Ducato Swift kontiki

[SteveCharles]

Hi, my name is Steve. I retired last November and decided to get myself a motorhome. A ducato swift kontiki. 2003. I'm going to be permanently touring. I love to paint and travel, so decided to get out of this rat race and follow my dreams so to speak. At the moment I'm parked up in my sons driveway, getting everything sorted so there's less things that can go wrong on my journeys. At the moment, the front is getting some love. Left caliper was seizing up so I'm replacing with new calipers and any worn bushes. Going to be deleting the gas and installing solar, diesel heater, lithium batteries and a diesel cooking hob. It's taking time, ( bloody cold) but hopefully I want to start my travels about May sometime. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, especially from some of you that have done the afore mentioned tasks or tips that you can send my way. I look forward to talking to some of you.

 

[the green vanper]

Hello Steve

I'm happy for your decision

Put as much solar on the roof as you can. They are very cheap now, at least on the continent. I collected mines last week, I've paid slightly more than a third for the same 3 solars I've originally ordered in May 2023, but finally cancelled the order due to their cost at the time.

As for the lithium batteries, they are of different types (Li-Ion, LiFePo4, LiFeSPo4, LTO, etc). They have different characteristics, so depending on your habits and travel plans check what would be best for your needs.

Sometimes it's better to pay more to have a product which will be better for your needs and more durable. And I'm not speaking about the manufacturers / brands.

Does the Kontiki have 2 separate batteries? A starter one and a habitation one? If so, you'll probably need to modify the electrical installation / equipment, as the original one has been designed for a lead-acid or derivative battery type.

Also beware for solar charge controllers and inverters, as the majority of them available on the market (especially the simple models) is also designed for lead-acid batteries, which have different low / high + and charging / discharging voltages and currents requirements from lithium ones.

 

[SteveCharles]

Hello Steve

I'm happy for your decision

Put as much solar on the roof as you can. They are very cheap now, at least on the continent. I collected mines last week, I've paid slightly more than a third for the same 3 solars I've originally ordered in May 2023, but finally cancelled the order due to their cost at the time.

As for the lithium batteries, they are of different types (Li-Ion, LiFePo4, LiFeSPo4, LTO, etc). They have different characteristics, so depending on your habits and travel plans check what would be best for your needs.

Sometimes it's better to pay more to have a product which will be better for your needs and more durable. And I'm not speaking about the manufacturers / brands.

Does the Kontiki have 2 separate batteries? A starter one and a habitation one? If so, you'll probably need to modify the electrical installation / equipment, as the original one has been designed for a lead-acid or derivative battery type.

Also beware for solar charge controllers and inverters, as the majority of them available on the market (especially the simple models) is also designed for lead-acid batteries, which have different low / high + and charging / discharging voltages and currents requirements from lithium ones.

Hey! Thanks for the help. Appreciate it. It has two leisure batteries, but it looks like I'll need to change all the electrics to facilitate lithium. It's a 2003 ducato, my home now. I'm going to travel and paint so I want to be off grid 99% of the time. This is set up for a weekend away so yeah. A lot to do.