jd1923

A bench inspection of all 3 valves showed something quite interesting. With cables detached, the black waste valve opened and closed easily yet the seals were crusty and looked more worn. The seals on the gray valves looked to be in better condition yet the valve mechanisms on both gray valves were stuck, all gunk-ed up! My thinking is soap and/or tank additives in the gray plumbing caused this and the black tank is certainly a different chemistry. I cannot be sure with 3 prior owners of our hull what was used through the years. I remember our good friend Steve @ScubaRx writing that he does not use additives, has not for years, and I believe we’re going with that plan going forward. I was so hoping not to have to replace the gray waste valve since I had installed our Victron MP2 directly over it. Last week I reached down and around the inverter and with much pain and patience. I loosed the Allen key on the cable and the two Phillips screws to remove the sheath. With the cable detached I found the valve was near impossible to move by hand. What I feared came true, and today with much pain I removed this valve. Was very happy to get the valve out and in only 2 hours, considering all. First of course, I removed the ground to the batteries and switched off the solar. I had to unstrap the inverter and pull the 42 LB beast up far enough out of the way to work below it. I used a steel bracket to hold it up. I feared I had taped the shelf down strong with the VHB tape, but it popped off with a strong pull due to the slick shelving material. The waste valve was jammed so hard into the floor that the two bottom bolts were extremely difficult to remove (see impression of the waste valve in the floor insulation in 2nd picture). They were also rusty given their bottom location. You needed two open-ended 7/16” wrenches and the back bolt is extremely hard to reach being under the aisle floor. I spent 30 min on these two bolts alone! I’m really good at wrenching in tight spots from considerable experience. Most of you reading this, I strongly suggest getting OTT to replace this valve when you feel "it’s time." If they charge more than a hour labor, a good retort would be, “Well you put it there!” There was a rubber mat installed under the gray tank which was halfway under the waste valve. I cut this rubber out in the area where the valve is bolted to make the reinstall a little easier. The gray valve was much worse than the picture reveals and the fact that this valve was installed horizontally makes all the residue collect on the lower side causing friction on one side adding to overall pull & push resistance. I replaced entire valve assembly for the gray and just the seals on the black. The gray pull cable is about 4' short and looks fine with a slight curve. I will replace the 144” black cable when it arrives. Before we travel next week, I’ll get the garden hose in the Oliver, fill the black and gray tanks some, run water into the shower drain to test all 3 valves. Tomorrow I should install the new gray valve. It will not be easy as the two flanges do not sit parallel. The two bottom bolts will be fun again! Then I need a plug and some fiberglass repair for the hole in the bathroom wall, and I'm sure I'll see other needs. Sure hope to be good very soon... and for another 10+ years!

There was a recent thread started by @Galileo where Val had a black tank waste valve beyond repair. OTT Service suggested replacing the valve with the Valterra motorized valve which would eliminate the need for the 12 ft pull cable replaced by an electric switch. This got me thinking as we have a 10-year-old hull and ALL three (3) waste valves, including the 1 1/2" gray valve for the bathroom, are very difficult to pull the valves open and to push back to close. It's always better to work preventive maintenance than to get caught on the road with a stuck waste valve! I wanted to install electric motorized valves in all 3 locations but we were made aware by OTT (through Val's service call) that replacing the gray valve would be difficult. From a picture I had taken of that area, I noted it was installed laying flat on the hull floor which would not allow for the considerably wider motorized valve. I couldn't see a design with one manual valve with t-pull handle in the rear next to an electric switch for the other. So my plan morphed into restoring the main waste valves replacing OEM parts as needed. I kept the idea of a motorized 1 1/2" valve for the bathroom because this valve must be opened/closed often, every travel day. What a chronic pain it is getting into the bathroom, reaching down ankle height and pulling the valve open before pulling a muscle! Yep, we're getting older... To start, I removed both valves under the front dinette seat. The 3" black and the 1 1/2" gray valves were originally installed angled towards and touching each other, with the gray valve jammed against the fiberglass wall. I sawed off the 1 1/2" ABS at the waste valve flange so that larger motorized valve could be installed. Purchase of a new flange and two couplings was all that was needed, as I was happy we had some ABS glue. With the plumbing out it was so easy to run wiring for our DC-DC charger from the hitch to rear dinette seat, an added bonus. At first, I wanted to install the power switch near the entrance door so that it could be reached while standing outside. Thinking through the extra work and that it could be easily damaged or switched accidently, I installed it right there under the dinette seat. Here the provided wiring harness reached the buses under the rear dinette seat w/o modification. I cut a tight-fit rectangle opening for the switch alone, tossed the large faceplate and by-passed the odd fuse/reset button, adding a 5A fuse at the +bus. When the valve is open a thin red LED shows which can be seen from outside the entrance door. It is soooo great to merely press a button to work this valve!

