KarenLukens
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Posts posted by KarenLukens
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We're constantly purging also. It started in the Casita a few years back and I don't honestly think it ever stops. When something doesn't get used, it stays home the next time. There is lots of room in our Ollie's and that closet really packs it in. We have the King bed and the isle under the bed is one of our main storage areas for things that we don't use often but need at Rally's. It's nice having so much room :)
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We found that two of our windows were leaking at the top of the frame so all windows were removed and resealed problem solved upon inspection the leaking windows did not show any gaps at the top of the frame but the reseal did correct this issue. During window reseal i was able to switch the left with the raight rear for better airflow when sleeping as we sleep head forward (the windows on my 2015 were manufactured so that the could be used in either left or right location. Resealing the window frames will fix your problem and rain gutters will not be needed. Marc
Thanks Marc, I'm sure that's what's going on here... Did you go to Howenwald or have it done elsewhere? We already have another window problem that they are wanting to replace, so we can do it all at once under warranty. Jason told me today that they would find someone here for us.
Reed
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So... After yesterday's fiasco with the rain coming in the windows, Kathy Reed told me that they've had problems with the screws in the windows, so I called Jason this morning to talk about things...lol... and he told me that the actual screws on both sides of the lights needed silicone added to them and that the lights need to be resealed... OK, I can do that, it's an easy fix but we had a ton of water come in, so he also said that it could be coming in above the window but the windows were sealed at installation and that it would be best to let them take care of it and check it out through the window company.
Either way we did have a huge rain storm and I had to tarp the trailer to keep it from pouring in
You can see from the pic that I've added the Camco Block Chocks to my arsenal and for what it's worth, I really like them. You have to use a few more blocks with them to get them to set in nice, but it gives me a great feeling in knowing that the wheels aren't going anywhere.
You can read about the rain story here -
http://olivertraveltrailers.com/topic/its-raining-its-pouring-all-the-windows/
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Ahhh yes, the ol' rough road.... 4th street if I remember in Albuquerque New Mexico... It was like driving down a washboard... Lol. I've always hated that road, grrr just like I've always hated Karen's blow dryer... It blew and it blew and it blew until the smoke alarm went off over my head instantly deafening me for life :) Then Karen started screaming at me... "My blow drier, my blow drier" as I was trying to reset the smoke alarm... But that darn smoke alarm wouldn't shut up until I was finally able to open the window as Karen was still screaming at me... "It's on fire, you burned up my blow dryer, the smoke alarm won't go off (stupid she implied in her eyes with THAT look) with the trailer full of smoke..." Lol. Then I looked down and saw the flames in my hand and smiled... Finally... I had really needed to kill something today and there it was burning in my hands... The blow dryer was sitting there dead, innocently looking up at me thru the flames... I had done my job, the bed was dry and I was able to toss it out the window before the first drop of burning plastic hit the mattress... Life is good :) Peace has returned to the forest once again :) The rain has stopped and now we are sitting around the campfire outside created by the burning blow dryer keeping us warm and toasty roasting marshmallows over the black rubbery carcass of her once beloved blow dryer :)
Happy Anniversary Honey, I will be buying you Another Blow Dryer this year for Thanksgiving...
Love Reed
OK... Maybe I exaggerated a little... It's still raining and the blow dryer is happily bubbling outside in the mud puddle... The smoke alarm finally turned itself off after I turned the fan on high and sucked out the smoke, but... The bed is dry :) and so am I :)
The End of a perfect day... :)
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Thanks Pete :)
So... Yea we've been talking about a new air compressor even yesterday... Lol... This was the deciding factor, I mean this is the kind of thumbnail size drops that soak you before the door handle gets turned... You know :) I think that I'm going to enlarge the weap holes just a touch being that it doesn't happen under normal rainy conditions. We've had an extreme storm going over and it's that kind that soaks you as soon as you get outside. So we sat here today instead of trying to drive down the mountain like the log ride at Water World... I didn't really want that sinking feeling in our Ollie :)
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Yeah, I was surprised a the burn marks too but I’m not a welder and can’t really comment (other than to say that the whole bracket was completely unnecessary and the location of the actuator is unsafe and that had they used the components I asked for it would be safer and far easier to install.) I can also comment that though the photo was taken while the trailer was on the assembly line, it was delivered pretty much as shown, with three hand tightened nuts and one missing one.
