GeoffChapman

In my tweaks to my 2021 LE1, I’ve removed the rail between the front dinette seat and the rear seat/bed. This has given us much appreciated added headroom in the double bed for whoever sleeps closest to the bathroom. The rails came out of their base brackets with a little wiggling and stretching, but the brackets won’t come out. I removed the nuts from the lowest bracket easily enough, and expected the base brackets to come right off. They don’t budge, and I am reticent to force them. Are they glued? Any ideas how to get them off without doing violence to the fiberglass? I can live with them if need be. Geoff

@rich.dev Going to swap mine out for that. On my TPMSAPP6, I had to pick up my phone and swap apps to know what the alarms meant. Not something I want to do at speed! I’ll be glad to have the monitor for $50 more.

@rich.dev Hmm. Mine is the ‎TPMSAPP6 (have to use my phone for the display) and it flashed a 'lost contact' warning several times on our recent trip. I did have the receiver buried in my console, though. May swap it out for yours (still within Amz's 30 day window) @ScubaRx That is big time helpful, Steve. Exactly what I needed. Thanks.

I would like to add a device to the Rear Camera Switch on the entry light panel. I mentioned this issue in a previous post this week, but thought I'd start a separate thread on it. The device is a small 12v Tireminder booster. I want to tie it to the Rear Camera switch b/c I don't want to forget to turn it off when I am not traveling. I thought I could draw a positive lead from the downstream side of the switch and find a negative lead somewhere nearby, and then velcro the booster to the inside wall. Well, I've opened up the space, pulled out the panel with its wires, and I am confused. Because there are functioning lights in the panel, the panel needs to have both a positive and a negative to work (right?). The panel itself is plastic as far as I can see, which would mean it must have a negative to the switch itself, unless there is imbedded wiring that is out of sight. Each of the smaller light switches has three wires. I thought one of these wires must be that negative. But I also noticed that the three lower left switches, including the Rear Camera, will work when the Master Light switch is off. So their wiring may be different than the others. I started to pull and test the wires and the rear camera switch. The top with on each switch feeds the blue light switch. If I pull that top wire off and the switch is on, the blue light does not work, but its device does work. That makes me think that top wire is a negative. Then one of the bottom wires would be the positive feed from the battery/upstream side and the other would be the positive feed from the device/downstream side. Does this sound right? When I test my Tireminder booster with this theory, I can't get it to work. And then sometimes while I am testing, the blue light does not work till it restore the original connections! I'm a bit confused and can't find a wiring diagram to help me out. Can anyone tell me a good way to hook my booster to the Rear Camera Switch? Geoff

@Steph and Dud B @dhaig I did not know about these kind of devices. They would greatly resolve any family anxieties about off-grid camping. I watched a comparison video on them tonight. Interesting!! Thanks... @dhaig The idea came from a post by @ScubaRx. He called me today and helpfully detailed how he fished a wire from the switch panel down to the bathroom vanity where he grounded and placed the Tireminder booster. The reports on the strength of the booster's broadcasting makes me think leaving it behind the switch panel is far easier. But it certainly is a rat's nest of wires in there! I'll find a ground wire, wedge it in, and give it a try. Pairing it with the Rear Camera Switch seems worth it.

Thanks for the encouragement. We feel like we've made some good progress. @topgun2 thanks for the reminder; We found @John E Davies' check list, modified it to fit, and use it regularly. I can see how it would be easy to forget an essential sometime!! Geoff

Thanks for the multiple replies, everyone, and the encouragement. @topgun2, I like your cautious recommendations on electrical power and AC. No need to move too fast on those, and I am certainly just learning how well my current capacity will work. We have yet to be camping under full clouds for multiple days. And the CalMark cover sounds like it would be worth it. @dewdev, the placement of your Tireminder booster is easy to do. Connecting it to the Rear Camera switch would be an attempt to pair it with a device that would have an identical use pattern - and would prevent me leaving it on (and draining the battery) when the trailer was not in use. I'd still like to try that. Sounds like the cell phone connectivity is an unsolved challenge. I'll be interested in any solutions that are not too expensive. My primary concern is doing a solo set of nights in a 'dispersed camping' area - say the Allegheny National Forest here in western Pa - where there is little connectivity. My wife will want to know I am safe, and functioning text messages would get it done. My booster unit was installed 90° perpendicular to @Steph and Dud B's unit, and does not suffer a kink in the coax cable. And I have not tried resetting my phone after the booster unit was turned on, as per @dewdev's suggestion. I hadn't tried that and will give it a go. Geoff

