T@B 400 Factory-Added Custom Options

manyman297

I'm getting ready to begin the (not so fun) journey of dealer negotiations to purchase a 400. I've read through many posts and am confused as to what options can be added at the factory. It sounds like some people are able to have the factory add the Victron (bluetooth) charge controller, add 12v/110v outlets as needed, as well as a few other "custom" modifications. Is there a list Nucamp provides? I'm going to contact Nucamp about this but wanted to see what others out there have added at the factory level and if the cost of these were reasonable. Thanks.

Dutch061

Here is a copy of an order form that I had saved from another post.

Brad

manyman297

Dutch061 said:

Here is a copy of an order form that I had saved from another post.

Brad

Thanks for that. In addition to what’s on your order form, there seems to be more custom options you can have done to your trailer prior to it leaving the factory like adding a Maxxair fan (moving the Fantastic Fan to the bathroom) for example.

Dutch061

Yes, I believe that may be true. I think they (NuCamp) have an accessory shop where additional things can be done. I would reach out to NuCamp to verify what they can or can't do.

Brad

Sharon_is_SAM

@manyman297 - you can request add ons through your dealer which are then completed post production by the nuCamp Non-warranty Repair department (Austin is the person that we have referred to here on the forum.). But with any new build order, you must request this through your dealer.

manyman297

@Sharon_is_SAM Awesome. Thanks!

Denny16

And the Victron Bluetooth controller is part of the Solar package.  You can add the Victron Battery Monitor as a post production add on by Austin’s crew.
cheers

runaway30

Hi manyman297, I ordered a 400 boondock in Oct and had the same question.  I have found that NuCamp prefers that you go thru the dealer.  I believe there web site states this as well. 
     I did contact the dealer to have them check on the fan upgrade and they were informed no campers were being taken off the line for modifications.
And the two dealers I spoke to informed me they were getting new trailers in groups of 5.  So I would bet once they leave the line and are ready to go NuCamp wants them out of their pronto.  Not holding up a truck and 4 ready to go trailers for one that Austin is upgrading.  Time is money you know.
  Too me this all makes since if you consider they are selling campers at a record pace and are likely experiencing staffing issues as well.  
I think they are just trying to keep there eye on the ball and  keep up with orders.  In fact one dealer told me they were one of the few if only manufactory's keeping the dealers supplied with new units.
There like the country bar you walk in that just serves whiskey and beer, no fancy stuff.  At least right now.  I am sure warranty work is a different story.
That's my opinion based on fact and conjecture.

I have decided to just relax and use and enjoy the camper before making any changes.

Sharon_is_SAM

@runaway30 - you are correct in that modifications are not done during the trailer build.  Rather they are done post production by nuCamp and are ordered through the dealer.  You can still have modifications done by the Non-Warranty Repair department.  I suspect the dealers may not have known how to arrange for the work.  

Denny16

Also, simple changes like adding a Victron Battery monitor, switching fans, etc can also be done by most dealer service departments.  Austin’s crew starts with. Complete guild trailer, and then removes the factor fan to add on the new one, for example.  A dealer service depopulated do the same thing.  You still pay for the factory build of the trailer, and then the cost of adding thr additional bits or changes.  
cheers

manyman297

runaway30 said:

Hi manyman297, I ordered a 400 boondock in Oct and had the same question.  I have found that NuCamp prefers that you go thru the dealer.  I believe there web site states this as well. 
     I did contact the dealer to have them check on the fan upgrade and they were informed no campers were being taken off the line for modifications.
And the two dealers I spoke to informed me they were getting new trailers in groups of 5.  So I would bet once they leave the line and are ready to go NuCamp wants them out of their pronto.  Not holding up a truck and 4 ready to go trailers for one that Austin is upgrading.  Time is money you know.
  Too me this all makes since if you consider they are selling campers at a record pace and are likely experiencing staffing issues as well.  
I think they are just trying to keep there eye on the ball and  keep up with orders.  In fact one dealer told me they were one of the few if only manufactory's keeping the dealers supplied with new units.
There like the country bar you walk in that just serves whiskey and beer, no fancy stuff.  At least right now.  I am sure warranty work is a different story.
That's my opinion based on fact and conjecture.

I have decided to just relax and use and enjoy the camper before making any changes.

Thanks for the info. What is the ETA on your trailer by the way?

I think most things on my "wish" list are things I could do after the fact. I was curious what kind of charge controller they use in the Boondock package. I see a lot of people upgrading to the Victron unit with Bluetooth and that makes a lot of sense to me. 

The fan, while loud, could be upgraded by me (whether I do the upgrade kit or replace it with a Maxxair).

