Snackchaser

Yes, it's directly attached to the Tee for the kitchen register. The 3" duct goes on to the bathroom through some sort of firewall and it's not easily reached. There was enough slack in the 3" duct to pull the Tee (with attached reducer) out through the access port that's under the forward kitchen drawers. The space is tight, and you will need to detach the 4" side from the furnace to get enough slack on that side. You can make most of the new connections while it's out. You'll need to disconnect the kitchen register first. The screw holding the duct to the register can be reached through the access port, but it's easier to replace it from the inside of the register, rather than trying to do it blindly from inside the access port. Cheers, Geoff Here's a photo that I forgot to add in the original post:

Like others, we’ve been disappointed with the lack heating in the bathroom. In our Oliver, even the kitchen had minimal air flow and hot air was blasting under the bed. When I took a closer look at the duct routing from the furnace, the problems became obvious. There were two 4” ducts coming out of the furnace, one from the front outlet facing towards the registers, and the other from the rear outlet facing away from the registers. The front outlet was connected to the bedroom register with one 900 bend. It had the shortest run with the least turns, and twice as much air flow as the other two combined. The rear furnace outlet was connected to the kitchen register after making a 1800 u-turn. From there it was Tee’d and reduced to 3” to feed the bathroom. The 3” duct then takes a long and torturous path to reach the bathroom. The resistance from over 2800 of turns, and the longer run, resulted in much lower air flow to both the kitchen and the bathroom. I also found a hole from where the duct had been rubbing on the hot water valve, and the kitchen had a restrictively tight bend at the register. Fortunately this was a relatively easy fix, and the results were significant. Our 2022 Elite II has the Dometic furnace, but I suspect that other furnace brands could have similar ducting issues and it might be worth taking a look. The sketch shows how the duct routing was modified for better balance to all three registers. The bedroom and kitchen registers now feed from the high resistance u-turn at the rear furnace outlet. The bathroom has its own feed from the front outlet giving it the minimal number of turns possible. This modification involved moving the Tee which is under the kitchen cabinet. There is an access port under the forward kitchen drawers to reach the Tee and kitchen register, and it’s best to pull them right out of the access port to work on them. The 3” bathroom reducer stays in place and it gets a new duct directly to the front furnace outlet. The bedroom/kitchen gets connected to the rear furnace outlet. Rather than using flexible duct to make the 1800 u-turn, I used two 900 rigid fittings for less flow resistance. All of the parts needed for this modification are readily available at hardware stores. They usually sell duct by the foot, I bought 5’. Use sheet metal screws and foil duct tape for the connections to make sure they don't come apart. The kitchen register can be screwed together from the inside of the register rather than trying to do it from under the cabinet. I used an anemometer before and after the modification to measure flow, and a on-line calculator was used to get Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM): Before After Bedroom - 4” 100.7 53.2 Kitchen - 4" 39.3 65 Bathroom - 3" 11.8 30.2 Total 151.8 148.5 Cheers, Geoff

I couldn’t find anything about this on the forum, and so I think it’s worth mentioning. We like doing dishes outside with hot water from the outdoor shower hose. We have a fold-up table dedicated for this purpose, but the shower hose was always just a little too short. I had a similar flexible hose in my junk stash so I added it to the Oliver hose with a 1/2” PVC nipple. It worked great, and there is no problem stuffing the extra length back into the Oliver shower port. Amazon carries various hoses that will work, including a 90” extension for under $15. Cheers, Geoff

I pulled my propane tank out and was horrified at all the rust around the bottom ring of the tanks, and on the mounting tray. That area seems to attract dirt and it eventually wore away the paint and rusted. Sand paper and paint fixed the immediate problem, but I wanted to prevent it from happening again. I started looking for some sheet rubber on Amazon, but then I discovered inexpensive rubber rings by Mopeka Products for$ 7.99. They are designed to fit on the bottom ring of the propane tanks. They fit perfectly, and they also stop that cringe worthy grind when putting the tanks on pavement.

