Search the Community

Certainly no question on this one IF you do a bunch of winter camping and (for whatever reasons) don't mind the extra weight and size. In addition, the 20 pounders can be simply "swapped" out at gas stations, grocery stores, hardware stores, etc. if you are in dire need of propane and there isn't a refill station either open or nearby. Bill

Just saw this and thought I would pass it along. Well done Oliver! 🇺🇸 Patriot🇺🇸

Enjoying winter camping in my Oliver, snowmobiling every weekend.

We will be in Colorado at the end of October. We will be boondocking on BLM land and there is a chance that we could see snow. What preparations do I need for winter camping? This will be the first time. Thanks in advance for your help, Paul

That’s a great setup you have created. I will have to try your recommendation of using the outdoor shower during the Summer months as I keep the trailer Winterized during my Winter camping from Dec-Mar.

Share and Enjoy !Shares Winterizing your travel trailer is extremely important. It ensures that your trailer can withstand harsh conditions without damage, but it also gives you peace of mind knowing your trailer will be ready to hit the road during the summer months. Plus, if you don't get your trailer ready for winter properly, you run the risk of extensive damage that can cost an arm and a leg to fix. You should follow a few steps closely if you want to make sure your travel trailer is in the best shape possible for the winter months, so we've compiled this list of everything you need to know. 1. Check the Tires Checking your trailer's tires is the first thing you should do to get it ready for winter. Make sure that the tire tread still looks good and that the tires have plenty of air. If your tires are in poor condition, it’s important to replace them before you hit the road during the summer months. You should also check the wheel bearings and brakes to ensure they’re in good working order. 2. Prepare the Interior Once you’ve inspected the tires and brakes, it’s time to turn your attention to your trailer's interior. Start by deep cleaning everything and removing any debris or dirt. If you’re storing your trailer for the winter, removing any food items or other perishable items is also a good idea. Additionally, you may want to consider installing a dehumidifier to keep the air inside your trailer from becoming too dry. 3. Inspect the Exterior You'll want to inspect the outside of your trailer before you put it away for the winter. Make sure to check the roof, windows, and doors for any signs of damage, then if you notice any cracks or holes, seal them up. Winter brings a lot of rain and snow in many places, and the last thing you want is to deal with water damage when you're ready to head out on your first camping trip of the season. It’s also important to inspect your windows and doors to make sure that they are properly sealed. If they're not, take care of it as soon as possible. 4. Insulate Your Trailer If you want to keep your trailer warm during the cold months, you'll want to insulate it. While this isn't completely necessary, some people choose to do it, especially if they use their trailer during the winter. Insulation will help keep your trailer's interior warm and cozy during the winter and can be especially beneficial if you plan to do any winter camping. 5. Add a Heater Adding a heater to your travel trailer is another great way to keep it cozy during winter. There are a variety of different types of heaters available, so make sure to do your research and choose the one that’s best for your trailer. If you're looking to have one installed, the professionals at Oliver Travel Trailers can help. If your trailer already has a heater, that's great! Just make sure you're familiar with how it works and how to maintain it. 6. Protect the Batteries The batteries are what essentially keep your trailer running, so it’s important to protect them when it's cold outside. Make sure to keep the batteries charged and stored in a dry place to prevent them from freezing. You should also check the battery terminals and clean them if necessary. Battery issues can be a major inconvenience when you're trying to go camping and they can be expensive to replace, so it's very important to take good care of them. 7. Keep an Eye on the Weather Finally, it’s important to keep an eye on the weather before you hit the road. Make sure to check the forecast for any dangerous weather conditions and plan your route accordingly if you plan on doing any winter camping. You'll also want to bring extra supplies on your adventure just in case you come across any inclement weather or issues along the way. As long as your trailer is prepped for cold weather, you should be good to go. 8. Winterize the Trailer Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to winterize your trailer: Prepare Your Trailer: Before winterizing your trailer, make sure you have a few supplies handy – such as antifreeze, rags, and a funnel. This will help make the process easier. Additionally, make sure your trailer is properly supported and level before you begin. Drain the Freshwater System: To begin, you will need to drain the freshwater system. Start by turning off the water pump and all of the faucets. Then, open the hot and cold valves on the water heater, and allow the water to drain out. You may need to use a wrench to loosen the valves. Once the water has drained out, close the valves and turn the pump back on. Add Antifreeze: Now it’s time to add antifreeze to the trailer’s freshwater system. Start by locating the city water connection and opening the valve. Then, use a funnel to slowly add antifreeze to the city water connection. Keep adding antifreeze until you see it coming out of all of the faucets. Once you’ve done this, close the city water connection and move on to the next step. Flush the Toilets: To flush the toilets, pour a gallon of antifreeze into the bowl then wait a few minutes and flush the toilet. The antifreeze should fill the entire bowl and then start draining out. Continue flushing the toilet until the drain is clear and the antifreeze has drained out.Drain the Gray and Black Water Systems: Locate the drain valves for both tanks and open them. Then, use a hose to connect the drain valve to a bucket or the ground. Allow the tanks to drain completely, then close the valves and disconnect the hose. By taking the time to get your travel trailer ready for winter, you can ensure that it’s in the best condition possible for the cold months ahead. Taking the necessary precautions can also help to ensure that you and your family have a safe and enjoyable camping experience, even if you're going during the off-season. If you are looking for a travel trailer or need more tips on how to best prepare for winter, reach out to Oliver Travel Trailers. We are more than happy to help you with any type of camping assistance you may need, whether it's purchasing a trailer or winterizing your current one. Share and Enjoy !Shares The post How to Prepare Your Travel Trailer for Winter appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

