The E-trek Blog

[Arlo]

Weird. Makes me wonder if the inverter is actually on. Perhaps in "power saver auto" mode by mistake, and won't reliably come out of power saver mode? I don't have a Keurig but have used the convection oven, instant hot water, and AC when less than 85% of battery capacity. Anyway, what they are reporting (both generally and in this specific instance) is very different than my experience over 2.5 years of E-Trek ownership.

Could be time for an exorcism.

[gregmchugh]

Read your latest blog post, very good info. We usually fill our grey tank in our 08 RS up just about the same as you did and have the black tank only partially full. One thing you can do to easily transfer grey tank water to the black tank is to open the grey tank valve and then open the black tank valve for a minute, then close both. This will move grey water over until the tanks equalize. Your method can transfer more but I typically just do the transfer to get the sinks to drain if they are backing up and make a little room in the grey tank until we get to dump.

[gerrym51]

Originally Posted by markopolo

Just catching up on the E-trek blog.

In this post: TRIP #8--GETTYSBURG AND OUR E-TREK | The Etrek Blog

they had trouble making coffee (1500W Keurig) even with the engine running ...........

Any ideas as to what is going on? Anyone else with a E-trek type unit able to run a Keurig?

well they did have a battery balancer put on it in kitchener. I do not know if it caused the issue but that is the only thing i know different however we need to know what they meant

[obgraham]

Hmm. In our CS with ETrek we use the Keurig every morning without difficulty. And the Microwave also, at the same time. Considering that the inverter is 5000 watts, it should not be a problem, and I don't understand why battery % should be a factor, unless it is below, say, 50%.

Sounds to me like some issue with the inverter.

On the other hand, I have the Alde, not the Webasto, which I run on propane for hot water, not electric.

My systems are running fine. I'm not going to monkey around with a "balancer", or even a secondary water tank. Don't want to mess with sleeping dogs.

[markopolo]

OK, so the consensus here is that an E-trek should easily be able to power a Keurig with or without the engine running provided that the batteries aren't really low.

Possible causes:
1. power save mode on
2. low batteries or capacity impaired batteries
3. inverter failing
4. wiring and/or balancer issues
5. some other appliance consuming a huge amount of power on at same time

[eric1514]

Maybe I'm wrong, but when ever I read that blog I get the feeling that a lot of their issues are the result of them not being very mechanically inclined. They probably don't have much in the way of manuals, either, but on the other hand, they don't seem like the type that would read them anyway.

[Davydd]

Interesting. We never have a problem making Keurig coffee in our Advanced RV. Would that be an inverter issue with Roadtrek?

Also, he keeps referring to 25 and 26 volts. Is the Roadtrek battery system 24vdc? Is so does that mean their top of the line 1600ah battery bank really only equivalent to an 800ah 12vdc battery bank? I was wondering how they could pack 1600ah of 12vdc when I saw first hand Advanced RV's 1200ah 12vdc battery bank recently. I don't know where you could put more weight and size wise.

[gregmchugh]

Here is my understanding of how the Ecotrek modules are configured. There are four Ecotrek modules available.

200 $2496
400 $4992
800 $8684
1600 $17,368

the 200, 400, and 800 modules are 12v and provide power to a 12v inverter

the 1600 module is essentially two 800 modules in series to produce 24 v powering a 24v inverter. Not sure how this is packaged but in terms of electrical connections that is what is done. Not sure about your question but the three smaller modules are 200ah, 400ah, and 800ah at 12 v and the 1600 module is 800ah at 24v. In watt hours the 1600 module is 19,200 watt hours and an 800 module is 9,600 watt hours so it is twice the energy. So yes, the 1600 system is equivelent to a 1600ah 12v battery but it is wired to give a 800ah 24v battery. The 1600 version with the 24v inverter is similar to the older Etrek 24v system made up of 8 AGM batteries that needed the added battery balancer to keep the batteries balanced. There is a 12v tap on the system to power the 12v devices and the 24v tap is connected to the inverter to power 120v devices. As I understand it, the 24v systems use a 24v aux alternator and the 12v systems use a 12v aux alternator.

