2019 Atlas generator power

[rlsf57]

We picked up our Atlas from minor service yesterday with a dead battery.
No power on generator display panel. We were assured all would charge on our drive home. Still no generator power.
Battery required overnight charging to return to full charge.
Generator still dead. Will be returning to service reluctantly. Trip planned in 4 days.
Anyone have a suggestion? TIA.

[Boxster1971]

Need more info. Does the generator engine turn over, but just won’t start? Or is it totally not responding to start attempts?

Is generator display panel still blank?

[rlsf57]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

Need more info. Does the generator engine turn over, but just won’t start? Or is it totally not responding to start attempts?

It’s dead. The panel is dead also.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

MH delivered with a dead battery is *not* right. They should have a nice beefy wheel around charger that will "correct" that problem in under an hour. Indeed, they never should have let it go dead in the first place.

Bob

[Rocinante]

It seems to me that every AS dealer out there kills the coach batteries in their units while on the lot, regardless of whether those units are trailers or motor homes. It's a darn shame.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Rocinante

It seems to me that every AS dealer out there kills the coach batteries in their units while on the lot, regardless of whether those units are trailers or motor homes. It's a darn shame.

Hi

I know of a couple who don't ..... (at least never on my equipment)

Bob

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by rlsf57

It’s dead. The panel is dead also.

Hi

Panel dead with a now working battery and other items functional might suggest a blown fuse going to the generator panel.

What was the dealer *supposed* to be fixing? That might give you a lead on where in the vehicle they fiddled around.

Bob

[Vagabonds_2]

Originally Posted by rlsf57

We picked up our Atlas from minor service yesterday with a dead battery.
No power on generator display panel. We were assured all would charge on our drive home. Still no generator power.
Battery required overnight charging to return to full charge.
Generator still dead. Will be returning to service reluctantly. Trip planned in 4 days.
Anyone have a suggestion? TIA.

We have ordered a 2022 Atlas Murphy Suite and have searched the back Forums for issues. We note that Parisi had generator issues on his 2021. Interestingly, one of the dealers said these were one-off problems; so, they don't issue recalls. Airstream corporate broke in and asked that they contact them directly, since it was new. Question is if there's generator problems, is that a Mercedes or Cummins whom ever manufactures the genset's problem? Keep us posted on your remedy please.

[Zach05855]

Originally Posted by Vagabonds_2

We have ordered a 2022 Atlas Murphy Suite and have searched the back Forums for issues. We note that Parisi had generator issues on his 2021. Interestingly, one of the dealers said these were one-off problems; so, they don't issue recalls. Airstream corporate broke in and asked that they contact them directly, since it was new. Question is if there's generator problems, is that a Mercedes or Cummins whom ever manufactures the genset's problem? Keep us posted on your remedy please.

The gensets are Onan/Cummins. The Cummins dealer is responsible for any warranty service.

You would not want the RV dealer messing with it.

[Vagabonds_2]

Originally Posted by rlsf57

We picked up our Atlas from minor service yesterday with a dead battery.
No power on generator display panel. We were assured all would charge on our drive home. Still no generator power.
Battery required overnight charging to return to full charge.
Generator still dead. Will be returning to service reluctantly. Trip planned in 4 days.
Anyone have a suggestion? TIA.

Here's some issues someone had with their 2021, which might not be germane to your issues, unless it's useful somehow:

Cummins Onan RV QD 3200 generator not working at all.
Battery charging system is not charging the battery properly. The Magnum MMS1012 is not properly
set-up for the lithium battery and does not meet the specifications to charge Battle Born 100Amp
lithium batteries.
When the house battery becomes depleted, everything inside is shut down and nothing works. The
manual suggests turning on the chassis engine for a few minutes to charge it. This function did not
work. Meaning you can be stuck with no power and








y-airstream-atlas-nightmare-215816.html


My Airstream Atlas Nightmare - Airstream F
nothing electronic working in RV even when you connect to external power!
Victron Energy MPPT Control locked up and not working. Sliding door not properly installed and
broken.
Folding Stairs sometimes do not work properly. Cannot connect to the solar charging system APP
Shelving in the storage compartment is incorrect size and falling down to the second compartment.
Pantry storage compartment not proper lock, opening on every turn.
Several door hinges broken.
Skylight occasionally not closing properly.
Manual describes a completely different inverter charger controller.

