2016 Roadtreck zion no Votstart Can I add?

[Cryptofit]

Hello all

I am getting ready to purchase a sweet deal on a 2016 Roadtrek Zion w/ only 5100 miles. only problem is main feature I want is not there which is voltstart and the lithium batteries. Can I add these things? thanks

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by Cryptofit

Hello all

I am getting ready to purchase a sweat deal on a 2016 Roadtrek Zion w/ only 5100 miles. only problem is main feature I want is not there which is voltstart and the lithium batteries. Can I add these things? thanks

Why would you want those features?

Have you read the posts in this forum?
When they work, they work great.
But when they don't work,
nobody wants to hear from you.
Stay with the tried and true.

[Cryptofit]

Originally Posted by BBQ

Why would you want those features?

Have you read the posts in this forum?
When they work, they work great.
But when they don't work,
nobody wants to hear from you.
Stay with the tried and true.

No just signed up for forum but watched many youtube videos of benefit.

I have small Dog that I worry about leaving w/ no Air.

Is 70k too much to pay for 2016 only 5100 miles w/out those features?

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by Cryptofit

No just signed up for forum but watched many youtube videos of benefit.

I have small Dog that I worry about leaving w/ no Air.

Is 70k too much to pay for 2016 only 5100 miles w/out those features?

For that price, and a little bit more, you can get a brand new fully loaded Travato.

[gklugie]

Welcome Crypto. I consider myself still kind of new, and I have seen voltstart posts, but have not read them for lack of interest. Apparently it is a lithium house battery upgrade. I have an old school Roadtrek. I like and appreciate helpful upgrades and mods like most fellows. Where are you in Texas? I am in the Dallas area, and the prevailing trend here is that we do not do too much camping (here) in 90 and 100 degree temperatures. It is just too hot. In summers, campers tend to go north, or to the mountains.

Where do you live? What dealer are you shopping at?

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by Cryptofit

No just signed up for forum but watched many youtube videos of benefit.

I have small Dog that I worry about leaving w/ no Air.

They are not reliable. I would not trust my pet with it.
The web is full of horror stories of how it does not work,
and nobody could fix it.
It will take you months to line up a service appointment with the dealers. When you get it in, they have to wait for the factory for instructions, which means more delays. Roadtrek service does not have a good reputation.

[Ron J. Moore]

Like others have said, many complaints, some satisfied with the system. I could have went full on in '15, but having researched it out, on here and elsewhere, I went with what worked on my old one for nine years - AGM Batteries and a Generator. I guess I truly believe n the KISS principal. These folks will give you straight scoop and sound advise. Ron

[mackcs]

We love the Volt start, travel with two dogs, play golf when it is to warm to leave them in the van without A/C. As always there are positives with technology and negatives. BBQ, glad you are a Travato Winnebago fan. Glad it is working for you. Personally, I would never buy another Winnebago product, period. Everyone has their opinion on products and manufacturers. It is what makes the RV industry what it is. Lots to choose from.

[Cryptofit]

Originally Posted by BBQ

For that price, and a little bit more, you can get a brand new fully loaded Travato.

Why do you think travato better? do they have the Auto Start feature?

[Cryptofit]

Originally Posted by gklugie

Welcome Crypto. I consider myself still kind of new, and I have seen voltstart posts, but have not read them for lack of interest. Apparently it is a lithium house battery upgrade. I have an old school Roadtrek. I like and appreciate helpful upgrades and mods like most fellows. Where are you in Texas? I am in the Dallas area, and the prevailing trend here is that we do not do too much camping (here) in 90 and 100 degree temperatures. It is just too hot. In summers, campers tend to go north, or to the mountains.

Where do you live? What dealer are you shopping at?

I would be buying from private buyer near by.

I agree about traveling in the heat. My plan is to be in states that are cool in summer and warm in winter.

I also plan to travel to events that may require traveling in warmer weather. So just in case.....

