Handheld amp/volt meter

Sensors? Engine? Chassis battery?

Dan,

You didn't list any info on your camper so there no fact to base the guesses on.

Guessing you have a 5W, TT, or TC. Haven't worked on many MHs.

If you're confident you have a good battery, as they can charge and then discharge over time without being used if bad, I'll guess at it.

The only things I can think of that normally bypass the fuse box are slideouts, electric jacks, generator starter, battery charger, and solar. They usually have an in line breaker or fuse. The CO and LP detectors are normally fused through the box.

Having 12v between the positive post and the positive cable means there's something connected to the positive cable that returns to ground.

You can measure the DC current draw using most DVMs. If yours doesn't have DC current, the $5 meter from Harbor Freight will work.

With all the fuses pulled, put the DVM in the high current position (many are 10A) and connect the leads between the positive post and the positive cable.

You'll need to follow the positive cable back to the fuse box disconnecting those items that aren't fed through the fuse box to verify if anything else is on the line drawing power.

Good luck with it. Hope everything is where you can follow the wire path.

I'm thinking of getting this one: Tenma clamp meter I have an older Fluke clamp meter but I want to keep that in the shop.

The Sears DC clamp on ammeter will give you the information you need.

Lowes sells a Volt meter with clamp on DC measurements for about $80. They also sell one for $40 that will not measure DC amps. . .

It is brown and black top that clips around one wire at a time, and can measure amperage in DC lines, as well as AC amps.

The Co meter will almost always be on, and it draws a small amount of power all the time. I don't know if it is on a fused line, but it should be.

The propane detector and CO meter in my RV consume 0.8 amps according to my very accurate E-Meter. The refrigerator total amps is 1.2 amps (including the CO and propane detector). So altogether it is about 35 amp hours a day, or what one of my 120 watt solar panels puts out.

Good luck,

Fred.

There are many choices for meters and places to buy one. I have a good one and also a cheap one and they both show the same numbers when comparing volts, ohms and amps.
That clamping one is for checking current draw with higher values than an rv.

I don't know if it is any good, or even what you want, but a Google search found this:

https://www.amazon.com/Auto-ranging-Digital-Clamp-Meter/dp/B001VGND88