@John Welte, The humidity content is horrendous here in the winter we had so many days this year with greater than 90% humidity. We have a 3 sided metal RV port with tarps for the doors, so direct rain/snow is not on the Oli. We also can keep the Oli plugged in full time. The outside of the Oli itself during the winter along with the cement floor and the inside walls of the port would get dripping wet with moisture from the humidity. The first couple of years I opened the bathroom vent, and then turn the Maxair fan on it's lowest setting and l had the blinds completely open leaving the fan run all winter. I learned from winter camping out here if we did have constant air flow the insides of the trailer would be wet. This last year, I was so busy working on the inside of the trailer, that I left a little electric heater set to around 55 degrees in the Oli and lock the Oli up tight, with all the vents closed. This year worked much better at lowering the humidity level in the trailer, although the electric bills were higher.

As luck would have it my upcoming trip to Alaska is going to be happening a bit sooner than i had expected in only 2-3 weeks. It looks like by the time i get up to fairbanks ill still have about a week there before it ever gets above freezing. Most of the winter camping modification threads ive been able to find on here are focused on the LE2. Can anyone point me in the right direction for stuff specific to the LE 1? i know there was a thread the other day that mentioned the lines to the kitchen sink freezing but does the LE1 have any other problem areas i need to keep a close eye on? Im planning on boondocking the whole way there roughly 7 days from Texas to Fairbanks but i should have shore power from a friends house once i get there. Ive got the lithium pro package and composting toilet and ill have probably 3-4 days in texas to get things ready to go before i head off.

Ron, you were the first to bring this model to our attention and thank you for that. @rideadeuce aka Mike, thank you for the excellent detail in this post and recent update. This sure beats what some have done in considerable works to reconfigure a Houghton and others that have replaced a Dometic with another! Maybe OTT should consider this vs. the custom fiberglass work required for the Truma model. It is certainly a lower cost alternative. Mike another way of stating, "efficiency, it is at least 30-40% sometimes 50% better than the Dometic PII 13.5k. 75 vs 150 amps" is the PII requires 2x (200%) greater amperage than the Atmos! Now your microwave takes more amperage than your A/C and given your Victron 3KVA inverter and 920AH Epoch batteries you should be able to run both simultaneously and run the A/C for many hours of the day. Kevin at SDG thought he lost me as a customer because in another post, I commented that one (just one) of his answers was "sales-speak." He was overall great on the phone, and it appears Mike thought so in person, he and his team. With other upgrades, like LiFePO4 and Victron inverter and so much more, our A/C upgrade must wait for more budget money. We don't camp in the summer anyway, though our camping season starts soon enough. We're heading to the Texas Rally in just 10 weeks from today and there is a lot to do 'til then! Kevin, if you're reading, please look forward to hearing from me in the new year. When we're done with winter camping, I should install one of these prior to our annual April-May excursion! WE got stuck running the buzzsaw Dometic two nights on our last spring trip! I got the 100 dB PII running this summer as I work on the Oliver. Good thing I don't have to sleep in there now! @Ronbrink, I'm really looking forward to your post, since you like I will be working a home installation. Thanks again. 😂

