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BrianKrueger · 10-25-2015, 07:29 AM

We have a 2014 AI and during the drive home on our last trip, an alarm went off inside the vehicle, emanating from below the battery disconnect switch (but not related to it, the alarm sound was well below, close to the floor) inside the sliding door. It is a beep twice every second and not very loud, just loud enough to be distracting while driving. Both times I pulled over and tried to find the source of the beeping and could not. I turned off the engine, restarted, had to do it a couple times, eventually it went away, although I have no idea what I did to get the alarm to stop.

We have the battery disconnect off (meaning the house battery is switched off) while driving and that's the normal position we have had that switch in the past, so I don't think that is it. It's right in front of the bathroom area, so wondering if it might be somehow related to the toilet, etc. We have only heard the alarm twice, both times while driving, have not heard it while parked (other than when we stopped on the side of the interstate trying to figure out the cause).

Has anyone else had this alarm go off? Do you know what it might be? I would appreciate any insights, as we are off today on another long drive.

Thanks.

ScottP · 10-25-2015, 07:50 AM

Hello

Have you extended the awning, while stopped, and fully retracted the awning (holding the retract button a few seconds even after it appears the swing has fully retracted)?

We are not experts at all, but recently picked up our second new AI in two years.

Scott

Ron_CA · 10-25-2015, 08:16 AM

The awing sensor is behind the little cubbie with bungie cords. While on a trip I tried extending the awing and then retracting and it kept beeping. I removed the sensor and all is good.

Just need a stubbie phillips screwdriver to remove the 6 or 8 screws holding the trim piece with bungies attached then pull the felt covered sheet metal box out and you will see the sensor and you can unplug or replace.

Protagonist · 10-25-2015, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianKrueger

We have a 2014 AI and during the drive home on our last trip, an alarm went off inside the vehicle, emanating from below the battery disconnect switch (but not related to it, the alarm sound was well below, close to the floor) inside the sliding door. It is a beep twice every second and not very loud, just loud enough to be distracting while driving. Both times I pulled over and tried to find the source of the beeping and could not. I turned off the engine, restarted, had to do it a couple times, eventually it went away, although I have no idea what I did to get the alarm to stop.

We have the battery disconnect off (meaning the house battery is switched off) while driving and that's the normal position we have had that switch in the past, so I don't think that is it. It's right in front of the bathroom area, so wondering if it might be somehow related to the toilet, etc. We have only heard the alarm twice, both times while driving, have not heard it while parked (other than when we stopped on the side of the interstate trying to figure out the cause).

I've had that alarm go off several times. It can be from one of two causes— the awning is not fully retracted or the sliding step is not fully retracted. Both share the same alarm.

The time when it was caused by the step not being fully retracted, the step was jammed on a small stone that had transferred to the step mechanism from my shoe. A bit of prying with a stiff piece of wire got the stone out, and the step finished retracting. I now make sure to put out a doormat to wipe my feet, even if— especially if— I'm parked on gravel.

The other times the alarm has gone off, it has been due to the awning. The only thing holding the awning in is tension on the fabric. If you drive on a bumpy road, the awning can shake itself loose enough to set off the alarm. Same thing if the awning gets wet, because that allows the fabric to stretch slightly. A side note, the awning tube is not waterproof; I've put away a perfectly dry awning at the end of one trip, only to unroll a wet awning if it rained heavily while the van was in storage.

Also— and you folks with the F65 Eagle self-retracting awning are at a disadvantage here— I now make sure to sweep all debris off the awning before retracting it. Leaves, pine needles, whatever, anything that gets rolled up in the awning can cause it to work loose later because it will be tighter over the debris and looser elsewhere. Since my Awning isn't the Eagle model, I can angle it down far enough to sweep it clear without using a ladder.

wepply · 10-25-2015, 11:32 AM

Our AI is a much older 2006 model but the location you mentioned is exactly where our LP Gas Detector is located. Our owners manual describes the various beeps that the detector emits. Hopefully this is a false positive but you may want to have the system checked. It could also be a signal that your power source is low (do your detectors have 9 volt batteries?)

hamiltonmj · 10-25-2015, 06:06 PM

You need to tie that awning into place if you are going to drive it with the beeping. It will come out at speed and do substantial damage to your AI not to mention having to buy a new awning for $1800 or so.

