My little Travato battery project

[wincrasher65]

The chassis battery is pretty huge on this van. It's under an access panel below the driver's feet. It's a pain to remove this panel and get to it. The battery looks like one you'd have on a diesel pusher. Ridiculous for a standard V6 gas engine. There are no maintenance ports, so I can only assume it's an AGM type, but I can't really tell. Anyone know what it is?

The dash usb and 12v ports are not active without the key in the run position. That kinda sucks because those would be good for iPad, iPhone and the 12v adapter I have for my Macbook Air.

So I bought some parts today to take advantage of this battery. I bought several quick disconnect pigtails with ring ends, a 12v digital voltage meter that attaches to a quick disconnect end, and a 500w inverter with 2 outlets and 2, 2.1 amp usb plugs, and a 12v cigarette plug that attaches to a quick disconnect.

So the plan is to attach 3 pigtails to the battery. One for the battery tender jr I use when I store the van at my shop. One is for a 12v cigarette type plug - I'll use this for my laptop charger. The third is for the inverter. I don't really need an inverter for anything other than the USB ports, but maybe there will be some need in the future (it's switched, so can remain off if not used). When the battery tender isn't plugged in, I'll plug in the voltage meter to watch the battery when doing this nonsense.

Everything else - 12v tv and radio, led lights, refer, water pump, furnace blower, etc, is on the house battery.

I'm installing pigtails on the house battery to attach to a battery tender as well, along with one for my portable solar panel for trips I think that would be useful.

Any thoughts, or suggestions?

[bobojay5]

jpittman wrote:
I'm going to hook up the BT to the battery terminals for jump starts that is in the engine compartment of the Travato. That's easier than fishing wires around the cab.

Sure is, but that won't accomplish what I've been talking about...

[wincrasher65]

I have some of those already. I do wonder though, if the inverter is just stepping down the voltage to the usb ports and it's remaining DC. So no inverting really going on.

[SkiMore]

It sounds like the only reason you are using the inverter is to get the USB ports. You can get cigarette lighter USB ports and you won't have the extra drain of the inverter.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16875600145&cm_re=usb_cigarette_lighter-_-75-600...

[jpittman]

I'm going to hook up the BT to the battery terminals for jump starts that is in the engine compartment of the Travato. That's easier than fishing wires around the cab.

[bobojay5]

Didn't take any of the side panels off. Shoved the wire in behind the edges after slightly prying it up with fingers.
Of course you have to drill a hole for the wire to pass through the upper cabinet.
Those BT extension cables are plenty long. I only had to use one of them between the battery end and the BT itself, and still had slack. It's nice that they are already made up with polarity specific ends.
Used zip ties to keep things together in the cabinet, and I don't know what Winnie uses for upper cabinet liner at the top rear in the Travato, but if it's a light colored "hairy" cloth like the ERA has, the male side of velcro will stick to it. That's what I've got holding the wiring harness in place in the cabinet.
The wire comes up from below to the point where the cabinets meet the back of the cab behind the Chrysler installed trim panels. I would not remove any of those if at all possible. They break real easy. I didn't have to remove any Mercedes installed trim as it was real flexible and easy to get my fingers under the edge

[wincrasher65]

The Travato is a similar arrangement. I haven't had any of the side panels off yet (to scared to try and pry them off). Was wondering it you came up from underneath and behind the refer or cabinet.

I've seen on amazon you can get the extension cables for the JR. It's probably OK since you are only talking about 1 amp - the wire looks like 18 AWG to me.

[bobojay5]

wincrasher65 wrote:
How did you route the wiring from where the microwave outlet is?

Now this is on the Sprinter ERA. Ran it back under the floormat to the door post, up behind the plastic trim into the overhead cabinets which on the ERA 70A on the drivers side, the microwave is right past the front cabinets up high, so it was a very easy run.
You can buy from Battery Tender, the wiring extensions that just plug together along the way eliminating splices...

[wincrasher65]

How did you route the wiring from where the microwave outlet is?

[bobojay5]

I bet it is an AGM, and they are using the same battery for the gas & diesel motors, that's why it's so big. (The Sprinter has the same setup under the floor with an AGM).
I also installed the Battery Tender Jr and plugged it into the microwave outlet so it would juice the chassis battery anytime it's plugged in or the gen is running. Works slick!

My personal feeling is that I would never hook anything up to the chassis battery to pull from it, but that's just me.

Not that you won't do this, but be sure to fuse all your connections close to the battery....

[booster]

wincrasher65 wrote:
I take it that draw is somewhat regulated by what is plugged into it, yes? So if you are only using a usb port for the 2 amp, then you have those 2 amps plus whatever it takes to power the inverter?

yep, that is the way it works, but if you only wire it for 15 amps, you might as well use 100 watt inverter so nobody can plug in something too big and start a fire.

[wincrasher65]

I take it that draw is somewhat regulated by what is plugged into it, yes? So if you are only using a usb port for the 2 amp, then you have those 2 amps plus whatever it takes to power the inverter?

[booster]

It probably would be easier just to find a wiring diagram and move the wiring for the dash outlets to an always on connection point, and maybe add an on/off switch. Your battery tender could then just plug into the 12v power outlet. A 500 watt inverter is going to pull 60ish amps, so you need big wiring for it compared to the maybe 15 amp accessory outlet.

The battery may be an AGM, but I think most of the manufacturers still use the low gassing semi-sealed wet cells, even in hard to reach areas.