jd1923

Decided to start a new thread vs further hi-jacking this one!

After removal of our obsolete rooftop parts, I wish that OTT had never installed anything up there but the bathroom exhaust fan. What a disaster (see before and after pics below). It's truly a mess in its basic OEM installations. It will take me many, many hours of hard work to correct, more on that later. Maybe I should have just left the stuff up there? Everything removed could have been mounted with 3M VHB tape, no screw holes required. Winegard suggests their extra mount kit which adds another 12 screw holes, also unnecessary and this alone is half the repair work ahead of me. Never backed a trailer with a camera on it in my life and modern TVs have back-up cameras. Why does OTT drill a 1 1/8" hole in the hull, when a 3/16" hole is all that is needed? The picture on this 2015 camera system has the resolution of VHS tapes from back in the 90s! 🤣 To me, Wi-Fi and cellular boosters are only useful in some cases, and ours was not working anyway. I installed a Pepwave router setup instead last winter. The Wi-Fi Ranger antenna box is now collateral damage! The OEM exhaust fan was installed with the side marked "FRONT" pointing to the rear of the trailer. I hope OTT is not installing options like this on new builds! Ours is now 9 years old. Those ordering new, my advice is to refuse options that pierce the hull with multiple screw holes! Add only the options you must have and nothing extra. I still need to remove the 4 Winegard brackets, remove all the Dicor and sealants and start filling holes. Thanks for reading...

Look closely at the final picture above and you will see a strap at the top step of the ladder. Old, but not yet too weak, I yanked on this thing hard. Way more grounded than this engineer would have thought. As you may remember, I'm not often complimentary to many design engineers. This would be easier if I lived where boat service shops are frequent, like where @SeaDawg lives. We do live in the desert...

We just received our MetalTech scaffolding today. Got it setup in 90 minutes (on the 70-year old-fart plan, yep just taking my time). In another 90 minutes (working hard this time), I removed EVERYTHING up top-up front on our OLD Hull #113! Boy-oh-boy, do I have a lot of fiberglass repair to do! This scaffolding is awesome and reasonable. I'm 6' 2" and weigh 225 lbs on a good day! This platform did NOT waiver, did not sway, not a blink! I'm also weary of heights and ladders yet felt great on this platform and even forgot I was up there after working a while. Strapped the ladder into place as shown. I climbed up and down 5x while working this first job. A young guy would just climb the scaffolding! 🤣 Pictures to follow are first the scaffolding setup. Then the demolition. Pulling parts is always fun and easier than the final restoration. 🤣 Posts to follow will cover the complete repair of the front roof. Today was easy. I see many hours of repair in my future.

I bought two of these for stocking stuffers! 🤣 Black Friday price, OMG only $8!!! I’ve used these ever since my first automotive job in 1975. This one is good quality, alligator clips a bit too tight, though end point is certainly sharp enough to pierce wire insulation. This is the reason why a simple test light works where a multimeter will not. Grab a ground and poke on fuse ends and more. One is for my son, the other I just placed under the rear dinette seat where I have rerouted all our fuses and breakers.

Ron, you generally are well-equipped to say the least! 🤣 Your 36” Bakers Pride puts our 16” model to shame! But for $189 and at a weight that can be carried, the Advantco is really nice. Check the reviews from small restaurant owners. btw, you know I’m one for a deal… when our grilled was shipped they dropped it, bent the upper left corner. Webstaurant, to whom we have bought from often, offered me a 20% refund or 40% in store credit. We took the credit! You cannot get a better grill for under $200. The next grill up in price is near $500. All you need is a 110V outlet.

Hard to believe submitting a web order with Home Depot on a Sunday morning and receiving the scaffolding Monday by 1PM! Wow, the accessories should be here by Thanksgiving. Just need one level working on the front where the driveway is a foot or more higher, hitch tongue near the ground, so as you can see I added two additional for support. Notice the side view, adding a 1” block to level and a large pool noodle to steady the platform and protect the Oliver. Was worried about the wheels rolling but they lock nicely. I have some adjustable scaffold levelers and might get these. If you do you want the 1 3/8” inserts for this model: https://a.co/d/00HCoxT

Good point! The 22” model was what I was referring to, has a centered rear grease trap. Pics of your 17” looks much better with front grease trap.