Protagonist · 10-25-2015, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hamiltonmj

You need to tie that awning into place if you are going to drive it with the beeping. It will come out at speed and do substantial damage to your AI not to mention having to buy a new awning for $1800 or so.

I've never heard of a Fiamma awning coming out that way, because the motor also has to fail so that it would free-wheel to allow the awning to unroll without power. Also, the awning only needs to be out a quarter-inch or so for the alarm to sound.

One time, before I knew what was causing the beeping, I drove about 200 miles with the danged thing beeping, and just turned up the music to drown it out. When I finally arrived at the campground, the awning was only out the aforementioned quarter-inch.

BrianKrueger · 10-25-2015, 06:55 PM

I think several of the posters likely nailed it by saying that it is an awning issue. We had just left Great Smoky Mountains National Park where we went to see the fall colors. And, predictably, lots of leaves were falling.

I opened and closed the awning several times to try to keep the leaves from getting jammed at the end, but to no avail. I still had about 5 leaves that I could not get unstuck. But it seemed to be secure, so off we went. The alarm was apparently indicating otherwise.

We drove it 5+ hours today to Savannah (with those same leaves still stuck in the awning) with no alarms.

But...

...now we had something else happen: it was raining tonight at the campground, with the awning out. All seemed well and the awning was dripping water from the rain, I was nice and dry outside.

Then, suddenly, the awning decided (on its own) to retract. I am suddenly in the rain with two open camp chairs and a table.

Is it supposed to do this? Maybe due to the weight of the water soaking the awning? Is it safe to retract the awning fully wet like this?

Anyone else experience this auto retract of the awning?

Cirrus Flyer · 10-25-2015, 07:28 PM

19,500 miles since pick up of 2015 Grand Tour in February. All of the above have been experienced. Much more of an issue early on, but quite infrequent now. The seismic sensor is located at the 'stern' of the awning. Opposite the sensor on the 'receiving' part on the housing there is a small, adjustable 1 inch protruding piece that can be bent up or down to help decrease sensitivity(can't recall which way). I was told this by an AS rep I met on the road in Sedona.
I never made any adjustments and the issue is now very infrequent. Always able to extend the awning a little and retract to get it to stop(even had it beep when starting up after sitting for a day or two). The awning will collect a lot of water when out in the rain and the retraction works well to protect it. If I am out int the rain with it extended, I use something to lift up the fabric to dump water and this will prevent the auto retract (unless too vigorous and you active the sensor). I would not leave out unattended in the rain in case it did not retract-likely to damage the awning.
I have not had it be an issue requiring a fuse pull, but others have done so.

UKDUDE · 10-25-2015, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianKrueger

...now we had something else happen: it was raining tonight at the campground, with the awning out. All seemed well and the awning was dripping water from the rain, I was nice and dry outside.

Then, suddenly, the awning decided (on its own) to retract. I am suddenly in the rain with two open camp chairs and a table.

Is it supposed to do this? Maybe due to the weight of the water soaking the awning? Is it safe to retract the awning fully wet like this?

Anyone else experience this auto retract of the awning?

The awning is meant for sun protection only and not to be used in wind or rain. This is documented in the Interstate Users Manual and also the Fiamma manual.

Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

Protagonist · 10-25-2015, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrianKrueger

...now we had something else happen: it was raining tonight at the campground, with the awning out. All seemed well and the awning was dripping water from the rain, I was nice and dry outside.

Then, suddenly, the awning decided (on its own) to retract. I am suddenly in the rain with two open camp chairs and a table.

Is it supposed to do this? Maybe due to the weight of the water soaking the awning? Is it safe to retract the awning fully wet like this?

Rain by itself will not cause the awning to retract on its own. However, wind will cause it to retract.

If you expect rain, it's a good idea to put away the awning beforehand, along with any camping gear that was under the awning that you don't want to get wet. The awning fabric is mildew-resistant and can be rolled up wet if you don't retract it in time, but at the first opportunity after the rain passes you should extend it again to let it dry out. This is especially true late in the season when your camping trip might be the last one before a freeze. A frozen awning, open or closed, is more trouble than you want.

For water repellency, it's probably a good idea to adjust your Fiamma F65 Eagle awning so that it's angled down as far as possible when extended, so that it doesn't hold much water even if the awning does get rained upon.

