Landyacht diesel motor access and batteries

[Mike1997]

Have two issues to share:

1. Battery replacement for engine. I had been experiencing erratic problems with my dash gages and lights over the past few months. It was always hard to start if sitting for a week or longer, almost always had to start up with coach batteries. Found both motor batteries were Group 31 and were dated January 2011. Needless to say once replaced last Friday....it starts up and runs like new with no more problems at the dashboard.

2. Second problem. The main motor access in this unit is under the queen bed in the rear. While rotating the mattress found that the plywood cover and insulation tape around the edges was damaged. The plywood was cracked and pushed in (depressed) on right side. Replacement of the plywood is easy. Does anyone have a recommendation for fire retardant/insulation to be used on the inside of the compartment and on the top piece that opens like a hood?

Is it possible to find lightweight aircraft insulation someplace? Any suggestions?

[Paul Dobbin]

#1 Issue with batteries. That happened to us with battery cut blades on all 4 batteries, it still drained. Now I leave the cut off ON and leave the coach plugged in when stored. No further battery issues.
#2 Ours is torn a bit and I use chrome foil duct tape from house ducts and keep patching. I hope you find a solution to share.

[Mike1997]

Paul, I have been searching to find something that might be drawing down the motor batteries. Only thing I can find is the new radio with digital clock. Also found the disconnect for the motor batteries in the rear compartment. My RV park neighbors suggest I turn the disconnect off when the AS is parked for a week or longer.
Do you do this when yours is in storage or parked for long periods?

Not having any problems with the coach batteries which are only 2 yrs old. Considering an upgrade to the original solar panel. To bad it does not trickle charge the motor batteries too.

Will keep you posted with my motor access door and insulation project.

[Paul Dobbin]

I never found my battery drain but concluded that it must be all the "Instant On" electronics. After that I leave it plugged in while it;s in the barn or on campsites, even if we're staying with friends.
Our Inverter/Charger charges all four of our batteries, but I'm not sure if Airstream did that or if it was the previous owner. Our coach has every option Airstream offered, plus what the P.O. thought it needed. I'm not a good electrical detective, but know leaving it plugged in makes my batteries last 6 years when they lasted less than 2 before I discovered that. Maybe I should go back to the old way of getting new batteries free from Wal-Mart because the heavy duty deep cycle batteries never lasted the 2 year replacement warranty.
Just kidding, but checking the water every year us much easier than changing the batteries.

[C21Tiger]

Lead acid cell batteries are only designed to last 3 to 5 years. The biggest killer of batteries is allowing the batteries to dry out through lack of maintenance or allowing them to discharge below the 50% rate. This most often happens in hot weather or when there is a continuous drain. Each time they fully discharge and are not immediately recharged it degrades the cell plates. For my AS 2004 Landyacht I keep it in covered storage when not in use so I use the disconnects and run the unit each month if not used to make sure the batteries have a good charge on them. A trickle charging could take care of the batteries if electric or solar charge is available in your storage area.

[Mike1997]

Paul, as far as I know, my motor batteries are not charged like the coach batteries when its plugged in. Do not think it was setup that way on the 97 model, its not noted in the manuals either. If they were, the batteries would not have gone dead last winter while I was in Montana. Kept it plugged in at house and Coach batteries were always charged plus I had to use them to start the motor.

Now that I have the new motor batteries I think a selonide problem has occurred. I got full power from them but sometimes nothing when the key is turned. Not even when switched to the coach batteries. Have no idea where the selonide is located on this motor so making a trip to the local Freightliner dealer to see if they can tell me.

I am sure its original equipment too. Have you ever changed yours?

[Paul Dobbin]

I am sure its original equipment too. Have you ever changed yours?[/QUOTE]

No, has a alternating switch, and there are plugs and outlets under the rear hood that I have no idea what they do. I'm the wrong guy to give advice on electrical stuff. If I had done all this stuff, our Airstream would have burned down years ago.
I'm happy that everything works, but I have no idea why. We've been looking to move to a newer coach, but nothing else is a cool, low and sleek as our Airstream. If I can find somebody to work on it to upgrade it, i think we'll keep it another 12 years.

[Mike1997]

Thought I would post an update to this thread about batteries and the hood cover.

Batteries - Bought 2 new batteries in November 2016 to replace the existing motor batteries installed in 2011. Everything good till about March 2017. Motor was getting hard to start but ran okay once going. Move down to Key West in early March and once motor was shut down, it went dead. Removed new batteries and returned them to Advance Auto (thank goodness they had a store in KW). Both were bad.....so much for Chinese batteries. They provided replacements but motor still would not start. Located a Mobile RV guy in Key West and he found my starter was bad. Considering it was original equipment and only cost $250 for the replacement.....figured that was reasonable. Everything back to normal and drove from Key West to Michigan in April.

The bed frame is broken down on one side and the insulation is touching top of the engine when closed. Plans are to remove the cover and replace the plywood. Looking at different fire/heat retardant insulation to cover the engine side of the hood/bed. Will take before after photos once that project is finished.

[Mike1997]

July 2017 - Another update on batteries for my diesel Airstream.

Attended the 2017 Airstream National Rally in Escanaba, MI but due to late registration got placed in the generator section. This means I had to run off my coach batteries daytime and almost immediately found them going dead very fast. Found 5 different items that were running them down:
1. Power booster for the roof HD antenna. Switch is inside the cabinet over sofa and hard to see.
2. Power adapter for the 12v plug used for the Sat Radio adapter. Plug is in center cabinet under TV and accessed by removing DVD player.
3. and 4. Two wireless Fantastic fans. Both have red light visible at night and constant draw power unless fuse is removed.
5. Was the cell phone cord left in the plug by the driver seat. Green light glows constant.

Add those little things up and it made my batteries go dead after 2 nights. Would charge them with the generator each morning but still not holding up and also had reason to believe the dinky solar panel (5w) was not working either. Because the batteries were replaced prior to my purchase in 2015......I made the assumption they were from same year. WRONG!! Dated 2012.......needless to say I packed it up and drove to Walmart where I got two marine deep cycle batteries (group 29) as replacements.

Now everything is back to normal and I leave tomorrow for Saugatuck....minus $180 for two batteries. Might also add the old batteries were undersized for the task. Back on the road again!!