Hello From Portland, Oregon

[DonnaDuane]

Thank you Mike and Carol, After studying the manual last night, I think the inverter is in a compartment under the bed. Will find today so can make my morning coffee while on the road next time.

 

Today is going to be “Getting intimately related to Ollie day.” My goal is to study every component with manual in hand. I also fancy waxing the entire outside of her. We’ll see how much of that I accomplish ?. Any recommendations on a product to remove road dirt stains while waxing?

[mossemi]

You should have a switch for the inverter on the wall and not have to go under the bed to turn it on.  Mine in above the dinette.

[DonnaDuane]

Good news! I think one of the best ways to get intimately related to anything is to clean and shine every inch of it by hand. In doing so, I discovered the Inverter on/off switch newly and that I simply wasn’t holding the button down long enough to activate it. I learned that Maguire’s Ultimate Paste Wax (what I use on my car) brings new whiteness to the Ollie - beautiful. I can see now how important it is to at least annually inspect all shell penetrations for water tightness. Given mine is a demo, the sealants have some signs of being out in the weather.

 

Anyone have any experience with resealing any part of yours?

[DonnaDuane]

Donna and I are on our maiden voyage camping weekend. Our intention is learning how to operate everything on our Ollie. Lesson 1 - chock trailer wheels after leveling before unhitching from car. The darn thing rolls and causes front jack to fall off support and drop to ground. Thankfully no harm done. Lesson 2 - make sure propane valve is completely open. Even though furnace and stove burners worked, we couldn’t get our Truma water heater to come on. When we figured out what the error codes meant, I discovered it was a lack of gas pressure. It took 25 gallons of grey water trying though. Lesson 3 - switches for side levelers are outside in the front. Silly me?.

[DonnaDuane]

PS: we’re finding one of the most enjoyable things about owning an Oliver is having admirers everywhere we go. Without fail, every time we’ve stopped for fuel, or car wash, or got home, and now at our first campground, people come over and ask about it and want to see inside.

[John E Davies]

Re: chocking wheels. You learned your lesson, you must always ALWAYS firmly chock both sides of the axle whenever disconnecting the hitch, regardless of how level the ground looks. Kick the chocks in tight with your foot. Especially with a single axle trailer, there is nothing to stop the trailer from pivoting around except a little friction between the front jack and whatever surface it is resting on... With a tandem that is less likely. But the same rule applies. Once the rear stabilizers are down it should not move. Maybe.

 

I suggest that you check the three bolts holding the front jack to the a-frame. A big jolt like that can loosen stuff and also damage the gearing inside. Any unusual noises when you operate it?

 

Nice pics. I am waiting for the snow pictures.... where was your campsite? Pretty setting.

 

John Davies

 

Spokane WA

[DonnaDuane]

Thanks John!  I’ll definitely check those bolts. The jack seemed to work fine after with no abnormal sounds.

 

We’re at Clackamette Park in Oregon City. It’s where the Willamette and Clackamas rivers merge.

 

New lesson learned- the tank panel is in percentages, not gallons. So, not as bad as I thought running water to get Truma to work ?

[mossemi]

Your camping location is very close to Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge.  A friend of ours is on a 3 month camp/work assignment there.  Enjoy your Oliver.

[DonnaDuane]

Yes it is. I grew up here, so know the area pretty intimately. My high school is less than a mile from here.

[topgun2]

When I got my first boat trailer (about age 15) I made the same mistake of not chocking the trailer wheels before unhitching.  Nice hole in that garage door that my Dad sure wasn't happy about and I got to fix.  Since then I've always placed a sign on the tongue that says "CHOCKS".

 

Bill

[RnA]

Regarding your comment on chocks...

 

“There are those that have and those that will”.

 

Ways to keep from being one of those is.  1.) The CHOCKS sign is good.

 

2.) I flew for years using checklist.   There is a good reason too; regardless of how many times you've done something, one day you’ll likely forget a critcal step.

