Airstream Interstate Camping

[BL1996]

We are getting ready for our trip to Florida and plan to do some camping. I want to buy a gas cooker and need information on the LP hook up.

Will any propane cooker hook up the the receptacle that is available outside by the gas valve?

[Lily&Me]

I'd call the technician at the dealership where you bought your Interstate for the answer to that question.

We've never heard of anyone doing this. And, it's one of those things you would want to get right the first time.

Have a great trip! We are at 5 years and 111,000 very happy miles.



Maggie

[Jammer]

Hi BL

The low-pressure propane outlet on your Interstate is a fairly standard one however few grills and cookers are available that will connect to it without modifications. You will probably have to purchase a low-pressure LP hose separately and then modify your grill or cooker to use it. Usually, cookers that have a standard low-pressure tank-mounted regulator can be modified easily, by just replacing the regulator and hose assembly. There are a few that have a control built into the regulator that cannot be modified.

I had one of these setups on my stick house for a while. On my trailer I have a high-pressure connection instead.

[wayneskid]

BL1996,

It have a small Coleman grill that normally runs off of a standard 16.4 oz propane bottle. I took my cooker and my Interstate to a local comercial propane dealer (Suburban Propane) and they used stock parts to build a hose setup that will connect to the control valve/regulator that came with the cooker. The other end has a fitting that will plug into the supply on the Interstate. They made the hose the length I wanted. Cooker, hose and everything fits into a small Rubbermaid Action Packer which I carry in the camper. I think Suburban charged me around $40 for the connecting hose & fittings built to my specs.

You get your battery issue solved yet?

Wayne

[BL1996]

When I store my unit I turn off the battery disconnect and turn off the inverter. Also turn off the gas valve. Is there anything else I am missing?

When I use the coach “at least once a week" and turn on the inverter it shows red or low battery on the display. I takes maybe two hours for it to cycle to green.

The dealer says this is normal.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by BL1996

When I store my unit I turn off the battery disconnect and turn off the inverter. Also turn off the gas valve. Is there anything else I am missing?

When I use the coach “at least once a week" and turn on the inverter it shows red or low battery on the display. I takes maybe two hours for it to cycle to green.

The dealer says this is normal.

We plug our unit in for a couple of days periodically, necessary we have been told to fully charge the coach battery.

We can then function 3-4 days off the coach battery if we are camping without hookups.


Maggie

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by BL1996

When I store my unit I turn off the battery disconnect and turn off the inverter. Also turn off the gas valve. Is there anything else I am missing?

Question: When you turn the inverter off, do you do it at the inverter (under the sofa) or at the remote control panel in the curbside locker? If you presently turn it off at the curbside locker, you may want to try turning it off at the inverter instead. If the inverter is on "Auto/Invert"— which is necessary in order to even use the remote panel in the locker— then the inverter is probably still feeding power to the curbside locker control panel, which may result in a small but constant drain.

[BL1996]

Yes, I turn it off at the inverter underneath the sofa. Its not a huge problem as I can it plugged it in before we take off. I just don't think the battery should drain at that rate.

[wayneskid]

With the Battery Disconnect off (I usually don't switch the inverter off for short term storage) I measure the voltage of the battery pair with a DMM then look at a SOC table (with temp. compensations) and find them right at 50% after 6 days. What I've been told is that you shouldn't let them go below 50% or you may damage the batteries.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by BL1996

When I store my unit I turn off the battery disconnect and turn off the inverter. Also turn off the gas valve. Is there anything else I am missing?

I almost forgot one other potential source of battery drain: The signal booster for the omnidirectional HDTV antenna. Look in the storage bin over the front seats (that has the sliding plastic doors) all the way on the driver's side. If you see a green LED lit up, your signal booster is on. Older-model Interstates have a different TV antenna and so may not have this signal booster.

[wayneskid]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

I almost forgot one other potential source of battery drain: The signal booster for the omnidirectional HDTV antenna.

I forgot about that one as well. I think on my 2010 twin that the booster is without power if the Disconnect Switch is off but I'm not sure. Another thing to check when I get the van out of hibernation.
Wayne

PS. Did you ever do the little experiment we discussed?

[Protagonist]

Thanks for the reminder. Just checked it.

On mine, the signal booster is wired through the disconnect switch, so turning the disconnect also shuts off the booster, as you said.

However, the propane solenoid switch is NOT wired through the booster. With the battery disconnect switch turned off, and using a barbecue grill lighter to light the burners, I was able to get a flame on both burners, and left them burning long enough to confirm that it wasn't just using up residual propane left in the lines.

Looks like the propane solenoid is NOT shut off by the battery disconnect. So, if you have an Interstate, it would be wise to include on your pre-departure and pre-storage checklists to turn off the propane, both to minimize the potential for propane leaks and to reduce drain on your house batteries.

I'm told that the drain for the propane solenoid is about two amps, which sounds high until you consider how strong is the spring that the solenoid is working against.

[wayneskid]

Interesting; I'll check mine when I get to Oregon in May and post the results. I have a DC clamp meter so I'll see if I can measure the current to the propane solenoid while I'm at it.
Wayne

[BL1996]

Just plugged the coach in and the batteries were flat. Haven't checked the antenna yet.

[wayneskid]

Do you have access to a DMM? How about a DC clamp meter?
Wayne

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by BL1996

Just plugged the coach in and the batteries were flat. Haven't checked the antenna yet.

