jd1923

Some of us newbies to get the 100 patch now or soon. You may have to make a 500 or even a Millennia badge for @ScubaRx and @Mike and Carol, just to name two, and likely for many of you out there in Ollieland!

Steve, again congrats on your special milestone! You got me thinking, and then of course I had to count! 🤣 In 19 months, we're at only 54 nights. Still working part-time and had much maintenance and mods to do in our first year of ownership. With a week soon to Quartzsite, another 7-10 days around AZ this spring and very soon to come will be our longest trip ever to Minnesota and back, with many points between, from Memorial Day to the 4th of July! We will hit 100 before the end of this long trip, 25 months into Ollieland!

Yes, the best of both worlds! Stopped at the KOA in Moab spring 2023. It was a couple months before we sold the Bigfoot, to downsize to our Oliver. They would not give me a price until I gave them EVERY DETAIL of our rig, family members and pets. Just a Class C, two adults and a medium-sized dog. They wanted $130 plus taxes for a cramped site! I just laughed at the clerk, turned my back and walked out the door. We stayed across the street, with better views, more spacious sites, at a family owned place for $55.

It was very nice of @ScubaRx to call me yesterday, asking "where are you?" I'm looking forward to seeing all of you Diehards at the Q, Dome Rock or wherever, the first week of Feb! Have fun! 😂

Looks like some good reading on the Oliver Forum too! 🤣

My Mod post linked below - By eliminating the furnace duct under the beds, replacing torn ducting, adding an intake filter to slow intake off the floor, creating more pull through the basement, helps considerably in this. Then adding vents from cabin to closet, closet to vanity, toilet area to dinette area basement helps to circle cold air below and around the cabin back to the furnace intake. Some have added cabin vents on the streetside, though I went without those to force basement air to and around the lower rear of the Oliver, as GJ mentioned where "freezing water systems" can exist without the furnace running and good basement ventilation.

Two for two now, where the same cause is creating the same issue. The cause is the electric space heater, period. Your electric heaters are significantly over-heating the upper cabin. Try using an infrared gauge, and measure and compare the temps of your ceiling to that of your floor while running these heaters. You will likely measure a 20-30F difference when its cold enough outside. The electric heater is adding little to no heat in the basement, the lower cabinets, beds and seat cushions, flooring, the ENTIRE lower hull! Heat can escape the hull above in so many small orifices and the significant heat differential at ceiling creates a turbo effect, forcing this abundance of heat out in any available path. Heat loss through the fan vents, gaps in the A/C seal, the door and windows, the fridge vents, the perimeter around the sewer vent, through the upper cabinets and out everywhere OTT drilled holes for awnings, exterior lights, cameras, etc. Simple fact, the cold air coming in from below must be equal in volume to hot air escaping above. The furnace vents allow the largest opening to the basement below, path of least resistance is where it is coming into the cabin interior. The cold air from the entire basement (and exterior) is being pulled through the furnace ducts and because these ducts are under the curbside bed, it is your curbside wall and likely under that mattress where condensation is accumulating (colder surfaces). Those of us running the furnace are creating hot air below in the ducts and pulling cold air in through the intake in exchange. Just run the OEM furnace as designed and the issue that is bothering you will go away! Being frugal is good, but use your LP (prices coming down soon). Run your OEM furnace when you need to warm your cabin. The electric heater should be used for secondary or back-up heating purposes ONLY. I haven't use one and will not carry one with us. In the next few months, we will add the Atmos A/C with heat pump. The heat pump will be our backup, but we will still run the furnace as our primary heat. We much prefer an evenly heated cabin, not breathing hot air blowing in our faces.

Check the furnace in the basement. If cold air is blowing through the ducts, it must be blowing through the heater. There is a cover panel to see into the heater. Have you inspected the basement area around the furnace? It is worth running the furnace overnight as previously suggested. You would replace “cold air blowing” with warm air blowing. This is certain.

Certainly a big deal - Congratulations!

Be careful running any appliance requiring high amperage using an extension cord, and worse is to daisy-chain cords. If you really need to run something at a distance use one longer cord ( your issue was in the connection). Most extension cords are 14 AWG. Extension cords designed to be appliance cords are always short (6-9') and 10-12 AWG. I have a 50 FT 10 AWG extension cord which I do not bring camping but certainly would given your needs. Something like this: https://a.co/d/j6hUQN6

It certainly should be! The rear side of the waste valve pull handles is the basement under the streetside bed. The better quality switch was already mentioned and you could cut a simple cover plate to fit the recessed area with a rubber seal to cover the switches.