The new Starlink Gen-3 system is out, and it works great! I got one early because Starlink did a special invitation for Gen-1 users only, but now they are available for mobile accounts too. So here are my thoughts on some of the great new features and disappointments that are important for mobile users: 1. Gen-3 uses RJ45 connectors, and it works perfect with the Oliver installation described in my “Don’t cut your Starlink Cable” post. I had previously, and incorrectly, assumed that all Starlink’s systems used RJ45 connectors because thats what my Gen-1 dishy and Gen-3 router had. But alas, the far more common Gen-2 systems did not. Hmmm… that explains why Gen-2 users can’t use the upgraded Gen-3 routers. 2. The Gen-3 dishy is bigger than Gen-2 and it has a wider sky view. I’m not going back on the roof to measure it, but the shipping box is 25 x 15.5 x 3.75 inches to give an idea of the size. I’ve heard complaints that it’s bigger and harder to stow when traveling. In my opinion it’s way easier to stow because It has a convenient fold-up kickstand that eliminates the bulky tripod that came with older dishy’s. I really hated that tripod, it took up as much room as my BBQ. 3. The Gen-3 dishy has no motors or other moving parts, which should be more robust for the rigors of mobile use. 4. The Gen-3 power consumption is 195 watts per the label. That’s higher than Gen-1 (185w) and Gen-2 (about 65w.) This is not great news for boondockers. 5. Starlink still doesn't have a DC power option as many hoped. It has a separate 110v AC power supply with a 57vdc output (3.42amp) and a standard DC power connector. I’m sure someone will soon come up with a 12 to 57vdc volt power supply that can handle that wattage. 6. The Gen-3 router has longer WiFi range and it supports Mesh Node. Of course, the farther away from the router you get, the weaker the WiFi signal gets, and slower the internet speed gets. The Gen-3 router really helps with that. I’ve had a Gen-3 router on my Gen-1 dishy for a few months now and it made a huge difference in internet speed throughout the house. The Mesh feature allows you to add Nodes, sort of like radio relays, that give even further WiFi range, which is a good way to make new friends at camp. 7. The Gen-3 dishy comes with a built-in fold down kick stand designed to sit on a level surface. A pole mount option can be bought separately. You have to use the Starlink App during set-up to get it manually pointed in the right direction. I put mine on the peak of my roof facing West, and tilted it on the sloped roof to approximately match what the kickstand tilt would be if placed on a flat surface. The Starlink App liked the direction it was pointed, but it made me adjust the tilt a few degrees upwards before it would connect to the satellites. I don’t know if there is a work-around for that, but it might be a concern for fixed flat surface mounting such as an RV roof, and for the direction the vehicle is facing. From my almost 3 years of RV experience with Starlink, a fixed dishy mounting is not ideal. You need the flexibility to move the dishy around to find a clear sky view, so its going to be sitting on the ground a lot of time if you want to get a satellite signal. In conclusion, with its wider sky view, built-in kickstand, and the ability to lengthen the cable with a store bought RJ45 cable, I like the Gen-3 despite it’s short comings.

I hadn’t seen any posts about this, so I thought I’d share this perfect little Amazon bungee cargo net: Powertye 15in x 30in Elastic Cargo Net with10 Adjustable Hooks and Tight 2in x 2in Mesh, $17.99 I originally bought it to carry firewood, and it can cover wood stacked higher than the bin if aluminum carabiners are used to make it a bit larger. Otherwise it holds a Costco storage bin just perfectly. Cheers, Geoff and Tanya