We cook anything inside or out, and more inside now with our new Emeril Air Fryer installed! The MaxxFan clears up any cooking smoke/smells nicely. Most trips we like to have a meal ready for our first night that only needs reheating. This way I don't have to do the full campsite setup after a long day. Love to be outside more, though during our 2023 spring trip to Moab UT and points between, we had more days windy than not. So windy, the Weber Q grill would not stay fired. Can't sit by the fire ring either!

Our feelings too. We bought the larger Blackstone model and returned it without trying it. The connection of the top seemed loose, and I did not like the grease trap. Chris, Adam and I all have restaurant experience, using commercial equipment and we wanted something better. Must be stainless steel, not Teflon or aluminum. We bought this electric countertop griddle, thinking of using it for camping when on shore power or adequate battery/inverter capacity. It's amazing, yet it’s really toooo heavy to load and unload when camping. What a deal on the commercial grade griddle! We kept it for home use. Avantco EG16N 16" Electric Countertop Griddle - 120V, 1750W Found a cabinet on Craigs so it could sit on our deck at home. We get morning sun on the deck and given our climate we use it outside year-round. With a piece of plexiglass I had on hand, I created a splash guard and installed an overhead light. Chris cooks breakfast on the grill almost every morning. Cleaning takes some work as it is stainless, not coated. Picture shows Adam and Chris cooking Egg Foo Young, one late June night! It's generally hard to cook a dinner like this with big eaters like us in a normal home kitchen! We still do not have a flattop grill for camping! 🤣 Might just get a flat griddle iron that fits the kitchen cooktop.

They must have changed the recipe on the nasty pink stuff since it's producing CO when it had not previously. Just winterized our Oliver for the first time this winter using compressed air as always. Since we travel over the winter, I do this 2-3 times every winter. Our CO monitor will be fine and our plumbing will stay free of chemicals.

So, you also installed the MP2? Have an installation post or pictures. I knew of 3 prior to our installation but your name is new to me. Thanks. Like Steve wrote, no venting issues. I installed our MP@ under the streetside bed, so no room under there. Without detail measurements, If I was to desire more than 600AH in the battery bay, I would look under the pantry!

I'm thinking of stacking them even for Oliver rooftop work. Having the extra cross members, I can put one beam low for stability and a second up high at say 10' for a rear safety railing. I can mount the platform about 6 or 7' and store the second platform for later use. Having the double height frame the tool shelf can be mounted up high at waist height. Outriggers not only necessary when stacking these but we have very little level land here. Our driveway is as level as it gets here and from the picture you can see what I mean. I love that every item can be mounted up or down every couple of inches. I will post a picture next week after I get it setup. I also have a trades professional Hyde safety belt set with safety hook leads I purchased back in 1990 when I was restoring attic dormers on the first home we bought. It's been hanging from the rafters of my garage for decades with some occasional use since. She will look a lot better without the tall Winegard Dish!

Derek, looks like you’re going to Make that decision this week. They did 15% last year too for Black Friday. Buy from renewable to save sales tax also.

Ron, I believe it was you who first made me aware of this product. Instead of the safety upper, I bought two scaffolds at this price which are stackable or put them in tandem for a 12’ walkway. This will help with house painting too outside and above stairwells. Got the tool shelf too and 14” outriggers for greater stability. Nice set and with a 10% OFF coupon in my email, everything was under $500 plus tax. If you don’t have one, apply for a Depot card for the same 10%. I have two weeks off now. This will all be delivered for free by end of next week. The following week I will finally wash the Oliver after two roadtrips and then will replace the bathroom exhaust fan and remove the large Winegard Dish bug-catcher up top!