UKDUDE · 10-25-2015, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Protagonist

For water repellency, it's probably a good idea to adjust your Fiamma F65 Eagle awning so that it's angled down as far as possible when extended, so that it doesn't hold much water even if the awning does get rained upon.

The F65 Eagle has a reversible plate with slots cut in it to provide 4 different angles of slope. Unfortunately I discovered that if you try an angle lower than the way it's set up by Airstream, it clashes with the sliding door.

Sent from my iPhone using Airstream Forums

BrianKrueger · 10-26-2015, 04:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UKDUDE

The awning is meant for sun protection only and not to be used in wind or rain. This is documented in the Interstate Users Manual and also the Fiamma manual.

Thanks, I did not know that. I was having fun sitting under the awning watching the rain roll safely off the end. Duh. I guess I won't be doing that again...

hamiltonmj · 10-26-2015, 07:26 AM

Well all I can say is that the awning will extend at speed as this happened to me during one of our trips. I retracted it and no beeps. Hit the interstate and about 5 hours later (the wife was driving) we hear this big booom and the large window behind the driver's door explodes. We look out the back and the awning is flying off behind us on the interstate. We pull over and the only thing left of the awning are the extension arms. I retrieve what parts of the awning that are left, patch up the window and keep on going home...damage to the vehicle and a new awning cost about $5000. Progressive insurance was a great company to deal with in this matter. Now I only use manual mode and did not mount the motor...still in the box....I don't trust it!!!!!

InterBlog · 10-26-2015, 07:56 AM

The cause of the OP's beeping appears to have been identified in this thread, but let me interject another caveat especially for people who have purchased pre-owned Airstream Interstates:

Some owners are gun-shy about the possibility of water damage - as I understand it from reading various threads, especially if they happen to be previous owners of Airstream trailers, because older trailers often have rot issues. So they install third-party, battery-operated leak detection devices in nooks and crannies to alert them of any incipient leakage before damage gets done.

When the OP said his unknown beeping was coming from "close to the floor" and near the toilet, and when he didn't appear to indicate a step retraction problem which I know is common, my first thought was, "Oh, shoot, his previous owner buried a leak detector somewhere behind the bulkhead".

Not the case in this situation, but keep it in mind as a possibility if any of you ever get into the situation where OEM alarms don't appear to be the source.

Protagonist · 10-26-2015, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hamiltonmj

Well all I can say is that the awning will extend at speed as this happened to me during one of our trips. I retracted it and no beeps. Hit the interstate and about 5 hours later (the wife was driving) we hear this big booom and the large window behind the driver's door explodes. We look out the back and the awning is flying off behind us on the interstate. We pull over and the only thing left of the awning are the extension arms. I retrieve what parts of the awning that are left, patch up the window and keep on going home...damage to the vehicle and a new awning cost about $5000. Progressive insurance was a great company to deal with in this matter. Now I only use manual mode and did not mount the motor...still in the box....I don't trust it!!!!!

Okay. Now I've heard of it happening. I stand corrected. Was it the Fiamma F65, or the F65 Eagle with auto-retract?

Mjgman · 10-26-2015, 08:32 AM

We were at the beach a couple of weeks ago to watch the sunset.. We didn't even use the awning, in fact I haven't used it in a while... As we were driving home (lucky for us we were driving slow) the beeping started, so I hit the awning switch to see if that was the problem.. The awning retracted a bit and the beeping stopped.. A minute later it started beeping again.. Hit the button again then the damn thing unraveled all the way out on its own... It appears that it is slipping of the track that extends and retracts it.. We were able to get it back in and put a bungee cord around it till we got home.. Taking it for service soon.. Just glad we were only going 20 mph and not on the freeway..

Protagonist · 10-26-2015, 08:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mjgman

We were able to get it back in and put a bungee cord around it till we got home.

I'm partial to zip ties for stuff like that.

hamiltonmj · 10-26-2015, 09:03 AM

We have the F65S awning. There should be a visual warning also to alert drivers that the awning is not secured.

Mjgman · 10-26-2015, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Protagonist

I'm partial to zip ties for stuff like that.

I didn't have a ladder or zip ties. I had my niece get on my shoulders to push it it as far as we could get it, and then wrap the bungees around so we could get home.. Also had to deal with the beeping since it wasn't completely retracted..

I'm getting one of those telescope ladders you posted about in case I ever need to get up there again.. I'm just glad we were close to home and not on a trip..