newbie

[nancyo]

hi....
i just purchased an airstream interstate 2012, i was told it was a late 2012, it appears to have everything a 2013 has on it. it was not bought from a dealer, so i did not get the overview from dealership. i am feeling overwhelmed, just want to take baby steps.
My first question;
what is the best way to keep the back of van cool when taking a road trip.i am in virginia and it has been VERY hot! does the generator have to have propane turned on to use back unit ac? if so is is safe to travel with propane and generator running.
does anyone know if there is a checklist for travel?
thanks in advance......
many more questions to come?

[Protagonist]

Welcome to the AirForums! And welcome to the exalted ranks of Interstate owners!

You will need to turn on the generator in order to use the rooftop air conditioner. The air conditioner is 120vAC and cannot be run from the inverter.

It is generally safe to travel with the propane on and generator running. Some of the folks here on the AirForums do exactly that. Be advised, though, that if the generator is slightly low on oil, sloshing of the oil when you accelerate or stop may cause the "low oil" sensor to shut down the generator. Also, try to make sure the propane level is more than half full, to ensure adequate vapor pressure to the generator.

[David M]

Hi nancyo,

Welcome! I too am relatively new here (Apr 2013). It's a good thing you found this forum as it's filled with useful information. I am still reading through older posts to learn about our vehicle, but it's (almost) a labor of love But more than the information, the people here are the most friendly, helpful, and professional group of people of any forum. Happy travels!
David

[PSchw]

Originally Posted by David M

Hi nancyo,

Welcome! I too am relatively new here (Apr 2013). It's a good thing you found this forum as it's filled with useful information. I am still reading through older posts to learn about our vehicle, but it's (almost) a labor of love But more than the information, the people here are the most friendly, helpful, and professional group of people of any forum. Happy travels!
David

I only can agree with David. I am new too since April 2013 and purchase new with the walk trough from the dealer. The walk through does not do anything you need to try it yourself and the forum helps a lot to figure things out. Good luck with your ne toy.

[73shark]

nancyo: Welcome to the forum.

On really hot days, 95*+, I found that I had to turn the inverter off to stay below the 20A maximum generator output when running the A/C. You may not have that problem. I minimized the problem by setting the Tripp-Lite inverter to the low charge rate which reduced the current draw. Yours probably has the Magnum invertor and is probably different.

Enjoy your new Interstate. They're a sweet ride.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by 73shark

nancyo: Welcome to the forum.

On really hot days, 95*+, I found that I had to turn the inverter off to stay below the 20A maximum generator output when running the A/C. You may not have that problem. I minimized the problem by setting the Tripp-Lite inverter to the low charge rate which reduced the current draw. Yours probably has the Magnum invertor and is probably different.

Enjoy your new Interstate. They're a sweet ride.

If you're going to run the a/c with the generator running, the inverter should automatically switch to "charge only" mode as soon as it detects the generator as a source of 120vAC power. However, it would be useful to switch off the breakers for everything but the a/c. And the televisions, maybe. I've run a/c and TV at the same time with no problem, but that combo does use just about all of the available generator power, with only a few amps left over for battery charging.

The Nova Kool fridge has a useless "feature" that causes it to switch to 120vAC whenever there is a 120vAC power source available, including the generator. However, the fridge will run just fine in 12vDC mode if the breaker is switched off, so I prefer to drive with the fridge in 12vDC mode.