KarenLukens

John came over to our trailer here today at the Fiberglass RV Rally in Bandon Oregon and installed the pick up tube in our Goldilocks :) We no longer have 38% of unusable water in our tank. It took maybe an hour to 1- 1/2 hours and everything went in smooth. It really is a very simple yet perfect fix :) Movie to come in a week or so :) Reed

Hello! And welcome to the community Angela & Kyle :)

Looks like an Ariens Compact 26" just like mine :) Nice John :) We put in the water tank pick up tube today ourselves, Raspy came over with all of the parts and we now have 2 successful spin weld systems in the Ellite II's thanks to him :)

The only thing that I clean is the area under the adhesive strip, so I haven't seen the aftermath because the level is still there :) We're sitting here listening to the fog horn at Bullards Beach, Oregon tonight. Raspy said that there was another Oliver here yesterday but the owners weren't around, then it left today... Anyway, Raspy & I will be here for a week in Bandon,OR if you read the forum and feel like coming back :) Reed

Jfyi, the legs are a lot stronger when nailed into the ground and the rail has been guy wired also. They have high wind awning hold down kits, but I've been using paracord with great success in high winds. Then depending on the soil, I have both the 8" & the 12" tent stakes that are basically nails with the little plastic foot on the end. Remove the plastic foot, hammer 2 in each leg at angles, all the way down solid into the ground. I also like running a couple of straps over the top, lengthwise, to hold the awning fabric down and keep it from acting like a sail. Then when it starts getting windy, I toss the broom and mop up top, under the straps and between the support poles and that eliminates the sail. You want to stop it from bouncing in the wind. Then I carry a 3' crow bar in the storage to pull the stakes back out of the ground with. This video shows it on our Casita and I have changed it up some for Goldilocks but I don't have any pics yet :) Reed

Just be sure the hull is really clean and stick them on... I've never had a problem with them and there's plenty of adhesives also if needed. I have the same style that I had on our Casita and they work great as is, BUT!!! the hull must be cleaned first. I just used 409... :)

Thanks Steve & Betty :) I had read the Blue Sky owners manual 3 times and had done tons of research on it, watched all of the videos thast I could find, etc... so that I would be prepared to use it when we picked up our trailer. When Jason said we had a Zamp system, I didn't even know he was talking about a different solar system at first... That's why I asked him, "What's a Zamp?" Because I knew that we had the Blue Sky system installed that we had talked about with them back in October... I was never told that it had been changed out and I was paying $2800 for Blue Sky or so I thought. Did you guys pay $2800.00 also for yours? I'm thinking that there should have been a big price change between the two systems in there somewhere because the Blue Sky system is a lot more complex and uses a shunt and a separate booster with breakers installed under the street side bed. Here's the Zamp schematic - And here's the Blue Sky schematic - And the system itself next to the battery compartment under the bed. Then the controller was mounted on the battery box - The Zamp unit is completely installed behind the wall mounted controller, very simple :) Reed

And you can see by that statement why I'm so jealous of you guys with the MPPT system Randy :) At the most, being mine is a Pulse Width Modulation system, my pulses only hit 1.4amps max in the full sun we have here and generally it's only around .4a max. When I was watching Mark smile as his worked so well like yours, I was holding my head down in shame because this system flat out isn't what I paid $2800.00 for... Lol. My god, it's so embarrassing to have an inferior solar system on my trailer, and this is the BIG picture! Oliver says that one of the reasons that they changed over to it was because it was easy to install... So if it took 5 hours to install that's um... $2800.00, will say -$1300 in parts to make it easy = $1500 for installation ÷ 5 hours max = $300.00 an hour × 2080 hours = $624,000.00 a year income, and yea, this is how my mind works... Lol. I really feel like I got taken to the cleaners being that our order started out as the Blue Sky system, like yours.