+1 on what Mark said, plus check out this video, it's pretty good and shows exactly what I was talking about... It looks to me like the guy kept the heat low to keep it away from the Fiberglass, so the weld isn't actually penetrating the frame. If this is correct then that bracket will just fall off eventually. Super glue would have been the same. Obviously, I'm just looking at a picture, so it may be a perfect weld, but... If your not sure - take it in and get it looked at.
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OK... The weap holes are still clear as they have been. The problem is that the water is leaking in - between the seals outside over the tops of the windows and the shell, then running down the inside of the window seal, behind the window frame itself, then pouring down the inside of the window and filling the inside window's base tray with water until it flows out over the inside corner of the window tray and onto the bed... Emphasis on flows... Not just drips... So I tarped over the rear half of the trailer up to the solar panels. Problem solved... But not fixed... It's supposed to stop raining tomorrow and then we will head south. The rain was so hard and non stop today that we decided to just sit it out and deal with the leaks and do our best to dry everything out, so out came Karen's blow drier and we are doing our best to get it dry before it starts molding... Lots of water came in but hopefully we have it handled...
The worst of course is the street side bed window.... Otherwise known as My Side... Lol. I have the awning out over the curb side and the Dinette window has it's own awning. The rear window was leaking but no where near as bad as the side, but either way, the whole back half is under the tarp now and things are drying out.
Here is a couple pics of the top inside window frame, I put the ceiling light in the picture for reference.
Lot's of water sitting there and you can't see out because of the tarp.
Definitely a head scratcher...
Reed
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John, Oliver had no problem with welding on a bracket for our hydraulic brake actuator, and they stuck it about where you’d want to weld your crossbar for the stone stomper. Nor did they have any qualms about drilling holes for the electrical or hydraulic line supports. I doubt any true engineering input went into those decisions, of course.
It doesn't look like they had proper penetration on that one rear weld from the picture. I wouldn't expect to see the burn on the front weld being that it's so short, but aluminum, being a great conductor can be a pain. Did they use 100% Argon? Or is it just the pic? I wonder if they use a hand roller for their tig... Or did they just grind away the rings :) It looks nice.
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I’m a fan of using multiple smaller containers for water. It’s more of a pain to fill and transfer, but far less likely that you’ll get to your destination to find that all your water has leaked out. If you’re going to be far away from a water source, at least keep one container separate with enough water to get you out from where you’ve gone. That said, we use the Reliance 7 gallon containers as they seem to be the best compromise for us between size vs weight and storability. We also have one of the 8 gallon wheeled versions, which I believe I’ve seen that you carry as well. That’s a really nice container for getting water from the central campsite spigots. We’re thinking about getting a set of storage drawers made for our truck from Ainley Kennels. They’ll add a 20 gallon water tank to the drawer set for a small fee – that plus a few Reliance containers would give you what you need, plus you get some nice storage drawers to boot. We also decided to carry separate drinking water since I found that the plastic taste from Oliver’s tank is more than I can bear. The $1 jugs from Walmart taste fine and are easy to stow.
Did you clean out and disinfect the water tank? We drink water from the tap now but it took a few tanks to clean it up to where it tastes good and there hasn't been any aftertaste for months now. We have the 8 gallon wheeled tank and we bought a 45 gallon bladder tank from Camping World for our Arizona trip this year. We've even bought and filled the trailer with the Glacier Water that you see in front of grocery stores for the taste. I always taste first at campgrounds and if it doesn't taste great, it doesn't go into the tank. I will hook up bad tasting water thru the filter to the city water connection but I won't fill the tank with it unless we have no other choice. I'd rather buy Glacier Water at the store then put bad tasting water into our tank.
Reed
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Mark – the actual dimmer switch that was installed for me by the guys at Oliver can be seen at: http://www.itc-rv.com/product/backlit-led-digital-dimmer/ Hope this helps. Bil
Bill, do you have a 3way switch in yours for the lights? And was it a special 3way dimmer or how does it work with the 2 light switches? I've put in 3 way dimmers in houses but it took 2 switches, is there 2 switches in your overheads?
Reed
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We found that the legs on the new Carefree awnings aren’t strong enough to tie them down like you did. The clamps on the legs aren’t strong enough to keep them extended and so they slowly start to collapse back down. I tried with limited success to rig up something using my REI poles, but there isn’t a good attachment point on the awning so the poles kept popping out at the top no matter how much I tightened the tie downs. I’m going to try to work out a better attachment and also get some stronger tie straps that won’t stretch like the paracord I had on hand. Hopefully that will do the trick since we weren’t able to get much use from the awnings on this trip. Carefree also has a shade extender the slides into the main rail, same as the Fiamma, and that might help as well.