There's an Oliver in our neighborhood! It's not a standard issue, instead a classic early hull and with its own capable power plant! During Christmas it carried holiday lights (shoulda gotta a picture then, next year for sure). I love it and I miss owning a tractor! What a find! 🤣

Ever since @Patriot started this thread, I've had the Starlink Mini on my list, TY. Chris made me aware of a new Starlink Beta working with T-Mobile (gotta love Elon)! I'm not sure I understand it fully, so we just signed up for the beta. We have a T-Mobile business account for our cell phones and Pepwave router. Want to add the Starlink Mini wired to the WAN port on the router, but if this new technology comes to fruition will we need the dish? Looks like Starlink may become a satellite based cell tower for T-Mobile. Motorla was working on this with the Iridium Project in the 90s which never came to be. We went with T-Mobile since recently their 5G network is more capable than the competitors and they actually have 5G in Prescott and nobody else does. Verizon and AT&T could be in trouble when this launches! Check out this link FYI: T-Mobile Starlink Satellite Phone Service: A New Era in Connectivity

Love the first 3 and we quickly removed Flag from our list, as you said nosebleed, and SNOW and too much transient I-40 traffic/business on the way to CA or the Canyon! Great place to go to college though.

As it should be! I walked by a brand new GMC Duramax in the Walmart parking lot the other day. It was soooo quiet I could not tell the engine was running until I was within a few feet of it. Very nice, wish I could afford one! My Gen 2 Cummins at idle is quite another story! It is certainly much louder than a Honda generator. I never start the engine just when somebody is walking in front of me in a parking lot. Good thing it quiets down at highway speeds!

Come on Bill, don't stereotype! Meaning don't put the high country of AZ in the same boat as the desert valleys. We would never live in Phoenix, or anywhere from Lake Havasu to Yuma (The hottest parts of the country along with the Palm Desert of CA). And Tucson summers are just about as bad! An August day in Prescott will get to high 90s in the afternoons ONLY, for 4-5 hours, but dry and you're not sweating all day and night like summers in the SE! Don't you retreat to Wyoming every summer? 🤣 It cools off every summer evening and we eat dinners on our deck. You can sleep without A/C knowing it will be about 60F every morning! We do have the best weather as compared to the five states we've lived (IL, VA, TX, FL and AZ). Elevation is key and if we had to live east it would be nearby you somewhere in the Carolina mountains! 😂

Yep, though it's better to call these water restrictors. They restrict flow vs. regulate pressure. Ron's choice of a true adjustable/gauged pressure regulator is what you want. I've posted this picture before, but to show our hull came with BOTH restrictors and back-flow preventers (check valves) on both incoming water lines. However, the OTT plumbing diagram shows only back-flow preventers. There are likely several configurations out there!

