Battery Draining

[80 Cruiser Rod]

Okay, I have my first problem. I went into my camper and went to turn on the interior lights, nada, nothing worked! So I decided to take a volt reading on the battery and the battery read 2.4 volts. From what the PO said this battery was purchased last year, so it's only a year old and when I first saw this camper last Saturday everything that was on 12 volt worked. At this point I ran electric to my new used camper and everything worked but I heard a fan running. I traced the fan to to where it is built into the circuit panel. Is there something that needs to be disconnected when the camper is not in use or turned off? And, why is this fan running?






Also, there is a 12 volt TV outlet. How do you connect to this?

[WVDusty]

Parasitic draw will discharge a battery in just a few days. Most install a battery disconnect to keep this from happening.

Sent from my SM-J327P using Tapatalk

[Subaru297]

As posted above a trailer sitting for a few days will drain a battery. The CO and propane alarms are the biggest culprits but the fridge and stereo will also drain a bit. Your best bet is to completely disconnect the battery if you are away from the trailer for a few days or longer.

The fan you heard is normal. That is your converter and it was probably dumping a lot of current back into your battery to charge it back up. The converter generates heats when it is working hard and turns the fan on. The fan probably won't run much if your battery is fully charged and you don't have a lot of appliances or lights on.

The TV plug is just a 12 volt cigarette lighter plug just like in your car. You would need a specific TV that runs on 12 volts to use that outlet. We use ours for charging phones usually.

Cheers

[33 RLDS]

Fans probably running to keep it cool from trying to recharge your dead battery. I would remove the battery and try to charge it on a conventional battery charger.

The 12v outlet is for a cigarette style plug that some 12v TVs can use. I use it to power a small 12v to 110v invertor to power my TV while dry camping.

[33 RLDS]

Dang, Subaru typed faster than me !

[WinnieView]

Originally Posted by WVDusty

Parasitic draw will discharge a battery in just a few days. Most install a battery disconnect to keep this from happening.

Sent from my SM-J327P using Tapatalk

Here are some popular battery disconnects;

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...aenok8hj_e_p20

[bankr63]

Wow! I count 13 compression water connections directly behind the converter/power panel. Can you imagine that in home construction?

Another tip to reduce battery drain is to turn off the amplifier for the antenna when not in use. That's the little button below the 12V outlet.

We keep a double USB plug in our 12V outlet for charging phones while boondocking.

Note that if you don't want to/don't have time to install a cutoff, just leave your shore power plugged in, or use a battery tender. I have a small solar panel that I stick up on the roof in the storage yard to keep the battery topped off rather than disconnecting it.

[Downtown74]

I disconnect mine for the winter and keep it on a trickle charger.
Be sure not to let it drain completely too often as it shortens the life of the battery.

[Mustang65]

Pull the Main inline fuse that is by the battery box, this will disconnect the TT from the battery. Your battery, totally charged before disconnecting the fuse and assuming that it is not toast after discharging so low, will last months without needing to be charged.

Check your batteries water level now that you have it charged up again. Check its voltage level, pull the fuse, and check it the next day. It should be between 12.6 and 12.8 volts, if it goes below 12.6 your battery more than likely has a bad cell.

If the TT is less than a year old there is a battery warranty yet.

Don
My Registry

RVing with SOLAR

[RedHorse1]

I too had a low battery on our 1st TT when it was new and sat a few days. JOF clued me in. (Sound familiar?)
I started pulling the 30A fuse near the battery when it was stored (solved the problem) until several batteries went missing in the storage lot. I got some wing nuts from HD for the battery terminals and started taking it home with me. It’s a pain to lug it around but better than buying a new one. I do the same with the 5th and don’t lock the batt compartment in case someone wants to take it, hoping to avoid damage.

[80 Cruiser Rod]

Thank you for all of the replies.

After I posted this I did think that the fan was for the charger charging the battery, that did make sense. I'm very surprised with the parasitic draw, the battery seemed to drain within 48 hours. I did had a large boat for many years that had two deep cycle batteries and I used a battery switch I would turn off whenever I was not on the boat. I guess I'll have to think what will work for me for disconnecting the power when I'm not using the camper.

[SouthCo]

Originally Posted by 80 Cruiser Rod

What is "TT"?

TT= travel trailer

Some people abbreviate some words on here. I just type them out lol...

[Jagiven]

Originally Posted by 80 Cruiser Rod

Thank you for all of the replies.

After I posted this I did think that the fan was for the charger charging the battery, that did make sense. I'm very surprised with the parasitic draw, the battery seemed to drain within 48 hours. I did had a large boat for many years that had two deep cycle batteries and I used a battery switch I would turn off whenever I was not on the boat. I guess I'll have to think what will work for me for disconnecting the power when I'm not using the camper.

48 hours does seam quick! I can leave my HTT unplugged and the battery connected for about 2 weeks, before I am at the 50% charge.

I make sure the TV antenna amplifier is turned off. Might want to see if a cargo light was left on, or some other electrical item.

In general the furnace fan is your biggest power drain, when running it can run down a cheap battery with a days use.

We too use the TV 12V AUX plug to charge phones, and I have a small 12V fan I will plug in there, when I use an electric space heater.

[geezerbob]

I installed a battery disconnect switch. Got it from NAPA. Easy install

[80 Cruiser Rod]

Originally Posted by Jagiven

48 hours does seam quick! I can leave my HTT unplugged and the battery connected for about 2 weeks, before I am at the 50% charge.

I don't know if the PO had a fully charged battery in the camper when I bought it. I'll have to monitor the battery and check to see if there is anything that might be draining it.

[80 Cruiser Rod]

Originally Posted by geezerbob

I installed a battery disconnect switch. Got it from NAPA. Easy install

What kind was it?

[Ion Top]

Hi,
This would be my first post, although I have been on this forum for more than a year.
I have concerns with the battery of my 16ft Hummingbird getting drain so that this is what I did:
- Installed 2x100W solar cells.
- Installed a power switch on the (+) of the battery, but not including the (+) from the solar cells/controller.
(I am trying this way to avoid accidentally connecting the solar cells without the battery in the circuit).
- I am using a 75W convertor plug into 12V outlet for the Furrion TV.
- To reduce the numbers of on/off on the water pump (At start, the pick current is significant) I installed, near the pump, a pressure tank, set at 40psi, if I'm not mistaken.
I love it!!! My pumps works now much seldom that it use to.
- Most important, I installed a battery monitor and I can check from distance (max. 10m not obstructed).
As the consumption is very small (0.015A), I ignore this lose.
As someone was saying earlier, the best way to protect the battery is to charge it fully (by means of existing power supply of the trailer or a separate charger or solar...) and disconnect it from the trailer's electric system.
On winter time (Canada, eh!) I keep my battery in the basement and just a small digital voltmeter display (Amazon, four different color for CAD$16) to see if needed to recharge.
As I am retired and with this Covid I am not using much my Ford XLT, so that I installed a battery monitor on the car as well. (I had a bad experience when the car didn't start after almost two weeks not running).
Interestingly enough, I can use the same android application for both monitors.
Something else I would like to do is to add a dimmer to the electric circuit for the ceiling's LEDs. (At night, the light is way too powerful).
Well, that's about all.