We had hoped to get a good introduction to our Oliver this fall, setting the stage for more trips next year. Looking ahead, we hope next year to travel out to the west coast (southern route in March or April) and return on a northern route. Later in the summer, we’d like to go up to Canada around a Great Lake, east to Nova Scotia and return through Maine. We will see! But first, we have several follow up issues that we’d like to pay attention to over the winter. We could use some advice. Next up, I will need to learn how to: · Figure out if the Cell Phone Booster is worth it. I can turn it on, but it sure doesn’t seem to make a difference. Other threads seem skeptical as well. · Figure out if the Bluetooth connection on the entertainment unit works. I’ve read up, reset the firmware, but can’t make it work. Any hints? · Take out the microwave to add a storage cabinet (perhaps) · Figure out if I can changeover one of my external propane connections to be high pressure (to fuel a Camp Chef Everest 2x). Or maybe just go with a different tank and regulator. · Hook up the Tireminder signal booster to the Rear Camera switch on the entry light panel (so it does not drain our battery when not needed). @ScubaRx, did I see a post where you did this and mounted the booster in the bathroom vanity? Any details on how you got the wire forward to the vanity? · Do a solo cold weather trip up to Cherry Springs State Park in Pa, a world class dark sky spot. I do astrophotography and have been hoping to make that trip for a couple years. The Oliver can make it happen! · Bed it down for 2-3 winter months. We have an outdoor slot in a secure storage park 30 mins away. Might I be wise to get a cover for it? It has been covered in each winter of its short life. If we are going to travel like that, we wonder if we might need: · More electrical power? We have 2 6v Napa Commercial AGMs, rated to 190 AHr, installed in Jan 23 by the previous owner. Lithiums would double that, I suspect, and another solar panel could be added. But $’s are an issue. Thoughts? · Better AC? We will likely not be using much AC (we will stay out of the south during the hottest months), so I think we could stay with the noisy Dometic and be limited to AC when on shore power. Thoughts? · Any other recommendations? Geoff and Becca Chapman

