Why does my battery discharge at ~500mA?

[RV-MO]

I just bought a new 2019 2401R and I have noticed that the battery discharges fairly rapidly, even when I have turned off everything I can turn off. The rig has a solar controller which tells me the state of the battery charge and the current flow to the battery and I have noticed that unless the current is >=0.5A, the battery level decreases. Is there anything that I could turn off to decrease the discharge rate? I have turned off the battery with the main switch and the battery holds charge so the batteries are fine.

[Bama Rambler]

A half an amp is a pretty good parasitic draw. Since you have a motorhome, the usual things to have a parasitic draw are the LP/CO detector and maybe the LP solenoid. The LP detector doesn't draw much current, but the solenoid could draw that much.

[270S]

old subject - biggest parasitic draw that bypasses disconnect switch are the radios. Apparently the RV community does not want to reset their radios. They all go to the same places all the time. How inconvenient. I removed all hard wired battery wires to after the disconnect switch. The point of the disconnect switch, aside from saving battery, is in case of a fire!

I moved (and labeled) all of them (quite a few) to a covered dedicated bus bar and then ran the bus bar to the other side of the disconnect switch relay/terminal. Now 0 amp draw! I left the steps hardwired, because there is no draw unless used and "need" them to get in when the switch is in disconnect. Could reach in and turn on and have steps move, but again, no draw unless used.

[TitanMike]

First off, does your solar controller have a "Zero Current Calibration" feature?

I use a Victron battery monitor and it has this feature. I have to disconnect the negative terminal from it's frame connection so absolutely zero current is flowing from (or into) the battery and then use this function.

Without this as a baseline the monitor really isn't calibrated.

I'd read through the "Manual" and see if your controller has such a feature in it's setup menu. You may have parasitic draws but is the controller reading correctly.

The reason I have to remove the battery ground from the frame is that the shunt needs to be still connected to the negative terminal to power up the monitor. Just pulling a cable off the terminal will power down the monitor.

Parasitic draws add up. All those little devices that are connected to the system and draw power for standby, to maintain memory (stereo/radio), refrigerator, etc may not draw much by themselves but add them up and they are significant.

FWIW, a 500ma draw adds up to a total of 12 ah in a day. Unless you have a small battery bank, or worn out batteries, this is not really a HUGE draw. On my battery bank it amounts to 5% of the total capacity or 10% of my usable capacity if i stick to 50% DOD.

Make sure your inverter is off when not used, your refrigerator "door edge heaters" are off, and no lights are on in outside compartments, etc. Make sure your radio/stereo/dvd player is OFF, not just in "Standby".

[Flybob]

Parasitic draw from Propane/CO detector, remote controlled items ( Cd player) and some solar controllers.

[TitanMike]

Originally Posted by Flybob

Parasitic draw from Propane/CO detector, remote controlled items ( Cd player) and some solar controllers.

Not to mention all the LED indicator lights, etc.

[Bluepill]

If you have an automotive dashboard style stereo installed in the house portion of the vehicle, and it has a removable faceplate, try removing the faceplate and re-test for draw. I have to leave mine off in order to keep parasitic below 100 ma.

[bobm253]

When I park my m/h for an extended period, I just disconnect the negative battery cable on the house battery. Been doing this for many years with no issues.

In the winter months, I remove both house and chassis batteries and put them in the garage on a trickle charger. The interstate battery rep said leaving them in and periodically starting up the m/h was not good for either battery. Seems to work for me.

[Flybob]

[QUOTE=bobm253;1993530The interstate battery rep said leaving them in and periodically starting up the m/h was not good for either battery. Seems to work for me.[/QUOTE]
He was right the amount of current used in starting takes a while to restore especially at idle.