OBI Dweller Review and Discussion

[WillySwan]

I was looking for info on pink kool-aid dosage and I stumbled across this. Our trailers are so new, we may still be in the prevention phase and not the cure phase. Excellent information.

All of this RV toilet stuff is new to me. Thanks for posting.

So in summary:

• The pink fluid in the flush water tank can promote a black algae growth and the prevailing wisdom is to use plain water in the flush tank.
• If needed/desired diluted pink fluid or another mild deodorizer/disinfectant/cleaner is suggested as a spray in the bowel.

Did I get that right?

Just by laziness and luck, I have yet to crack the seal on the bottle of pink fluid that came with the D13.

 

[gendlert]

I had to take my trailer up to Mesa, AZ this past weekend for some warranty work (I'll post more about that soon, but want to wait until it's done; I have a leak in the rear vent likely caused by a bubble in the caulk). OBI has expanded and has a second warehouse I hadn't been to before, acquired two months ago. They had 120 units on-site, all scheduled to be en route to dealers by the end of the month! Pretty incredible to see.

 

[nemesisnight]

Well I just got back from our maiden voyage to the Ozarks with my Dweller 15' and am here to go over all the things I experienced and I definitely tested it to its limits off-road ?. Overall impression though is I love this caravan and it made camping so enjoyable for the whole family, we feel blessed to enjoy nature in such comforts.


First as far as towing goes it did great with the single Monroe shock swap but still had a bit of rocking so I agree that the full shock swap is on order and I will be adding the second set to alleviate any highway rocking.

DO NOT make the mistake I did when filling your tanks!!!!!!!! I left the hose in the fill hole and was doing other stuff and figured once it started squirting out I would turn the water off or it would probably push the hose out. Well that was fine for the first tank, on the rear tank it was full and I went to turn the water off about 30-45 seconds later and it had expanded the plastic tank so much it completely sheered my skid plate off on all 3 back bolts?. Wasn't thrilled but strapped it up and went on my adventure anyway.



We used the AC on this trip with my small 1800w generator (2200w max) and it did amazing. Made sleeping so nice. I learned that if you have a small generator like this you can't run the AC and Charge the batteries at the same time, too much load so if you turn off the renogy invertor then the AC runs fine.

Apparently the water heater under the bed has an on off switch I found out after the trip so we didn't have hot water, but didn't really need it. The shower is amazing, we were totally off grid with 6 of us and all took like 3-4 showers and still had water, I was pretty amazed. That was trying to conserve but not going crazy by any means, my wife even did full shampoo and conditioner in her hair and that takes a decent amount of water.

My bathroom vent fan keeps opening itself while freeway driving, anyone else have this issue?

I also noticed all my caulking in the bathroom around the toilet is peeling or pulled up and needs to be resealed, anyone else have issues with that, I'm sure I can probably just re-caulk it fairly easy, just a minor annoyance for a brand new rig.

One thing I do wish is that they did not put the dumb coaxial cable on the roof, just sticks up weird and who will really use that, just an extra hole. Also the DVD player does not have Bluetooth like my OBI graveler did and that's super annoying because we loved being able to stream songs wirelessly when we wanted. Guess I can just change the head unit just not sure why it doesn't have Bluetooth, does anyone's else have Bluetooth on theirs?

I can attest that this thing pulls great off-road and can be tipped very very far without tipping, the front sliders also work great and I was stressed but managed to make it out with only a little damage. Unfortunately I don't have pics or video but let's just say it was a bit gnarlier than some of the the ROA videos or at least more off camber. I was able to dig out some rocks and drive up some traction boards so I didn't rip off my steps, that's the biggest weakness in the design I feel. I dented the front frame a little, broke the support leg handle and scraped up the skid bar. You can see the rock to the left that it scraped on, I removed some other ones that were going to hit as well. My driver's tire was way up the bank on the right in the pic.


Left is the rock that got me, doesn't look bad in pics but was super narrow and tippy. My driver's tire way way up on the bank in the bushes.

 

[Oliver242]

Looks like you really tested it. Great job! I broke the tongue Jack on my first excursion with the D13. Kept dragging my tongue on a gnarly 4x4 trail.

My DVD/stereo is not Bluetooth either. ******!! Get with the program everything is Bluetooth nowadays.

Glad the A/C worked for you. Luckily here in Colorado, I haven’t had to use it yet. Look forward to using the A/C remote!

I can’t believe what happened to your water tank. I fill mine up the same way. How could that happen? Maybe someone on this thread knows why it did that.

I love to boondock and hate campgrounds. That’s the sole reason I bought the D13. Try to get away from people.

Love the king bed. Hope you did too. That bed is great for my wife and I and our aussies.

Thanks for the post.