Greetings! I didn’t find any existing posts about this minor issue, so it’s probably worth mentioning how I addressed the rattle-fit (optional) rear bumper. This issue first became noticeable after mounting our Swagman bike rack to the bumper. With 2 bikes and the single 1-1/4” mounting point, there was a lot movement in the bike rack when going down the road. Most of this was attributable to flex in the 1-1/4” bike rack mounting tube which I addressed separately. However there was also appreciable play in the bumper mounting design because of Oliver’s quick release pin design. Those pins look cool and everything, but I don’t think I’ll be removing the bumper too often and removing 4 bolts is pretty quick too. I tried replacing the pins with pass through nuts and bolts, and I noticed others have done that too. But no amount of tightening stopped the square bumper tube from rattling inside of the square receiver tube. This was like a sloppy receiver hitch, and the solution is similar to those after market threaded hitch pins (a great modification BTW). I used short 3/8” SS bolts that don’t pass all the way through both tubes. Rather they go from one side of the outer tube and they thread into Spring-Nuts that are nested inside of the inner tube. This effectively pulls the tubes together on each side for a tight and movement free fit. I used lock washers to assure the bolts wouldn't loosen and come out, but proper torquing and a longer fully threaded pass though bolt drilled for a pin would work too. I got the 3/8’ Unistrute spring nuts from my local ACE’s electrical department. Just push them inside the bumper tube with a stick, and line up the holes. Although these replaced 1/2" pins, I'm not concerned about decreased size for this type of load. After-all, the entire trailer load depends on a single 5/8" hitch pin used in a similar load configuration. Cheers, Geoff and Tanya

Great catch ScubaRx! I ran out there and it was a partially open. Thankfully those quick fittings shut off automatically, but that redundant shut-off lever should be closed regardless. Thanks, Geoff

Greetings. Our tacky dishy mast is simply a 10 foot stick of 1” EMT (Electrical Metallic Tubing) with a Starlink mast adapter on one end. It was overpriced for $20 at my local ACE hardware, but much less than other flimsy looking masts that were available the time. I wasn’t keen on mounting anything to the Fiberglass, or using a ladder to step it on the roof. My experience is that you need to be able to move dishy around to get obstruction free sky at many RV sites. I’d discourage any fixed or permanent mounting because parks love trees and you'll often will find yourself without internet because of them. For that reason, I put mounts on both the front and rear of the trailer because it alway seems like one end or the other is shaded by a tree. Of course here in the Great North Wet we have lots of tall trees and we often have to put dishy on the ground to avoid them. We’ve put dishy in neighbors sites more than a few times, on the hood of the truck, and even in a tree. Were thankful that Starlink provides a tripod and long cord. Oh, I should mention that the Starlink App is a great tool for finding obstruction free satellites. I made my mast mounts with 6” x 1-1/2” OD stainless pipe, the rear one was mounted on a 3” x 3” aluminum angle with 2” stainless u-bolts, and the front on a 3” x 3” plate cut from the same piece of angle. They sell 12” lengths on Amazon for under $12, but I got some cut-offs at the local metal supply. The stainless pipe I already had laying around from a marine supply, but I’m sure the metal supply would have it too. The 2” inch stainless u-bolts are pretty common and I may have bent them a smidge to fit around the pipe. The rear mount is attached to the existing (optional) bumper mounting bolts, the front is screwed to the (optional) front cargo carrier. I drilled and counter sunk the front mounting screws. I think there are other frame places you could mount the pipes if you don’t have the optional bumper and cargo carrier. The mounts almost look like they belong there, so at least that part is not too tacky. The mast just slips in through the pipe and sits on the ground. Makes a tacky flagpole too! The mast is stored under the trailer, not tacky at all! I used heavy TY-Wraps to secure a length of 2” PVC pipe with an end cap along the frame rail and into the sewer hose storage compartment. You can’t see it, and it can’t come out unless the bumper is folded down. That reminds me, don’t forget to pull it out before parking to close to something in the back. I provided a few pictures as best as I could… but I couldn’t pull the mast out because I was parked to close to something in the back. Good luck and Cheers, Geoff & Tanya