[Vagabonds_2]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

Panel dead with a now working battery and other items functional might suggest a blown fuse going to the generator panel.

What was the dealer *supposed* to be fixing? That might give you a lead on where in the vehicle they fiddled around.

Bob

Here's more Atlas Genset problems from forum, for FYI:

Thanks. They just picked it up today and I brought up this very concern tothem. They weren't committal but it seems like they will try to fix it at thedealership and will send it to a corporate facility if they run into problems.I am insisting that they certify that all issues have been fixed and thatthey provide a two year extended warranty on all items and systems if Iam to keep this vehicle.
Also, I just got a call from my friends who have a slightly earlier AirstreamAtlas that I started my vacation with. We were supposed to travel togetherbut because of all the problems with mine I had to return home early andthey decided to stay out longer. They traveled through Bryce Canyon,Utah and experienced the exact same problem that I have repeatedly hadwith the battery.
They had a fully charged battery and stayed overnight off the grid. Theonly things that were running on the battery were the refrigerator andheating . They woke up "freezing" in the middle of the night and thetemperature inside the vehicle was in he low 50's. All electronics andsystems were dead, including heating. Once again, the battery lastedmaybe 5-6 hours when it should have been fine for up to a day with sucha small load.
They have a previous model with regular batteries, notlithium. I told them about this forum and they are also contactingAirstream.
I believe Airstream does have a serious design problem not only withlithium batteries but also with previous versions. I believe all Atlas ownersshould verify and check the battery charging system as this issue seemswidespread and can result in getting stuck without power or heat inremote places and bad weather. This is easy to test and I am shockedthat Airstream did not catch this issue during design or production tests!

[Vagabonds_2]

Originally Posted by Zach05855

The gensets are Onan/Cummins. The Cummins dealer is responsible for any warranty service.

You would not want the RV dealer messing with it.

Here's what a fellow did on his own to fix genset and battery issues;

Originally Posted by
tomatwell
Have my 2020 AS Shorty since 9/19. Been in forservice over 6 months time. Many minor issues butwhat kept bringing me in was rapid discharge of thehouse batteries. After much research, discussionswith the dealer and Tech Support at Jackson Center Iendeavored to fix it myself.
5/21/2021 My Airstream Atlas Nightmare - Page 3 - Airstream Forums
https://www.airforums.com/forums/f44...-215816-3.html 3/10
2020 28' Flying Cloud
2017 23' Flying Cloud
Hiawassee , Georgia
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 1,163
After installing a Victron Smart Shunt I was able tofinally see where this power was going! To the chassisbattery! When the house batteries are connected andthe Mercedes is awake, but NOT running, I wasgetting discharges of 15-20 amps. Turn the housemaster off, 0.1 amps discharge. To further confirm Idisconnected my chassis battery, turned on thehouse, opened the driver door and the chassispowered up pulling power from the house. So now Iknew why my batteries drained in 5 hours too!
DISCLAIMER: I’m not a mechanic, electrical engineeror any other expert. (Not with Airstreams at least).So my advice is advisory only and use it at your ownrisk. In no way am I liable for anyone using thisadvice.)
So what was causing this? Under the driver seat isthe Victron buck boost DC/DC converter. There aretwo lights on it. A simple way to see if anyone’s issueare the same as mine is to look at the status of thoselights. With engine running you should get a greenand purple light. Engine off only green. Try turning onthe master disconnect with the engine NOT runningand see if you get a green and purple light. If you doyou’ve got my problem. Without getting into detailabout why, your house batteries are turning on theconverter allowing power to pass to the chassis. Openthe door and the chassis starts sucking amps fromyour precious house capacity. Camp off grid and atnight you’ll be without juice in hours.
So how to fix it? I came up with a workaroundbecause to fix it correctly requires a lot of work whichI’m not doing. (I’ll make the dealer do it but for now Ican go camp) After swapping wires, changing configsin the Victron Buck Boost Converter I finallydiscovered the problem and a relatively easy fix.
If , from from the above observations, this is yourproblem you’ll need to remove the seat. Just the 4torx bolts. Shift the seat forward and you’ll be able tosee the input and output cover for the buck boost.Remove the 2 tiny screws and you’ll see a purplewire. This provides a signal to turn on the buck boost.Again you can verify this is your problem by pullingthis connector off, turn on your house batteries andsee if you only have one green light. If you do my fixshould work. Put inline a simple
12v
low amp on/offswitch on that purple wire.
When you have your house on with the engine NOTrunning turn it OFF. Buck boost stays off. No morechassis drain.
All other times , engine running, shore or generatorpower i switch it on allowing all normal chargingfunctions to occur. This includes charging the chassisbatteries.
Good luck. PM me with any questions.
Great job of running this down. Maybe Airstream should hireyou as a Systems Engineer. It seems they have a need for one😀