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[gendlert]

I'm really surprised you both don't have Bluetooth. Mine has it, with very short range (like, 6ft), but it has it so we can stream music. Take a pic of your head unit. I'm curious when they changed the models.

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[nemesisnight]

I'm really surprised you both don't have Bluetooth. Mine has it, with very short range (like, 6ft), but it has it so we can stream music. Take a pic of your head unit. I'm curious when they changed the models.

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Yea I was super annoyed, $60k caravan and no Bluetooth??? When your in there for service ask about that, maybe they had a mixup in a run or something, I want them to send me out a Bluetooth unit so I don't have to buy one myself.

 

[goawaymore]

I hate that feeling of penny pinching corporate decision making. Especially after they have already set a good quality level and outfitted the Dwellers with many legit brand, very functional, components. From the pic of that warehouse they are clearly capable of buying components in bulk. What is the price diff between buying 100 non-branded stereos without bluetooth (or limited 6' bluetooth) and a fully functional non-branded stereo? $5-6 per unit? Hoping it's not being driven by some sales and marketing perceived need to sell Dwellers at $59.9k vs $60.2k.

You sure you really want a replacement stereo....well, maybe yes since it's what you should have been given to start with! Better question might be, you sure you really want to install a similar stereo? There are a ton of car stereos out there that are on sale or close outs that are at/under $100 that have better bluetooth, better sound, and likely added functions. If you have to put in the time to swap the unit out, and you use the stereo, might as well upgrade at least a tiny bit?

 

[goawaymore]

Anyone that camps in rainy or cold locations might want to check the outside speakers when you have free time. If those speakers are similar to the stereo, they likely have a crappy foam gasket that is sealing it to the wall, and a crappy paper cone for a speaker. The heat and weather is going to destroy both of those at some point and let water or cold air in (or out in the summer). Really common way that water gets in to boats all the time, and that's often with marine grade speakers. Easy enough to re-attach them with sealant if they are only sealed by the foam gasket at the moment. Or if you listen to them on a regular basis, upgrade to a decent marine grade speaker. And/or add a foam baffle behind the speaker. Should improve sound, allow for insulation to be added behind the speaker, and help keep dust from ever getting in.

 

[Oliver242]

Take a look. Am I getting old or not with the times but are MP3 players obsolete??


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[WillySwan]

My bathroom vent fan keeps opening itself while freeway driving, anyone else have this issue?

Yes!!! More accurately, I had this issue. My first long trip, I was stopping every 30 minutes to close the bathroom vent. I finally wrapped duct tape around the vent crank to keep it closed. When I got to my destination, I "messed with" the crank assembly...I pulled the crank handle up and down and I cycled it several times...and mysteriously it hasn't opened on its own since. I thought is was a one-off gremlin, but apparently not. I'm sorry I don't have a fix for this, but let us know if you are able to root-cause what is going on.

I also noticed all my caulking in the bathroom around the toilet is peeling or pulled up and needs to be resealed, anyone else have issues with that, I'm sure I can probably just re-caulk it fairly easy, just a minor annoyance for a brand new rig.

I am having the same issue. I have just started to see cracks in the caulk between the toilet and the walls. I currently am using duct tape to try to keep water out when showering. When I get back from this current trip, I am going to take it to the dealer to test their willingness and ability to fix this. I figure RV service departments ought to be pretty skilled with a caulk gun...we'll see.

 

[Oliver242]

I also changed out the shocks this morning. Only took an hour. Thanks to Willy and gendlert for going through the aches and pains to make my job that much easier. Definitely use a 24mm socket! Made it quite easy.

Hardest part for me was loosening the bolts from the shocks. Your kinda at a goofy angle and not the easiest to get leverage.


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[gendlert]

Take a look. Am I getting old or not with the times but are MP3 players obsolete??


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I'm 99% sure that's the same head unit I have, which definitely has a BT option. There's no BT-specific button or anything, you have to change the mode until BT AUDIO comes up (I think it's the white button in the middle on the bottom). And there's no button to broadcast the BT signal to connect. Just open your BT settings in your phone, and connect to [someone help me here]. I renamed mine in my phone to DWELLER so I don't remember what it was called at default. I go out and look right now, but I don't pick up the trailer until Friday.

 

[WillySwan]

...take a pic and show us your head unit. I haven't even messed with mine yet.

Mine looks to be the same as @Oliver242. It's the unbranded model "DJ8828".

I have gone through the documentation and there is no reference to Bluetooth capabilities.

I'm 99% sure that's the same head unit I have, which definitely has a BT option.

Thanks @gendlert! It works!