Ollietime wrote: I 'm confused, I received my Starlink kit a few days ago and the cable connectors are proprietary, not RJ45. Interesting? I have the original Gen-1 round dishy with the latest Starlink Gen-3 router. Both have RJ45 connectors? But admittedly, I’ve never looked at the Gen-2 rectangular dishy. So I looked on-line and sure enough the Gen-2 has a different connector. Thanks for that comment! No worries though, my installation should still be a good option because Amazon sells the “Aosheng Rectangular Dishy Cable Adapter to RJ45” for $35. It’s not waterproof, but that looks easy enough to address. I’d just use a longer RJ45 cable than the one supplied, and I'd put it under the trailer out of the rain and off the ground. Maybe in a Tupperware box thats notched for the cables. It wouldn't be absolutely watertight, but neither are the other plug-in options. It still beats cutting the Cable. Cheers!

Greetings! I was reading some great instructions for installing Starlink inlet ports on the outside of an Oliver. However, it was a pity that the installations required cutting and splicing the Starlink cable. That’s a discouraging and challenging proposition, so I just signed up to this Forum to share how I did mine without cutting the cable. My method was risk free, super easy and with quality results. The wiring is all plug-in with about $35 worth of Amazon parts. The router and modem is ideally located in the Oliver’s attic where there is an AC outlet and good WIFI broadcasting. Sorry to those if I've duplicated some of their installation methods, I guess great minds just think alike. I’ve provided a list of 3 Amazon parts, and recommended a few tools that are worth owning anyway: Furrion Mini TV/SAT Inlet #FTVINB-PS, $11.30 Penglin #PL252, RJ45 CAT6 female to female panel mount connector, two for $14.99 Juxinice 10’ long shielded RJ45 Cat-6 cable with a 90 degree angle connector, $9.69 Neiko #10194a step drill bit, or similar, $10.99 Generic brand 14’ fiberglass fish rod, or other Amazon options under $20 It’s a good idea to first test the parts by running an internet speed test both before and after plugging-in the new cable and connector between your dishy and router/modem. You can use any internet speed test such as Ookla or the Starlink App, and the speeds should be about the same unless the new cable or connector is faulty. Start your installation by unscrewing and removing the coax connector from the new Furrion fitting, then enlarge the hole with a step drill bit to accept the Penglin connector. This is the exact same Furrion fitting that Oliver uses for the outside Cable and Satellite TV connections, so you could use one of the existing ones if you don’t need the the satellite or cable connection. Find a relatively flat surface next to the existing Furrion cable/satellite TV fittings to install the new Furrion fitting (with the installed Penglin connector). Unscrew the storage compartment liner so that it can be pulled back to access the area where the connector will pass through. Using a step drill, make a hole big enough for the Penglin coupler to pass through into the storage compartment, and drill large enough holes so that the Furrion mounting screws will hold without chipping the fiberglass. The photo shows where I mounted mine, but it gives an illusion of being crooked and unevenly spaced??? With the storage compartment liner pulled back, the AC drain tube can be seen running down between the trailer walls. This is a good guide to fish the new Juxinice cable up into the Oliver’s attic compartment. The recommended fish rod makes this easy and you will have to unscrew and pull back the attic side panel for access. The 90 degree end of the new Juxinice cable will be plugged into the back of the Penguin connector and other end into the Starlink modem in the attic. That’s it! Replace the panels and your done. The Starlink Dishy cable will plug into the outside of the new connector and the Furrion fitting keeps everything dry when it’s unplugged. Don’t worry about the rumored proprietary Starlink wiring, this is just a pass-though connection and the internal color coding of the individual wires does not matter. I was a beta tester for Starlink when it first came out, and I still use the original Gen-1 round dishy at home and when traveling with the Oliver. We used to run the dishy cable though the outdoor compartment door, and we kept the router and modern under the bed close to the AC outlet. This was always kinking the cable, interfering with the compartment seal, and generally in the way. The quick disconnect was really worth doing, and wifey is happy that she doesn’t have to crawl under the bed to pull the cable though anymore. Watch for a future post on how to conveniently mount and store a Dishy pipe mast. Cheers and good luck, Geoff & Tanya