As far as using and carrying the Stanley charger goes, it's really just not needed and adds an unneeded box to the storage area. It works fine and charges everything up fast but the trailer has a perfectly good working charging system built in already. I've had the Stanley for a few years and it's a must when we are tent camping, so back into that bin it goes because that 20amp quick charge is great for charging up Karen's 12vdc marine battery really fast. But for theOliver... It's a lot easier to just plug the generator directly into this trailer because Oliver has done it right and the generator idles down after charging has completed :) Test complete, Results = An external charger simply is Not Needed Reed

Thanks John, we'll have some fun at Bandon for sure :) Mark was parked next to me and his MPPT system had his trailer fully charged back up by 10am every morning for the couple of weeks that he spent here with us, so it definitely saddened me to see ours not working with the pulses in the full morning sun. Then we get the best sun from 12 to 3 and then more in the late afternoon. So this is what I have to base it on so far. I've got 3 Windows of full sun each day, this pick is the noon as it follows the red line :) I'll see you in a few days :) Reed

Thanks Jason, I think that Karen and I just got caught up in the middle of the change over. The Blue Sky system was what was being advertised still and I read all about it and was expecting to have that system on our rig. When we went thru our walk thru, Jason said we had the Zamp system and I had to ask him, "What's a Zamp?" because I'd never heard of it and didn't know beforehand that our solar system had been changed out. So that was our first surprise, then learning the difference between the MPPT & PWM systems. In order for the Zamp system to compare with the MPPT, it needs to have a 3rd panel added because a PWM system is 1/3 less efficient then an MPPT of equal size. There was no office when we picked ours up, everything was in turmoil and everyone was working from a temporary desk at the factory while the sales office was being remodeled. Tommy had retired, Jason had stepped out of sales and dropped in as service manager and Anita became our salesperson while we were driving out to pick up hull #200. So we got caught in the middle of the big change and the trailer needed our entire pick up day to be completed and ready, which was fine. It put us into Fall Hollow after dark but we're experienced with trailers anyway and that night was the first time that I had ever heard of Zamp... Which brings me to the next question, on our paperwork it just states a 320 watt Solar System and we paid $2800.00 for it. I've done a ton of homework on the Zamp system now and have found that the 320 watt Zamp Solar package sells complete for between $1100 - $1300 retail and it has had me wondering for sometime, did I get charged the $2800 for the Blue Sky System or or was the solar installation cost the extra $1500+? Reed

Yup, I check mine each time that I clean the solar panels. I ended up tilting my panels down as far as they can go in the bottom holes to the street side to keep the water from pooling on them in the rain. Plus I prefer to park with the sun off of that side when we are boondocking. All of my adjustment bolts have been tight every time but I may use some loctite if needed in the future. I go up every couple of weeks to dust them off and remove the small cedar cones that get blown down on them. So far, having them tilted has stopped the pooling and associated dirt or dust rings left on the panels after it rains.

Hi Randy :) We're running the T105's wet cell. 12.6 is the usual high and usually I don't take it below 12.2 and that's where it was sitting the night before. I was really surprised to see it bouncing between 12 to 12.1 in the morning with nothing running over night except the fridge controls for the propane. With the 4 batteries, you wouldn't think that there would be any draw down, so I'm kinda stumped right now with the amount of ghost draw... From what I've read, I need to keep it above 11.8 max bottom and 12.2 is my usual charge point with 12.06 being 50% and that's not a point that I hit regularly. I'm no expert on different battery types so I'm not sure if AGM's would be better or not as of yet :) but I'm not going down over 50% usually. Obviously I have more testing to do on our system and I'm wondering if the ghost draw could be the solar controller because it's been going on from day one. I will do some reading on the Battle Born, and if you have any more info then throw it at me :) I'm a good learner, or at least I was back when I could remember... Hehe. I've ran wet cells for years and never had a problem, so I've got no knowledge when it comes to lithium. We are still getting the new house or cabin set up and heading out to the Bandon, Oregon Fiberglass RV Rally Monday or Tuesday and we will be meeting up with a few of our friends that can really help in this learning process. Raspy will be there along with our friend Mark among many others and maybe I can do some more testing on the road again. It's been a lot of work getting the houses switched over and I've been dealing with plumbing and electrical issues on both houses. Karen changed out the lights to the Edison style LED's today and they worked great... All day... Then they quit just after dark... Lol. I've got a sewer snake about 50' down the sink line and ended up quitting just after dark because the new light above me wouldn't come on and it worked fine all week when I didn't need it... So... Today, I'll be looking for a timer along the line somewhere. But the house had power added to it back in the 60's and yesterday I ran a new line from the panel to the fridge when that old line gave out after being poorly spliced by a tennent about 10 years ago. It's been sitting empty for the last 7 years and I'm thinking about just running new electric lines my way, instead of dealing with some of the stuff I've been finding. It's an old log cabin built by a cousin that I knew as a child. It didn't have power back then and he didn't believe in having power put in. After he passed away, my dad rented it out and they put power in, but the wiring is exposed and primitive to me. It's got a good Sylvania 100watt panel but I'm looking at going back and rewiring everything right now because it wouldn't take much router work to hide all of the wiring. Basically it's a new old house with a new list of honey-do's :) Reed