There was a recent 1600 Ecotrek system at a dealer that had issues before delivery and they rewired it to remove the 12v tap and they installed a 24v to 12v power supply to power the 12v devices but it appears they were unable to get this van working and it is heading back to Roadtrek.

That is my take on this but of course this is based on what would seem to be the case based on various statements from Jim H. and reports on various vans without any real direct exposure to the system or any design information.

[obgraham]

Originally Posted by Davydd

he keeps referring to 25 and 26 volts..

He probably has the same ZL inverter as I do. It has a little LCD screen showing a number of indecipherable things, but the only one I use is the State of Charge percentage. That value flicks between the percent and the voltage, and in my case will show 24, 25, or occasionally 26 volts.

[gregmchugh]

ogbraham, is your ETrek configured with 8 AGMs, a 24v inverter, and a 24v aux alternator?

[ClassB4Me]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Don't get carried away now.

You are wise to wait though. They jumped the gun and are now paying for it in spades. Give it a year and you'll probably be safe to upgrade.

Can you elaborate? I thought they spent a considerable amount of time performing on-road testing with real customers in beta models.

I will say that maybe these RV companies are outstripping their internal technical skills and need to operate like the auto manufacturers. For complex technical systems most auto manufacturers will rely on OEMs to design and provide these solutions as turn-key offerings.

[markopolo]

We should keep this topic on track about the E-trek and E-trek blog updates.

Here's a new topic to discuss and consolidate info about Ecotrek and Voltstart:

http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f5...tart-3905.html

[Davydd]

What OEMs? Most are no more sophisticated than Class B converters. It is a very tiny market and a very custom one at that. Knowledge will improve but I doubt OEM drop in systems will come to pass.

My 800ah lithium ion battery bank is a carefully constructed block of 16 cells. From what little I can glean from Roadtrek they are not remotely similar.

[gregmchugh]

Well Davydd, if you are referring to features and function they are similar, if you are referring to the design details, the construction quality, the effectiveness of testing, and the initial reliability then clearly they are not similar. Your status display is better than their approach of no info for the user but I understand why they want to do it that way.

[markopolo]

Roadtrek used to be very good at providing user info.

The owners manual had basic wiring schematics, plumbing diagrams and a list of all the parts, components and appliances in the unit. I'm still hoping we see a return to that.

[gregmchugh]

I agree but I don't expect them to stop their development of easy to use guides that meet the needs of the majority of their customers. Having both would be ideal but they don't seem interested in doing that.

[obgraham]

Originally Posted by gregmchugh

ogbraham, is your ETrek configured with 8 AGMs, a 24v inverter, and a 24v aux alternator?

Yes, Greg. The 5000 watt ZLPower inverter, and the full 8 AGM ETrek pack with engine genny.

[gregmchugh]

obraham, very good, that's what I expected, thanks for the info...

[gregmchugh]

Davydd, did that info I posted answer the question you had on Ecotrek battery capacities?

The Ecotrek 1600 has twice the watt hours of the Ecotrek 800 and twice as many cells. If it was wired as a 12v battery it would have 1600 amp hours but since it is wired as a 24v battery it has 800 amp hours at 24v.

You are welcome, hoped the info clarified things for you...

[markopolo]

The AGM powered 8 battery E-trek was advertised as having 1600 amp hours.

Green_Machine__Roadtrek’s_New_Eco-Friendly_RS_E-trek_77.pdf

Roadtrek_Brochure-2013_chassis_model_year-RS_E-trek.pdf

Confusing? Yes.

it can charge eight dead auxiliary batteries
in only 40 minutes

9 hours air conditioning?

the onboard auxiliary batteries will
run the 110-volt air conditioner with the compressor
on for over nine hours—longer under normal use