We have had a fast introduction to our new-to-us Elite I (hull 731) since we picked it up over Labor Day weekend in McComb, Ill. We are four years into retirement and felt ready to do some camping and to get out and see more of our country. We thought we could fit camping trips in between our life with our many local grandchildren – and help with visits to our non-local grandchildren. From our home in Pittsburgh, we’ve now taken 5 trips, visited 7 states (from Illinois to NY to Tennessee), travelled 3400 miles and camped for 13 nights. This has given us a deep dive into the Oliver camping world. I thought we’d share our first impressions and ask some questions. Overall, it is evident that the Oliver is a complex and capable trailer. We love it!! We are glad for our purchase and our start into some years (God willing) of camping adventures. The Oliver online forums and the Oliver University have been a goldmine of advice. Thanks to you all, more than once!! As we got started, we had to: · Upgrade our TV capabilities, adding a class 3 hitch, air bags and a brake controller to our 2022 V6 GMC Canyon. All this was new to me, and I’m glad to say we’ve had no towing difficulties. · Learn how to tow. I got my first lessons from our seller at pickup, a *great* guy. Caution and care were important as we started. As of this writing, we’ve been through the Adirondacks and the Smokies at least once. · Learn how to travel with our Cocker. ‘Brecon’ goes with us, almost always. But she does not sleep on our bed, so… the floor by the door proved perfect for her bed, leaving the isle free to walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night. She travels well, and is a sweet companion. · Learn the basic systems, including parking, electrical, propane, solar, water, sewage, heat, and solar. We were told at sale that both our previous owners sold after 1500 miles in part because of the complexity of these units. We sympathize! · Learn the basics of finding places to camp. We studied up on federal, state and private options, including Harvest Hosts and Hipcamp. We quickly concluded that we love remote camping, so we had to learn how to boondock. Hipcamp has been our favorite. · Learn how to live in tight quarters! We’ve been married for 46 good years, but this is a new season. As soon as we had a week of nights or so under our belt, we began to shape our Ollie to fit us. All these mods are reversable, but to date we have: · Swapped out the Furrion rear view camera (with a dim, small, fuzzy image) for a Haloview BT7 1080p Backup Camera. I used the wiring for the Furrion and relocated the camera below the Oliver light, temp caulking the previous Furrion holes. The difference was well worth it. · Taken the TV and its mount out. We don’t use it. · Taken the rail btw the front dinette seat and the rear dinette seat out. The added headroom in sleeping is well worth it. · Added 6 Tireminder TPMS transmitters. I may add 2 more to our spare tires. · Made solar work for at least two or three night stays offgrid. 8 of our first 13 nights were remote (by choice) with no hookups, so we learned to keep electrical use to a minimum, turned off the inverter when off shore-power, and added a 100 watt portable solar panel to our 230 watt rooftop panels. As we sit here and think back on our first weeks with the camper, what have we liked, what do we love? · Without exception, we have enjoyed the people we have met. This country has a lot of great people, many of them living out in the country. · The Oliver has made visiting our large family and other friends a cinch! We happily sleep in our trailer! · We are pleased with the Oliver itself, with its aesthetics, its evident craftsmanship, and its ‘mod-ability’. It fits us well. · We love being warm and snug and dry inside when it is cold and windy and wet outside. · We love waking up to sunrises streaming in the windows. We love going to sleep with night breezes across our faces. We love the hoots of the owls and the barking of the coyotes in the hills. We’ve loved sitting pondside and watching snapping turtles cruise in the evening, the swallows as they dart, and the fish as they leap. · We love the quiet and the calm of the countryside and the hills. · We love the stars deep into the nights in the countryside. We travel with a small telescope and binoculars. The stars have long been a love. Geoff and Becca Chapman

Reactive project, indeed! A bungee cord around the dinette post would work! Thx Geoff

@SNY SD UP That would have prevented my spill. Great solution! On my LE1 I have the furnace intake vents down there which need free flow, but some kind of container should work. Thx! For now my aux water tank will be traveling on the shower floor, strapped to the vanity Geoff

@topgun2 I am running the furnace for 30 minutes with hatches open prior to leaving for the day, and will prop open the hatches as well. Glad to know there are drainage holes down there somewhere. I knew there were weep holes to drain any moisture that got in between the hulls, but wasn’t sure about the basement itself. Thanks for the quick help. Geoff

We are into our second month with our new to us 2021 LE1, hull 731. So far, wonderful! And, as you all would know, we are learning fast how to be at home in our Oliver. On the way into our campsite last night, a Hipcamp site north of Chattanooga, we had 100 yards of rough terrain and our 2 1/2 gallon water storage tank tipped over on the floor under the front dinette. About 11/2 gallons of water disappeared through the floor. I suspect it is in the basement somewhere. Will it drain through? Should I worry about that? We are off to a fast day with family in the region and I won’t be able to attend to it till later tonight if I need to. I’d be glad for any advice. Geoff

I have that set, too, bought to service my Oliver, with both SAE and metric sockets. I thought it was branded like that b/c I live in Pittsburgh!! Guess not! It’s been helpful, but be careful to leave it handle side up. If left on its side or upside down, all the lower sockets will fall out upon opening!! Geoff

Thanks for the helpful discussion, everyone. I’m up and running, I think, with the new portable solar panel. I’ll be testing it out up in the Finger Lakes region over the next days. BTW, what happens if you have the polarity backwards on the Zamp external solar plug, and plug your panel in? Will it blow that fuse? Something worse? @ScubaRx, I’d be interested in that “simple rewiring”. Can you point me to a link for that? Geoff