Depends on what part of the west. I do not miss living in Northern Virginia. Our last year there (2005) our son's spring baseball schedule rained out 7 of 12 games, with fields soaked for days. The next year joining a team in Prescott, it drizzled during one game and all the boys jumped up and down with celebration, like the end of an Indian rain dance! Got over 60F yesterday, was a sunny beautiful Sunday; played pickleball, got my DC-DC wiring started, and ended the day with a Cadillac Margarita and a wonderful Fajitas Carnitas! We had a couple of cold days the week before. This week every day will be in the 60s and next week all 70s (for when we head to the Santa Catalina Mountains). Nice! 😂

Yay, wired our Oliver for the DC-DC charger today! (TT side only, wire lengths installed hitch to buses, no connections made yet) An injury and then rebuilding the waste valves took precedence. But after Reading @Ronbrink's comment (thanks Ron) about running the wires around the toilet and not having to remove the vanity shelf, I thought since I have the waste valves removed under the front dinette seat, I should get this done before putting them back in. I pulled the two valves yesterday and then thought, a couple of hose clamps and I could pull it all out and inspect for condition inside and clean the area. Good thing I rinsed the toilet 4 times when we dumped tanks. The 4 AWG wire is now laying across the floor in the picture. It made the wiring soooo easy! I stuck my head down where the waste valves were installed and looking forward I could see the OEM installed cables coming through the hull. I'll see if I can take a picture of it. If they truly sold me 65 ft and I have 28 left, then I used 37 ft for the round-trip in the Oliver (2 x 18.5 ft). I ran it as straight as can be leaving some extra length where the buses are located under rear dinette seat, and outside I made it 5" longer than the trailer cable to be safe. The amount left over is enough for the + run to the starter battery (~20 ft) with 8' left over for rear and front frame grounds, and a 4 AWG straight run from battery to alternator. We're leaving to Catalina State Park and the Coronado NF a week from Monday, so completing the DC-DC charger installation is second to getting the waste valves finished. So glad, I got this wiring run today. I'll be happier when the plumbing is done!

I was joking! 🤣

Prior owner had removed the OEM seal and replaced it with a rain gutter below the awning. Normally, I would be in the same camp as Art, but... Our Oliver has many rain stripes down the streetside body and windows that I do not see on the curbside. Since our Oliver has not had wax or anything since a ceramic job 3-4 years ago, these do not come off with a wash. I would say install none or on both sides.

You need to reconfigure your Xantrex, both solar chargers, and your new Orion to the same Epoch suggested charge rates. These specs are from the Epoch Essential 300AH battery manual. Bring Bulk and Absorption charge rates down to 14.2V. It will not matter that you ran higher for a couple weeks, but lower charge voltage over time will extend battery life. There is also no prescribed charge process like having to bring the batteries down to XX% SOC. Though if your only getting down to a min of 82% just use more 12VDC and 120AC power! Don't worry about leaving lights on (old camping habits), the TV or radio, use your microwave or oven, boil water in an electric kettle, or run your fridge on DC or AC, it doesn't matter. During our last trip to Q, the first morning we ran the HWH on inverted 120VAC and our 600AH dropped about 6%. But don't forget, leaving a high amperage appliance on. I'm sure you're checking the Victron Connect app often We stay at campgrounds with hookups and most of the time I do not bother hooking up. Like you mentioned, it is good every so often knowing you're up to the full 100%. I hooked up when we got home after a week to bring them up to 100%. The next morning I put the cord away and this week while working in it, running lights, radio and furnace, our 600AH has always been over 90%. And now you have DC-DC charging. Your system is in a great shape! 😂

Agreed Ron, you have automated this with an ignition circuit solenoid and if I though it was more important, your design is the way I would go too. I was referring to others who have mounted a manual switch under the hood.

Weather like that is rare in Texas and Houston, to Austin to San Antonio is always warmer than DFW and to the north. Bad timing for you! The jet stream must be flying low this week if it's also hitting Art in northern NM. We must be below it, 42F now with a high of 59F on a sunny day at 5400 ft. High of 72F in Quartzsite valley today. The weather looks to be up and down where you are heading. Keep that Oliver furnace running and after the work is done you'll warm up! 😂

I prefer Sherry's sentiment over the others. Chris and I do most everything together (except shopping), ever since we met on a tennis court 34 years ago. The next time we met we played together and have not stopped since! 😂

