New projects for the Travato! Installing a new lithium charger.

For a while, I've been wanting to install a better, more powerful charger and an inverter in my Travato K.   Because of the electrical layout of the K, a combo inverter/charger would be a challenge to fit.

Kisae is a respected brand in the nautical world.  They so happen to also make their units long and narrow, and not the boxey casings you'll see in the Magnum or Xantrex.

First up is to install my charger.  What I got was the Kisae Abso AC-1260.  I also bought the remote display panel for it to mount on the rear bulkhead.   With the shallow deck where the original converter/charger is mounted, it should be a really tight fit!

First step is to remove the beds mattresses and bedding.

 

Then, with a screw gun, remove the two dozen or so screws and take off the bed decks, exposing all the mechanical & electrical nether regions of the Travato.

Here you can see the lithium type Progressive Dynamics converter I was using.  This is a relatively low power charger - rated at 45 amps (700 watts AC).  It was a direct swap out for the Lead Acid/AGM type that comes stock with the Travato.   It worked fine, but with two big batteries, I wanted faster charging.  Also, the PD charger would still apply voltage (but 0 amps) to the batteries after they were full.  I did not think this was a good idea for the long term health of these expensive lithium batteries.  The Abso charger will shut charging off and go into sensing mode wihen they are full.

Here is the new charger.  All the wiring connections are on one end, the display panel on top.   I did have to wire a plug for the AC input.  That was easy - I just snipped oft the end of a three prong extension cord and connected it to the charger's leads with butt connectors.

Here you see the old converter removed.  The positive, negative and ground leads hanging.
To make additional room, I had to unscrew the power outlet from the deck and move it to the end of the deck.

Another thing I had to do was make a space for the remote display/control panel.
To do this, you have to make a template, mark it out, drill a hole on each corner, and then use a jigsaw to cut the hole in the plywood bulkhead.   To complicate matters, there is a mass of very critical and fragile wiring in the space behind the bulkhead.  To help with this, I had to remove the dsiplay panel for the Truma system, and push back the wiring to make room for my jigsaw blade.   Be very cautious doing this, and not only could it get really expensive, really quickly, but it's very easy to hurt yourself seriously.

Here is the new charger mounted in place with the cabling connected.  As you can see, I didn't change out any cables.  The existing 6 AWG cabling is sufficient for the max output of 60 amps of this unit.

Here is the Abso display mounted with all the rest.

As I said earlier, this unit is shallow enough to fit with adequate clearance around it.  The compartment is fairly large and the air can escape to other areas, so I'm not really worried about it getting too hot in there.

Re-installed the safety covers over the AC and DC wiring.

Here is the power outlet pushed up tight against the bulkhead.

So far, it seems to work really well.  It would only put in 35-40 amps into the batteries, as they were already mostly full.  It went into silent mode as expected.   The only problem is my remote display is not working - it displays normally for a few seconds, then reverts to showing "ErA" on the LCD.  I have no guide as to what that means.  So I need to call them and get it resolved.  If I have to buy a new one, they are only $59.

Next up, the inverter install!

UPDATE:  I called the people at Kisae about my issue.  Turns out, my charger was manufactured in May 2013, yet sold as new in August 2016!   The software in it was out of date and would not recognize the remote display.   It's not user update-able.  So they are going to send me a new charger unit.   The are even going to send it prior to receiving my old one, which greatly reduces the inconvenience and is great customer service.

UPDATE #2:   I got my replacement charger from Kisae today (1/18/17) and installed it.  Easy peasy - the display works correctly now.  Happy Camper!