We're looking into the Oliver. One of the things we'd like to use it for is winter camping in the ski areas around us. We're in Northern New England so it frequently gets down below zero at night. How comfortable would we be in an Oliver?

Toyota requires a weight distribution hitch for your Tundra when towing an Oliver, we use the Anderson hitch. As you've mentioned your payload will be limited with the Tundra, visit a CAT scale and check your weights especially the weight on the rear axle. If you have the air bag suspension the truck will trim out nicely when towing the Oliver. The Tundra tows the Oliver very nicely and with the Tow+ mode and the twin turbos you'll get good performance. I've noticed no sway whatsoever with my setup and gas milage is reasonable at 13 mpg typically when towing ( 20mpg when not towing ). We have the composting toilet and are glad to have it. We can go three weeks between changing out the compost which is easy to do. You'll save a lot of water by going with a composting toilet and not have to deal with other peoples messes at the dump stations. Twin beds are the way to go with the Oliver. Water conservation is key when boon docking but you can easily add portable jugs of water to the system if you need to by using the Olivers boon docking configuration. The platinum lithium package is wonderful. The pantry can hold a surprising amount of food. We went with the 30lb propane tanks, they are heavy but came in handy for winter camping.

You may be right. i never actually blocked the skuppers. My thought is that as long as there is moisture in the trailer and temperature differential on between air surfaces, condensation will happen. I was planning on blocking the holes just for the winter in an effort to minimize all that cold air intrusion. Guessed that warm, moist air would rise (like in the atmosphere) and that I could vent through Maxair Fan. Even mid winter, we would crack the fan cover, not turning on the fan itself unless cooking and it did wonders to cut back on condensation. Pretty much limited to windows over beds where we were breathing. We had reflectix inserts in all windows so would open up the ones by beds every couple of days to find a modest amount of frozen condensate. Took no time to dry out. I ultimately gave up on the plan as my experience with digital thermometers in vulnerable spots, proved to me that my un-winterized Oliver, even after mods, had limited cold weather use. Some have had success down to zero with their trailers. I accept their account but could not reproduce the experience myself even after literally month's of winter camping and careful testing. I always found multiple spots in the hull, that had water lines run through them, that would drop to below freezing given consistent exterior temperatures in low teens or lower. Covering some of the skuppers during the dry winter time may have really helped improve performance.

Oliver Experts, Hope this summer is treating you well. Ours in AK has been quicker than I’d like, but AK is made for social distancing. Looking forward to the winter, which is quickly approaching my neck of the woods, and I’d like to pick your collective brains. I’d like to get into snow machining/camping this winter and feel that’s one of the real reasons I chose an Oliver over the normal stick builds. I’d like to camp, leaving my Oliver winterized reference the plumbing, and just use her as a warm place to sleep and eat dinner, bringing antifreeze for the toilet (no solids) and gallon water jugs for cooking. A lot of the stick build guys do this, but I’m more particular than most. So plumbing is figured out, that brings us to the batteries. At -40, batteries freeze and split open. Any ideas for this? My winterization the past three winters has included pulling the batteries and bringing them into the heated garage and onto a tender. This is tedious as I’ve got four, and they are awkward and heavy. I’d like to avoid this, and was thinking of battery blankets and/or battery mats that will warm them. We use them on the trucks up here, but they are used daily. I would hate to rely on this, and only use Oliver once or twice a month to figure out that the blankets/mats/tenders couldn’t keep up with the -40 temps. Course of action two: remove batteries and tape of terminals, and rely on our generator to power Oliver on our occasional winter outing. Thoughts, suggestions, comments? As always, appreciate the collective genius that this forum always has! -Alex Obligatory summer camping pics!