It's been 7 days and we were back down at 12.0 this morning, lower then I had planned but we had the CPAP out in our new home yesterday and the night before and we were drawing no power while sitting here at 12.2 yesterday. I thought that it would charge up some but it still stayed the same, so it held its own for 2 days but didn't charge up. Obviously, it's time to clean the panels again :) I've been doing a lot of reading and I'm going to invest in the Blue Sky controller because it is an MPPT controller designed to get the most out of the 320 watt panels that we have. It's just a personal choice and I love improving and working on this trailer because it starts out with such great quality and commitment from the Oliver team :) What's the difference between the Blue Sky MPPT and the Zamp PWM? Basically it's the ability of the MPPT system to get 30% to 35% more charging amps to the battery. The original Blue Sky system that was put into the 2016 year models and before were getting the most out of the panels and it was more then enough to keep the batteries charged up even in partial sun. When people buy and configure the PWM system, if they want it to compare with the MPPT, they will simply add another solar panel and this will give them that 1/3 more charging amps and it actually costs them less to do it this way. I've looked on the roof and there is a place to add another panel or Zamp also has a long skinny pannel especially designed to fit along the edges, but I really like the look of the 2 - 160watt panels as they are. So I have 2 choices for my camping style, either add a 3rd panel or change over to an MPPT for the needed (in my case) extra third of solar power. I'm choosing to go with an MPPT and being that Blue Sky is located here in California and I will be down in that area in November, I'm going to give them a call and see what we can do to reconfigure this 2017 Zamp system into the Blue Sky MPPT. What I am saying above is that an MPPT system that runs on 320watt panels can be matched with a PWM system running 480watts of panels or simply 1/3 more panels. Right now, I'm running 420watts with the solar Suitcase added in and having to start the generator for an hour every 6 days, completely recharges my batteries :) I'm really liking the Stanley charger, it starts, charges, then shuts itself down when finished charging. Reed It's hard to see in the pic but it's quick charging at 20.8 amps.

I personally can not recommend the 2017 Legacy Elite ll at this time. We picked our's up in Feb. 2017. The quality control is poor, our drawers fall out while on the road and require us to prop them closed with the seat cushions. Our propane cover does not fit correctly and the support bracket fell off. I had to recaulk the shower pan because it was not done correctly and collected water in the grooves. We have multiple stripped screws. Our bathroom water faucet chrome is flaking off and does not have a shut off valve. Our USB port cover broke. Our wiring is a rats nest inside the ports. Our kitchen counter and table were installed unlevel and can not be leveled. Our solar panel system was downgraded for 2017 as well. At 44% our water looses pressure, rattles the pipes and requires the trailer to be raised at one end to access the rest of the water which sucks if you are in the middle of a shower with soap in your hair when it hits 44% and you have to go outside and raise the trailer. This was not disclosed to us when we wrote a check for $63,000. This also in turn makes the refrigerator not level which is a requirement by Dometic for the the refrigerator to run properly. What is disturbing to me is since Feb, 2017 when we picked ours up, Oliver continues to knowingly sell defective trailers with this water defect to new customers. We want to love our Oliver and be proud to own one but at this time how can we? If we were to try and sell it we would have to tell prospective buyers the drawers fall out in transit, the water runs out at 44%. I thought we were buying the best but it is not at this time and we are dissappointed they sold us a trailer with known water tank problems that they did not disclose to us. I think its ridiculous for people on this forum to get mad at us for telling the truth about our experience. Karen

The progressive surge protector comes with an additional plug that needs to be plugged into the generator on the open port when using it. John Davies has a thread on it somewhere, check it out if you didn't plug in the progressive gen plug.

