OBI Dweller Review and Discussion
- Thread starter gendlert
- Start date
I'm curious how the Ranger is doing pulling your Dweller. Is it working out okay?
gendlert
Well-known member
A couple of updates of minor issues I found and easily resolved, but you should be aware of:
1. After 8 months sitting uncovered in the AZ heat, the veneer on the underside of the tabletop started peeling up. The adhesive failed, which honestly doesn't surprise me. Not much stands up to AZ heat. I fixed it with a caulk gun and a tube of liquid nails. Took me 5 mins to repair.
2. I had a faulty Propane/CO alarm. This one was interesting, and I need to reach out to the manufacturer of the alarm to find out if they know of the issue. I plugged my trailer in to charge it at home, and the Propane alarm started going off and I couldn't get it to stop. I didn't have any propane hooked up to the trailer at the time, either, so I know it wasn't a real positive alarm. I clipped the wires under the bench seat, called OBI, and they sent me a new one to put in, no questions asked. When I looked at the wiring diagram, it says there should be a 1A fuse inline on the positive line, which it definitely did NOT have. I went to Ace Hardware, bought an inline fuse holder, a set of 1A fuses, and soldered that back in with the new alarm on the positive line. It's been fine so far. I'll keep you posted if that changes. Probably a one-off fluke, but if anyone else runs into the issue, it's another easy fix. Took me 20 mins to fix plus a trip to Ace.
1. After 8 months sitting uncovered in the AZ heat, the veneer on the underside of the tabletop started peeling up. The adhesive failed, which honestly doesn't surprise me. Not much stands up to AZ heat. I fixed it with a caulk gun and a tube of liquid nails. Took me 5 mins to repair.
2. I had a faulty Propane/CO alarm. This one was interesting, and I need to reach out to the manufacturer of the alarm to find out if they know of the issue. I plugged my trailer in to charge it at home, and the Propane alarm started going off and I couldn't get it to stop. I didn't have any propane hooked up to the trailer at the time, either, so I know it wasn't a real positive alarm. I clipped the wires under the bench seat, called OBI, and they sent me a new one to put in, no questions asked. When I looked at the wiring diagram, it says there should be a 1A fuse inline on the positive line, which it definitely did NOT have. I went to Ace Hardware, bought an inline fuse holder, a set of 1A fuses, and soldered that back in with the new alarm on the positive line. It's been fine so far. I'll keep you posted if that changes. Probably a one-off fluke, but if anyone else runs into the issue, it's another easy fix. Took me 20 mins to fix plus a trip to Ace.
Thanks! I am having the exact same issue with the propane alarm on my Dweller.
With regards to the table, I am thinking about leaving mine behind and using a folding aluminum camping table (fancy TV tray) instead. The table is fine, but I find it takes up a lot of space and is a pain to set up.
Obsessed2findARuggedHybid
Well-known member
The Dweller is officially bear proof.
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I guess it would be unlikely a bear could rip through the canvas of the pop up and get in your camper right?
gendlert
Well-known member
I'm not gonna say impossible. I'm gonna say so unlikely it wouldn't be a concern to me. I would argue bears *could* get into even a hard side trailer if they were properly motivated. But this little lady wasn't too big. Those are my footprints next to it. Maybe 4" across? Very small bear.
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eatSleepWoof
Do it for the 'gram
Bears easily peel open locked cars all the time. Any trailer is a joke of a challenge to a bear that wants to get in.
The outdoor stove on my Dweller appears to be designed primarily for interior use. There are neither windscreens on the burners or side panels to protect the burners from the wind. It does not take much of a breeze to really mess up the flame when you are trying to cook on a windy day.
To try to fix this, I cut out a set of side panels from an old stainless steel oven-hood I had kicking around. The panels attach together with slots and tabs. The back panel sits behind the tempered glass stove cover and the side panels slot into it.
I made two different widths of optional front panels in case they are needed. The narrower front panel can be used with the sink lid down. The wider panel is for my larger cast iron skillet.
These panels will store in sink/stove area along with the water and propane hoses. I still need to make a storage bag to keep them from sliding around
So far, I have only tested this in my driveway, but they seem to really make a difference when it is windy.
To try to fix this, I cut out a set of side panels from an old stainless steel oven-hood I had kicking around. The panels attach together with slots and tabs. The back panel sits behind the tempered glass stove cover and the side panels slot into it.
I made two different widths of optional front panels in case they are needed. The narrower front panel can be used with the sink lid down. The wider panel is for my larger cast iron skillet.
These panels will store in sink/stove area along with the water and propane hoses. I still need to make a storage bag to keep them from sliding around
So far, I have only tested this in my driveway, but they seem to really make a difference when it is windy.
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Obsessed2findARuggedHybid
Well-known member
Nice mod. What brand stove is that?
Obsessed2findARuggedHybid
Well-known member
As far as I have seen OBI leads the pack on Americanizing these AU designed Chinese built rigs. They seem to be speced with quality components but maybe they slipped in a no name Chinese stove. Oh well nobody is perfect. Hey don't get me wrong I don't have any flags and hitch balls hanging off my truck but I am kind of pro usa or Canada built trailers
Fully agree. After 25+ years of camping out of my M416, this is my first commercial travel trailer. There is a lot to like about the Dweller. I am really looking forward to giving it a good workout this summer.
There are some additional customizations I have done to make it better suit my needs. I will post details once I have had a chance to trail test them over the next couple of weeks.
There are also a couple of minor maintenance/preparedness items I have discovered.
- Check the torque on lug-nuts. I found that mine were so tight that it was impossible to loosen them with a tire wrench or 1/2-inch breaker bar. I had to pull out my 36-inch long 3/4-inch breaker bar to get them loose. I am guessing it took about 400+ lb-ft of torque to get them to loosen. All of them were that difficult to loosen including the spare. I never would have been able to change a tire if I had gotten a flat while out in the field.
I do not think they were installed that tight. I suspect the cone portion of the chrome lug-nut corroded to the aluminum wheel during the oversea voyage. I put a very small amount of anti-seize on the cone portion of the nuts. There is not a lug-nut torque value specified in the owner's manual (such as it is) so I went with the Dexter Axle recommendation for 1/2 inch lug nuts and torqued them all to 120 ft-lbs. - Make sure you can remove the wheel from the hub. My wheels were both frozen to the hub. I was able to wrestle one loose by hand. It took several blows with a large rubber mallet to get the other one of them to break loose from the hub. I would not have wanted to be doing that when I was on a jack at the side of the road. Again, I treated this with a small amount of anti-seize on the mating surfaces.
- Consider balancing the tires. I am keeping the "Goodride" tires on for now. I did however decide to spend the money for a spin-balance at Discount Tire. It was not cheap, but I may have got my money's worth in lead weights. They were able to get a good balance on both tires. It took lot of weights to get there, but I've seen worse.
- Check the cable clamps on the parking brake cable. I kept having to adjust my parking brake. When I pulled the tires to get them balanced, I realized that all the clamps were all very loose and slipping. One of them had slipped completely off.