Serious bummer! If the battery level is below about 9 volts, don't even try to charge the batteries using the inverter/charger, which is more suited to trickle and float charging. As a general rule, if the batteries are drained too far to start the generator, they're drained too far for the el cheapo factory-installed inverter/charger to restore them. I recommend that you remove the batteries and charge them on a bench using a charger designed for AGM batteries.

In order to remove the batteries for charging on a bench, you have to remove the sofa bottom cushion (unless you have the twin-bed version, of course). Not an easy task when you've got no power to the power recline function. I went through this not long after getting my Interstate, before I knew about that darned propane solenoid.

Easiest way I can suggest is this: Open the rear doors. You'll have to do most of the work from outside.

Remove the back cushion and set it aside. Only requires undoing four nuts. If you can't recline the sofa, you'll play heck getting the bottom cushion out while the back cushion is in place, so getting it out of the way first helps.

Remove two nuts on the bottom cushion rails; you'll see them if you bend down, but actually removing them requires doing it by feel, just due to the ergonomics of it. These nuts should be the same size as the ones on the back of the sofa's rear cushion.

Now comes the hard part. You have to reach forward almost to the front of the sofa, where you will find two flathead machine screws, with the screw head facing down, and the nuts facing up. The nuts are one size smaller than the nuts you've already removed so far. Do be careful not to drop your wrench, unless you have a spare; the nuts are far enough forward that if you drop a wrench, it will land inside the box under the cushion where you can't reach it until the cushion is off. Trust me, I know.

The problem here is getting a Phillips screwdriver into the screw head while getting a box-end wrench onto the nut. If you can't get the screwdriver onto the machine screws, then use a wedge under the front edge of the sofa seat to force the seat upward and put the machine screw under tension; this should allow you to turn the nut without the screw turning as well. You'll have to reset the wedges as you go to keep the screw under tension.

Once you've got the bottom sofa cushion out, go have a beer and cool off. You'll need it. When you come back, make sure the battery disconnect is disconnected, the inverter is completely off, and the propane solenoid switch is off. Make sure you're unplugged from shore power while you're at it. Open the battery box. Disconnect the negative post where it's grounded to the battery box, not at the battery post. Both batteries are grounded to the same place, so this disconnects both at once. Then you can disconnect the positive wires, at the post. After you disconnect the top battery, remove it. Then remove the false floor to expose the second battery. Risconnect the postive post of that battery, and remove it as well.

Putting the batteries back after you're done charging will be easier. Reverse the steps above, except when you reconnect the bottom sofa cushion, do the nuts in the rear first, to ensure proper alignment. Then extend the sofa far enough to expose the holes where the machine screws go. You'll be able to put them back in properly with screwdriver and box-end wrench, while lying on the floor of the coach.

Note that you don't need to even switch the battery disconnect to "connect"; the power recline for the sofa bypasses the disconnect, so it will work as soon as you've got the batteries hooked up.

[wayneskid]

Good writeup. This is another reason why I'm glad mine is a twin bed model. Lift the mattress, remove the plywood cover and presto, you're looking at the battery box! Remove one battery box cover holddown and everything is exposed in about 1 minute from start to finish.

I'm guessing that these batts have been severely damaged by these repeated deep discharges. I hope the problem can be found and fixed before new ones are installed.

Wayne

[Protagonist]

Yeah. Once I had the batteries back in I stored my Interstate with the sofa extended far enough to reach those machine screws, just in case, until I confirmed that the problem wasn't going to reappear. Once was enough for me.

For BL1996, I also recommend that after you remove and recharge the batteries, let them sit for a couple of days before putting them back in. If they're still holding a charge, they're probably still usable, though you've probably shortened their usable life. If they don't hold a charge, replace them before you try putting them back in.

The ones in my Interstate are Group 24 Discover Energy EV24A-A traction batteries, meaning that they're designed for deep-cycle applications like powering electric forklifts. They'll stand a deeper discharge without damage than some AGM batteries, but they're not indestructable.

[BL1996]

I believe the batteries are ok as when they are charged the stay up for a good time.

It sounds like getting to the battery box is a task and a half. They would have been better located if placed in the storage area in the rear. There is usually stuff piled on top so its hard to use it anyway.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by BL1996

I believe the batteries are ok as when they are charged the stay up for a good time.

It sounds like getting to the battery box is a task and a half. They would have been better located if placed in the storage area in the rear. There is usually stuff piled on top so its hard to use it anyway.

Not necessarily okay. Depending on how far they were drained, you may have turned a five-year battery into a three-year or four-year battery. I expect that's what happened in my case, but time will tell.

The extended Interstate with an under-floor storage area in the rear is new this year; Interstates have been around since 2004 and the battery box has been in the same place since the first one rolled out from Jackson Center. For those without the under-floor storage, the present location of the battery box is pretty much the only place they could put two batteries without taking away from already-skimpy storage areas. It's also the only location that works for all floor plans more-or-less equally, since it's either under the sofa or under a twin bed. Having the batteries in the same place on every Interstate minimizes the number of different wiring harnesses required, and minimizes the number of different structural modifications made to the base Sprinter. Both of which save money.

Yeah, it's awkward to reach if the batteries are dead, less so when you have enough battery power to work the sofa. Storing the Interstate with the sofa partially reclined so the machine screws are accessible from inside is now part of my routine. so I can remove the cushions even with dead house batteries. And of course, ever since I started taking that precaution, my batteries have stayed fully charged and it's been a non-issue.

Airstream owners are nothing if not innovative, and I would not be surprised to learn that sometime in the future you've moved your house batteries to your under-floor storage area, probably about the time the house batteries are due for replacement.