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Old 10-17-2018, 01:24 PM   #1
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Location: Southern Ontario
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Parasitic Battery drain

Just winterized the motorhome.

Ok.....it could be because my house batteries are in their 5th year. After all they are just two RV24-140 Marine Deep Cycle. We hardly ever dry camp, so they’re pretty much being charged when driving or we’re hooked up at camp. Never any 12 volt troubles with anything needing 12 volts.

Now, after unplugging from 50amps, in just 72 hours my house batteries measure 8.9 volts. The OEM battery switch is switched off. The Propane detector (hard wired to batteries) is off.
The awning and steps (hard wired to batteries) are retracted.

Anyone found anything else that draws on these batteries?

Guess I’ll buy new ones in the spring.
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Old 10-17-2018, 01:36 PM   #2
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Originally Posted by kenandterry View Post
Just winterized the motorhome.

Ok.....it could be because my house batteries are in their 5th year. After all they are just two RV24-140 Marine Deep Cycle. We hardly ever dry camp, so they’re pretty much being charged when driving or we’re hooked up at camp. Never any 12 volt troubles with anything needing 12 volts.

Now, after unplugging from 50amps, in just 72 hours my house batteries measure 8.9 volts. The OEM battery switch is switched off. The Propane detector (hard wired to batteries) is off.
The awning and steps (hard wired to batteries) are retracted.

Anyone found anything else that draws on these batteries?

Guess I’ll buy new ones in the spring.
There are a number of items hard wired to batteries. The disconnect switch in fact does not disconnect everything. The only way is to move the wires (typically with inline fuses) off of the battery and on to the disconnect switch relay.

This industry (users) do not like to reprogram radios so they are hardwired to battery. And the industry (manufacturers) are Liable sensitive so they hardwire the alarms. I only turn off the battery when I am not inside (nonuse), so warnings are useless/unimportant. I moved everything off on my TT and RV.

A battery disconnect switch is for fire protection, not convenience, … Each do as they desire, but a small 1-3 amp draw even with the battery disconnect switch turned activated will drain the batteries down 100% (10.5Vdc) in 3-5 days.
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Old 10-17-2018, 02:25 PM   #3
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Originally Posted by 270S View Post
There are a number of items hard wired to batteries. The disconnect switch in fact does not disconnect everything. The only way is to move the wires (typically with inline fuses) off of the battery and on to the disconnect switch relay. This industry (users) do not like to reprogram radios so they are hardwired to battery. I moved everything off on my TT and RV. A battery disconnect switch is for fire protection, not convenience, … Each do as they desire, but a small 1-3 amp draw even with the batteries disconnected will drain the batteries down 100% (10.5Vdc) in 3-5 days.
^^Good advice^^
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Old 10-18-2018, 12:42 PM   #4
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A couple of thoughts ( maybe 3) First it looks like you're from eastern ontario. If this is happening there we've had some really cold weather which might be affecting things. We're a couple of hours north of Toronto and I run a 200 watt solar panel to help things stay charged - seems to work. Second you can test for battery drain by running ammeter from between negative post to where it connects to frame and pulling coach fuses ( lots of utube video's on how to do this) Finally only way to completely disconnect battery is with an in line battery disconnect switch from auto parts store
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