Some of you have the Metaltech scaffolding. If not, now's the time! I'm glad I did not pull the trigger before. Check out the sale at Depot. At this price, I may get two to stack since the 39" extension and other accessories are double this price point! MetalTech Safeclimb 6 ft. Baker Scaffold with Platform and Included Trap Door, 1250 lbs. Load Capacity I-CISCH1 - The Home Depot

When you read the attached post, almost everybody is suggesting the cracks come from wind causing the door to bang, my belief too. Most who have these cracks do not have the friction hinges. Also, the cracks that @Steve-Gwenne, @Mike and Carol and I and several others have are NOT the same that @Galway Girl is showing where the laminate has pulled out of the frame. It appears that @mossemi may also have the more extreme issue but we have not seen a picture. Our cracks are minor, most are straight horizontal lines that look like stress cracks that follow the structure of the surface. Like Mike wrote, we will be living with ours. The cracks in our door have likely been there for years, and after 9 months use of the Lippert product they have not gotten worse. I've had RV doors almost pull my arm out of its shoulder socket, gotten several bruises, heard too many LOUD bangs, not anymore! Yes, it takes a little push, but I do love how the door stays open exactly to the angle I've opened it.

One thing I noted at the Texas Rally is that every hull in our loop had MUCH brighter outside courtesy lights, likely twice as bright. Glad ours are dim in comparison and after 9 years all are still working, hope not to have to replace them. Anybody know the replacement part for the two entrance lights? There is also a pair on the streetside. I would like to install one on the rear, over the window just as the side lights are mounted above the window. I would also like one in front over the doghouse, both on separate switches that I can access from outdoors.

Yeah, I see now that your picture is with the door open screen closed and mine with the screen open with the door. We have the hairline cracks like many, and were present before the friction hinges were added and have not changed. The door on ours is 9 years old now. You can see the cracks behind the screen in my photo. If anything, friction hinges should help the door since it does not fly open and bang the hull in the wind like it used to. I installed ours in February, the day they arrived, a 15-minute install. The pair of friction hinges fill the gaps between the original hinges so that there is a hinge mount every 3-4" down the entire door frame. It adds reinforcement. Best $15 spent on our Oliver! We traveled 7 weeks since then and all the work I did this summer I opened the door and closed the door so many times since. The friction hinges cannot be the issue. The damage on Craig's door shows the laminate pulling out of the frame for likely some other reason.

BTW, love our friction hinges. Travel to Texas and back heavy winds at many locations and the door did not bang once, usually would not move an inch!

See this post (end of page 2) for probable cause -

Maybe you installed the wrong kit for your door or installed it in the wrong orientation. The one extra-large hinge bracket with the two screws sticking more than a 1/4" into the door jamb area is likely the cause of your door failure. Note the Lippert Friction Hinge installed in our Oliver entrance door. The rivets show the original hinges, and the screws are on the friction hinges. Nothing in the door jamb like yours right at the point of door failure.

If you feel 460AH is enough for your camping lifestyle then yes. Glad we have the 600AH for less worry, though we would have been fine with 460 during our recent 3 1/2 week trip to Texas using more LP at times, less battery. When we upgrade our A/C to an efficient system and desire to run more hours A/C on inverter, I may add that good deal Epoch 460AH battery, installed under the pantry to get to 1060AH total!!! (Maybe 2026?)

Wow, the season is just starting! Are you really going to hang there for 2-3 months? (I do understand you are escaping the winter of the great north.) Highs in Prescott will be in the 60s this week, lows close to freezing. Quartzsite forecast is highs in the mid 70s, lows in the mid 40s. It's a bit colder than usual now after being abnormally high many times since summer. Hoping some 80s temps for you soon which should be coming. Best wishes!

Ran across this today. Too bad he did not compare the Epoch Essentails (vs. the high end model with Victron comms) which is more basic like the LiTime battery. He does a good objective comparison: