
Brian