Everything else isn't a big deal really and, like you said, could be added after initially enjoying the trailer. 

manyman297

Denny16 said:

Also, simple changes like adding a Victron Battery monitor, switching fans, etc can also be done by most dealer service departments.  Austin’s crew starts with. Complete guild trailer, and then removes the factor fan to add on the new one, for example.  A dealer service depopulated do the same thing.  You still pay for the factory build of the trailer, and then the cost of adding thr additional bits or changes.  
cheers

Gotcha. Yeah, the more I think about it, it does seem like more of a hassle to have Nucamp do these upgrades. Most I can handle on my own but could always have the local dealer do them.

manyman297

Denny16 said:

And the Victron Bluetooth controller is part of the Solar package.  You can add the Victron Battery Monitor as a post production add on by Austin’s crew.
cheers

Oh, so the Victron controller is standard. That's great. The monitor is nice but not necessary. As long as I can see what's going on with it with my phone I'm good. 

Denny16

The Victron  Solar MPPT controller shows the solar charging rate and state of battery charge.  The Victron Battery monitor shows the actual battery voltage, amount of load on the battery, and how long the battery can sustain the current load.  It also shows percentage of battery charge, and with the optional temp sensor, the battery temp., which it shares with the MPPT when the two are networked together.  If you do a lot of boondocking, the battery monitor is good to have.  

Cheers

manyman297

Denny16 said:

The Victron  Solar MPPT controller shows the solar charging rate and state of battery charge.  The Victron Battery monitor shows the actual battery voltage, amount of load on the battery, and how long the battery can sustain the current load.  It also shows percentage of battery charge, and with the optional temp sensor, the battery temp., which it shares with the MPPT when the two are networked together.  If you do a lot of boondocking, the battery monitor is good to have.  

Cheers

Where do they typically mount that monitor? It would be nice to have it grouped with the other controls by the front door but if this is an after-build upgrade something tells me this would be difficult.

TomCanada

Our dealer (order placed in October) was able to add the Fantastic fan upgrade to the order but they couldn't add the Victron battery monitor.

bergger

We took delivery of our 2021 T2b 400 in late March.  Everything on the dealer build sheet will be done through the dealer.  Now I'm not sure if things have changed since March but all of our post production upgrades were coordinated directly with Nucamp through Austin.  Our dealer, a large dealer in the Denver area, was clueless with any upgrades not on the build sheet.   The dealers NuCamp sales rep had me contact Austin directly via email and all went smoothly after that.  We had the Maxxair fan upgrade done, along with the victron battery monitor and an external solar plug.  The solar plug may be standard now but I'm not positive about that. They typically mount the victron battery monitor above the three way fridge, or above the closet.  This is since the solar controller is behind either the 3 way fridge or the closet.  It'll be near the radio.  It's a closer connection and much less labor intensive and we found it to be just fine mounted there. 

As far as negotiations go.  Price check, price check and price check local and in other states.  Work the dealer hard and remember you're in control and you decide if you think it's a good deal or not.  I worked my salesman over hard and at the end of the deal he even told me that.  But I got a price I was happy with.  

runaway30

Hi manyman297, I am expecting the delivery to be in January according to the dealer.  If it turns out to be later no worries.  I am just going to go with the flow at this point and like you said I can probably do the fan upgrade myself, and 2 of my neighbors are electricians.  Plus I have a sailboat and always enjoy and get a feeling of accomplishment fixing and adding equipment myself.  Then you really know what the deal is with it.  Its good to be self sufficient as much as possible.

I went with

• Boondock Package 
• standard layout
• 2way isotherm 65 fridge 
• white sidewalls black trim, tempest graphic
• graphite cushions and grey accent wall.  No Microwave.  

Being able to be off grid is my plan so the mods that facilitate battery conservation are high on my list.  I like the sounds of the battery monitor Denny is describing.

What options did you order?

Denny16

I added the Battery monitor myself, it was easy, mounted it on the closet wall.  This was a fairly easy mod to do.  There are several discussions here on how,to wire up the monitor shunt. 

Cheers

manyman297

Denny16 said:

I added the Battery monitor myself, it was easy, mounted it on the closet wall.  This was a fairly easy mod to do.  There are several discussions here on how,to wire up the monitor shunt. 

Cheers

Perfect, thanks!

manyman297

bergger said:

We took delivery of our 2021 T2b 400 in late March.  Everything on the dealer build sheet will be done through the dealer.  Now I'm not sure if things have changed since March but all of our post production upgrades were coordinated directly with Nucamp through Austin.  Our dealer, a large dealer in the Denver area, was clueless with any upgrades not on the build sheet.   The dealers NuCamp sales rep had me contact Austin directly via email and all went smoothly after that.  We had the Maxxair fan upgrade done, along with the victron battery monitor and an external solar plug.  The solar plug may be standard now but I'm not positive about that. They typically mount the victron battery monitor above the three way fridge, or above the closet.  This is since the solar controller is behind either the 3 way fridge or the closet.  It'll be near the radio.  It's a closer connection and much less labor intensive and we found it to be just fine mounted there. 