Hmmm... I've got a bunch of the Blue cement float poles that I use for different things and they have all kinds of different ends or heads that you can put on them. Maybe head down to Home Depot and see what they have for ends because one is a double holed clamp that tightens with a bolt. Or wrapping the poles below the clamps with rubber bungi style bands may strengthen the slides enough to keep them up and in place.
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The weird thing is that the rain is coming in the tops of the windows just as bad as the bottoms. I've never had rain come in above the windows before... Yea, the weap holes are over taxed and it's raining inside... Thumbnail sized drops always weed out the leaks, but the water is coming in the top of the windows. We have towels down and have now changed them out, they were ringing wet... The Dinette window where we have the Little House Customs awning above it is doing the best of all of them. Like I said though, there's no condensation on the walls but the metal window frames have water dripping inside all the way around...
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are flooding :) We live in a rain forest and tonight is the first heavy rain of the season... The big 1/2" drops are too much for the windows to handle and I think the weap holes are really over taxed because we have water coming in all of the windows for the first time. It looks like I will now be adding rain gutters over all the windows very soon. The good news is that everything else in here is dry and there's no condensation anywhere. Yup... it's bad, really a lot of water is coming in with the huge drops coming down outside. This is the reason that there should be awnings over all of the windows. When the rain slows down and the weap holes can drain, the problem goes away, so tonight is the first night that I've actually needed awnings on both sides and that would have taken care of the problem on the side windows anyway... but the back window is still flooding...
Right now everything is soaked, the edge of the mattress on the street side is soaked, the sheets are wet about 6" in and it looks like I will be getting the big tarp out come day break. We are heading south today, so everything will be able to dry, but having to tarp Goldilocks wasn't part of the plan...
Any suggestions?
Reed
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Jason is back in as Service Manager permanently, Richie got hurt out on the floor but will also be returning to the floor as of last week when Jason called me. Hull #200 has had a bunch of small problems, but we haven't had a reason to go back to Howenwald to fix anything. I think a lot of it stems from me finding issues that existed but were never brought to the surface like the water tank issue. Jason and I sat in the trailer until about 7pm at Fall Hollow the night we picked it up... It was raining cats and dogs, we had needed to use a pair of pliers to take a couple stripped screws out to reset the Suburban heater and it had been a long day for the guys who had to finish putting our trailer together. Goldilocks is my 5th trailer, so I have experience and have fixed and maintained my travel trailers for years, so doing a complete walkthrough wasn't needed and we didn't have the time to go thru everything anyway... Jason's dog got hit by a car that night and I told him to head out and he still stuck around, it had been a long day because the trailer wasn't finished when we got there and it was after 5 when we got out of there right before dark. I don't remember exactly when they doubled the production line, but #200 was right there being built during that change over. I mean people were doubling up or using boxes for desks, the office had just started being remodeled, and everyone was crowded into every corner of the warehouse trying to make a space for themselves and their growing pains were gaining speed..
We have had a bunch of minor problems, most of which have been caused by the guy who was either pissed or on a double shift and stripped the screws out all over the place. Even the drawer magnets weren't lined up with their strike plates... So yea, we have had more then our share, but look at how Oliver has gone through and fixed every trailer since. There's no more drawer problem, no more water problem, no more sewer drain problem, no more ground problem, they've added a bladder tank now and their trailers just keep getting better and better as they come off of the line.
I will be tweaking things on this trailer until the day I die because I enjoy doing the work. I guess one of the other problems is that I do look, find the problems, then fix them while videoing the important ones... Lol... A lot of owners before me just didn't know that there even was a water tank problem, Dave had brought it to light last year but it went nowhere. Jason and some of the guys on the floor had asked me what I would do to fix the tank when we picked ours up, being that's my background and I told them that day but I could see that they weren't journeymen plumbers, so we ended up fixing it ourselves and videoing it for everyone. Raspy John came up with the spin weld and the guys at Oliver flew with it, saw the video and now that problem is a thing of the past. So yea, they had some growing pains and ended up sailing thru them because they really do care about their trailers.
Things are really looking up at Oliver after a rough winter last year and you guys ordering trailers now are truly getting the best of the best, with every known problem taken care of and a thing of the past. So remember, when your reading thru what we went thru this last year, it's all in the past, long gone now and we're are back on top and looking good!
