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!

[1492]

Moved from Forum Technical Support

[bankerae]

Thanks for all of the advice, it sounds like the draw coming from the fridge both in the off and on position is normal, which surprised me! I am going to take the battery in for a load test and see what I come back with. I certainly will be storing in the future disconnected! I will report back once I know for sure on the battery condition

[Sam_Spade]

It appears that my previous post disappeared......for some unknown reason.

Even when "OFF" there will be some electronics active, just to detect things like when you turn it ON.

When it is running on propane, there is a solenoid valve held open to allow the gas to flow....and some other stuff too probably.

I too think this is perfectly normal.....and even if not it is not a significant factor in your short battery life.

P.S. when completely disconnected the current flow is ZERO......indicating a slight fault in your meter or technique if it show anything above zero.

[ewarnerusa]

Fridge has a 12V electronic control panel that is continuously powered when it is hooked up, whether switch is on or off. Mine says on side of the door that the DC rating is 1 amp and AC rating is 300 watts (Norcold). Your readings confirm that 1A DC draw when on propane. I've never checked the DC draw on mine when off, but I'm not surprised there is still a draw. Old propane fridges that didn't require 12V at all obviously don't draw any DC, these are the manual pilot light kind.

My guess is that the small single battery was severely discharged and damaged during storage. As you've discovered, there are parasitic draws on the 12V system even with everything shut off such as fridge and propane detector. As your trailer sat between trips (assuming it was unplugged), the battery was depleted to death. So despite how long the stock converter or tow vehicle had to recharge it, it is no longer capable of getting anywhere near full capacity due to damage.

I think solution is to replace the battery and get in the practice of storing it with a known full charge and then disconnecting it between trips. Either by installing a battery disconnect or disconnecting the negative battery post from ground. Or even taking the battery out. Solar works great, too, but it doesn't sound like you're an avid boondocker so investing in that may not be worth it.

[DanNJanice]

bankerae wrote:

theoldwizard1 wrote:

bankerae wrote:

I am getting the 650MA draw with fridge turned OFF, not ON. When I remove the fuse for the fridge it drops to 110MA which I believe is in the normal range for nothing running

bankerae wrote:

smkettner wrote:
So apparently the fridge still draws power when on or off. Fridge is on when camping so that is what matters.

good point! I need to see what it draws when turned on, which I have not done yet. However, I still have an issue if when turned off it kills my battery in a few short hours when parked.

I don't know why a 'fridge, running on propane, would draw any power ! Even with electronic ignition, 650ma seems like a lot.

This UNI-T UT210E amp clamp is <$35 !

I agree! So I just checked it in the "ON" propane position and I jump up another 350MA. So to be clear...

When the fridge is turned "OFF" it pulls 540MA and when it is "ON" in the propane mode it jumps to 890MA total, or an increase in 350MA... Something is not right here :?

I think you are headed down the wrong path. 650ma, IOW 0.650amps is NOT going to kill a battery is a couple of hours. My guess is
1) Your battery is not being charged in the first place.
2) You have bad connections somewhere.
3) Your battery is shot.
If you are actually reading 6.5Amps with everything turned off, THEN I would be concerned. But even at that rate, your battery should last 8 - 10 hours.

[theoldwizard1]

bankerae wrote:

When the fridge is turned "OFF" it pulls 540MA and when it is "ON" in the propane mode it jumps to 890MA total, or an increase in 350MA... Something is not right here :?

See if you can find some specs in the owners manual. Then call the manufacturer of the 'fridge.

[bankerae]

theoldwizard1 wrote:

bankerae wrote:

I am getting the 650MA draw with fridge turned OFF, not ON. When I remove the fuse for the fridge it drops to 110MA which I believe is in the normal range for nothing running

bankerae wrote:

smkettner wrote:
So apparently the fridge still draws power when on or off. Fridge is on when camping so that is what matters.

good point! I need to see what it draws when turned on, which I have not done yet. However, I still have an issue if when turned off it kills my battery in a few short hours when parked.

I don't know why a 'fridge, running on propane, would draw any power ! Even with electronic ignition, 650ma seems like a lot.

This UNI-T UT210E amp clamp is <$35 !

I agree! So I just checked it in the "ON" propane position and I jump up another 350MA. So to be clear...

