Battery & cut off switch

[Whiskey_River]

My battery goes dead after about 7-10 days being not plugged in.
Its a 5th wheel & I turn the cut off switch to off but it still goes dead.
What all is still active or still powered to the battery with the switch in the off position. Lights don't work, awning does not extend etc. But something is still being powered or there is a short in a line somewhere. For now I just disconnect the negative terminal of the battery..

[curt12914]

You're welcome! That's what these forums are all about is helping people that share our interests. (Are you interested in antique tractors? LOL)

Another option that I use is an automatic battery charger like this Schumacher. It keeps batteries fully charged without using a 50 amp cord.

I use them on the fifth wheel, motorcycle, compact tractor that I mow/snow blow with and on my old tractors that don't get used much. I like them because they are 6 or 12 volt and I have a bunch of 6 volt tractors.

[Whiskey_River]

OK, so I finally got back to the 5er from about 10 days ago. I charged the battery then and disconnected the negative wire on the battery. It was still fully charged, 12.84 on the multimeter after about 10/11 days.
I hooked up the negative wire to the battery then turned off the battery switch and opened up the fuse box and started removing the 15 amp blue fuses and checking each one as curt12914 said to do.
There were 10, 15 amp blue fuses. 9 registered 0.0 on the meter. One registered .35 on the multimeter. I guess that is .35 volts. This is the fuse marked TV / Radio. There are 2 flat screen TV's and a Radio/DVD/DVS player in the 5er.
When I check my meter on a new AA Battery it registers 1.57 on a 1.5 volt battery.
So my fix is to just leave the 15amp fuse out of the TV/Radio slot. Replacing the fuse takes 2 minuets. I can plug the 5er in as there is 50amp service, but until I am going to use it, I leave it unplugged. Why have power to the power center/converter charger with the fan coming on & off, along with the invertor & fan on & off. I just didn't want the battery going dead every week or 10 days.
Thanks again curt12914.....

[Lynnmor]

curt12914 wrote:

rhagfo wrote:
Why do people make this so difficult?
I had this issue when we got our 2005 Copper Canyon, I simply installed a nice (about $30) disconnect switch in the positive cable. I would turn off once parked, and battery was good for months.

Thar will work, too, but it also shuts off the propane detector, (in some cases) smoke and CO detectors.

Good, that is what you want!

[curt12914]

rhagfo wrote:
Why do people make this so difficult?
I had this issue when we got our 2005 Copper Canyon, I simply installed a nice (about $30) disconnect switch in the positive cable. I would turn off once parked, and battery was good for months.

Thar will work, too, but it also shuts off the propane detector, (in some cases) smoke and CO detectors.

The problem is that you still have some sort of unidentified parasitic load on your battery when/if you are camping without hookups.

[rhagfo]

Why do people make this so difficult?
I had this issue when we got our 2005 Copper Canyon, I simply installed a nice (about $30) disconnect switch in the positive cable. I would turn off once parked, and battery was good for months.

[JimK-NY]

If you do not have a bad battery, then obviously your shutoff is not doing its job. You need to trace the wiring and find out what is still live. It will be way more than just a propane leak detector. In any case, it sounds like rewiring is in order. I would not want even a propane detector running with the RV shutdown. I would want to kill all possible battery use.

[CA_Traveler]

BTW Inline ammeters have their place but may not correctly detect some draws simply because the draw may change when disconnected and reconnected. A light bulb would not have this problem but a electronic controller for lights might for example.

[Whiskey_River]

There is nothing added since it was built. It does have electric slides & the auto leveling system, hydraulic but electric pump, but I don't think any of those will work when the battery shut off is in the off position.
I will try & check the battery post & cable first to see what the draw is...

[CA_Traveler]

Don't assume a new battery is good, have it load tested. Suspect everything.

Clampon ammeters are an extremely useful tool for RVs.

There may be more items that don't shut off or on standby with the switch off than you are aware of.

[curt12914]

You might start by seeing how much draw is between the battery positive terminal and the cable going to the battery, before starting in the fuse box.

Is there anything that pulls off the battery before the fuse box (electric jacks, slides, etc.) or anything that was added after it was built?

[Whiskey_River]

Thanks for that curt. I didn't think about that. I was just going to pull a fuse and check in a few days.
I always shut off the factory installed shut off switch, but the battery is still going dead in about 8/10 days. So I'm pretty sure there is more drain on it than the propane alarm and the radio that is not on, but I know they do draw some current to keep the channels set etc...

[curt12914]

Shut odd everything that you normally have off when your rig is in storage. Try pulling fuses one by one. After you pull a fuse, use a good quality digital ammeter to jump across where the fuse goes to find out which circuit(s) has a power draw.

[curt12914]

Shut odd everything that you normally have off when your rig is in storage. Try pulling fuses one by one. After you pull a fuse, use a good quality digital ammeter to jump across where the fuse goes to find out which circuit(s) has a power draw.

[Whiskey_River]

OK, thanks all.
The battery is only a year old, so it should be good.
I thought the propane detector would be wired on all the time, but did not think of the radio as Barney suggested. I will check that.
There is no fan that comes on that I know of.
My next plan is to go into the fuse box and pull a fuse or 2. There is just so many things on this rig that it could be. Each storage area has a motion light that comes on and should go off when the door is closed. Those are noted for not shutting off. It I can't find it I will get one of those cut offs that attaches to the battery terminal.