Reed
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I updated to the Dometic Comfort Control Center 2 Thermostat manual on Oliver University. Thanks Reed and Karen.
Excellent :)
Thanks Jason, that's exactly what I needed to make sure I had it right on program 2 :)
Reed
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This is on my Honey Do list. Mine is currently under the street-side twin bed. I will move it outside the compartment about 18 inches off the floor. I will put it close to and inline with the mattress so the lights do not bother either rear sleeper. Fortunately there is lots of slack in the cable. That Oliver choses to install a REMOTE display inside a hidden compartment is mind boggling. You need to be able to see it from near the front door at a glance, without disturbing the bedding or removing stored items. You need to be able to switch it off easily. I actually would much prefer it to be mounted under the entry door light switch panel, but I don’t want to string a new cable under the floor. Has anyone asked why they chose the rear buried location? John Davies Spokane WA
I asked them to move it and it was a no-go because of previous complaints on the flashing lights and aesthetic. I’ll tackle the move as well…looking to see all your ideas…keep ’em coming. Snaking wires to where I want it would be a challegne; next to the master light panel by the door.
The only place that you need to pull wire is going from the bottom half of the hull up into the top half, there's lots of room to work with, it's really not a big deal. I was thinking that it would be tough, so I packed my wiring as tight as possible and put a piece of paracord up thru for another pull or to reverse it if it got stuck and it slipped right through, so I was able to leave the paracord in place for another mod that I've been thinking about. Then there's a wiring tray up top under the v-mat that runs around the entire trailer inside the cabinets. You won't find a better design anywhere for the wiring, it's nice :)
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I actually would much prefer it to be mounted under the entry door light switch panel, but I don’t want to string a new cable under the floor. John Davies Spokane WA
It's pretty easy to run a cable and wiring up the rear corner and into the upper cabinets. Probably an easy spot next to the pantry as well where the solar runs up, but I haven't needed to work in there yet... There's good access and the wire would easily fit into the tray that runs under the cabinet floor all along the wall to the entry door panel. If you don't have a fish tape, there's still plenty of room to push a wire down from the top into the bottom access to grab with... The Oliver is actually well built to work on.
Reed
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Has anyone thought about putting it outside, in the storage compartment, so you can see and operate it with the hatch door open? I don't have that option, I have an external but from what I can see, it looks like it will fit above the outside shower and that would put it in a great spot that's easy to check every time you hook up.
Like next to where I have my level in the pic.
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It’s the “Dometic Comfort Control Center 2 Thermostat” Here –
Bump... :)
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Thank you All! We are at Mama Gertie’s Hideaway campground in Swananoa NC. Will be returning here after a run to Hohenwald to get some work done on the flying sea turtle. Nice to know that will be able to run the onboard heater when we are not plugged in. Here is Donna and Piper having hot dogs for breakfast.
I was typing my last post while you added yours in :) Great picture :) I see that you also have the Truma, so don't forget to turn the switch down to Winter mode at night also. I know that it says that Truma's Winter Mode is set to come on and keep the water temp above 37° but to me, from what I have been hearing at night myself, is that it just comes on regardless of the temp outside and circulates the hot water thru the water heater for protection. It's been dropping to a low of 38° here at night and I have it set to Winter mode, and it comes on and circulates the water all night, even when it's above 40°. So I think that it simply comes on and circulates at preset times, which is fine, but we will dial this in as winter here continues. Usually we have snow by now, but this year it has been incredibly warm here and hasn't hit freezing temps yet. Tomorrow we are heading south to Death Valley National Park, so no more cold weather for awhile :)
Reed
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As I write this we are camped in Swananoa NC and will head over to the mothership tomorrow for a Suburban Heater repair. My question is……… when you are NOT hooked up to electric, are there any limitations on running the heater. We have the Mr. Heater jr we can use but I would like to use the Suburban instead of or in addition to. We have the 4 AGM batteries, would the heater fan drain the batteries ( too much) through the night? We are looking ahead to some cold nights. Thanks, Scotty
The heaters fan isn't much of a pull on the batteries, even without Solar the trailer will last 4 days before needing to be recharged. We use the suburban heater exclusively though I do have the small Mr Buddy along with an electric, stored for emergencies. Even though we have Solar, it's the Zamp and needs 480watts of panels, where the Blue Sky works fine on the 320watts provided by Oliver. We have the Zamp solar but it rarely works here in the mountains, so I charge up every 2 to 3 days with the generator. When heating between the hulls, remember that you want to keep your water tank full because any dead air in the tank will help cool the hull and when the tank is kept full, it acts as an insulator for the entire hull and the water really helps to maintain the temperature.
