89 jayco designer 35' draining batteries in hours

[johninhamilton]

As mentioned i have an 89 jayco designer fifth wheel and something is draining the batteries in a couple of hours.I am not using any of the lights,i am plugged in to shore power.I disconnected the furnace because i thought it would most likely be the fridge or furnace since i am not using any dc lights.With only the fridge it completely drains a brand new walmart evermaxx group 29 battery in 4 hours.I dont think this right and was looking for help in finding the problem.This is the first camper i have ever owned.

[Boss Wagon]

This is good information here in finding the source:

http://www.rvdoctor.com/2009/12/which-circuit.html

The fridge does pull 12v current for the circuit board but not enough to drain it in 4 hours. If you have a television, even off can draw current. In my old motorhome I had a analog tv but it was switched to cut off power to it. Your propane gas detector/cut off will also draw current.

[johninhamilton]

I just bought my first camper,an 89 jayco designer fifth wheel.I am hooked to shore power and put in a brand new group 29 battery i bought at walmart.After four hours the battery was dead.I did not use any of the lights and disconnected the wires to the furnace.As far as i can figure the only thing running is the fridge,which says it is on ac on the panel.I had the battery tested and charged,it came back ok,and ran it again and same results,does this seem right?if not how do i track down the problem?thanks

[johninhamilton]

I dont have a tv,where is the propane and gas detector?

[johninhamilton]

is there a way to tell how much power an item like thecircuit board is drawing?

[David472]

Originally Posted by johninhamilton

is there a way to tell how much power an item like thecircuit board is drawing?

Yes, there is.
One approach you can try, is take a multimeter set to measure current, place the probes across one of the distribution panel fuse (or breaker) then pull the fuse or open the breaker. The current for that circuit will now flow through the multimeter. Have the multimeter set to measure at least 10 amps DC. You don't want to exceed the rating of the multimeter. Do this for each circuit to narrow down which circuit is the culprit. Then examine which devices are fed by that branch.

[lx22f/c]

Sounds like your converter is not charging your battery when hooked up to shore power. Measure your battery voltage with the camper not plugged in then measure it with it plugged in. With out hooked up you should have 12 volts plugged in to shore power should read 13.5 to 14 volts just like a car.

[Seann45]

You said you are connected to shore power when this happens?.. you have a direct short somewhere... first guess would be at the converter...

[David472]

Yes Seann could be that, but a short could also be located in one of the branch circuits, like a screw or nail thru some wiring, or insulation which has worn thru at a sharp bend around a chassis part.

[dmax_83]

Sounds crazy, but how about the breakaway cable? Have you checked to ensure that it hasn't been accidentally pulled out?

[RoyBraddy]

Every time i read where someone has just replaced their battery I always like to bring up the obvious caution. Make sure you have the battery connected up correctly.

The easiest way to tell is to find the markings on the battery case that says "NEG" or the symbol that shows "-". Then follow the cable that is connected to this terminal and make sure it goes to the trailer frame ground connection that will be very close to the battery terminals.

Having a battery connected backwards may result in some fuses blown in the trailer which doesn't allow the battery to be charged.

If your battery cables are BLACK and WHITE colors then the BLACK cable goes to the positive terminal and the WHITE cable goes to the negative terminal.

If your battery cables are RED and BLACK colors then the RED cable goes to the positive terminal and the BLACK cable goes to the negative terminal.

Roy Ken

[David472]

Originally Posted by dmax_83

Sounds crazy, but how about the breakaway cable? Have you checked to ensure that it hasn't been accidentally pulled out?

That's not crazy at all......but rather quite possible.

[Texas79]

I had the same problem only the batteries didn't drain quite that fast. I was also hooked up to shore power. Somebody already alluded to this above. I traced the problem to 3 blown fuses on the converter. Fixed everything immedidiately. The batteries were just not getting re-charged. This is another one of those tricky problems because at first glance no breakers are blown, fridge looks like it's working, etc. It's just that power slowly drains down. I know this is an old thread but maybe somebody can use this tip in the future.