When the fridge is turned "OFF" it pulls 540MA and when it is "ON" in the propane mode it jumps to 890MA total, or an increase in 350MA... Something is not right here :?

[theoldwizard1]

bankerae wrote:

I am getting the 650MA draw with fridge turned OFF, not ON. When I remove the fuse for the fridge it drops to 110MA which I believe is in the normal range for nothing running

bankerae wrote:

smkettner wrote:
So apparently the fridge still draws power when on or off. Fridge is on when camping so that is what matters.

good point! I need to see what it draws when turned on, which I have not done yet. However, I still have an issue if when turned off it kills my battery in a few short hours when parked.

I don't know why a 'fridge, running on propane, would draw any power ! Even with electronic ignition, 650ma seems like a lot.

This UNI-T UT210E amp clamp is <$35 !

[bankerae]

smkettner wrote:
So apparently the fridge still draws power when on or off. Fridge is on when camping so that is what matters.

good point! I need to see what it draws when turned on, which I have not done yet. However, I still have an issue if when turned off it kills my battery in a few short hours when parked.

[time2roll]

So apparently the fridge still draws power when on or off. Fridge is on when camping so that is what matters.

[bankerae]

smkettner wrote:
My trailer idles at 500 milliamps running the fridge. I call 650 normal. Fridge does not take much either (200 milliamps?) unless you have a humidity control that is on.

I assume you charged the battery at home and were running the fridge and some lights while camping. Was the battery near dead before you charged at home? Lead-acid really likes to stay 100% tip top charged for longest life. If the battery was allowed to sit partially discharged in storage it may have sulfated and permanently lost some capacity.

I assume you have a WFCO converter and just saying these generally operate at a fixed 13.6 volts. This is just a trickle charge and will take 24 to 48 hours to charge a low battery. Battery really wants 14.4 to 14.8 volts for charging properly in reasonable time.

Typical dealer just pops in a small group 24 with 80 amp/hour capacity. For off-grid camping you probably need 2x group 27 or 2x GC2 for closer to 200-230 amp/hours.

The 12 Volt Side of Life

I am getting the 650MA draw with fridge turned OFF, not ON. When I remove the fuse for the fridge it drops to 110MA which I believe is in the normal range for nothing running

I need to check the output at the inverter which I have not done yet. It was plugged in for about 36 hours

[time2roll]

My trailer idles at 500 milliamps running the fridge. I call 650 normal. Fridge does not take much either (200 milliamps?) unless you have a humidity control that is on.

I assume you charged the battery at home and were running the fridge and some lights while camping. Was the battery near dead before you charged at home? Lead-acid really likes to stay 100% tip top charged for longest life. If the battery was allowed to sit partially discharged in storage it may have sulfated and permanently lost some capacity.

I assume you have a WFCO converter and just saying these generally operate at a fixed 13.6 volts. This is just a trickle charge and will take 24 to 48 hours to charge a low battery. Battery really wants 14.4 to 14.8 volts for charging properly in reasonable time.

Typical dealer just pops in a small group 24 with 80 amp/hour capacity. For off-grid camping you probably need 2x group 27 or 2x GC2 for closer to 200-230 amp/hours.

The 12 Volt Side of Life

[bankerae]

smkettner wrote:
650 milliamps idling is normal. Furnace blower draws much more in the order of 8 to 12 amps. You probably had a less than fully charged battery going into the evening.

Did you charge that battery? Using what? WFCO converter? 😞

The fridge is turned off when I am getting the 650MA draw , is that normal?

I charged the battery by plugging into a 20amp outlet, so through the inverter

[time2roll]

650 milliamps idling is normal. Furnace blower draws much more in the order of 8 to 12 amps. You probably had a less than fully charged battery going into the evening.

Did you charge that battery? Using what? WFCO converter? 😞

[bankerae]

Artum Snowbird wrote:
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.

I just went through everything and did not find any loose connections.

I checked again with the fuse in for the fridge (turned off) and am getting .65 draw in the 10 amp setting or 6.5 in the 200MA setting (this is with everything turned off). When I take the fuse out for the fridge it drops to .03 in the 10 amp setting.. I believe my issue is here but not sure what my next step is?