Batteries on your Airstream

Batteries

Our next stop is the battery compartment. Usually the house batteries are stored in a big steel box that hangs between the main frame rails of the A-frame and behind the propane bottles. On some Airstreams, particularly Classics, the house batteries are inside little doors built into the front of the trailer body. For now, just be sure you know where the batteries live.

With Proper Maintenance your Batteries can keep your Airstream alive and functioning.

Lets talk about Maintaining the Batteries:

Always keep your batteries clean,charged and full of water.

1. Cleaning your batteries, There are products at many retail outlets that and made for keeping the batteries on your Airstream clean and also products that keep the Batteries on your Airstream protected this is a great start.

2. Keeping your batteries charged is probably the most important part of your Airstream electrical system if your Airstream Batteries are dead you will not be able to run most items in your Airstream so keep them charged the easiest way to keep your Airstream charged is keep it plugged in to 110 volt power and the system will keep them charged but remember the more charging and use the more the water in the batteries will deplete we will talk about the water next. Many problems in your Airstream are due to low 12 volt power most items need 12 volt power to operate even your AC system must have 12 volt power to activate the thermostat now that doesn’t mean that the AC doesn’t need 110 volts because it does. We will talk more on 110 volt system later in another article.

3. Keeping the water in your batteries is an important part of maintaining the battery life, Now don't use just any water, you need to use Distilled water by using Distilled water it keeps all the impurities out that will foul up the cells in your batteries, You should check the water in the batteries on your Airstream every month and if the temperature is hot and you are using the 12 volt system a lot it doesn’t take long for the batteries to lose water, to keep them full pop the caps on the top of the batteries (use eye protection and do not get the battery fluids on you or your clothes) check the level of the water in the batteries the level should be just below the caps approximately ½ of an inch, they do make a filler can for this and is available at most auto parts stores after filling replace caps and rinse batteries clean.

Well now that you know how to maintain your Airstream Batteries go have a look at yours and have fun camping and by the way when replacing your Airstream Batteries remember that you should replace them with a deep cycle style as they are made to be charged more often than regular batteries.

Check back soon for the next installment on Maintaining your Airstream

Airstream A-Frames

The A-Frame

Outside your Airstream, up at the front. This area is called the A-frame, and this is the "business end" of your Airstream. where a lot of stuff happens.

The very tip of the A-frame has the hitch coupler, where the tow ball from your vehicle attaches. Because hitch brands and styles vary so much, we'll talk about the hitch later.

Just behind the hitch coupler you'll see the electric hitch jack (on most models). Push the switch and up goes your trailer's tongue. Reverse the switch to go down. You might even have a little courtesy light on there, for nighttime use.

If the electric hitch jack ever fails, there's a way to operate it with a wrench-like tool.

Also mounted to the A-frame is a black box with a cable leading to it. This is the breakaway switch. It activates the trailer's brakes if the trailer ever becomes separated from the tow vehicle. You attach the loose end of the cable to the tow vehicle. With a strong tug, the cable will come out of the black box and activate the brakes. Don't use this device as a parking brake, since long-term operation will cause damage to the brakes. It's only for emergencies.