CZone Trailer Battery Voltage

[spotted_dog]

My 2019 Classic 33-foot is getting periodically, an alarm on the CZone panel that states:

Trailer Battery Voltage
Device: COI Output
Name: DC (Very) Low Voltage
Severity: Important

I get this even though I am on 50amp shore power. The inverter is on (which I am not sure if it should be or not when we are hooked up to shore power). I have checked the shore power and I am not getting any error messages and I am showing proper voltage readings from the surge suppressor.

I have looked through the manuals and Googled and I haven't been able to find out anything about this.

What do I need to do about this?
Is this a sign that my batteries are failing already?
Should this be happening when I am on shore power?

[uncle_bob]

Hi

First, grab your DVM (or get one if you don't have one already) and measure the voltage at the battery terminals. That will quickly tell you if indeed you have a battery issue. If they are fine, then there is a loose wire somewhere. Just where will take a bit of work to find out.The good news is that it's a warranty repair and you don't have to find the wire .....

Bob

[ghaynes755]

When you check the batteries you need to be disconnected from shore power (charger turned off) and also not be getting any power from solar panels if installed. You want to read "just" the batteries.

What does the CZone report as battery voltage when you are unplugged from shore power?

And give support at AS a call.

[spotted_dog]

Thanks all for the feedback. I'll talk to AS support and see about getting service (always a challenge since we are full-time on the road). The CZone currently says the travel battery voltage is at 13.00v but at the time of the alert it was at 11.97v.

Also, when I am shore connected with 50 amp power, should the inverter still be on?

[uncle_bob]

Hi

When you are on shore power the inverter should be off. That's something they should have gone over with you when you got the trailer ...


Inverter turns battery voltage into 120V AC. The only time you run it is when you *must* operate a 120V device and do not have shore power available. Since it's a hog on the battery, you want to turn it off whenever you don't need it.

Bob

[ghaynes755]

Spotted there is at least one favorite that turns on the inverter when you select the mode even if you are on shore power. I forget which one but will look at the CZONE programming tomorrow to see which one it is. Ran into that this week.

[ghaynes755]

Looked at the CZone programming list. The Cinema Mode turns on the Inverter. Doesn't matter if you are on shore power or not. Engaging Cinema Mode will turn it on. Away mode will turn it off. Sleep and On Board modes do nothing to the inverter.

[Tom_Cooper]

Most likely this is a problem in conductivity, because the battery stops working only in extreme cases. But since this is a warranty case, you don’t even have to try hard

[spotted_dog]

Thanks Tom. I'll give it a closer look and of course talk to AS support since it's under warranty

[spotted_dog]

Gary. Use the cinema mode all the time so that must be what's happening. Thank you for letting me know!

[Presitla99]

Originally Posted by spotted_dog

My 2019 Classic 33-foot is getting periodically, an alarm on the CZone panel that states:

Trailer Battery Voltage
Device: COI Output
Name: DC (Very) Low Voltage
Severity: Important

I get this even though I am on 50amp shore power. The inverter is on (which I am not sure if it should be or not when we are hooked up to shore power). I have checked the shore power and I am not getting any error messages and I am showing proper voltage readings from the surge suppressor.

I have looked through the manuals and Googled and I haven't been able to find out anything about this.

What do I need to do about this?
Is this a sign that my batteries are failing already?
Should this be happening when I am on shore power?

Spotted:
I have the same problem. My converter is bad so the batteries are not being charged on shore power--only solar. A temporary work-around is to attach a battery charger directly to the batteries. Mine goes in the shop next week for a bad converter and inverter. BTW the inverter is only used when shore power is disconnected and then only the dinette outlet and TV work.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The inverter circuit also supplies power to the motors in recliners / sofa.

(Useful to remember if you loose shore power with them in the "up" position ....)

Bob

[spotted_dog]

Well the root problem of course finally revealed itself. We woke up the other morning to the panel buttons flashing blue (7 times) and the CZone completely out. We couldn't even flush the toilet. It was the converter of course. We turned the battery disconnect off and wait 10 times and then back on but no luck. I also checked that the breaker had not tripped which it had not and reset it just to be sure. Still no luck. We had to take it in and have the converter replaced. They said it was completely dead. Luckily, since we are still under warranty, Airstream said they would cover the replacement.

[TimT]

Hi, I had the same problem with my 2019 Classic. Alerts were going off every few minutes warning of some electrical issue even though I was hooked up to shore power. I had the dealer look at it and they had to re-wire some of per Airstream to make it function correctly. Batteries were never low, so it was just a malfunction of the CZone system. It is working great now after getting it fixed. I would advise you to see your dealer at the first opportunity to have it fixed.