Parasitic drag on Isata 3 batteries

[caswelld]

Just went to exercise the generator and found that the hotel batteries were completely dead The MH had been in garage storage for about 2 months.

Fortunately I had disconnected the MB battery near the accelerator and the engine started fine & I was then able to start the generator.

The hotel batteries had been disconnected using the switch at the step well prior to storage.

I hope someone will be able to shed some light on this. Any ideas of the source for the parasitic draw on the coach batteries?

I hope someone with an I-3 may help me figure this out.

Thanks,
Dave

[Witch Doctor]

Who knows how the wire anything and what is still hot before the battery shut off, what your lucky about is that you have a rep for the line on here that can explane it..good luck

[milkman55]

What I found was the cameras are connected directly. That’s why the backup camera o comes on when driving, even if the house battery switch is disconnected. When I first got my I3, I left it in storage for a couple of months not plugged in and everything including the chassis battery was dead. I started leaving it plugged in 24/7 and never had a problem since.

[Witch Doctor]

The camara should be ran off the chassis battery not the house, at least on other manufacturers units, maybe Dynamax is different

[caswelld]

Originally Posted by Witch Doctor

The camara should be ran off the chassis battery not the house, at least on other manufacturers units, maybe Dynamax is different

One would think that is the case, but who knows?

I've owned 4 RVs and not one would totally disconnect with the switch designed to do that. I put a manual boat battery disconnect switch on a RV & that worked great. Really don't want to do that with the I-3

[Magnatudes]

Originally Posted by caswelld

One would think that is the case, but who knows?

I've owned 4 RVs and not one would totally disconnect with the switch designed to do that. I put a manual boat battery disconnect switch on a RV & that worked great. Really don't want to do that with the I-3

Dave,
Just wondering why you don't leave the coach plugged into AC while in storage?

It may be the lights that have motion detection. I believe they draw a bit of power all of the time for the motion detection circuitry. But if you had the battery main switch off, this should have shut down everything on the house batteries.

[caswelld]

Hey Andy.

A trickle charger would be the best, but the garage where I store the MH doesn't have electric

I had the battery disconnect switch turned off & something is still drawing on the coach batteries

[Witch Doctor]

Originally Posted by Magnatudes

Dave,

Just wondering why you don't leave the coach plugged into AC while in storage?



It may be the lights that have motion detection. I believe they draw a bit of power all of the time for the motion detection circuitry. But if you had the battery main switch off, this should have shut down everything on the house batteries.

Dave, the problem is that many manufactors wire stuff up before the disconnect. Such as but not limited to CO , radios, refers and anything else they think should stay on. Also a lot of storage areas do not have power. If I left my RV in a storage lot I would just disconnect the negative cables. I know I had to trace all mine and I put a spst throw switch at each is also a way. There is really no way to find out unless you check. Even a Maxx fan with the 1 with a remote has like 1 amp to it, a member just found that after an exhausted search. But after 2 or 3mos, these little amp draw will bring your batteries down..

[caswelld]

Originally Posted by Witch Doctor

Dave, the problem is that many manufactors wire stuff up before the disconnect. Such as but not limited to CO , radios, refers and anything else they think should stay on. Also a lot of storage areas do not have power. If I left my RV in a storage lot I would just disconnect the negative cables. I know I had to trace all mine and I put a spst throw switch at each is also a way. There is really no way to find out unless you check. Even a Maxx fan with the 1 with a remote has like 1 amp to it, a member just found that after an exhausted search. But after 2 or 3mos, these little amp draw will bring your batteries down..

I was hoping BC would tell me that’s not the case.

Thanks WD, I may have to install a throw switch like I did before.

[Magnatudes]

Originally Posted by caswelld

Hey Andy.