[booster]

Personally, I can see the Voltstart as useful to keep the batteries from going dead when you are away from the van extended periods because the huge parasitic losses of the Ecotrek will kill the batteries in less than two days. I don't see it as necessarily the best choice for keeping pets cool short term. There are off the shelf products available to start the vehicle engine based on the internal temperature of the vehicle. They are very commonly used in police canine vehicles for instance, and use the normal vehicle dash air to cool the interior back down and then shut off. By all accounts they are much more reliable than the Voltstart and don't suffer from the "death spiral" of dead batteries that can happen with the low output of overly hot engine generators. It makes no sense to me to run the vehicle engine, to run a big alternator, to run an inverter, to run the AC, when you have a much more efficient, and likely higher capacity, AC that can just be turned on with just the engine running.

Of course, with ANY of the AC options to protect pets you should have a fallback notification system unless you are willing to risk the pets to non 100% reliable, all the time, equipment.

If we had pets to protect (we don't), I would have enough batteries to run the coach AC for maybe 1/2 to 1 hour (more batteries would let you go longer if you wanted to), so we could do a quick trip into a store, restaurant, attraction, etc. For beyond that time, I would have a vehicle start, dash AC, temp triggered, setup.

Using a small battery system with the AC on, and counting on the Voltstart to keep things running, is likely not to happen for long as the death spiral will shut things down.

Leaving more modules on in a Roadtrek also doesn't help all that much for long term running either because of the huge parasitic losses. It doesn't matter how many modules you have on, they will be dead in less than two days.

Of course all of this is based on engine idling being OK wherever you are, and that you RV is perfectly sealed against carbon monoxide getting into the interior while the engine is idling (our Roadtrek would not have come close to passing the totally sealed test)

[Cryptofit]

Originally Posted by Cryptofit

Why do you think travato better? do they have the Auto Start feature?

I thought about the Travato but the zion layout fits my needs much better, especially having that middle isle, and the two single beds, and the ability to strap down things like bikes to the drawers. I also love the pullout pantry. I think every RV should have that lol.

[Cryptofit]

Originally Posted by booster

. There are off the shelf products available to start the vehicle engine based on the internal temperature of the vehicle. They are very commonly used in police canine vehicles for instance, and use the normal vehicle dash air to cool the interior back down and then shut off. By all accounts they are much more reliable than the Voltstart and don't suffer from the "death spiral" of dead batteries that can happen with the low output of overly hot engine generators. It makes no sense to me to run the vehicle engine, to run a big alternator, to run an inverter, to run the AC, when you have a much more efficient, and likely higher capacity, AC that can just be turned on with just the engine running.

Of course, with ANY of the AC options to protect pets you should have a fallback notification system unless you are willing to risk the pets to non 100% reliable, all the time, equipment.

If we had pets to protect (we don't), I would have enough batteries to run the coach AC for maybe 1/2 to 1 hour (more batteries would let you go longer if you wanted to), so we could do a quick trip into a store, restaurant, attraction, etc. For beyond that time, I would have a vehicle start, dash AC, temp triggered, setup.




Of course all of this is based on engine idling being OK wherever you are, and that you RV is perfectly sealed against carbon monoxide getting into the interior while the engine is idling (our Roadtrek would not have come close to passing the totally sealed test)

Awesome Idea. I will check into this option. You have idea of where to search? or search term?

[BBQ]

Originally Posted by Cryptofit

Why do you think travato better? do they have the Auto Start feature?

Sigh... Bottomline, do you want to trust your pet's life to an untrustworthy technology?

I would ask: does it have a 100% uptime guarantee?
If not, what percentage risk is acceptable?
Is 99% acceptable to you?

What would happen to your pet if the auto-start did not start as expected?

[wincrasher]

LOL. The endless procession of newbs willing to shell out $20k+ and deal with endless reliability problems and frustrations with inept dealers all for this idea that pets need air conditioning that can only be provided via batteries. How about the idea of a low tech RV, a ventilator, and traveling with the weather instead of against it?

[mackcs]

U B U, I B Me.
To each their own my friend.