Travato 59G Usability Issues

[powercat_ras]

Hope Winnebago product managers read this forum. Have a friend that has a new Travato 59G. Beautiful RV. Several "I can't believe this" things I have found as a fellow Winnebago owner that I am going to help her fix post purchase that Winnebago should make standard !

- There is no air mover fan to move additional air across the evaporator fins on the back of the refrigerator like is standard on most if not all Class As and Class Cs. This would operate when needed - based on a temperature sensor that the refrigeration cycle is not working well due to lack of enough heat being moved out of the evaporator fins. As a result the fridge is not working well in hot weather. The lack of the fan also reduces the efficiency of the fridge causing more power / propane to be used.

- The refrigerator can be set to operate the refrigeration cycle heater on 12 volts. This makes it very easy to run down the coach batteries if one forgets to manually change it to AC or LP from 12 volts after driving. Don't know what the fix is - perhaps when making this feature standard a low battery voltage alarm audible alarm (some where around 12.2 volts) needs to also be standard so people don't wake up to refrigerators shut down due to coach battery voltage dropping to the point where the Dometic control board no longer functions. The resulting low voltage well below 12 volts is VERY hard on the battery life time as well, so the low battery alarm/reminder would help mitigate that problem, too.

- There is only a USB power outlet above the work space in the RV that is coach battery powered. No coach battery 12 volt power outlet inside the RV except in the extreme rear of the coach on the back wall inside near the rear doors. As a result there is no where to connect small 160 watt portable inverter to power laptop, tablet, phone chargers that can't use direct USB power.

- All the other 12 volt outlets in the cab area that are a reasonable distance to the work space are not powered when the RV ignition key is off. There is no switch to connect those power outlets to coach battery when parked with the ignition off.

[kmessinger]

What year is this Travato? The new ones have a compressor driven refrigerator that does not use propane or a/c and is very efficient on 12 volt.

[Raxel7851]

We have the Travato 59K. There are several differences between the G & K. One of which is the Norcold Refrigerator. The K is much smaller and only runs on 12V. It does not have the propane option. We can usually keep our thermostat on the 3-4 level and it will keep the fridge between 35-42F range. Although it does require maybe 12 hrs if it has not been used for awhile. The freezer section is super small. It definitely doesn’t hold much. But we have been very pleased with it so far.

2018 Travato 59K

[kmessinger]

Pretty sure the new G has only 12v refrigerator. They are actually pretty close in size when you see how deep the K’s is. Hard to see into though.

[Raxel7851]

I’ll have to check out the new model Travato. I’m fairly certain the G had a 2 door fridge. The K is a single door. On another note, it appears that Winnebago has discontinued the Trend model that was on the Ram Promaster chassis. I wish they offered a Promaster with dual rear wheels.

[BabsLouie]

I have owned a 2015 59G for almost a year and agree with all your proposed mods. Recharging phones, etc. is a constant struggle when dry camping. I am looking into having a quick-connect for solar added to my rig so I can purchase a suitcase solar unit to charge the house battery, but will still need someone to add some 12v ports inside the cabin so I can tap into the battery. Currently looking for other owners who have made similar mods.

[powercat_ras]

I removed the USB panel above the table and spliced into those 12 volt power wires to add a surface mounted dual 12 Volt power outlet. Works great, my friend plugs a small no-fan 120 watt inverter into it to plug in her laptop AC brick.