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Oliver Spring R & R - maintenance


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With the Covid 19 suggested travel restrictions  keeping me home and properly distanced - I took the time to put Oliver in top shape:

1. Greased all fittings, repacked and replaced (one side) wheel bearings.

2. Verified all chassis fastener torques. includes the Dexter recall. 

3. Rotated tires - front to rear, one rear to  carried spare, one rear to "extra spare" . The trailer carried spare to front, and second spare to other front.  (I purchased     a second spare with my Oliver purchase.)  So  - two new tires to front, fronts now rear, spares are former rears.  Basically a 13k rotation. 

4. Washed and waxed Ollie. Used the Meguiar's  Flagship Premium Marine Wax.  I actually believe I prefer the regular Meguiar's.

5. Put a threaded "stop" on the powered antenna - it rotated around, a loose fit by design. Now it is secure and locked in place.

6. Pulled AC shroud off.  Removed the bird nest detritus ,  waxed the shroud, replaced.

7. Added new gutters to all windows - the ones mentioned in other forum posts. I used a electric blanket to warm them up sufficiently and cleaned the surface with        3m cleaner. They are very secure   -  to my delight. 

8. Enlarged the drain holes on the three side windows. (Just the ones on the "slide" glass) .  Same rectangular look, just about 75%  larger.

9. Added a bolt "stop" to the battery tray. Keeps the tray locked in place should the latch fail. I have seen one fail first hand in a friends Ollie.

10. Replaced batteries in all the remote Temp sensors.

11. Tested all the systems - except AC. Readied all systems for "GO".  Sanitized the water system. 

12. Thoroughly cleaned the interior, removed the excess floor glue that bugged me since purchase.

13. Bleach cleaned the window outside inserts, to almost new white condition  - my new black ones are on back order......

Found my tire covers.........

What did I miss? Other than a few "upgrades" I am contemplating.....

RB

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Cindy,  Russell and  "Harley dog" . Home is our little farm near Winchester TN

2018 Oliver Legacy Elite II - 2018 GMC 2500 Duramax 

"Die young - As late as possible"
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BoB - 

Assume that you replaced the battery in the smoke alarm?  How about a cleaning and dielectric grease in the pigtail and did you check the terminals on the main batteries when you added that bolt stop?  Also did you give the door lock, hinges (of all sorts) and any other movable thing a shot of "grease"?  and, did you do a check of the caulking - particularly on the roof?

Bill

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2023 Ford F150 Lariat 3.5EB FX4 Max Towing, Max Payload, 2016 Oliver Elite II - Hull #117 "Twist"

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Topgun, 

I did a visual on the battery terminals, and the all ready lubed pigtail , checked the alarms, but no change in battery, caulking looks fine, and I don't generally lube dry hinges, just to much mess later.  Thanks for the follow-up.

Mossey - No I did the work inside the garage - to cold most of the time, and the darn rain storms have been endlessly tormenting us. Ollie is back out in her home, but I'm gonna put a small tarp over the top, damn birds seem to love the cubbie holes.

Ken - I'll get a pic off to you - or post here.

Thanks folks.

Cindy,  Russell and  "Harley dog" . Home is our little farm near Winchester TN

2018 Oliver Legacy Elite II - 2018 GMC 2500 Duramax 

"Die young - As late as possible"
ALAZARCACOFLIDMTNVNMOKORTNTXUTWAWYd56201

 

 

 

 

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Nothing that exciting - mostly related to storage solutions and sleeping comfort. But right now the ability to get things shipped to me - will curtail the effort.  If I could figure out a way to cool Ollie with out  employing the jet plane on the roof - it would be number 1 on the list.  So far my best solution is elevation! and season.

Good fortune to all.

 

 

Cindy,  Russell and  "Harley dog" . Home is our little farm near Winchester TN

2018 Oliver Legacy Elite II - 2018 GMC 2500 Duramax 

"Die young - As late as possible"
ALAZARCACOFLIDMTNVNMOKORTNTXUTWAWYd56201

 

 

 

 

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23 minutes ago, BackofBeyond said:

If I could figure out a way to cool Ollie with out  employing the jet plane on the roof - it would be number 1 on the list.  So far my best solution is elevation! and season.