Sooo, different folks with different features can have different cold weather experiences. As outlined earlier in this chain, we spent months winter camping in our Elite 2, carefully tracking temps of pex lines in between shells, primarily with our unit winterized. 2021 with that era's furnace. While we stayed toasty warm down to negative teens, there were areas, primarily rearmost pex lines behind garage and lines feeding the exterior shower under the streetside bed, that would drop below freezing in temps around low twenties. After making outlined modes, which were extensive, the lines were good till mid teens. Had we been non winterized, running our Truma water heater, it would have made no difference as that system in the Olivers is a non circulating system so the Truma stays at temp where it is sety but the warm water does not make it to the taps unless they are open. To those that do not camp in freezing winter conditions, this is perfectly acceptable but if you camp where it can often drop below freezing you are likely to run into nightime temps that would expose lines to freezing. Especially true if daytime tempos stay below freezing. In single digit conditions, we would burn through a 30lb propane tank every other day which is both pricey and labor intensive. We loved our Oliver for the superior build quality, great ride, and comfy layout but so much of our camping was in full on winter conditions so we decided to move on. It sold, just yesterday and we have bought ourselves a Winnabego Ekko RV which is truly a 4 season unit. It was quite manageable camping in a winterized Oliver, using containerized water and our composting toilet (great) but our eyes are set on multi week ski safaris so the occasional shower is really a necessity. I've noticed that over the last couple of years Oliver has upgraded to a Truma heater and made some of the mods outlined here so I would assume the stock units can survive unwinterized to the lower temps I laid out above. Anyhow, that's my $02 worth.

I cant recommend the mopeka sensors enough, an absolute must have for winter camping and from the things ive heard there is no better product for the job. The issue with the level bouncing around is because they use sonar so when it gets low it has trouble determining where the level is but by then youre already down below 10-15% and its time to refill anyways unless you like waking up freezing in the middle of the night. Getting them setup properly helps but itll still start bouncing around when it gets low enough. calibrate the sensors on a perfectly level surface before attaching then stick onto the tank and use the same surface to adjust it to the right position. the magnets are strong enough that you shouldn't usually need to reposition them unless they really get knocked around hard

A thread for pictures of winter and/or winter camping.

You may have been reading one of my posts. I did that modification and wrote about it in the forum. It helped, a bit, with the limited capacity of these trailers to be used non winterized but when temps dropped into low teens for extended periods, the water connections would still freeze as would some of the pex lines. Others have claimed to have better luck with this but I spent close to three months winter camping spread over two seasons and leaned into the mods to improve cold weather capacity and never found my Oliver to be trustworthy when it was colder than that. Eventually gave up and started camping with water in jugs. Luckily had chosen the composting toilet option so this situation was less than ideal and way south of what I expected when we bought the Oliver but certainly survivable.

Thanks JD, this is super helpful! I get it now. History of my Oliver must have had a lot of extremely hard salty SW desert water (like the water at Quartzite AZ). Installing a new anode and bi-annual rinsing of the HWH should at least keep the scale at bay. Map of water hardness in the United States | U.S. Geological Survey (usgs.gov) Mountain water where we live is up to 7 grains/gallon and we enjoy our water at home, filtered for drinking only. On the map you can see the high country of AZ is in the white and blue zones, with the desert SW in the RED zone, which is where we all enjoy our winter camping. As kids, we lived in northern IL (when not yet on Lake Michigan water) where well water was up to 25 grains. I could never stand the never-rinsed feel of softened water, though perhaps the technology is better today. I remember the heavy bags of salt were useful during winter weather for added weight in our RWD vehicles of the day! You can see on the map that most of that area is also in the RED zone. Go to Chicago area now, wash your face and this 'lake' water smells strongly of chlorine!

