Drawing on the battery

[WPW]

I have a 2012 Flagstaff Classic 425D and when it's closed up the Radio/DVD player is still on stand by ? It drains the battery completely if I don't remove the 25amp fuse next to the battery. Is there a way to turn off the Radio/DVD without pulling the fuse ?

Thanks

[Herk7769]

There are several "parasite" draws on our camper's.
The Propane detector has a heater in it that ionizes vapors to trip the detector. It draws about 300 milliamps continuously as long as a battery is connected to the camper.

The radio has a clock in it that requires power to run. It draws about 100 milliamps to do “keep time”.
If you do not “turn off” the radio, it will draw about 2 amps, so I assume you are doing that.
The only way to isolate your battery from the camper is with a disconnect switch.
One half an amp will kill an OEM Dual Purpose Camper battery in two-three weeks.

[Rsgtivr6]

Aww man. I clicked to see some sweet drawings on a battery, like a dragon or a nice landscape.

Well, x2 on the disconnect then, since I don't get any battery art...

[mewildman]

This post may be the ideal place to ask a question about the battery on my trailer. I bought my first TT in March, it is a Wildwood 26BHXL with one 12v battery, everything appears to be work correctly except the battery seems to be discharging very quickly when the trailer is not plugged in. I will sometime unplug the trailer to move it to another part of my yard. As soon as it is unplugged, I the battery indicator will only show 3 out of 4 lights. Usually after about a week and a half the battery will be completely dead where there is not enough power to turn on a light and the LP detector light is orange. I have even placed a Battery Tender Solar panel on the battery and it still was dead after about two weeks.

How long should one new 12v battery last unplugged from an outside power source?

I have checked all of my switches to make sure they are off, the radio is off, my smoke and CO detectors are 9v battery operated. I have checked the water levels in the battery (all good).

The trailer is still under the full warrantee, but it’s over a hundred miles to the service center where I bought the trailer and I would hate to take it to our local RV repair only to find out there is nothing wrong.

Does anyone have advice as to what they might think might be the problem?

[2Susan]

4 lights means it's charging
3 lights means it's charged
2 lights means half gone

So when it is unplugged you would expect to see 3 lights having just been plugged in. Why it is losing the charge so fast is a good question. What besides the carbon monoxide detector is "on"?

When you can't leave it plugged in I like he idea of a battery disconnect.

[SCOC]

Herk has already answered the question.
most campers have a Lp detector and clock, so using Herk's estimates that's 400milliamps.

400milliamps = 0.4Amps

Example:
A typical group 24 battery has about 80Amp Hour capacity
Generally you should try to keep the charge above 50%
So, 40 amp hours / 0.4 amps = 100 hours which is just over 4 days.
Complete discharge in 80 / 0.4 = 200 hours = 8.3 days.

Each situation will be a little different depending on exact load on the battery, battery size & condition, etc. But a dead battery in a week and a half should be expected. To keep your battery in tip top shape, you shouldn't let the charge drop below 50%, so disconnecting the battery when not being used is important, even if it's only for a couple days.

Originally Posted by herk7769

There are several "parasite" draws on our camper's.
The Propane detector has a heater in it that ionizes vapors to trip the detector. It draws about 300 milliamps continuously as long as a battery is connected to the camper.

The radio has a clock in it that requires power to run. It draws about 100 milliamps to do “keep time”.
If you do not “turn off” the radio, it will draw about 2 amps, so I assume you are doing that.
The only way to isolate your battery from the camper is with a disconnect switch.
One half an amp will kill an OEM Dual Purpose Camper battery in two-three weeks.