 

 

I think the number one annoyance with the Oliver (and probably any other trailer that uses the Dometic) is the air conditioner.  Yes, it cools the cabin in a jiffy.  The noise on the other hand is too much.  I would give up cooling power for reduced noise.  It’s difficult to sleep with it on.  We were at Palo Duro State Park and the temps got to around 105 and we stayed cool with the AC on the low fan setting....  Mike

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Texas Hill Country | 2016 Elite II #135 | 2020 Ram 2500 6.7L

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1 hour ago, Overland said:

We can figure this out.  How about connecting the AC to the hull with a scissor lift and bellows so that you can decouple the unit from the hull?

If money wasn't a factor, I would be seriously investigating something similar to these: 

TriPac Envidia is an all-electric, battery based Auxiliary Heating and Cooling Temperature Management System.

The ComfortPro electric APU delivers a solid 7,500 BTUs of cooling for up to 11 hours.*

Edited by MontanaOliver
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There is an RV shop/dealer? in Ohio that is a rep (Advanced RV) for an Australian built ac unit that is billed as a quiet ac unit. I think that this is the only USA rep so far. Probably google quiet RV ac and that should find it. I looks like a very well built unit and is predictably very expensive.  

2017 Elite II, Hull #208

2019 Chevy HD 2500 Duramax

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That's probably the Atwood.  John Davies has one, and I'm pretty sure one or two others. It's supposed to be quieter and a little more efficient, with the downsides being that they're taller, not quite as nice looking, and the condensation drain is external.  I could probably live with all of those - I'd love to actually hear one in person to see how much quieter they are.  

My mod for a quieter AC was a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones.  They're comfortable enough to sleep with.

Edited by Overland
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This would fit either on the bathroom wall by the dinette (maybe make it into a headrest?), the lower pantry area (lose 6" of aisle) or in the back between the rear and side windows.  There are also some ducted systems that would fit on the curbside as well to help heat the basement.   Also ceiling mounted air handlers that would need some sort of external shroud but might need an external shroud.  

 

https://www.fujitsugeneral.com/us/products/split/floor/rlffh-series/index.html This could stick 3" into the hall either at the pantry or dinette.

 

Between Olivers…

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1 hour ago, mountainoliver said:

There is an RV shop/dealer? in Ohio that is a rep (Advanced RV) for an Australian built ac unit that is billed as a quiet ac unit. I think that this is the only USA rep so far. Probably google quiet RV ac and that should find it. I looks like a very well built unit and is predictably very expensive.  

I'm pretty sure Advanced Rv imports a version of the Houghton Australian ac, reworked for US 110 voltage. I've videos of the Advanced ac installed and running, and you can't even hear it in the background.

It's not inexpensive in Australia, either (even taking the exchange rate into account), but it's supposed to also be highly efficient,  as well as 3 x as quiet as a Dometic. 

I'm still hoping that by the time our Dometic dies, somebody will have begun to market a danfoss/secop 12v rv unit that I could run on Solar. I I know there are some available for truck cabs in Europe and Canada. Hopefully,   quiet, efficient, and not as power hungry.

https://caravanandrvparts.com.au/product/houghton-belaire-hb3400/

 

The Advanced unit is definitely not inexpensive. I've read that it's around $2800 installed.

Sherry

2008 Ram 1500 4 × 4

2008 Oliver Elite, Hull #12

Florida and Western North Carolina, or wherever the truck goes....

400 watts solar. DC compressor fridge. No inverter. 2 x 105 ah agm batteries .  Life is good.


        
 

 

 

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Yes, that’s the one. Currently it is imported and installed by Advanced RV in Willoughby, Ohio. They list a cost of $2,749.00 installed. You correctly listed the YouTube video showing the inside of the unit. I agree it would be great to have an AC unit using the Danfoss inverter driven compressor. 

2017 Elite II, Hull #208

2019 Chevy HD 2500 Duramax

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I looked at that unit, but the reliability seems less than stellar.  Hence looking at the other options.  A high efficiency mini split  is definitely the gateway to Solar AC -- while that ARV is quieter, I don't think it approaches the up to 33 SEER in mini splits.  I'm trying to find one that does a good job of humidity management, HEPA filtering, etc... to drop those boxes from the interior as well.