I am parked in the sun mostly, I moved it a few weeks ago and it helped a lot but it still needs the extra 100watts to almost maintain. I start the generator for an hour maybe once a week now. After our warranty is up, if Oliver hasn't switched back to an MPPT system, I will change it out myself, probably to the Blue Sky system just to keep it like the older pre 2017 Olli models that already have the newest and best type of solar system available installed. Personally, I'm happy with our Oliver. All trailers need work after pick up and I've been working on campers, trailers and motorhomes most of my adult life. Fixing the issues myself is not a problem, right now Oliver and all of us 2017 owners are playing the waiting game with the RV certification people to get the water tank fix approved and for the drawer parts to be shipped to them by the manufacturer. As far as selling it goes, it never crossed my mind and I wouldn't sell it myself until all of the issues have been fixed anyway . That's just how I work and fixing it ourselves isn't the issue because that part is simple. It's getting Oliver's ok, and really the rv certification approval is the only hold up right now. Reed

The solar Was Robust with the Blue Sky MPPT system, but the Zamp PWM System that they started putting on this year is not... Our Renogy Solar Suitcase is now an everyday addition to keep the batteries charged up. Basically I added 100 watts to make it work under the trees. For those who hook up in RV parks all the time, the water tank would never be an issue but... we paid the $63,000.00+ for a perfect Legacy Elite II with no known issues. This now includes the ability to only use 60% of the water that is labeled usable in the advertising. Only being able to use a little over half of the water tank is a huge issue... And one that could be so easily fixed or put in right at the factory the first time, that I'm really shocked that it's even still an issue after 10 years... I honestly don't understand why it wasn't done right the first time being that is so simple to do it right... When they asked me what I would do at the factory, I told them about running a pick up tube. This was the day that we picked up the trailer, we found out only half the water is available... and the fix is so extremely simple, that I just don't get why it hasn't been addressed before now. We're still waiting for the phone call from Oliver giving us the OK to fix it while under warranty. It's been a little too quiet on their end... Basically we spent the money, thinking that we were buying a ready to use trailer and ended up with a bunch of work that we have done to fix problems and we're still waiting for the call and parts to fix the rest. Reed

I have a 10' step ladder that I use to clean the roof and solar panels. Karen bought the Swiffer Sweaper wet dry kit and it works fine when boondocking. I use the wet pads to scrub the trailer and the panels every couple of weeks. I don't do the whole trailer with the Swiffer, I just remove the spots. The best part about it is when the mop is dirty, you just put on a new damp cloth. Usually it takes 2 to clean the panels, then I hit it with a wet towel. We've paid to have it washed and waxed twice at truck stops while on the road and we clean it thoroughly every month. The truck washes have cost us $50 to wash and wax both the trailer and the car, a small price to pay to keep that sore back away. Otherwise I will grab a bucket with a shammy cloth and some soap and go to town :) I spend a lot of time in a chair when removing the road spray from the lower front panel and propane cover. I carry a bucket full of assorted tools in the back of the car and I use it for the wash water.

That is a beautiful dog :) He fits well in your Olli :)

Well, the Solar hasn't worked in a couple days because we had some rain, which forced me to put away the Solar suitcase yesterday because the controller is not waterproof. So tonight when we got home about 9:30pm, we were down to 12.1vdc on the panel and I charged them back up with my Stanley GBCPRO, which runs a 12 volt quick charge at 20amps. So, I hooked it directly to the battery and I will be using it again because I was fully charged back up to 12.6 volts in about 50 minutes. Was it faster then charging through the shore power outlet? The generator wasn't running as fast as it does when I connect it directly to the trailer, but it didn't have to run the inverter or anything else either. It was nice because the generator wasn't having to work so hard and I could watch the progress on both panels inside. I think that it was a lot faster, but I will get some times down for both to compare. It adds another tool to the box, but right now, I think it was worth it. I had bought the charger for using when camping, when we run a single 12volt battery to run Karen's CPAP in our tent, so it's been a couple of years since it had any use and I am happy with the results :) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005DKIIJW/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=IU2A5S0762A4R&colid=DVETVI1ZF5E8

Or you could put it under the dinette in the back against the wall.

I don't see it...

So where's the pic of the new SUV? The 200 sure sounds like a nice ride :)

There's really no tracking on the Zamp except on a daily basis. Everything starts at zero in the morning. Here are the 4 screens... We started out last night at 12.3 and ran Karen's CPAP all night... And that's all folks... It's 7am, we're starting out at 12.1vdc and going nowhere for a couple hours, the sun is still behind the hill so the controller is on but we start out in the shade and it's all zeroed out every morning. Generally we end up with around 22ah at the end of the day, I really miss the percentage meter, what's 12.1 mean again?.... We're still moving, so we're worn out having been at the cottage all day. Finished shampooing the carpets yesterday and started moving furniture back in. We gutted the place to clean everything. We're 2 hours behind the Oliver clock usually being here just waking up on the west coast :)