Winnebago Travato thread here

[BobB]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Where did you hear that WGO is discontinuing the PM diesel?

Rumor over on Travato FB page;

I heard from my dealer source that the PM diesel option is being discontinued by WGO pretty quick. Very few sales. This goes for the Travato and Trend/Viva. Get your request in quick...

No confirmation yet. Diesel option still listed on WGO site

[wincrasher]

You know how these rumours get out of hand. Most likely that dealer is deciding not to order any more. My dealer is one of those - he seems to be stuck with a few. One is still on the lot since February.

[bobojay]

BobB, that's me on Facebook spreading the *&^%$#.

No, I heard this over the last couple days from a couple dealer contacts that were in Louisville. Too many languishing on dealer lots and up in Forest City in their storage lots.
They are still in the catalog because there are still some out there...

The same thing kinda/sorta in reverse happened in late 2008-early '09 when Mercedes discontinued the gas engine in the Sprinter after one model year

[BobB]

Originally Posted by bobojay

BobB, that's me on Facebook spreading the *&^%$#.

Always good to hear what's happening out there. I was surprised Wincrasher missed that on the Travato FB page.

Is RT (or anyone else) offering any Ducato diesels as base RVs in the US. ?

[Highlander]

Originally Posted by thefitrv

We can run the microwave long enough to do whatever we need to do with the microwave. We can run the hair dryer long enough for me , but Stef hasn't tried it yet. The voltage sag when running the big loads triggers the cut-off before we actually get the battery capacity too low.

A/B tests with AGM vs. lithium batteries are on my list.

James, any plans on doing an article on your inverter setup, as far as why you chose a 2000W, the brand, and even why you picked AM Solar? How much input did they have concerning the installation? In other words, were they following your instructions or were you going with their recommendations? Thanks!

[thefitrv]

Originally Posted by Highlander

James, any plans on doing an article on your inverter setup, as far as why you chose a 2000W, the brand, and even why you picked AM Solar? How much input did they have concerning the installation? In other words, were they following your instructions or were you going with their recommendations? Thanks!

I'm sure I will write about it at some point, and there's probably a video in the future for it as well. There are a few things in the way though.

First, is it's still not complete. There's one piece I haven't installed yet.
But the bigger issue is: I've got FOURTEEN videos in my queue that we've already shot. (I just counted.) There's someone or some company waiting on each of them. I'm SWAMPED!

[thefitrv]

Did that come across as whining? Didn't mean for it to, if it did. I am really am busy though, and cranking things out as fast as I can.

Couple quick answers: AM Solar did the install to their standards. They are very helpful and accommodating if you have questions, and I'm sure there's no part of the install they wouldn't have changed or explained to me. You won't find anyone in the field with a better reputation. I did ask for the cut off switches and relays for the alternator and solar charge controller. That was extra. I went with the Magnum because you can get the battery monitor, the inverter/charger, and a generator auto-start all in the same control panel. Space on that wall in the Travato with the controls was already tight enough. Well, plus, the Magnum is a good unit anyway. Switching to Lithium batteries later will just be a matter of reprogramming the Magnum.

[bobojay]

No problem James. Didn't sound like whining to me at all...

[wincrasher]

Yes, AM solar has a great reputation. They designed the system on my Oliver and it's all heavy duty and properly sized.

The only problem with them is they are out West! If you could work out a stop-over on a trip out there, that would be ideal.

I've yet to pull the covers off my mechanical areas in the K. Hoping to find some space back there for a lithium charger. Maybe there is room in there for something better like the Magnum.

James, I assume you've left your solar controller and cabling up to the roof alone for now.

[thefitrv]

Yes, the solar charger is still the same. They did interrupt the wiring from the panels to the charger with that switch. I need to contact ZAMP to see if their lithium-compatible charge controller is ready. If it's not, and it gets to be too long of a wait, I suppose I could always switch it out for the Magnum controller which also plugs into the same control panel. I haven't checked into how that might work yet - kind of hoping ZAMP comes up with something pretty soon.

If anyone does make it out to AM Solar, there was a pretty sweet city park there in Eugene I stayed at - and all kinds of camping options in the mountains to the east. It was really beautiful out that way.

[bobojay]

Are they currently under water? with all the rain....out in Oregon

[eric1514]

Two small mods/additions that might be of use to some folks.

First, the pendant that PD sells for about $12. This thing lets you force the PD converter into whatever charge mode you want at any time instead of letting the "Charge Wizard" decide. Maybe you want a longer boost mode or maybe you want to bypass the boost all together. Whatever, this is how you do it. It would be nice if PD had thought a little more about mounting this thing. That wire exits out the bottom side and you can do little to hide it. If it exited out the back, a small hole would make things a bit more tidy.



Second. In Winnebago's attempt to be the cheapest B around, they saved $2.50 by just letting the 4 pin wiring connector for a trailer just dangle around in back. I bought this bracket on Amazon from Curt and used a couple of self-tappers to secure it to the hitch.



Eric

[booster]

Does that pendant actually allow you chose the stage you will be in? There was a discussion here that indicated that the 9200 series will only step through the stages to show that they are functional, but won't let you switch to them. The indicator lights show what stage you are in. The 9100 series pendant allows you to switch in and out of the the stages, and it will hold them for four hours and then go back to automatic.

Marko was working on a work around for the 9200 series, but I don't know how that all turned out.

[markopolo]

I was hoping to use the 9200 series pendant with my PD4045 but gave up. I think the pedant does let you force change the modes but the wording of some of the pamphlets (iirc) was confusing.

[booster]

Here is the thread mentioned. It appears to not be totally resolved how it all worked, but a post by Marko showed a pendant card that implied that is stayed in a forced mode, but it didn't say how long. Some other info seemed to indicate it wouldn't stay long. Perhaps Eric will be able to put a final lid on it, as he now has one right in front of him to see how long it will stay forced.

http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f2...gs-4026-3.html

[eric1514]

The pendant allows you to change from one mode to another. You hold the button and it cycles through boost to absorbtion to float. You stop at whatever mode you want.

Eric

[booster]

Have you happened to notice how long it stays in whatever you set it to before it goes back to automatic?

[eric1514]

Originally Posted by booster

Have you happened to notice how long it stays in whatever you set it to before it goes back to automatic?

I'll check it out some more tomorrow and get back.

[eric1514]

So this morning I went out and the light on the pendant was indicating we were in float mode. I pushed the button and put the converter in boost mode where it stayed for right around 3 hours. We are now in adsorption mode and have been so for 3 hours so far.

[markopolo]

Great info thanks. Nice addition to your Travato also.