Your Airstream's batteries are the heart and soul of your travel trailer, bringing you the convenience of home with you on your adventures. Battery maintenance is key to lasting power and performance.
From the refrigerator and TV to the exhaust fan and lights, the battery keeps you running. If not used regularly, your batteries can slowly lose their energy. To keep your Airstream’s batteries going strong, even during the off season, it’s important to keep your batteries charged and topped off between trips.
How Do I Preserve My Airstream’s Battery Life?
Healthy batteries will provide years of dependable service, and the key to battery health is regular maintenance and use.
When your Airstream is not in use, consider using a trickle charger to keep the battery in optimal condition. Airstream offers several battery charging options for sale at our official store, Airstream Supply Company.
- Intelligent Battery Chargers by Wagan Tech plug into a standard 110v outlet and cycle your battery’s power to keep it in tip top shape. Offered in 4-amp and 15-amp versions.
- The Zamp Solar OBSIDIAN® SERIES 25 Watt Trickle Charge Solar Panel Kit harnesses the power of the sun to maintain battery health.
Wagan’s Intelligent Battery Chargers are great options for winter storage – simply remove your batteries from your Airstream’s battery box, store them in a garage or closet, and hook them up to the battery charger (see below for more info on winterization). When the summer camping season comes back around, your batteries will be as ready as you are!
The Zamp trickle charger kit contains everything you need to properly maintain your Airstream batteries when you have access to open sky. Rather than drawing power from an outlet, the Zamp kit harnesses the power of the sun for free energy. Whether you're hunkered down at a campsite for the week and want to keep your batteries topped off, or storing your RV long term and want to ensure battery health in the off-season, Zamp's OBSIDIAN® SERIES 25 Watt Trickle Charge Solar Panel Kit is the perfect solution for delivering a steady charge to your batteries. Note that this option cannot be used if storing your Airstream travel trailer in a public storage facility with no roof or sunlight access.
How do I winterize my Airstream’s batteries?
During the winter or other downtime, the batteries should be removed from the travel trailer and stored in a cool, dry place, where there is no danger of freezing. Flooded batteries should be kept full of water, cleaned, and charged monthly. A battery of this type that is allowed to completely lose its charge will never regain its original power or a full charge.
If not using a trickle charger, the following recommendations may be helpful if the battery is to be stored:
- When storing the battery in a vehicle or vessel, it is not necessary to leave it on charge. Disconnect the negative battery cable. This will prevent inadvertent discharging of the battery which may lead to a complete discharge.
- Fully charge the battery before putting it in storage and store in a cool place.
- Charge the battery every 30 to 60 days to ensure maximum battery life.
Note that a battery will self-discharge 1-3% per month at 80 degrees.
What Type of Batteries Are Installed In My Airstream Travel Trailer?
The type of batteries your travel trailer has depends on if your Airstream has an installed solar package. If you do not have the solar package, you will have flooded batteries, and if you do have the solar package, you will have AGM batteries. The batteries are hooked up in parallel, which means there are 2 batteries at 12V.
AGM batteries are “maintenance-free” batteries, but you should check the connection every 30 days.
Flooded batteries there are caps on top that need to be opened to check the fluid level every 30 days. You’ll need to add distilled water if the water level is low.
Where Can I Access My Airstream’s Batteries?
Airstream travel trailer batteries are located in the front of the trailer in the A-frame. There is a small door that needs to be opened to access the batteries.
At What Voltage Do I Need To Keep My Airstream’s Batteries?
For optimal battery health, we recommend not letting the voltage level on your batteries get below 12.4V, or 75-80 percent. Periodically allowing your battery to discharge down to a minimum limit of 40 percent is possible, but know that going below 40 percent charge can irreparably damage batteries. Check the voltage every 30 days. The below voltage chart can help you assess the health of your battery.