Here's a ceiling mount that wouldn't go through the roof, which means more room for solar up there: https://www.fujitsugeneral.com/us/products/split/floor-ceiling/index.html

Edited by WhatDa
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Between Olivers…

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38 minutes ago, mountainoliver said:

... I agree it would be great to have an AC unit using the Danfoss inverter driven compressor. 

I have an indel b fridge made for a truck (Truckfridge brand), so why not have an ac unit made for a truck, right? 😁

My indel b fridge is so very quiet, and energy efficient with the secop compressor, that I can only imagine the ac unit would be very quiet, too.  Indel builds a range of Sleeping Well truck cab ac units that are in use around the world, and I  suspect one of them could cool my little Ollie, just using solar. Of course, it might mean I'd have to upgrade to Battleborn batteries. They still use significant amps on 12v,  three to six times what my fridge consumes, but nothing like a Dometic 110 unit.

https://www.indelb.com/products/automotive/sleeping_well

Sherry

 

 

20200326_160921.jpg

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2008 Ram 1500 4 × 4

2008 Oliver Elite, Hull #12

Florida and Western North Carolina, or wherever the truck goes....

400 watts solar. DC compressor fridge. No inverter. 2 x 105 ah agm batteries .  Life is good.


        
 

 

 

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50 minutes ago, WhatDa said:

I looked at that unit, but the reliability seems less than stellar.  Hence looking at the other options.  A high efficiency mini split  is definitely the gateway to Solar AC -- while that ARV is quieter, I don't think it approaches the up to 33 SEER in mini splits.  I'm trying to find one that does a good job of humidity management, HEPA filtering, etc... to drop those boxes from the interior as well.

Here's a ceiling mount that wouldn't go through the roof, which means more room for solar up there: https://www.fujitsugeneral.com/us/products/split/floor-ceiling/index.html

Whatda, I like your idea. Last year, we installed a minisplit in our garage, and it does a great job. Pretty quiet, too. I've seen youtubes of these retrofitted into big coaches, where they put the outdoor unit in a basement compartment. 

Where do you propose placing the outdoor unit? Our garage system isn't huge,  but I'd guess the outdoor unit is a little larger than a 20 inch box fan. 

Sherry

2008 Ram 1500 4 × 4

2008 Oliver Elite, Hull #12

Florida and Western North Carolina, or wherever the truck goes....

400 watts solar. DC compressor fridge. No inverter. 2 x 105 ah agm batteries .  Life is good.


        
 

 

 

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A number of the smaller units are 110, like smaller window ac. Our garage unit is 110.

2008 Ram 1500 4 × 4

2008 Oliver Elite, Hull #12

Florida and Western North Carolina, or wherever the truck goes....

400 watts solar. DC compressor fridge. No inverter. 2 x 105 ah agm batteries .  Life is good.


        
 

 

 

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The Atwood Air Command a/c is much quieter. We replaced the Dometic (not a Penguin) on our MBS motorhone a few years ago. It is taller than the Penguin by several inches. It cools (and heats) well and has a lower current draw. 
 

if the Penguin is too noisy, I’ll install a 13.5K btu (cool only) Atwood on our Oliver when we get it. It is about $700-800 to purchase. 
 

Was the unit that John Davies has installed at the factory?

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16 hours ago, BackofBeyond said:

Aren't most mini splits 220 volt? 

 

Most are. Some are 110v.  I'm evaluating which one to go with.  On the electric side, I am looking at everything inside being driven off an inverter all the time, and shore power going to a charger -- tired of garbage campground voltage.  So it'd go mains->charger->batteries->inverter->loads.  It'd be a second multiplus to get 220v everywhere.  I'd also no longer have to worry about turning anything off to run the Microwave.

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Between Olivers…

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On 3/25/2020 at 9:39 AM, BackofBeyond said:

13. Bleach cleaned the window outside inserts, to almost new white condition  - my new black ones are on back order......

Hi BackofBeyond,

Could you give me a link for for this [window outside inserts, black] product? I am highly interested in replacing ours as well.

Thank you.

Gwenne, of sgcausey


SGC & GRC

Hull 224 [2017]

2017 GMC Sierra HD Crew Cab Diesel

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