Good morning Folks! I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction...We have a 2005 Keystone Outback 26RS travel trailer and did our first dry camping last week. When the heat quit about 1:00am I knew something was not right :)I just did an amp draw test and here is what I came up with:Using a VOM meter set on the 10amp settingwith the power cord unlplugged and testing through the negative battery cable with everything turned on I was getting a .65 amp draw reading... after taking each fuse out one at a time here is what I found:The 15amp fuse tied to the LP leak detector (may be powering other items too?) was pulling .08 ampThe 15amp fuse for the fridge (the fridge was turned off, however when I would put the fuse back in it would let out a loud beep) was drawing .54When I tookt he fuse out for the fridge and the LP leak detector I was left with .03 amp drawSo there's the data, just not sure what it all means!Thank you in advance for your help!

The fan on the furnace would be drawing of the order 20 times the 'parasitic' currents you are measuring, and that is a likely candidate for wearing down the battery (I'm assuming since you noticed it then it is clod enough it was running a fair amount).There are lots of questions to ask if you want to narrow it down more, such as when was the battery fully charged and what is your battery capacity (including any ageing effects) etc..

Why are you testing the current draws with things turned OFF ??And I don't see where you tested the furnace.Also see no indication if the furnace failed or if the battery voltage actually went LOW.If the voltage went low, you should test the furnace (just for curiosity) and then check your batteries and charging system.I have found that my batteries need to be fully charged (or real close) to run my furnace through a night below 45 with the stat set to about 65.

The one thing I forgot to add is that it drains very quickly when sitting. When we returned home the battery went dead (from a full charge after being on a 30amp hook up) within 2 hours. I was thinking of adding a second battery to help us get through the night for the furnace but knew I should figure out this issue first. Any previous camper we have had has never had an issue with the battery draining this fast. Any idea what would be causing the draw coming from the fridge?

How old is the battery?BTW - don't use that methoud for testing current with the furnace on, you will overload the multimeter (current draw on startup of the fans could be 30 or 40 amps easy.

Sounds like you need to replace the battery.

AMP Draw Issues | Good Sam Community

eHoefler
Explorer II
Oct 16, 2016
Sounds like you need to replace the battery.
horton333
Explorer
Oct 16, 2016
How old is the battery?

BTW - don't use that methoud for testing current with the furnace on, you will overload the multimeter (current draw on startup of the fans could be 30 or 40 amps easy.
bankerae
Explorer
Oct 16, 2016
The one thing I forgot to add is that it drains very quickly when sitting. When we returned home the battery went dead (from a full charge after being on a 30amp hook up) within 2 hours. I was thinking of adding a second battery to help us get through the night for the furnace but knew I should figure out this issue first. Any previous camper we have had has never had an issue with the battery draining this fast. Any idea what would be causing the draw coming from the fridge?
Sam_Spade
Explorer
Oct 16, 2016
Why are you testing the current draws with things turned OFF ??

And I don't see where you tested the furnace.
Also see no indication if the furnace failed or if the battery voltage actually went LOW.

If the voltage went low, you should test the furnace (just for curiosity) and then check your batteries and charging system.

I have found that my batteries need to be fully charged (or real close) to run my furnace through a night below 45 with the stat set to about 65.
horton333
Explorer
Oct 16, 2016
The fan on the furnace would be drawing of the order 20 times the 'parasitic' currents you are measuring, and that is a likely candidate for wearing down the battery (I'm assuming since you noticed it then it is clod enough it was running a fair amount).
There are lots of questions to ask if you want to narrow it down more, such as when was the battery fully charged and what is your battery capacity (including any ageing effects) etc..

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