Not sure where cold air is coming in, but since it is the curbside check that basement area and climb under the trailer in that area. There are 3-4 LP lines that exit the hull to the frame below (Furnace and HWH are easily visible in the rear and further up are lines for gas range and a 4th if you have a LP fridge). Not sure of your hull # but in our older hull all caulk around the LP lines had moved and there was an 1/8" to 1/4" opening around the perimeter of the drilled opening. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND you store the electric heater for a while and run the furnace. It will heat up that basement area and you will not have the condensation and cold wall between the bed and window. You must have seen my mod post on this. Now that I've done this work, closing the heating duct under the bed and adding an intake filter the furnace works great now and is much quieter. Electric heaters save money with paid hookups of course but LP is cheaper than the issues you are having and perhaps more. You mentioned Florida, where it is always humid. When we travel somewhere colder, I like to know the furnace is not only keeping us warm but the hulls, the floor, and inside the basement areas to keep the plumbing above freezing. An electric heater will only keep the cabin and upper inner shell warm.

Not sure if things are better or worse today. Mid 90's we left Chicago for a June Colorado trip. We had a reservation west of Colorado Springs and the place turned out to be a dump. We spent our third day looking everywhere in south central CO for an alternative and everybody reported June is usually fully booked. We finally found a cabin up near Monarch Pass west of Salida CO at 10,000 FT, getting sinus headaches overnight! Visited Gunnison and the areas around. We where traveling by Van and did not have a trailer for camping, so that's of course different. Either way, June is one of the busiest months for highway travel and camping. If it was me, I'd be on Campendium and other sites and make some reservations along the way. Know where NFS and BLM lands are, get your maps downloaded. For the east half of your trip, find city and county parks along your path. If we had to spend more than ONE night at a Cracker Barrel in either direction, I would not be happy. Last time we did, asphalt camping at it's finest, 🤣 and the breakfast food was not what it used to be. Should have cooked breakfast in the Oliver, but we wanted to give them business for their hospitality. We are leaving here on Memorial Day for 6 weeks, getting back by the 4th of July. It should be awesome, our longest trip to date has been 3 weeks. Our end point will be Minnesota to visit Chris' sister and family. We'll likely head east on a southern route first and after MN take a northern route back. I should start planning some of our stops ASAP! If you do, it will add to the quality of your trip. Yes, planning is a pain! You know in Arizona, except for Quartzsite and other BLM or USFS lands, if you want a winter reservation at a AZ State Park, a Maricopa Regional Park and others, you need to be ready at 6AM local time, 6 months to the day out to book, otherwise 98% of campsite days are booked!

Your picture makes it look like a good size motorcycle. I used to love cycling, when we lived in Texas and Florida. Thousands of road bikes all around Austin and the Hill Country. Here the steep climbs are too tough and the drops too dangerous. I see young guys coming down our road, coasting on bikes at well over 40 MPH! They'd have to ride their brakes all the way down to get any slower. At some point, I want to figure out how to bring my Honda CRF230 dirt bike (240 LBS). It's likely too heavy for the rear of the Oliver. Maybe front of the TV with a special mount or in the truck bed. I just ordered this device to measure tongue weight which I need for the Oliver and a flatbed trailer that carries our side-by-side, so I know the best position for it on the trailer). https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007REK28M?ref=fed_asin_title

That's another good idea... What is that on the back of XPLOR?!? And how many LBS? Please let me know! I've always see the front of your Oliver, parked in your storage shed. WOW!

Geoff’s short homemade stick, not near enough tool! The awning opener, not a good enough hook. I use one of these and it’s never where I need it, so just bought another one, just for the TV and TT! It’s 27” long or 40” when extended, it gets the job done! I’ve had mine well over 10 years and it has been a savior on many occasions. Not bad at $15. https://a.co/d/ci6xMqe

Thanks Patriot for this reminder. I read your original post over a year ago. Expensive but if truly no leaking in your years of experience, then worth it. They’re 10% off now and I like how you can order x number of male/female fittings. That will take some counting before ordering. On my upgrade list!

Yep, I get it Dewdev and you live up in the land of the Nor'easter! Last time it rained down here was September? No snow yet either. Several large capacity humidifiers running throughout our home! First, get better quality switches from a marine supply store. Drill the smallest possible hole and just add a thin bead of clear silicone inside the hole. I used these cheap Amazon switches for interior mounting, where being waterproof was not a concern. They've worked reliably for our fresh water motorized ball valves.