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Vagabonds_2

Here's more Atlas Genset problems from forum, for FYI:

Thanks. They just picked it up today and I brought up this very concern tothem. They weren't committal but it seems like they will try to fix it at thedealership and will send it to a corporate facility if they run into problems.I am insisting that they certify that all issues have been fixed and thatthey provide a two year extended warranty on all items and systems if Iam to keep this vehicle.
Also, I just got a call from my friends who have a slightly earlier AirstreamAtlas that I started my vacation with. We were supposed to travel togetherbut because of all the problems with mine I had to return home early andthey decided to stay out longer. They traveled through Bryce Canyon,Utah and experienced the exact same problem that I have repeatedly hadwith the battery.
They had a fully charged battery and stayed overnight off the grid. Theonly things that were running on the battery were the refrigerator andheating . They woke up "freezing" in the middle of the night and thetemperature inside the vehicle was in he low 50's. All electronics andsystems were dead, including heating. Once again, the battery lastedmaybe 5-6 hours when it should have been fine for up to a day with sucha small load.
They have a previous model with regular batteries, notlithium. I told them about this forum and they are also contactingAirstream.
I believe Airstream does have a serious design problem not only withlithium batteries but also with previous versions. I believe all Atlas ownersshould verify and check the battery charging system as this issue seemswidespread and can result in getting stuck without power or heat inremote places and bad weather. This is easy to test and I am shockedthat Airstream did not catch this issue during design or production tests!

Hi

You might want to start a separate thread about your your issues.....

Bob

[rlsf57]

Originally Posted by rlsf57

We picked up our Atlas from minor service yesterday with a dead battery.
No power on generator display panel. We were assured all would charge on our drive home. Still no generator power.
Battery required overnight charging to return to full charge.
Generator still dead. Will be returning to service reluctantly. Trip planned in 4 days.
Anyone have a suggestion? TIA.

The battery had died at dealer for failure to disconnect chassis battery while parked. Jumped with probably a too large piece of equipment.
Turned out to be blown gen fuse which RV dealer was able to replace. Thanks all.. headed to Jupiter!

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by rlsf57

The battery had died at dealer for failure to disconnect chassis battery while parked. Jumped with probably a too large piece of equipment.
Turned out to be blown gen fuse which RV dealer was able to replace. Thanks all.. headed to Jupiter!

Hi

Probably a good idea to familiarize yourself with the locations of the fuses. Some of them may be in odd places. If one pops when you are 5 hours from a dealer, it's worth knowing.

Bob

[rlsf57]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

Probably a good idea to familiarize yourself with the locations of the fuses. Some of them may be in odd places. If one pops when you are 5 hours from a dealer, it's worth knowing.

Bob

You are right Bob! Fuses behind the battery. Will definitely be prepared for that if needed again.

Lynn

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Somehow it's *never* the fuses in the nice easy to find fuse panel that blow. It's always the ones stuffed in by themselves / somewhere obscure. Must be a law of nature

Bob

[rowiebowie]

Originally Posted by rlsf57

The battery had died at dealer for failure to disconnect chassis battery while parked. Jumped with probably a too large piece of equipment.
Turned out to be blown gen fuse which RV dealer was able to replace. Thanks all.. headed to Jupiter!

Unnecessary problems created by the dealer, but congrats on getting it fixed.

Enjoy your trip and safe travels!