AMP Draw Issues

[bankerae]

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 setting

with 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 amp

The 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 .54

When I tookt he fuse out for the fridge and the LP leak detector I was left with .03 amp draw

So there's the data, just not sure what it all means!

Thank you in advance for your help!

[bankerae]

rjxj wrote:
When you believe the battery to be fully charged, what is the specific gravity?

I did not as I do not have a hydrometer, I only checked by voltage

If I am checking the amp draw with my VOM on the 10 amp setting and am getting a reading of .65 with nothing turned on or running , is that 6.5 amps or .65 amps?

[azrving]

.

[horton333]

tvman44 wrote:
The furnance draws a lot of current. Sounds about right to quit at 1AM. You are going to need more battery.

With a single group 24 battery I have no trouble running my furnace all night at below zero, and the TV and a few other draws during the evening too. Maybe if it was running a high duty cycle in the cold of winter, but at this time of the year ..... I think this needs to be debugged.

[Artum_Snowbird]

With the rig plugged in, check the voltage at the converter output terminals, and at the battery terminals. They should both be at 13.8 volts.

If there is a difference, the converter is just running into another load, like I said, a weak connection.

Another great thing to have is a voltmeter connected to your battery that you can monitor. You will be able to see the voltage drop when your loads start up, like the fridge and the furnace motor.

One battery should last one night on average with moderate furnace usage, but adding a blanket or two is a better solution to 65 degree furnace temperatures.

[RoyB]

I found one of these CRAFTSMAN Clamp-on DC Current AMPMETER Model # 82369 is a great tool for tracking down large current drains..



Be sure your clamp-on ampmeter has the DC AMPS capabilities...

You can clamp this around the main cable at the battery and read the actual DC Current being drawn...

Great tool to have tracking down DC Current drain problems... AMAZON or SEARS in the $60 range

Roy Ken

[tvman44]

The furnance draws a lot of current. Sounds about right to quit at 1AM. You are going to need more battery.

[bankerae]

After being plugged in all night the battery is at 13 volts right now

[bankerae]

The battery is being charged for sure. I will disconnect the cables and see how long it holds a charge (and check the voltage)

Is the amp drawing coming from the fridge in the off position normal?

[Artum_Snowbird]

You may well just be looking at poor connections from your battery to your converter. A weak connection will act like a huge load to your battery and not even be something you notice.

Wiggle the positive and negative wires in the converter terminal strip, tighten everything you can.

I had a very loose negative wire at my converter, after 4 days plugged in the battery read 11.9 volts and everything was shutting down. I wiggled the wires, and bingo, lights suddenly came bright inside the rig as converter power got to the battery.

[horton333]

If your battery discharges from a full charge in two hours then a second battery is unlikely to help. Check the battery, check that it is actually being charged etc.

[bankerae]

The battery is about 6 months old (and it is a deep cycle)

I am not looking to test for amp draw while anything is running. T tested while everything is off to look for the draw. Considering the battery is draining down in a couple hours with nothing turned on or running I am concerned about a parasitic draw before I figure out how to get through the night running heat. Sounds like I will at least need 1 more battery!

[eHoefler]

Sounds like you need to replace the battery.

[horton333]

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]

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]

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.