 

3.) Take your time and pause between steps and think about what you are about to do.  The times I’ve run in to trouble I was rushing.  Usually due to setting up or hooking up in nasty weather.

 

When the trailer is sloped downhill  from the TV, keep the safety cables and emergency brake cable attached as you are raising the tongue off the ball.  Once you know the chocks are holding you can remove the cables. Just remember to remove the cables before you move the TV.  Suggest you do it as soon as you know the trailer is stable and before you leave the area of the tongue.

 

- Randy

[topgun2]

Randy -

 

A big YES to all of those but especially number three.  It seems that when I'm breaking camp someone interrupts me (usually wanting to know something about the Oliver) and then I'm in a hurry to get out of Dodge.  I have to remind myself to slow down, relax, and get back to business - the potential "costs" of not doing that are simply too large.

 

Bill

[ScottyGS]

If I am interrupted by someone while connecting or disconnecting I ask them to wait.   Unless of course the person interrupting is Donna........   then I write myself a note as to where I was.   ;-)   Checklists are good too.  I usually will run through them at the end to make sure I have not forgotten anything.

 

One habit I got into early was to do a walk around when I was done.   If getting ready to leave I would include the TV too.  I start at the driver front tire and walk toward the trailer.  I check everything on the walk around,  all the safety pins, the latches, levelers, hose connections, tires etc.  I figure it’s a good habit to get into and I usually find something not to my liking.   The little stoppers for the hose connections are a favorite to forget.   You wrap up the hose and then forget to go back for the stopper.

 

Happy Holidays All    Safe travels

 

Scotty

 

 

 

 

[DonnaDuane]

<p style="text-align: left;">Thank you Bill, Randy and Scotty.   I not only used the checklists provided by Oliver, I got a couple others from others on this forum. Glad I did too. Even with them, I found things that were not on them or explained clearly enough that I was free of concerns. All has turned out OK so far. We even dumped our tanks successfully the first time in the rain. We’re both glad we gave ourselves the entire weekend to learn how to work all the systems. It made for a relaxing time. Special thanks to you Randy for how to unhook on a slope. I’m pretty sure that just saved me some headache and $.</p>

Next, lesson learned- the cheap inlet hose that came with the Ollie makes good water taste like a plastic hose. Yuck! Buying a quality potable water hose and using cheap one for flushing out grey/Black tanks

[topgun2]

Just make sure that you mark that old hose you are using for black/grey water in some way so that you don't get the two mixed up!  And you thought that the hose made the water taste bad - just wait until the two hoses get mixed up.

 

Bill

[Geronimo John]

I agree with Bill and John D about safety of the trailer when arriving at a new site.  Especially if it has some slope to it.

 

I keep my jack blocks in a milk crate in the front tongue basket.  The Harbor Freight HEAVY chocks are right beside them.  They are a prominent reminder to use them first as suggested above.

 

Another safety measure concerns when to unhook the safety chains/cables.  I first park, chock, raise the tongue to unhitch, and then move the TV forward a few inches.    Just enough that there is some daylight between the Bulldog and Anderson.  I specifically do not unhook the chains until AFTER I have rechecked the chocks, placed all the jack blocks and leveled the trailer.  At that point I am sure that Ollie is not going anywhere without me.  I then unhook the chains and move the TV a few feet further away to allow easy passage all the way around the trailer.  If one is a bit forgetful, a sign on the dash such as "Chains?" would be prudent.

[Overland]

I've never forgotten to place my chocks, but I have tried to drive away with them still under the wheels.  That doesn't work too well.

 

I bought some of these for the chocks to remind me.

[DonnaDuane]

Bill,

 

LOL They will be different colors. What length do you recommend? Based on my first experience and what I see in photos, it seems a 10ft would work fine, despite Amazon pushing the 25ft.  What do you think?

[DonnaDuane]

Overland,

 

I like that idea. Thank you