iRV control panel - charge not holding

[justgettingstarted]

HELP! We can’t seem to hold a charge.
2018 Rockwood Signature Ultra Lite

Just added a second solar panel, the dealer says “nothing wrong”🤷*♀️

We only hold a solar charge for one day, if we r lucky. Does that seem right?

Anyone ever experience the alarm that indicates u r OUT of charge? At 4:00 am? UGH! Try figuring out how to stop that from going off! Not my idea of fun.

Wondering if we have been leaving something on that drains the charge?


Please comment if u have any suggestions, we r getting desperate to figure this out before our next trip?

[ghhardin]

I would start by trying to isolate which circuit is drawing the parasitic current.
Do this by turning off a breaker at a time.
And monitoring the current flow through an amp meter.
Drok has a simple to install Volt/Amp meter that might be worthwhile investment long term.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[kfergiez]

Originally Posted by justgettingstarted

HELP! We can’t seem to hold a charge.
2018 Rockwood Signature Ultra Lite

Just added a second solar panel, the dealer says “nothing wrong”��*♀️

We only hold a solar charge for one day, if we r lucky. Does that seem right?

Anyone ever experience the alarm that indicates u r OUT of charge? At 4:00 am? UGH! Try figuring out how to stop that from going off! Not my idea of fun.

Wondering if we have been leaving something on that drains the charge?


Please comment if u have any suggestions, we r getting desperate to figure this out before our next trip?

It's really hard to know without know what you have already.

Do you have solar panels?
Do you have a solar controller?
Do you have 1 or 2 batteries?
Do you have an inverter?
What does the iRV control panel do?
What items are you running that causes the alarm?

[ES_FR]

justgettingstarted,

We would be happy to assist you with this question regarding your Signature Ultra Lite. Please contact Rayna Dimitroff in our Customer service department through the following personalized and direct link: Forest River RV Direct Service Contact - Forest River, Inc..

This direct link is provided for your convenience in order that we may resolve your concerns as quickly as possible. We will strive to respond to you within 24 hours of receiving your correspondence.

Respectfully,
Forest River

[davejodoin]

Just picked up new 8528ikbs and found out they never connected the solar plug to the battery, you might want to check that out, they connected the ground side but the positive lead has a wire nut on it.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by ghhardin

I would start by trying to isolate which circuit is drawing the parasitic current.
Do this by turning off a breaker at a time.
And monitoring the current flow through an amp meter.
Drok has a simple to install Volt/Amp meter that might be worthwhile investment long term.

An easy and cheap way to see how much current is flowing and where is to get a cheap (or free) multimeter from e.g., Harbor Freight. This is the one they give away if you have the coupon and buy something else.

Set it on the 10 amp scale and plug the red lead into the special 10 Amp jack. Black lead plugs into Common. For each fuse, unplug the fuse and plug the meter across the vacated terminals. The current should be a few tenths of an amp or less. After you have checked all the fuses in the fuse panel, go to the battery. There will be several items directly connected to the positive terminal. These will have "inline" fuses right on the wires. Test each of those. They should also be below a few tenths of an amp. Among the things that are likely to consume power ("parasitic loads") are the Propane detector and the always-on radio/audio.

Larry

[rockfordroo]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

An easy and cheap way to see how much current is flowing and where is to get a cheap (or free) multimeter from e.g., Harbor Freight. This is the one they give away if you have the coupon and buy something else.

Set it on the 10 amp scale and plug the red lead into the special 10 Amp jack. Black lead plugs into Common. For each fuse, unplug the fuse and plug the meter across the vacated terminals. The current should be a few tenths of an amp or less. After you have checked all the fuses in the fuse panel, go to the battery. There will be several items directly connected to the positive terminal. These will have "inline" fuses right on the wires. Test each of those. They should also be below a few tenths of an amp. Among the things that are likely to consume power ("parasitic loads") are the Propane detector and the always-on radio/audio.

Larry

Two more comments on meter use, if you've never used one of these before:

1. Start with the dial set on the highest amp setting. If you don't see anything, drop it down a notch. If you still don't see anything, drop it again. Do this until you're at the last setting. If you don't see anything on the last setting, you have no current flow.

2. If you have a meter with a pointer rather than a digital readout and the pointer tries to go "backward," swap the leads.

[justgettingstarted]

Thanks for the suggestions! I gave them to my husband - he understood them way better than me.... shocker!!!
We parked her until next month, with 7 feet of snow here, we don’t have her at home with us. We’ll try your suggestions in April, thx again!

[ktc]

Originally Posted by ghhardin

I would start by trying to isolate which circuit is drawing the parasitic current.
Do this by turning off a breaker at a time.
And monitoring the current flow through an amp meter.
Drok has a simple to install Volt/Amp meter that might be worthwhile investment long term.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Rather than the suggested meter, I think I'd use something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/bayite-6-5-10...dp/B013PKYILS/

or this:

https://www.amazon.com/bayite-6-5-10.../dp/B013PKYILS

The original link from ghhardin was for an AC meter - since the original question was about parasitic loads, they're really looking for DC loads on the battery when the unit is sitting disconnected from shore power... the use of the =DVM by pulling each fuse was a good one, too.

[dankirk]

What does the iRV Control Panel have to do with solar charging? I'm confused about what the issue is.