• Scroll through connection options using the center white button until "NO CON" comes up.
• Pair your phone. Look for "CAR KIT".
• "NO CON" changes to "BT AUDIO"

 

[gendlert]

I hate that feeling of penny pinching corporate decision making. Especially after they have already set a good quality level and outfitted the Dwellers with many legit brand, very functional, components. From the pic of that warehouse they are clearly capable of buying components in bulk. What is the price diff between buying 100 non-branded stereos without bluetooth (or limited 6' bluetooth) and a fully functional non-branded stereo? $5-6 per unit? Hoping it's not being driven by some sales and marketing perceived need to sell Dwellers at $59.9k vs $60.2k.

You sure you really want a replacement stereo....well, maybe yes since it's what you should have been given to start with! Better question might be, you sure you really want to install a similar stereo? There are a ton of car stereos out there that are on sale or close outs that are at/under $100 that have better bluetooth, better sound, and likely added functions. If you have to put in the time to swap the unit out, and you use the stereo, might as well upgrade at least a tiny bit?

I can see both sides of this. I have the same feeling about my RAM in many instances. "It's a $60k truck. Why don't they just put a Trailer Brake Controller in every single truck that comes off the line? Why even make it a $200 option?" Same thing for a $200 upgrade to increase the gas tank from 26 to 33 gallons. Who WOULDN'T want that? Well, those individual decisions seem insignificant, but they add up when you start making dozens and hundreds of those decisions. $50 here and there can get you into a whole new price range quickly.

Stereos are a very personal decision for a lot of folks. In another forum, there are thousands of threads on stereo mods people can make. And dozens of brands to choose from. So OBI went with an easy answer: get the cheap thing that meets the need (plays movies and streams music via BT connection), and if the customer wants to upgrade that, they can. OBI doesn't do custom orders (though dealers have the option to create their own packages like ROA has), so they went with the least common denominator. I think it's a pretty smart business decision. They aren't spending additional money on their end on a system that many owners are going to abandon for an upgrade (as you pointed out, maybe $100) after purchase.

Anyone that camps in rainy or cold locations might want to check the outside speakers when you have free time. If those speakers are similar to the stereo, they likely have a crappy foam gasket that is sealing it to the wall, and a crappy paper cone for a speaker. The heat and weather is going to destroy both of those at some point and let water or cold air in (or out in the summer). Really common way that water gets in to boats all the time, and that's often with marine grade speakers. Easy enough to re-attach them with sealant if they are only sealed by the foam gasket at the moment. Or if you listen to them on a regular basis, upgrade to a decent marine grade speaker. And/or add a foam baffle behind the speaker. Should improve sound, allow for insulation to be added behind the speaker, and help keep dust from ever getting in.

In related news, I started researching marine speaker upgrades, and quickly got overwhelmed, but this is good advice. It sounds like you actually have a lot of experience with car/RV/boat audio systems. Do you have any recommendations on good value brand upgrades I could make? What would you put in your Dweller?

 

[goawaymore]

Trying to make sense of what is and isn't a marine speaker, and how they stack up against each other, will make your head hurt. The lower cost speakers tend to be car speakers that have been weatherproofed and had some shift from metals to plastics (not perfect, but still better suited to the outdoors). The higher cost speakers are built as marine speakers, have real benefits to waterproofing and vibration, and sound great, but the prices get silly quickly. And once you get to speakers that have decent mid range and bass, you now need an amp or stereo that can supply that necessary power (since they're designed to provide clean sound when a boat is going 40-50mph or pounding upwind into waves), and then you're upgrading every component from power source to wiring. If it was me, I'd pull a speaker (at the very least, to see how it was sealed to the wall), and measure cutout diameter and available depth. And I'd try and find what the power rating of the stereo is....no reason to buy better speakers than the system can provide power to, since that can actually hurt sound and the wallet. Then I'd call a Crutchfield or equivalent (avoid marine stores) and see what they suggest for a marine speaker (they'll want all that info) and what might be on sale or in their scratch and dent pile. I think all major brands will be comparable at specific price points, so the quality sale items should provide the best value at your chosen budget. They should also be able to suggest speakers with IPx5 or better waterproofing, and/or sealed enclosures, if you want to spend a bit more but still be in a basic marine speaker. And google is your friend if you want to try and find better pricing on a specific speaker or two. At the end of the day, you'll definitely have slightly better sound, and 2 big round exterior holes that are better protected (and maybe have more insulation/sealant, depending on what you find/do) than they were!

And you should be able to wait for sales or hunt for close outs, since the existing speakers are still new enough, and probably sealed ok enough for the time being.

I don't quite get the exterior speaker concept on RVs and campers. Although it feels like almost all brands all still do it. Once really good sounding portable bluetooth speakers got affordable and lasted for hours, it would seem that drilling unnecessary holes in exterior walls was something that could be avoided! Oh well...