Personally, I think that winterizing the street side shower is a good idea along with adding some antifreeze to the black tank flush, if you're going to be in areas that stay below freezing all day. But if it just gets below freezing at night and warms up during the day then it's not a big deal because as long as you have a pretty full tank of water, the temp between the hulls will stay plenty warm. The waterlines that run down the back end just under the street side storage compartment are the only ones that I worry about right now, so I will throw a thermometer down there today and see what gives. Plus I will check to see what temp the storage compartment light puts out because it may itself be enough if turned on at night to help heat that side...
Reed
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Yup, I said that and the Zamp is still overpriced garbage... But Oliver has come a long way this year in making improvements on the rest of the trailers they have been putting out.
The early 2017 models and before all had the water tank issue - Now that's been fixed with the new dip tube and made even better by the factory with the addition of the bladder.
The sewer compartment fix that I did and wrote about was put into the line up right after I posted it and has now been done by Oliver on every trailer since. So they are still in the learning curve, but every complete fix that one of us performs becomes standard operating procedure on newer trailers and that is a good thing.
Do I still wish that I could have found a used 2016 or earlier made Elite II? Yes, basically because the 2016's and before had way better Solar, way better drawer slides, and a much better bathroom shower faucet. We have had lots of problems but they are all fixable and Oliver has sent us what we needed for repairs without question, in fact, we received another box from them this week. We have talked about the Zamp... but we have enough other issues to take care of that it's still on the list because the stripped out window latch replacement is #1 right now.
So my answer is yes, I would have liked to have found a 2016 year model for sale still - but now, I would also have liked a later in the year 2017 model prewired for Blue Sky Solar with all of the factory fixes that have gone on this year because Oliver is filled with fast learners :)
I fix everything myself and Hull #200 is mine. It was filled with problems when it came out, ours was Jason's first walk thru as service manager, and there was no office when we picked ours up, everything and everyone was being moved and in turmoil. So I've found and fixed every problem myself and this includes the drawer slides, the pick up tube in the water tank with John, running new control wiring to the inside switch for the Truma AquaGo, bad programming from the factory on the Dometic Thermostat at time of pick up, diagnosing the Truma wiring problem in the first place, changing out a bad shower faucet, installing the Micro-Air Easy Start, grinding and leveling the sewer hose compartment, diagnosing and fixing bad wiring on the Dometic fridge fan, fixing the bad ground at the 7 pin connector (still waiting for Oliver confirmation on that fix), properly caulking the bathroom, still waiting to see if my ground wire has fixed the front jack, which has had no problems since. And last but not least, replacing the broken mirrored bathroom door. Every suggestion that I have made has been followed thru and put into circulation. My trailer is great, because I fix and improve it myself. Oliver has their new office and the staff is all settled in for the most part, it's a different company now and they have their ducks in a row.
Would I buy Hull #200? Now? after everything has been fixed? Yes. Just not with the ridiculously overpriced Zamp Solar because there is so many better options out there that cost a lot less, like the Blue Sky MPPT Solar System with the IPN Remote that Oliver used to sell. And I am looking at a different toilet because the Dometic 310 has no rim and let's stuff slosh and spray out of the toilet. There are much better toilet options like the Dometic 320 rimmed toilet among others and with all of that room under the Dinette, a lot larger black tank could be built and installed. Owning a trailer is the same as owning a home because there's always a new project you can find to do, and I do Love my trailer now that the above list has been taken care of, the solar is on the list and will be looked at in Quartzite.
Reed
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It's the "Dometic Comfort Control Center 2 Thermostat"
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That's not the right one... I'm not at home so I can get the model later if you guys don't have it...
It's Raining, it's pouring, all the windows....
in Mechanical & Technical Tips
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Thanks Marc :)
I prefer to do everything myself also and this shouldn't be a problem. I need to either rethread the lock on the street side or replace that window anyway. Jason told me that to his knowledge, nobody has ever tried taping up a size for stripped threads but that's what I've told him I will try first. Otherwise, they will send me a new window. With our heads to the back in our King size, the windows crack open at our faces which makes it nice for us. We thought about the twin model but we are both "Personal Touch" people and couldn't imagine sleeping apart, so we had the Liberty Delux, King model Casita also before we picked up our new Ollie this year :)
Reed
Thanks John :)
Then there is... The rest of the story coming soon :)
Reed