2022 Travato 59KL water/cable

JimTrav · August 10, 2021

Has anyone figured out how to use the 2022 Travato 59KL when camping ONGRID? It appears that to keep city water and cable connected that the rear doors cannot be closed, which is not how I prefer to camp. Is there a way to re-route (or add to) the water and cable connections to a nearby spot that bypasses the door (especially for cable)? I'm thinking some sort of extension attached to the existing cable port and then threaded to the side.

kmessinger · August 11, 2021

Some have talked about adding an outside extension but the predominate practice is use your water and refill as necessary. Some worry about water pressure being too high. Some worry about springing a leak when they are away from the T. Some don't even connect water or sewer just electric and in the KL you don't even have to do that.

For cable there is a flat cable cord AFAIK.

JimTrav · August 11, 2021

Thank you, kmessinger, for getting back to me. The water is no big deal, just refill as needed. It's the cable, for when I'm in a not-off-grid location and want to watch tv in the evening with the doors shut. I did some research last night and discovered the flat cable cord (didn't know they existed). That's one possibility. Another is to run a coax from the connection to an exterior coax connector on the passenger side of the van, which I think I can reach through the storage space to the right of the water control panel. I need to do more research on signal loss through the flat cable versus signal loss through adding an coax "extension." I also want to see if I can disconnect the cable from the back of the water control panel and reroute it to a connector on the passenger side of the van. Because I cannot find a schematic for the coax on the Winnebago site (it only has chassis, radio, 12v and 110v schematics) I need to wait until the Travato arrives to take a look at what's there.

FWIW, I made mods to my previous Travato (a 2016 K), one of which (a side camera to let me know when I was far enough ahead of traffic in the adjacent lane) had me exploring that same area and it looks pretty much the same. Once I do whatever I do I'll share. -- Jim

Kirk W · August 11, 2021

I don't have any Travato experience, but as a former tech I would move the connection to the outside if it is reasonable option. With most RVs that I have worked with the biggest challenge is access to the areas needed. I doubt that you would get any significant signal loss for cable by moving it and it would also make it better if you ever get a dish for it.

JimTrav · August 11, 2021

Thank you for the suggestion.

JimTrav · October 5, 2021

A followup. I've been poking around the Travato, and have identified three ways to deal with the coax connection being behind closed rear doors. (1) reroute the feed from the back water/coax panel to the side of the van, which I can access by removing the drawer. But . . . if I try to keep in line with the existing 120v and cable out outlets, it will be challenging to reach it because it will be a bit below the wood frame of the drawer. (2) find a way to reroute the cable through the floor of the water/coax compartment and then run it to the driver side quarter panel, but getting through the floor of that compartment is tricky because it's above a tank and pipe. (3) run the cable between the right edge of the passenger side door just above the bumper; it appears that the rubber seal can give way enough to let the cable fit, and so far with some short pieces of test coax it looks like the coax doesn't get pinched. So I am leaning to (3) though I think (1) would look nicer.

JimTrav · November 13, 2021

I finally went with option (1). It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be to line up the cable outlet with the OEM 120v and cable out outlets. Next project (perhaps not until the spring) is deal with the water feed. I'm thinking of making a pex hose that fits through that space between the right edge of the passenger side rear door just above the bumper. I am thinking of using the pex-to-3/4 adapter on either end. It simply means moving the 3/4 supply-to-RV-pex-system connection from the existing city fill inlet to a point outside the RV (though when not in use it can simply sit on the floor in front of the water control panel. Will update, but probably in the spring.

Kirk W · November 13, 2021

6 hours ago, JimTrav said:

I finally went with option (1).

I think that you made the best choice. I have no Travato experience but have followed Chris & Cherie with the one that they have and have not heard any discussion of the issues that you bring up. I think that you may want to contact them to see how they deal with the issues that you have.

Thank you for returning to update us.

JimTrav · May 13, 2022

It got warm enough to work on the city water connection so that it could stay attached with the rear doors closed. I made an extension that on one end attaches to the existing inlet with a male-hose-fitting-to-1/2-inch PEX connector and on the other end a female-hose-fitting-to-1/2-inch PEX connector, with a 90-degree PEX elbow in the middle. The PEX almost fits in between the door and the door jamb but with a bit of a crimp. It's not elegant. But being a removable extension, it's not permanent. So I now will explore relocating the inlet to the passenger side.