A trickle charger would be the best, but the garage where I store the MH doesn't have electric

I had the battery disconnect switch turned off & something is still drawing on the coach batteries

Dave, without going to the barn, I am not sure. But I remember that there were a few circuit breakers inside the coach battery compartment. I added a similar one for my third coach battery that has a pushbutton to open the breaker. I am not sure if the original ones had these buttons. If not, you can swap them out for the ones that do. Most of these have the same mounting hole pattern. You would have to disconnect the batteries when doing this surgery. They look like these.

[milkman55]

Similar to above, I added this to my sister’s Miata which is stored for long periods. Quickly disconnects the negative terminal. Easy to use and install, just not an actual circuit breaker.

https://www.amazon.com/Post-Battery-...ry+disc&sr=8-4

[Pod2Vibe]

Originally Posted by milkman55

Similar to above, I added this to my sister’s Miata which is stored for long periods. Quickly disconnects the negative terminal. Easy to use and install, just not an actual circuit breaker.

https://www.amazon.com/Post-Battery-...ry+disc&sr=8-4

Did the same on my MBS, works great and so easy to use.

[caswelld]

Thanks Andy & Milkman, seems like I have picked your brains before

Unless I hear something from BC I'll likely go ahead with the battery post switch. The down thing is everytime you run one of these batteries down really low, it reduces its life Geeeez!

Thanks.

Dave

[bclemens]

Traveling for the next week, so not sure how much help I can be. I know things like the CO2 detector I thought were direct. Maybe the jacks in case the warning needs to kick in...maybe slide brains.

[sailski]

On my 2017 Forester MBS 2401WS I know that the step, slide and CO detector all work regardless of the position of the battery switch. Some other things which may be powered and using electric are the radio, TV and antenna booster. I am certain the fridge shuts completely off with the battery switch. The best thing you can do is to disconnect the negative battery cable when storing your coach.

[Bill Davis]

I wonder why they bother to install a battery disconnect switch that doesn’t disconnect the battery’s. Does this make sense to anyone?

[milkman55]

One thing I noticed today when I put my Isata 3 back in storage. I flipped the battery disconnect off, but noticed the power light on the TV was still lit. I figured out the Magnum inverter was still on (green light) and so anything powered by the inverter was still drawing from the batteries through the inverter. Seems like the battery power to the inverter should also be disconnected when the disconnect switch is turned off.

[FFred]

"Seems like the battery power to the inverter should also be disconnected when the disconnect switch is turned off."


Doesn't the inverter have its own off switch?

[caswelld]

Originally Posted by Pod2Vibe

Did the same on my MBS, works great and so easy to use.

I think I'll also get that battery post disconnect. I guess I'll just need one for the 2 battery setup, can't remember what it looks like under the steps.

Pod2, I see you're towing an Abarth. I love ours, what a hoot to drive & it's such an easy thing to tow. BUT, DW doesn't like the standard transmission so we ordered a 2 door Jeep Wrangler hard top, with the 2.0 Turbo (its a lighter engine). It's supposed to weigh in at around 3950 LBS. Going to miss the Abarth!

How do you like the Isata-5?

Thanks for all the info.



Dave

[KatanaPilot]

Originally Posted by caswelld

Just went to exercise the generator and found that the hotel batteries were completely dead The MH had been in garage storage for about 2 months.

Fortunately I had disconnected the MB battery near the accelerator and the engine started fine & I was then able to start the generator.

The hotel batteries had been disconnected using the switch at the step well prior to storage.

I hope someone will be able to shed some light on this. Any ideas of the source for the parasitic draw on the coach batteries?

I hope someone with an I-3 may help me figure this out.

Thanks,
Dave

You may want to try an experiment. Disconnect the ground wire near the accelerator pedal. Try to start the MH. I'll bet it starts. There is an alternate path to ground from the chassis battery.


The reason your chassis battery was still alive is very low parasitic draw from the chassis and the BCC keeps the chassis and coach separate unless charging is in progress (or the boost switch is engaged). The only way to completely disconnect the chassis battery from the chassis is to remove the ground terminal at the chassis battery.



I assume your Isata is wired the same as my Forester MBS which is how I discovered how the wiring is actually configured. I'd be curious to hear what you find.