As far as negotiations go.  Price check, price check and price check local and in other states.  Work the dealer hard and remember you're in control and you decide if you think it's a good deal or not.  I worked my salesman over hard and at the end of the deal he even told me that.  But I got a price I was happy with.  

Yeah, the solar plug is one thing I'm curious if it is standard now or not. I really wish Nucamp would be more detailed in the brochure and online about these specifics. Even the amp hours of the batteries aren't disclosed. 

I never look forward to negotiating...especially in the RV-hungry pandemic. Although I've been watching T@Bs on RVtrader and they aren't flying off the shelves necessarily. Most of the ones I've been tracking over the past few weeks haven't sold. 

manyman297

runaway30 said:

Hi manyman297, I am expecting the delivery to be in January according to the dealer.  If it turns out to be later no worries.  I am just going to go with the flow at this point and like you said I can probably do the fan upgrade myself, and 2 of my neighbors are electricians.  Plus I have a sailboat and always enjoy and get a feeling of accomplishment fixing and adding equipment myself.  Then you really know what the deal is with it.  Its good to be self sufficient as much as possible.

I went with

• Boondock Package 
• standard layout
• 2way isotherm 65 fridge 
• white sidewalls black trim, tempest graphic
• graphite cushions and grey accent wall.  No Microwave.  

Being able to be off grid is my plan so the mods that facilitate battery conservation are high on my list.  I like the sounds of the battery monitor Denny is describing.

What options did you order?

I haven't ordered anything (let alone contact a dealer yet) but will probably be reaching out to dealers this week. I think we'd want: 

• Boondock
• Standard Layout
• 2-Way Isotherm 65 Fridge
• Silver sidewalls, white trim, tempest
• Gray walls
• Undecided on cushions 
• Undecided on microwave (I say no but wife thinks it could be handy)
• Battery monitor
• External solar plug

Michigan_Mike

manyman297 said:

Where do they typically mount that monitor? It would be nice to have it grouped with the other controls by the front door but if this is an after-build upgrade something tells me this would be difficult.

They mount everything by the front door.  👍🏻

runaway30

There is a NuCamp 2021 400 video that mentions the external solar outlet as standard.  I am still curious about it though.

ColoradoSun

The external solar outlet came standard on the 2021 400 BD we just purchased. I'm still trying to determine whether it is wired to the Victron 75/15 controller. The "tech" at the dealer giving us an orientation told me it is wired directly to the batteries and any portable panel I plugged in would need its own controller. He was vague about just where the controller was located. NuCamp could be more transparent about some of these components. We had a pop-up pickup camper (Four-wheel brand) and their web-site offered far more details including prices.

TomCanada

In the Prince Craft tech tour video of the 2021 400 Solo the guy said it was wired direct to the battery.  Worth checking though - have you considered trying to trace the path?  He also mentioned that most external solar panels have their own controller built in so that would line up with his statement of direct wiring to battery. Not sure how true that is though (that most external panels have controllers already).

Denny16

The nüCamp factory external solar outlet is wired directly to the battery.  The Victron 75/15 is wired to the factory solar panel, and can only support about 200 watts of Solar Panels.  This is how our 2018 TaB 400 is wired, and from what I have been told the 2020/2021 is wired the same way.  You can check this with a multi-meter, by connecting the meter to the external soar plug.
cheers

manyman297

Denny16 said:

The nüCamp factory external solar outlet is wired directly to the battery.  The Victron 75/15 is wired to the factory solar panel, and can only support about 200 watts of Solar Panels.  This is how our 2018 TaB 400 is wired, and from what I have been told the 2020/2021 is wired the same way.  You can check this with a multi-meter, by connecting the meter to the external soar plug.
cheers

@Denny16 is correct. I confirmed this with Nucamp as well. One thing I’d be curious to know is what gauge the wire is going from the exterior port to the battery?

ColoradoSun

Thanks everyone for helping to clarifying that. We'll need to look into another option with its own controller or perhaps add a second Victron controller and switch the external plug wire to it. I'll wait to see how the stock solar/battery setup handles our needs before changing anything.

manyman297

ColoradoSun said:

Thanks everyone for helping to clarifying that. We'll need to look into another option with its own controller or perhaps add a second Victron controller and switch the external plug wire to it. I'll wait to see how the stock solar/battery setup handles our needs before changing anything.

There are also a few weatherproof controllers out there. I currently have a 100 watt panel for our pop up camper with a weatherproof controller I attached to the backside of the panel. This way you won’t have to cut any wiring inside the T@B. The only downside is the weatherproof options I’ve seen (and have) are mostly PWM and not MPPT controllers. So they’re less efficient.

Denny16

@manyman297, the wire going from the external solar connector to the battery is no 8, stranded copper wire.  Many portable solar panels are supplied with no 8 wire also.
Cheers