I only see one good-looking "old guy."

Sure, I meant for others who don’t need a new valve but would like the power assist. I just ordered one to check it out. If it works out I’ll get a second 3” and one 1 1/2”. I would really want the switches where the pull handles are. Or you could mount those switch plates just inside the rear storage on the wall to the streetside basement, easy to runs wires to get there. Waterproof DPDT switches are common in toggle switches. I purchased these to run my motorized ball valves to replace the manual fresh water valves: https://a.co/d/7vJmWl8

Given this statement, you would save money buying an Oliver with little to no solar or inverter and LA batteries. Would be good to have another DIY sort contributing on our Forum! 😂 Ours had two OEM Zamp solar panels (320W), 2KW Xantrex and newer LA batteries. Since you asked about costs, for $3300 we added 600AH Epoch LiFePO4, Victron 3KVA MP2 inverter, new buses, cooling fan, and mounting hardware. The net cost was $2700 after selling the used batteries and inverter. For another $1,300, I could add the 460AH Epoch Essentials, installed under the pantry, providing 1060AH total (or a third 300AH Epoch in the battery bay). How much is the Platinum Package? You could mount three 200W solar panels if your Oliver comes with none, or add a third if it has two. We went with adding the Renogy 400W suitcase (for 720 total with OEM rooftop panels) and Victron 30A MPPT SC, with cabling and Anderson connectors this came to $800. These prices are for parts only, DIY labor of course. And the Renogy 400W is $100 cheaper today than it was last year. Starting today on my DC-DC charger installation, adding a Victron Orion XS 50A. With 4AWG cabling and SB175 Anderson connectors and lugs it came to $525 total. This would be in addition to upgrading the alternator on your tow vehicle (TV). OTT recently advertised a sale on adding a DC-DC charger. They would supply the older less-efficient Victron 30A charger and install only the Oliver side of the system (tow vehicle cabling and installation not included), all for the sale price of $1,300, WOW! 🤣 You could also spend big bucks for the Truma A/C on a newer hull. Or replace a noisy Dometic Penguin II with an Atmos A/C with SoftStart for $1,650 shipped. The Atmos is the best A/C unit out there to run on inverter, since it runs efficiently on R32 refrigerant (10A continuous vs. 15A+). There are many mods postings on all of this, all of mine and from many other members. Like I said before, check out Modifications section or search for your keyword of interest! Best wishes in your pursuit!

Older hulls are equal to the newer and every used dollar saved allows you to add mods that are important and special to you. Check the Modifications forum. Who needs more water? We do! 🤣 Olivers have a boondocking port where the onboard water pump will fill the FWT from an external source. Many members have 1-2 small 5-gal tanks for this reason. Not good enough for boondocking in Arizona (or Colorado)! We always have an extra 35 gallons, don't leave home without it! https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/horizontal-leg-tank-35-gal

I just found something that may be better for those of us who have waste drain valves in good condition but with a hard pull or merely wanting to go electric. You do not have to remove the valves to install this motorized helper: https://www.barkermfg.com/auto-drains.html

And that's the hard part! Running wire and mounting switches NP! Yes, of course more expensive with much greater functionality! Thank you, I just added this to my Wishlist! If you are going to all the work of replacing the valve, I would certainly go this path. I like the short pull (backup) handle that would be more reliable than a 12 FT cable and simple electric motors are generally reliable. I replaced ALL my manual water valves to electric already. This is a no-brainer for our hull! This valve is rated 4.5 on Amazon with 200 reviews. @rich.dev has the best idea, I think. Put the switches where the current handles are located. I would scrap the supplied wire harness (likely not long enough) and the supplied (awkward) switch and plate and buy 3 marine grade (waterproof) simple toggle switches, up for open and down means closed! They will fit in the holes left by the pull handles once removed. Run stranded 14 AWG wire which should be fine since they use a 5A fuse in the switch. I would also relocate all fuses to my 12VDC positive bus. Handy since I relocated it to under the rear dinette seat. Better to have all fuses centrally located than at the switch or the motor (for all appliances). I would replace all three (3) valves, sooner or later. Really dislike the one by the toilet that keeps the gray from backing up. How many times have we forgot that and have to climb back up in the trailer. All switches together, in the same outside location makes sense to me. We always have that rear hatch open when leaving a campsite anyway. Added a couple pics, food for thought, and thanks again for this idea! 😂

This appears odd. Generally an inverter runs on battery power with full functionality. There are several Xantrex 3000 experts here, @rich.dev being one of them.