Battery on off switch

[Laurai]

Easy question. Is battery on off switch on 2017 Classic on or off when plugged into shore power?

[hoagy_007]

Hi,

Plenty of information in this thread, with very detailed steps and schematics.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f542...ll-168120.html

[Mollysdad]

Mine says, "Use/Store", not on/off.

In use, the converter supplies 12 v. to all the lights, controls, and other devices requiring 12v. AND charges the batteries.

In "store" it does not supply 12 v, and does not charge the batteries.

Shore power is 120 vac, for the A/C and outlets, and powers the converter when in "Use".

[rmkrum]

Where the confusion often comes in, is the fact that the light next to the use/store switch DOES NOT indicate the state of the actual use/store latching relay. The light ONLY indicates 12 volt power is present on the trailer side (12 volt appliances and lights) of the latching relay.

So, if the trailer is plugged into 120v AC shore power, and the convertor is working, the light will be ON. This does NOT always mean that the battery is being charged. There are some wiring differences between years that affect this. For example, my 2007 ONLY charges batteries from the convertor when the relay is closed.

My aftermarket, DIY solar system (150 watt AMSolar kit) is wired so the batteries always get charged from the MPPT solar controller when in storage. I also generally leave the use/store switch set to "USE" so I can run one Fantastic fan to keep the AS ventilated up here in the hot, high desert in SoCal. The MPPT controller does multi-stage charging and also has a temperature sensor to help protect the batteries from overcharging in the desert heat. It's been getting well over 100 degrees where we store the AS!

For ALL AS trailers, if the Use/Store relay is in the "USE" position, the batteries are connected to the trailer 12 volt appliances. If the relay is set to "STORE", the batteries are NOT connected to the trailer 12 volt appliances. The only way to verify this is to press the desired side of the switch, and listen for the 'clunk' from the latching relay. If shore power is NOT connected, the red light should then come on.

It's a little weird because Airstream used a very simple (read as: Cheap, and draws NO power when open or closed--just briefly when you hit the switch) latching relay product that does not give a real indication of the relay being on or off. Blue Sea systems makes a relay with a positive indicator LED, however, that relay draws a little power all the time to keep the LED in the switch on when the relay is on. I plan to replace Airstream's cheapo latching use/store relay and independent light with a Blue Seas Systems ACR so I know what's really going on...and this has a manual override as well so I can close the relay if the batteries are too dead to latch this thing.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Syst...%2Bswitch&th=1

[Laurai]

Originally Posted by rmkrum

Where the confusion often comes in, is the fact that the light next to the use/store switch DOES NOT indicate the state of the actual use/store latching relay. The light ONLY indicates 12 volt power is present on the trailer side (12 volt appliances and lights) of the latching relay.

So, if the trailer is plugged into 120v AC shore power, and the convertor is working, the light will be ON. This does NOT always mean that the battery is being charged. There are some wiring differences between years that affect this. For example, my 2007 ONLY charges batteries from the convertor when the relay is closed.

My aftermarket, DIY solar system (150 watt AMSolar kit) is wired so the batteries always get charged from the MPPT solar controller when in storage. I also generally leave the use/store switch set to "USE" so I can run one Fantastic fan to keep the AS ventilated up here in the hot, high desert in SoCal. The MPPT controller does multi-stage charging and also has a temperature sensor to help protect the batteries from overcharging in the desert heat. It's been getting well over 100 degrees where we store the AS!

For ALL AS trailers, if the Use/Store relay is in the "USE" position, the batteries are connected to the trailer 12 volt appliances. If the relay is set to "STORE", the batteries are NOT connected to the trailer 12 volt appliances. The only way to verify this is to press the desired side of the switch, and listen for the 'clunk' from the latching relay. If shore power is NOT connected, the red light should then come on.

It's a little weird because Airstream used a very simple (read as: Cheap, and draws NO power when open or closed--just briefly when you hit the switch) latching relay product that does not give a real indication of the relay being on or off. Blue Sea systems makes a relay with a positive indicator LED, however, that relay draws a little power all the time to keep the LED in the switch on when the relay is on. I plan to replace Airstream's cheapo latching use/store relay and independent light with a Blue Seas Systems ACR so I know what's really going on...and this has a manual override as well so I can close the relay if the batteries are too dead to latch this thing.

Link: https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Syst...%2Bswitch&th=1

Yes, no light to indicate anything, like those cheapy power strips you can buy in 2 packs at Walmart. Obviously on is the answer. When we store we “off”. Turns off all light panels and gas detector.

[Laurai]

We been having converter problems. Then all dumb questions come back into play.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

There is another layer to this. Not all trailers are wired the same way. Some do one thing, others work a different way. "Fixing" the difference is simply moving a cable from one lug to an adjacent lug.

Bob

[rmkrum]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

There is another layer to this. Not all trailers are wired the same way. Some do one thing, others work a different way. "Fixing" the difference is simply moving a cable from one lug to an adjacent lug.

Bob

Yup. Had to do that to get the Solar Controller onto the batteries at all times--was on wrong side of the latching relay initially. Every time the sun came out, the use/store red LED came on, and we could not figure out what was going on. To add to the fun, it was set to 'store', so scratch one set of batteries...after about six months of this silliness...

If you need to do this, please disconnect battery negative cable AND all shore power to prevent sparking and arcing where you are messing with the wiring. I had to crawl under our bed to do this fix, and that is NOT a good place to start an electrical fire...

[paiceman]

Our battery store switch turns off everything in the trailer except the Co2 monitor and fire monitor as well as the ability to charge the batteries using our solar system. The solar by passes the converter.

[OTRA15]

One easy way to check your Use/Store switch is to manually turn on the overhead lights, then try the U/S switch, both with and without shore power. Check your battery voltage during each step of the testing.

This full-scale-model testing is a lot more practical than getting advice here, because not all models have the same switch, and sometimes Airstream even puts different parts in different trailers, even in the middle of the same run of each model in the same model year! Yes, you read that right. There have been reports of workers on the assembly line swapping in non-standard parts for “your” part, just to keep the line moving.



So . . . get to know your specific trailer based on your own testing.

Good luck,

Peter

PS — I guess your 30’ Classic has its own system, however, the point remains that your best approach is to put all the settings through all the options as suggested above, without taking as gospel other folks’ advice.