We chase good weather, but we also enjoy the relative calm of shoulder season camping, even in Canada. Would you share your cold weather ( below freezing) camping tips here, please? If we know we are venturing into freezing temps, we winterize. We lost our outdoor shower once when we left our Oliver in the cold too long in storage without winterizing... Routinely, we winterize if we think we will encounter sub freezing temperatures in our travels. But, we have a 2008... Sherry

We installed a smart plug on our old Oliver when I noticed elevated heat around the plug. It turns out the interior lugs weren’t tight. I don’t think the smart plug solves this, but I did like what it did outside of that: we carried a “smart plug extension cord” and then had dog bones for various connectors that felt more secure and water tight than using adapters on the RV style 30a. So we could plug into 15, 20, 30, and 50a receptacles in a way that felt better than using the various adapters on a 30a cord set. I did carry a spare “RV end” of the cord, so if I had to make a new cord it would be a 5 minute procedure. For us - we did a lot of winter camping in the PNW, and the solar did not produce enough for us to do what we needed.

Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 Propane is a very important part of our Winter camping experience, so we make sure that we are carrying enough along with us for the trips' duration. Now, you might say, “just how do you measure that?” Actually, it isn’t all that complicated. It is all about weight and being able to quickly and easily measure it. If you fly commercially and weigh your luggage, you may already have everything that you need to measure your propane. A cool thing is that each propane tank has the empty and the full weight permanently stamped on it. Here is a look. The number on the left is the full weight and the number on the right is the empty weight. By law, the tank can only be filled to 80% of its volume for safety. Here is how you put that luggage scale, that you use when you fly, to use. Just hook under the handle and lift. Enter the empty weight using the tare button and you have the actual weight of the propane that is in the tank. Here is a look at a popular luggage scale on eBay, listing for around $15. Your second question might well be, “why go winter camping in the cold weather?”. Betty and I would answer to you, “because it is so spectacular!” The primitive campgrounds that we like are normally empty except for us and it is quiet. The lake is ours! We have it all to ourselves except for a few diehard fishermen and birdwatchers. Even lying in bed at night can be an exhilarating experience because we don’t run our furnace. Instead, we use our Olympian wave 3 catalytic heater that is totally quiet and have a couple of windows open just a bit, and the roof vent cracked a little for safety and can hear everything quite well. Here is a look at the heater. It can be pretty cool to watch a family of raccoon’s searching the campsite for something that one of the grandkids may have dropped. Or to be startled awake by a pack of juvenile coyote’s unsuccessfully trying to catch a rabbit that got into a hollow tree. Then there are those great “sleeping” sounds, such as the night breeze sighing as it passes through the bare tree limbs, the sound of the lake lapping gently upon the shore or the beautiful call of Loon lilting across the water. Some of our favorite daytime things to do are cruise slowly in the boat watching wildlife feeding or visit resident Eagle nests. It is ever so nice to have the boat tied up right at our doorstep. We always check the forecast and adjust our activities for our comfort. Yes! Winter camping in a travel trailer can be great! Share and Enjoy !0Shares0 0 The post Winter Camping appeared first on Oliver Travel Trailers. Read the Full Article

I’m not planning on doing any serious winter camping, but just in case I get caught in a cold front, this is my attempt at improving the insulation behind the garage.

Wish you had the Elite II like most of us! And your older hull seems to have a different layout than the late models EIs. I wonder the same, why our return and main ducts are within a few feet of each other (all rear curbside on the EII), not much heat getting to the bathroom. I have seen several other mods regarding this question. Changing the return location is something new here! Does it make sense to heat between the hulls so much? Isn't the reason for the dual hull construction to be an insulation layer? Otherwise, you'd be blowing a lot of heat to the outer hull, dissipating to the exterior. We will likely never do serious winter camping but would enjoy better heat/airflow in the interior. Thanks

For many of us, that's plenty cold. Our much older 2008 is good into nighttime temps of high teens, if daytime is warmer. I'm with you. I'll leave intended winter camping to others. If and when we ever get lithium, I'll make sure I have heating for the batteries. I'm good with good blankets.

@Ronbrink, that's a marvelous solution to clean drinking water and some winter camping situations. It looks really pricey, at first, at roughly $300 for the can and replacement filters, but 500 gallons of clean water for $300 is less than you'd pay in the grocery store, and no wasteful packaging. After the first round, replacement filters were 5 for $40 on their website. Now, 6 cents a gallon. Smart improvement. Cpuld be very useful for some folks. Thanks for sharing.