Those darn Phantom loads.

Thanks for the information, I dont have am amp meter.

Last spring my battery was drained dead after the TT was in storage over the winter. I may have left an LED light swtiched on. I now pull out a fuse that in tied in series with my positive battery terminal-cable to isolat the battery when I am away. I dont think I need any nifty monitoring thingys running while I am gone.

My trailer idles at 500 milliamps running the fridge, maybe 350 with everything 'off'.
Solar can be the solution.

I installed a battery disconnect switch on the front of my frame for that very reason.
Whenever it goes into storage a simple turn of the switch kills all power at source.
End of problem.

I don't have any parasitic draws. I use battery powered alarms, my stereo gear is 120V, and the fridge only works when powered by AC. My propane heater is non-electric. Solar takes care of everything when boondocking and keeps the batteries fully charged.

Antanae booster is my biggest power vampire. At least it has a button, but it's easy to leave on. Other power drains are a necessity while camping (fridge, alarms etc). My small solar panel keeps things topped off but for extended storage I kill it at the main switch.

westend wrote:
I don't have any parasitic draws. I use battery powered alarms, my stereo gear is 120V, and the fridge only works when powered by AC. My propane heater is non-electric. Solar takes care of everything when boondocking and keeps the batteries fully charged.

Have you actually used an amp meter to check? You are able to leave your camper stored over a long period and the battery won't drain?

I first ran into phantom loads when I was looking for solar for my home. The amount of power they consume for our convenience is surprising. But, that is the price we play for our contemporary life style.

I have left the shore power connected to keep the battery topped off, or a small solar panel could do the same. However, I find it just as easy to disconnect the battery when not in use.

rbpru wrote:
I first ran into phantom loads when I was looking for solar for my home. The amount of power they consume for our convenience is surprising. But, that is the price we play for our contemporary life style.

My home idles at about 300 watts. :(

Phantom loads, parasitic draw, energy vampire - regardless of what you call it some may or may not be at all depending on when / how they're used. A propane / CO detector is hardly a phantom load when you're actually using the trailer but when the trailer is in storage it definitely is but that can easily be solved by disconnecting the trailer battery completely. OTOH a fridge climate control heating element could be described as parasitic even when you're camping because it's not absolutely necessary for the fridge to function. With some model fridges it can't be turned off, my own Dometic DM2652 being just such an example ... the schematic says it does have a climate control switch but no way, no how does it have this switch so I added my own (2 pics). Even though I replaced the stock Winegard wall plate with a SensarPro that does go to sleep to reduce draw I wired it through a toggle switch that kills power to the unit entirely, along with another switch to kill power completely to the radio, mounting both where they're easy to see ... the television I simply unplug whenever it's not being used, which when dry camping is rarely. My inverter draws 500 ma at idle which some would call parasitic ... I wouldn't, because I only turn it on when I'm actually using it, otherwise it's off and draws nothing from the battery. The only device I now have that continuously draws any 12 vdc power from the trailer battery is a 12 vdc monitor ... I could also add a switch to kill power to it completely but because it pulls a measured 8.1 ma (1.36 amps in 7 days) I'm not about to worry about it.

Tvov wrote:

westend wrote:
I don't have any parasitic draws. I use battery powered alarms, my stereo gear is 120V, and the fridge only works when powered by AC. My propane heater is non-electric. Solar takes care of everything when boondocking and keeps the batteries fully charged.

Have you actually used an amp meter to check? You are able to leave your camper stored over a long period and the battery won't drain?

No I haven't. I built the trailer and installed all the wiring. In storage, the batteries are always at full charge.

My 12V system has multi-switch device connection to two battery banks through a series of bus boxes. It is way more complex than a typical TT. When it is in storage, the circuit to the converter and most of the 12V system is disconnected. I leave the solar controller and the inverter circuits connected. I could disconnect the inverter circuit but I'm lazy. If I want to sneak out there and watch some TV, I turn the inverter on. If I forget to turn the inverter off, I will draw about 500 ma. It has happened once but no problems. The next day at about an hour after the sun comes up, the batteries are fully charged.

The 12V distribution panel:



The back of the panel with switch covers off: