Fans of Airstream Interstate

[wayneskid]

Originally Posted by doug&maggie

We have always taken ours (Mercedes diesel) to Peterbilt for routine maintenance, and they have done a great job.
Maggie

Never heard of Peterbilt working on Sprinters; might you mean Freightliner?

Wayne

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by wayneskid

Never heard of Peterbilt working on Sprinters; might you mean Freightliner?

Wayne

No, I really do mean Peterbilt.

In Bloomington, Illinois. We have taken ours their since first purchased in 07. I would think they would all be the same?

We bought new tires a couple of years ago, and deal with those/get rotations elsewhere, but Peterbilt does all the routine maintenance for us.



Maggie

[Protagonist]

Mine's still under warranty, so I'm sticking with Mercedes Benz for now. Once the warranty expires, I'll be shopping around for other sources of quality repair and maintenance work. Hadn't really considered that Peterbilt or other 18-wheeler dealers would do that type of work on other companies' products. You have just increased my research workload, but in a good way.

--Doyle

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Mine's still under warranty, so I'm sticking with Mercedes Benz for now. Once the warranty expires, I'll be shopping around for other sources of quality repair and maintenance work. Hadn't really considered that Peterbilt or other 18-wheeler dealers would do that type of work on other companies' products. You have just increased my research workload, but in a good way.

--Doyle

We've been very happy with Peterbilt and trust their work. They are also very user-friendly, answering questions and giving guidance over the phone on occasion.


Maggie

[73shark]

Originally Posted by Teamaron

Well
It's not over till the inks dry
Anyone have a good recommendation for rv financing?
The one I've been working says all's good than basically wants my next of kin.

I used USAA to get my RV loan but they don't write RV insurance. Went w/ Allied for that. Hope it works out for you. Great RV.

[bugsbunny]

I had great luck with Commerce Bank a few years ago

[Lily&Me]

Our faux-aluminum Dometic frig door insert and the brushed aluminum bathroom door are very vulnerable to scratches due to their location and the narrow interior of the Interstate.

We have found that a coat of TurtleWax Ice clear car wax a couple of times a year makes the small scratches disappear and deeper ones much less apparent. Also puts a beautiful shine on and provides a bit of protection against future insults.

Our unit is 6 years old and has 108,000 miles on it. The cargo door latch has begun sticking badly, which we thought was normal wear and tear.

The mechanic at the Dodge dealership gave it a good shot of WD40 this morning and Voila! No more problems! Who knew? We didn't. Doug promptly treated all the doors.

Love our Interstate.


Maggie

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by doug&maggie

We have found that a coat of TurtleWax Ice clear car wax a couple of times a year makes the small scratches disappear and deeper ones much less apparent. Also puts a beautiful shine on and provides a bit of protection against future insults.

Waxing your fiberglass shower stall isn't a bad idea, either. I got the idea from a book on sailboat maintenance, and was one of the first things I did with my Interstate after I bought it, since I live in the New Orleans area, home of mold and fungus. Your shower is definitely one place you want water to bead up and run off quickly. Don't wax the floor, but definitely the walls and ceiling.

[73shark]

Originally Posted by doug&maggie

The cargo door latch has begun sticking badly, which we thought was normal wear and tear.

The mechanic at the Dodge dealership gave it a good shot of WD40 this morning and Voila! No more problems! Who knew? We didn't. Doug promptly treated all the doors.

Love our Interstate.


Maggie

You may already know this but while WD40 works great for a lot of things, as a lubricant, it's not long lasting. Suggest finding an actual spray lube for long lasting results. Or you can always just use WD40 every so often.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by 73shark

You may already know this but while WD40 works great for a lot of things, as a lubricant, it's not long lasting. Suggest finding an actual spray lube for long lasting results. Or you can always just use WD40 every so often.

Gun oil works well. So does spray graphite. I use gun oil to lubricate locks, especially those exposed to the weather; put a couple of drops on the key, and work it back and forth in the lock a few times.

[Lily&Me]

Originally Posted by 73shark

You may already know this but while WD40 works great for a lot of things, as a lubricant, it's not long lasting. Suggest finding an actual spray lube for long lasting results. Or you can always just use WD40 every so often.

Hmmm. Thanks for that bit of info.

Doug used "White Lithium Grease" on all the latches when he got the rig home from the Dodge dealer, says it isn't the same thing as WD40. I know nothing about such things.

Doug treated the handle area on the cargo door with graphite some time ago, which didn't really help. It was getting to the point that we couldn't open the cargo door without simultaneously manipulating the inside latch.

What the guy at the dealership told him yesterday was that the actual latch for this door is in the rear of the door.

Once that was treated, no more problems.

Life is especially good when everything works properly.


Maggie

[73shark]

We never stop learning. That's why I like forums. It's like being part of the Borg collective. (Star Trek reference)

[BL1996]

I seem to have battery drainage more that I would expect between usage. I turn off the inverter and the battery switch. Is there anything else I need to shut off?

[wayneskid]

I don't know if yours is the same, but here is the note about the Battery Disconnect on my 2010; this might be worth looking into:
"The holding tank heat pads, the rear lounge motor, solar panel (option), and generator (option) are not connected to the 12-volt distribution panel and are wired direct through the thermal breakers mentioned earlier. The battery disconnect will not disable these systems."

Also, can you supply a little more information? For esample:
1) You are talking about the coach batteries, correct?
2) Over what period of time between use?
3) What are you using as the indication that the batteries are discharged?

One more thing; you will get more attention and help with this problem if you start a new thread with a title indicating the topic.

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by BL1996

I seem to have battery drainage more that I would expect between usage. I turn off the inverter and the battery switch. Is there anything else I need to shut off?

One potential source of battery drain in storage is the propane switch in that little black box behind the rear curb-side wheelwell. It's a solenoid switch, and is not shut off by the battery disconnect switch; when it's on, it draws almost two amps, round the clock. Drawing 48 amp-hours a day will run your house batteries down in no time. Found out the hard way when I forgot to switch it off, and my batteries ran down in about four days.

The current draw for the solenoid surprised me at first, but it makes sense when you think about it. In the closed position, the propane valve is held shut by a strong spring, to resist being shaken open by bumps as you are traveling. It takes an equally strong electromagnet to overcome the force of the spring and open the valve when the switch is on, and that means significant amperage.

Besides minimizing battery drain, for safety the propane solenoid switch should always be turned off anyway when you're not using a propane appliance.

[BL1996]

I am referring to the house batteries (2) and I am looking at the display for the inverter.

It shows red amber and green when the batteries are fully charged. I can leave the unit unplugged for a couple of days and turn on the inverter charger and it will show red.

[wayneskid]

Regarding the propane (LPG) switch being on even with the Battery Disconnect off, I've seen this mentioned before. Unfortunately my Interstate is in Oregon at the moment so I can't verify if it is or isn't. Mayber the later Interstates have this wired differently but I don't know why they would change this. Anyway, according to my documentation the LPG valve, level detector and switch are definitely on the RED ckt. along with the refer, and the tank monitors. The RED ckt. is #6 and is fused at 7.5 A in the DC distribution panel which is shut off with the Disconnect Switch. More checking to do on this.
Wayne

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by wayneskid

Regarding the propane (LPG) switch being on even with the Battery Disconnect off, I've seen this mentioned before. Unfortunately my Interstate is in Oregon at the moment so I can't verify if it is or isn't. Mayber the later Interstates have this wired differently but I don't know why they would change this. Anyway, according to my documentation the LPG valve, level detector and switch are definitely on the RED ckt. along with the refer, and the tank monitors. The RED ckt. is #6 and is fused at 7.5 A in the DC distribution panel which is shut off with the Disconnect Switch. More checking to do on this.
Wayne

I have no reason to doubt you; I can only go by my personal experience. When I switched everything off except (accidentally) the propane, the house batteries discharged in four days. After a recharge, and turning off the switch, the batteries can easily sit for a couple of weeks without needing a recharge, and I run the generator more to exercise the generator than to recharge the batteries. The propane switch was the only thing different between the two experiences.

I first found out about the switch issue on the Airstream Interstate & Avenue Yahoo! Group when I was trying to figure out my house battery drain: Airstream_Interstate : Messages : 203-232 of 232 (I sort the list with newest message first to easily check updates; you have to drill down a long way in the thread to find the propane switch info).
The advice from that usergroup was solid, and solved my problem. BL1996's problem may be something else.

[wayneskid]

Protagonist,

Hmmmm. I wonder if they have changed the way this ckt. is wired between my 2010 and your 2012. I have the actual Airstream schematics and it's clear that mine would have the LPG valve turned off by the Battery Disconnect. Also, the Owner's Manual indicates that this is how it works. There is a simple way to test the theory and this is what I will do in a few weeks when I go south to get mine out of hibernation. For you, this would also eliminate any possibility that some other factor was involved the the results you saw.

1) Put all switches in their normal "camping" configuration.
2) Light one of the burners on the cooktop.
3) Turn the Battery Disconnect to OFF

If it is wired like I think mine is, the burner will turn off. If yours is wired like you think yours is, the burner will continue to burn.

If you get a chance, give it a try and let me know what happened.

Wayne

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by wayneskid

Protagonist,

Hmmmm. I wonder if they have changed the way this ckt. is wired between my 2010 and your 2012. I have the actual Airstream schematics and it's clear that mine would have the LPG valve turned off by the Battery Disconnect. Also, the Owner's Manual indicates that this is how it works. There is a simple way to test the theory and this is what I will do in a few weeks when I go south to get mine out of hibernation. For you, this would also eliminate any possibility that some other factor was involved the the results you saw.

1) Put all switches in their normal "camping" configuration.
2) Light one of the burners on the cooktop.
3) Turn the Battery Disconnect to OFF

If it is wired like I think mine is, the burner will turn off. If yours is wired like you think yours is, the burner will continue to burn.

If you get a chance, give it a try and let me know what happened.

Wayne

I'll do that, purely for the sake of curiosity, but let's get back to BL1996 and his inexplicable battery drain, shall we?