Heated garage in Texas? Money better spent on installing A/C! 😂 We moved to Georgetown in 2006 and bought an old home on a couple of acres which needed serious yardwork. It took me all winter long to clean it up, usually wearing a sweatshirt, hat and gloves. Everyday our next-door neighbor Linda walked 50 yards out to the street to get her mail. She wore a long heavy wool coat, scarf hat and gloves and looked at me like I was crazy. The feeling was mutual! 🤣

Problem is… Now y’all have to take extra good care of it! Camping in our Oliver is like driving an old farm truck. Where a little scratch, a door ding, just doesn’t bother you! 🤣

Thought once to get one of these but reading this and some earlier posts makes me very happy that the 10-year-old keyed lock in our door is still working fine. For me on this one, leave well enough alone, where normally I'm the upgrade type.

This is true, but does the Oliver owner need greater precision? The Klein products mentioned above read to +/- 0.01A DC and other multimeters can read to 0.001A. We're not testing electronic circuits. Several Oliver owners that have written here with electrical issues do not own one and have little to no experience in their use. Also, if you have a reliable Bluetooth shunt installed, do you need a clamp meter at all? They are clumsy and mine often sits in its pretty case. However, all Oliver owners should have a basic multimeter and at a minimum know how to read voltage. For example, water pump not working? Is it getting 12VDC at the pump? Heck, I've done automotive installations and troubleshooting since the 70s with only a test light in my toolbox. With this simple tool, no dials to turn or readings to understand, if it lights brightly you have voltage. Got my son and I each one of these for Christmas stocking stuffers. They were on sale for $8 at the time and so easy to use with one hand (try that with a multimeter)! 🤣 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08D9RY532/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

GJ, since we've gotten to know each other (virtually), you know I ALWAYS have an answer (as do you)! I truly enjoyed your post, but I would just increase the pressure and blow those LBs out! 🤣 Seriously though, every Oliver owner should know this line is clear, since every time we fill the tank until it overflows and pressure cannot build in an open system. Before every trip, I fill mine at home where house pressure is known. We have an adjustable regulator in the basement.

I mentioned starting on this project this weekend. Instead, I got deep into fixing/replacing all our waste valves. We leave on a camp on 3/24 and I would like to have both done, but working halftime too. We can leave w/o the DC-DC charger but I must get the drain valves finished which today are ALL torn apart, parts coming between today and Monday. 🤣

We bypass Flagstaff all the time! When I work in Vegas heading home and there's snow up at 7K ft, I head south on US HWY 93 and near Bagdad AZ there is a county highway that heads towards Prescott. Given you are south of Flag, take highway 260 out of the Verde Valley towards Payson. Then Hwy 87 to Winslow which is under 5K elevation and you can get back on I-40 there. We only drive thru Flagstaff if we're going there since there is always traffic, construction on I-40 and SNOW in the winter! This route is equal in time to I-17N and I-40E and a beautiful drive! We're at 5400 ft and overnight had 1-2" of rani at 40F. It snowed and is still snowing there now at 7K ft. I can see the storm clouds from our deck! Hwy 87 shows rain on the road with snow on the peaks around the edge of the White Mountains.

Exactly! Having lived in 5 different states in many cities and counties, I would say that a locale that does not have a recycling program today is a rare case. I keep used 5-gal containers in my garage for oils and antifreeze. These must be recycled separately, but it's safe to say that antifreeze is antifreeze wrt recycling. Brake fluid, spent fuels, oil based paints, solvents, etc. are hazardous waste. Our city schedules one month a year and they actually with application will come to our homes to pick up these wastes. The will be by our home this March! (see link) I go to drop off oil and antifreeze every couple of months. Sometimes I bring the Oliver with me while doing so to check the tow weight! 🤣 https://prescott-az.gov/trash-and-recycling/residential-collection/

As already mentioned, Klein tools have a long history for quality. They only have two clamp-style multimeters that measure DC Amps, the CL390 and the CL800. I purchased the CL800 last year since it has a HD casing and an Ebay seller had one for $85. I still haven't figured out how to use 90% of its functionality, but I can read V, A and R! The CL390 is all you really need. We're all in agreement here! 😂