Ordered a '21 Caravel 20FB -- any specific items to watch out for or modify

[Flat6Fan]

My wife and I just ordered a 2021 20FB for delivery in late September. Our dealer changed one of their spec 22FB -- apparently changes can be made outside of 5 weeks from production start.

We ordered all three options (awning package, 90W solar package and convection microwave). Most of our camping the rest of this year will likely have electrical hookups but I'll be adding more solar over the winter in prep for boondocking next year.

I'm a car guy and am pretty handy (do all non-warranty work myself on our cars) so I'm wondering if there are any model-specific QA issues we should look for when taking delivery.

Also wondering if there are any mods/upgrades others have already done to their 2020+ Caravel. I know the model is relatively new but thought I would ask anyway...

Thanks!

[amckibbe]

I’m getting ready to order my 20ft tomorrow. Question, how much and what solar do you intend to add? I also will order the solar panels.

[Flat6Fan]

I’m planning to max out the solar on top and also use micro inverters but until I have the trailer in hand, I can’t speculate too much.

I went ahead and got the factory solar (along with the convection MW and awning package) and will also take a suitcase setup along when we take delivery and do a few days of camping on the way home.

[OTRA15]

A great floor plan with the best galley under 27' IMO, however the fridge no longer provides the option of running on propane, as most Airstreams have done forever.

So . . . recommend that you upgrade the entire electrical infrastructure with AS options, or DIY stuff later, like lithium batteries and more solar charging. You may need to replace the stock battery charger/converter with a lithium-friendly unit.

If you explore the many forums here:

https://www.airforums.com/forums/

. . . you will discover lots of detailed lithium install threads.

https://www.google.com/search?q=DIY+...=airforums.com

Boondocking forum: https://www.airforums.com/forums/f382/
Solar: https://www.airforums.com/forums/f448/

Happy trails from a 20-Footer cousin,

[Demi]

Originally Posted by Flat6Fan

Also wondering if there are any mods/upgrades others have already done to their 2020+ Caravel. I know the model is relatively new but thought I would ask anyway...

We are in the same boat - expecting delivery of '21 Caravel 20FB in mid October (if all continues to go well in the factory). I have a very good friend with a 30' FC FB-Bunk who is planning out a substantial staged solar upgrade and we talk electrical and mods all the time. Here's what I'm looking at for mods/upgrades:

- USB-C Power Delivery ports. Laptop charging through an inverter is inefficient (DC at batteries -> AC inverter -> DC at computer) and all USB-A ports max out at 2.4V for a super slow charge (mostly not outpacing demand). I am trying to figure out how to hard wire USB-C ports that will deliver at least 40W. May start a thread on that soon... USB-C power delivery negotiation/protocol is pretty complicated...

- Bikes... yeah... we'll probably start on a roof rack on the X5 since we already have one bike roof rack. May just bungee the bikes inside until something obvious comes about.

- Solar. I'll probably copy my friend's system once he does the research and puts it together . Not sure how big we need to go yet. This is our first trailer and if we end up wanting to, say, move up to a FC25, which seems to be a sweet spot for a lot of people, I wouldn't want to fully mod if we're not going to keep it for at least 5 years.

- Moving TV to front dinette wall to use as external monitor for work on the road from the dinette. Not sure how feasible this is without having been inside the trailer yet, but thinking about moving the TV (or I guess just adding a monitor) to the front dinette wall and possibly enough articulating mount to turn the corner into the bed.

All of this waiting and the ideas keep coming!

[lrskfalls]

We have a 2020 Caravel 20fb and have had no problems with it over the last year we have owned it.

We got the awnings, microwave, and solar upgrade.

We found we had to add another 90 watt on the roof and a portable Zamp 180 watt setup if we wanted to dry camp. We also found we needed to upgrade the Sunexplorer PWM solar controller to a Victron mppt controller to get our solar to fully and efficiently charge our AGM batteries.

Good luck!