I am adding a portable 100W solar panel to my new-to-me 2021 LE1 with its 200 OTT installed panels, hoping to bring my solar up to 300W. I picked up a Harbor Freight panel today, with a controller and added wiring. When I put my multimeter on the Zamp port (to double check polarity - I notice everyone says to be careful about Zamp's reversed polarity in their port wiring), there was no current! Snooping around under the rear seat of the front dinette, I found out there is no fuse in the red fuse port just inside the exterior wall (see photo)! I assume I should just put a fuse in, right? What amperage? Thanks for any help! Geoff

Got down in there and looked at it - it is indeed one of two nuts that mount the rear street side jack. Both nuts are firmly tight. Thanks... Geoff

I put my multimeter on them before disconnecting and they showed 1 watt. After reading for a bit, I thought it was worth disconnecting the solars and measuring them again. 0 watts. Seems like the 1 watt was a bleed-through from the live 12 watt battery wires on the controller. I followed the same procedure with the battery wires as with the solars - two measurements. Along the way I discovered they were indeed live!! I taped them off before proceeding further! My trailer was not connected to shore power during any of this. Thanks for the warning, and the procedure on dealing with solar in any kind of light! And for the link to all the manuals. I had searched out about 1/3 of those manuals on the internet before I discovered that very helpful link at 'Oliver University'!! Geoff

I see two in the aft dining basement mounted opposite the inverter box on the wheel well - the red unit with two buttons on it and the black unit to its right with one red button - would these be them? Can you tell me what each does?

I haven't found any breakers that look like the Ines you linked, Bill. I'll be keeping my eyes open. On the Solar Switch, I have no idea how it was turned to 'Off". And I had no idea that it was there! But nice to find it, and to have a day to dig through the systems of the Oliver. It is an impressive trailer, and we are looking forward to the trips ahead. Thanks, Geoff

Try that photo again... Geoff

Success!! Found the breaker in the 'attic' - the storage comp right next to the Zamp controller. It had flipped to 'Off". Turned to to "On" and the controller reset and said I'm solar charging!! Thanks for the help! Geoff IMG_5153.HEIC

Bill, can you be more specific on "the area between the inner and outer shells"? Under the bedding on the street side of the Elite? Remember, I have an Elite 1. I also just climbed up and pulled the feeds from each solar panel to the black port where they connect to the wiring inside the roof. They were easy to pull out. When I put my multi-meter on them, they each shower about 20 volts of power. So it must be a breaker between the roof and the Zamp Controller... right? Geoff

That's exactly what I was wondering, too.

I'm a new owner of a 2021 LE 1, and very happy to have home after a 600 mile, 2 night, return drive from our seller's home in Illinois two days ago. I am going through the Oliver, trying to familiarize myself with a complex set of systems, and giving it a good cleaning along the way. There is a LOT to learn!! It seems like my solar panels are not working, and I could use some help. My Elite 1 has the solar pro package, factory installed: two AGM batteries (replaced early this year), 230 watt panels with the ZS 30A Zamp Solar controller, 2000 watt inverter, etc. The Zamp controller seems to work, showing the battery icon and the battery levels, but it does not show the square solar panel icon and the green solar charging light is not lit. I believe when I picked this up, the solar worked (though I am not sure - the walk-through was a bit overwhelming). Now it seems it does not. I read up a bit on the forums and then pulled the Zamp controller out and took my voltmeter and measured the two solar wires when I'd removed them from the controller. No voltage. The other two wires to the battery show 12.5+ volts. When I got the Oliver home, I power washed it, and took some time to power wash around the roof where there was a lot of dirt - behind the awning, around the mounting brackets and the AC unit, etc. Might I have got some water in the solar wire connections up there and shorted a fuse somewhere? Might there be another problem? I'd be glad for some help. This is my first post, but not the last. Sorry to make my introduction a request for some help!! Geoff Chapman