Help! draining batteries

spower · 01-06-2016, 07:45 PM

I am out boondocking and I have 200w solar which charges batteries during the day, but at night something seems to be drawing on the batteries, this morning they were almost dead!
I have one light on inside until I go to sleep nothing else is on.
They are sealed batteries.

What could possibly be draining them?

Indymule · 01-06-2016, 07:53 PM

Are you running the heater, water heater and or the fridge? They all take power

spower · 01-06-2016, 08:03 PM

Just the fridge on propane, nothing else

**Flybob** · 01-06-2016, 08:11 PM

The control board for the fridge needs 12V as does the propane/CO monitor. You didn't say what type of light is on. If it is standard incandescent bulb they draw a lot of current. Do you have the ability to check the rate of charging and the rate of discharge.

Indymule · 01-06-2016, 08:12 PM

The fridge is still using some battery power and the CO alarm is using some but I would think if they are fully charged.

Is the water pump on? and possibly running?

How many batteries and how old are they? Is your one light that you are using an LED? Regular lights use a good amount of power. Could be the batteries need replacing.

You could check the charge status right before you go to bed then turn the battery disconnect off and see what they show in the morning after no load as been on them overnight. (This will turn your fridge off)

That's about the extent of my knowledge for things to try.

Good Luck

spower · 01-06-2016, 08:15 PM

Nothing else is running just the fridge so it should not run them down . They are new batteries in my new trailer see my signature

**bikendan** · 01-06-2016, 08:46 PM

You haven't run the furnace at all?

spower · 01-06-2016, 08:50 PM

No I have a stand alone propane heater I use

spower · 01-06-2016, 09:25 PM

Could one battery be bad? One doesn't have a green light in the little view window, when I checked it the voltage was up but who knows? Only thing I can think of....

pjnlorrie · 01-06-2016, 10:11 PM

Hi Roaddiva,

Ex-battery distributor here, the previous posters have already mentioned items that must be checked, but allow me to summarize:

* Is there a drain on the batteries? This can be checked by placing an amp meter in the circuit. You will need a meter that will read at least 10 amps (a cheapie Harbor Freight multimeter will do for this). A battery cable is disconnected from one of the batteries and the meter leads are connected between the battery post and the cable end-there are Youtube videos on this. The normal draws for fridge control and smoke/CO alarms should be below 1 amp.
* Are the batteries good/bad? Many auto parts stores and battery sellers can check your batteries. Even with new batteries, defects happen. Also, if the batteries were in the unit for months before the sale in a discharged condition, they may have sulfated. This means the batteries have lost some or most of their capacity and must be replaced. The batteries installed by FR (based on forum input and what came in my own unit) are NOT true deep cycle. A "car battery size," or Group 24 deep cycle is typically good for 85 amp/hours. Although batteries should not be discharged below 50% capacity, such a battery should (hypothetically) supply 1 amp for 85 hours, two would be 170 hrs. If we extrapolate these numbers, the fridge and CO detectors should run for weeks before the batteries are discharged. The factory batteries are "dual-purpose." This is industry double-talk for a cranking battery (not designed for long discharge/recharge cycling) labeled as being suitable for deep cycle use. The actual amp/hr rates for such batteries is usually only 45-50 amp/hrs. This is done because cranking batteries are 1/2 cost of deep cycles.
The battery is my unit, which sat on the dealer's lot almost a year was badly sulfated. Rather than go through the hassle of getting it replaced with an inferior (dual-purpose) I bought a true deep cycle at Sam's club.
* How much charge is the solar system providing? 200 watts should provide 6-7 amps charge rate per battery in good sun conditions. This should more than keep up with your power usage. If your unit does not display the status of the solar system you can check this with the previously mentioned multimeter. With the solar panels connected and "on" the voltage at the batteries should be approx 13-15 volts. We have a 100W panel and it keeps our battery charged and provides enough power for lights, fridge, detectors, water pump, fans, computers, etc.

When diagnosing electrical problems everything must be checked, but my money is on bad batteries.

Kaadk · 01-06-2016, 10:25 PM

There's a stickie in the electric systems forum labeled 'batteries gone in 36h'. There's some good information in there about a huge battery drain built into some of the dometic fridges, and what to do about it.

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**Mr. Dan** · 01-06-2016, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaadk

There's a stickie in the electric systems forum labeled 'batteries gone in 36h'. There's some good information in there about a huge battery drain built into some of the dometic fridges, and what to do about it.

Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

Kaadk, is this it?
http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...art-26676.html

RodeoGeorge · 01-06-2016, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roaddiva

Could one battery be bad? One doesn't have a green light in the little view window, when I checked it the voltage was up but who knows? Only thing I can think of....

You may have hit upon the problem. If one battery is bad, it will draw the other one down.

Try disconnecting the battery that does not show green, and see if the other battery drains over night.

RodeoGeorge

spower · 01-07-2016, 07:42 PM

Wow don't really understand half of that!
I moved everything over to one battery and it is still discharging, so battery I thought was bad isn't I guess. What the heck can it be??? Nothing is on!!

**Flybob** · 01-07-2016, 08:01 PM

Might sound dumb, but since you checked everything else, is there any chance your breakaway switch is activated. Worth a check.

spower · 01-07-2016, 08:29 PM

OK now I think the bad battery has messed up the good battery because it is not holding a charge. When I hit battery kill switch the battery went back up, just the fridge is bringing it down and that shouldn't happen...

Homebrew · 01-07-2016, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flybob

Might sound dumb, but since you checked everything else, is there any chance your breakaway switch is activated. Worth a check.

Good one !

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RodeoGeorge · 01-08-2016, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roaddiva

OK now I think the bad battery has messed up the good battery because it is not holding a charge. When I hit battery kill switch the battery went back up, just the fridge is bringing it down and that shouldn't happen...

That ids normal for the battery(s) to come back up in voltage when all loads are removed.

The fact that the Kill Switch revealed this is good news, as we now know that there is a "load" after the Kill Switch.

Have you tried removing ALL fuses from the 12V Fuse panel except the one for the Fridge, and see if the errant load is removed?

If so, then replace each fuse one at a time until you find the one that restores the errant load.

RodeoGeorge

spower · 01-08-2016, 08:34 PM

Will try it tomorrow removing fuses.....replaced both batteries they were bad but still losing voltage after dark....this is killing me!

RodeoGeorge · 01-08-2016, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roaddiva

Will try it tomorrow removing fuses.....replaced both batteries they were bad but still losing voltage after dark....this is killing me!

If you have a multimeter that measures current (Amps), you can remove a fuse and then put the multimeter leads across the fuse holder in place of the fuse to see how much current is flowing through that circuit.

Ensure that you start on a high scale on the multimeter, and then lower the multimeter setting to get an accurate reading.

RodeoGeorge

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