Any pointers on charging my Sprinter chassis Battery?

[toskeysam]

Thanks Boxster! Still a real drag we cannot kill the drain, but at least my frustration level has gone down a few points. Now I can focus more on enjoying the ride, and a little less on "Where is it all going?"

[UKDUDE]

Thanks from me too, Boxster. I had previously asked my local Airstream dealer about it, and they had (supposedly) contacted Airstream support - and I never did get any meaningful answer.

[bennu36]

One of the best investments I have made so far is a "real" battery monitor. I can see just how much is going into my battery and coming out. I have found that there is a .3amp drain even when the battery switch is off and the triplight charger is set to charge only mode. Way up north here the solar panel has a hard time. keeping up with the drain, and we have many days when we dont see the sun at all. As a result I need to plug mine in for about 48 hours every 2 weeks. To give you an example, right now the solar monitor panel (the factory one) says we are at 100% and 12.8 volts, my battery monitor says we are at 12.8 volts but at 85% because we are 26 amp hours down from full. The monitor I got from AM solar in Springfield Or. and in fact the first of march I am going back and having them mount two 105 watt panels on the roof. I installed the Battery Monitor myself withe their kit the hardest part was running the cable the rest was fairly easy with the instructions that came from AM solar.

[Boxster1971]

Good job. Folks at AM Solar are the best.

[aa9zz]

I have only one starting battery and it is under the driver's feet. I need to replace it. Are all batteries alike or do I need to look for a good, better best battery? What brand and model should I get? I have a 2010 Sprinter on a 2008 chassis.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by aa9zz

I have only one starting battery and it is under the driver's feet. I need to replace it. Are all batteries alike or do I need to look for a good, better best battery? What brand and model should I get? I have a 2010 Sprinter on a 2008 chassis.

I believe the starting battery is a Group 49 AGM. I have no idea what brand is best in Group 49 AGMs; If Lifeline makes one, that's what I'd go with. If not, I'd shop around for (1) highest cold cranking amps; and (2) lowest self-discharge rate. In that order.

[tishaeisha]

Protagonist, In regards to the battery disconnect, yes I can turn on the TVs even if the disconnect switch is OFF( and no engine power/shore line power) as long as the Inverter is ON. So your theory of "120vAC is not switched off by the 12vDC main disconnect, and neither is the inverter/charger itself" is correct on mine. Mine is a 2014 AI Ext.

[toskeysam]

Where oh where is the wiring diagram.....my 2013 Interstate.....the Inverter will not come on with the 12volt disconnect off....neither will the TV's. As expected......

[Bikerbill]

I don't know for sure if the engine start battery is a Group 49 (I think it is) but Interstate makes an MT5-49 / H8 AGM. My cost locally is about $222. Specs: 95 amps 900 CCA Cap 85 weighs 59#. Last time I checked Lifeline DOES NOT make a group 49 battery.

[Bikerbill]

Sounds like you have a 115 volt circuit breaker(s) off. If you are on shore power/generator the TVs should work. You've got a 30 amp breaker for the main and then there is a 20 amp breaker for the Inverter system.

[FlaBucki]

I was specifically told by the factory not to continually use shore power on my 2014 AI Ext as it would ruin the holding capacity of the house batteries. Was that old information. My unit has the Magnum Inverter.

[lewster]

Magnum inverter/chargers are a far cry from the POS single voltage converters that are used in their trailers.

Magnums WILL properly charge your house batteries if correctly programmed You will need the optional ( with Airstream only) battery temp sensor for accurate to compensated charging.

These are regularly included with a new Magnum, and I have no idea why Airstream chooses to delete them.

PM me if you have more questions.

[73shark]

What about the older ones w/ the Tripp-Lite inverter? Is it detrimental to the house batteries to leave the RV plugged in to shore power constantly?

[lewster]

Originally Posted by 73shark

What about the older ones w/ the Tripp-Lite inverter? Is it detrimental to the house batteries to leave the RV plugged in to shore power constantly?

I'm not real familiar with the Tripp-Lite units. Protagonist, IIRC, has one so hopefully he will chime in. I don't believe that they have full temperature compensation, which is extremely important for proper and complete battery charging.

Also, a very worthwhile upgrade if you have a Magnum, is to replace the mini remote with the full-function Magnum ME-RC remote. You can add Magnum's battery monitor kit….ME-BMK that reads thru the Magnum remote rather than adding a Tri-Metric with yet another remote panel to deal with.

[73shark]

Thanks for the info. I was told that the only reason that AS changed to the Magnum was a change in the generator that the Tripp-Lite wasn't compatible with.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by lewster

I'm not real familiar with the Tripp-Lite units. Protagonist, IIRC, has one so hopefully he will chime in. I don't believe that they have full temperature compensation, which is extremely important for proper and complete battery charging.

I don't believe the TrippLite has any temperature compensation at all. Near as I can tell, the only advantage of the TrippLite is that there is a three-position switch easily accessible right on the front of the unit, with the middle position being "Off." So when you've got your Interstate in storage and NOT plugged in, you can be absolutely sure you've eliminated that source of parasitic drain.

On the whole, I'd rather have the Magnum. But not to the point that I'll rip out a serviceable TrippLite to install one. But if the TrippLite starts giving me problems, it's so gone…