Ecotrek 200 failures

Moto Vita

Active member
The dealer just called me and told me that they're replacing my second and third Ecotrek 200 Lithium pack (my CS Adventurous only has two of them), all in the first six months of ownership.
Is anyone else having this much trouble, or am I just lucky?
 

Lenfagan

New member
I have a 2016 CS with Ecotrek 400. I have had for 14 months with no electrical issues. I do not have VoltStart and only use 1 module at a time when needed.
 

MrB

Member
I have a year old CS with 4 ecotrek. 2 have been replaced under warranty. System now working great so no complaints. (Never was a real issue for me since I don't think I ever needed more than 2 ecotrks of power between charges.)
 

DIYpilot

New member
What were the symptoms of your failure?

I have a 2017 e-trek with eco trek 800. Doing well so far near as I can tell. I normally turn on all four modules at once.
 

Moto Vita

Active member
What were the symptoms of your failure?

I have a 2017 e-trek with eco trek 800. Doing well so far near as I can tell. I normally turn on all four modules at once.
Two of my three were obvious, completely dead, the third one I thought was working fine but the dealer told me it has a "communication error" and needs to be replaced.
I thought I had , and still suspect, a problem with the solar controller, but hopefully having good batteries will get everything working properly, we'll see. I've never had a fully functional electrical system in my six months of ownership so I don't have a very good reference point.
 

Lenfagan

New member
I only use 1 module at a time on my 16 CS with EcoTrek 400. Normally just running refrigerator and maybe fan. Even if using diesel Alde. I watch the volts and switch if goes down. The RT Battery Guide says: Turn on only the batteries you need, and turn them off when you don't need them. In other words, if all you need is to run some lights, you only need one EcoTrek Power Battery powered up. If you need a high power appliance, turn on more batteries as you need them.
• Turn off the EcoTrek Power Batteries when you don't need them.
• Turn on the EcoTrek Power Batteries when you want to charge them or use them.
 

MrB

Member
I only use one ecotrek at a time for low power items such as lights, fan, fridge, diesel alde etc. I'l put on a second one if using microwave, AC or electric cook top.
 

XLent

Member
I was told by Roadtrek live chat, my 2016 800 amp lifepos would charge via solar with battery switches on, and the battery disconnect switch off (battery power to the coach disconnected). When looking at the solar charger panel; it shows a charge going to the cells. We live in central Texas and get a good portion of sun daily.

Could and would anyone speak from experience re the validity, and the advisability of this practice? At the present time, We only have the push button, four indicator lights, for battery state, or level of charge.
 

Moto Vita

Active member
I was told by Roadtrek live chat, my 2016 800 amp lifepos would charge via solar with battery switches on, and the battery disconnect switch off (battery power to the coach disconnected). When looking at the solar charger panel; it shows a charge going to the cells. We live in central Texas and get a good portion of sun daily.

Could and would anyone speak from experience re the validity, and the advisability of this practice? At the present time, We only have the push button, four indicator lights, for battery state, or level of charge.
I'm under the impression that the solar controller output goes to the batteries whether they are turned on or not, I'll see if I can verify that.
You might want to buy the MT-50 meter that Roadtrek techs suggested to me. It's available from several online sellers. It's not expensive and plugs right in to the controller and gives both charging rate and voltage from the panels and controller. It seems almost criminal that Roadtrek doesn't spend the extra 20 bucks to include it on a six figure RV.
 

irvingj

2015 RT SS Agile (3.0L)
Me, too. I have an SS Agile (not an ECO model) with 300W of solar and an MPPT controller.

Got tired of having to open the little cabinet door to look at & interpret the little LEDs on the controller to verify charging, etc... and that was only qualitative, no quantitative readouts at all.

Got a separate meter, mounted it on the outside. Much better! Not sure how accurate it is, but still better. Pressing the little red arrow buttons will cycle it through several readouts. Well worth the <$50, very easy to connect using a phone-type plug-in cord. (PS- it's dark outside now, so not much activity....)
 

Attachments

Lenfagan

New member
I have a 2016 CS with EcoTrek 400 and 470 watt solar. New June 2016. No VoltStart. I mainly use one module at a time and have had no issues. During cold winter below 32 deg F I kept plugged in to keep heaters on and prevented any winter freeze issues.
 

Moto Vita

Active member
I have a 2016 CS with EcoTrek 400 and 470 watt solar. New June 2016. No VoltStart. I mainly use one module at a time and have had no issues. During cold winter below 32 deg F I kept plugged in to keep heaters on and prevented any winter freeze issues.
My Roadtrek is also a 400/470 Ecotrek. If I had kept it plugged in with the inverter on all the time I wouldn't have known about one of my three failures, the battery would charge from the inverter but not the solar charger. The other two failures were total, and obvious.
 

XLent

Member
Moro Vita and Irvingj thanks for the tips! My preliminary research shows the MT-50 from Renogy, and there appears to more than one model available. Could you give me a link, or further identifying info before I order? I'm a real pilgrim when it comes to electronics.

Iringj, the photos of your MT installation look great and inspired me to try to do as well.
 

XLent

Member
I have a 2016 CS with EcoTrek 400 and 470 watt solar. New June 2016. No VoltStart. I mainly use one module at a time and have had no issues. During cold winter below 32 deg F I kept plugged in to keep heaters on and prevented any winter freeze issues.
When using shore power to keep the cells from freezing, do you keep the battery switches on? Probably a dumb question. But the online chat with RT confuses me (I most likely confuse folks on the other end,as well).
 

Moto Vita

Active member
Moro Vita and Irvingj thanks for the tips! My preliminary research shows the MT-50 from Renogy, and there appears to more than one model available. Could you give me a link, or further identifying info before I order? I'm a real pilgrim when it comes to electronics.

Iringj, the photos of your MT installation look great and inspired me to try to do as well.
I think it's likely important that your meter matches your controller. I don't think it's safe to assume that we all have the same controller. I started by looking up my controller, then found a meter from the same company. If you post a photo of your controller I can tell you if it's the same as mine, and then link you to the meter I bought, it's different than the one shown in the above post.
 

Moto Vita

Active member
When using shore power to keep the cells from freezing, do you keep the battery switches on? Probably a dumb question. But the online chat with RT confuses me (I most likely confuse folks on the other end,as well).
According to the manual on my 2017 the battery switches need to be turned on.
 

Lenfagan

New member
Switches on when plugged in in winter for freeze control. When temperature is at 35 deg F and falling is when I plug in and turn on both modules.
 

XLent

Member
I think it's likely important that your meter matches your controller. I don't think it's safe to assume that we all have the same controller. I started by looking up my controller, then found a meter from the same company. If you post a photo of your controller I can tell you if it's the same as mine, and then link you to the meter I bought, it's different than the one shown in the above post.
The solar controller is labeled MPPT Solar Charge Controller with a RT sticker. No model number that I see. So far, I am unable to attach a photo.
 

XLent

Member
I think it's likely important that your meter matches your controller. I don't think it's safe to assume that we all have the same controller. I started by looking up my controller, then found a meter from the same company. If you post a photo of your controller I can tell you if it's the same as mine, and then link you to the meter I bought, it's different than the one shown in the above post.
The solar controller is labeled MPPT Solar Charge Controller with a RT sticker. No model number that I see. So far, I am unable to attach a photo.

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=90567&stc=1&d=1507572702
 

Attachments

Moto Vita

Active member
The solar controller is labeled MPPT Solar Charge Controller with a RT sticker. No model number that I see. So far, I am unable to attach a photo.

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=90567&stc=1&d=1507572702
You have a different controller than I do. I had to take mine off the wall to read the model # off the side. It's most likely a commercially available controller with a Roadtrek sticker on it.
I don't know that the meters won't interchange, but to be thorough I'd try to ID your controller online and find a meter from the same supplier.
 

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