What is pulling down the battery?

[PumaJanVan]

Battery went bad.. Got a brand new one hooked it up everything great. Over the winter took off the battery and shut down power. Put battery in basement and when we checked the battery we put it on the charger and it took a full charge. Put it on the camper and worked great. Went out a week or 2 later and it was drawn down and we hooked charger up and everything came on like it was suppose to. We leave nothing on. What am I not seeing? I don't understand what could be bringing the battery down. Help Me what do you think I should do next or look for... The battery was new and I don't understand?

[Monaco_Montclai]

had the same thing,thought the board in the converter waz on the waY DOWN. but took all the conections off the bat, found some corrosion where I caint see all over, cleaned that up, walla, back up and running.wow ----now its all happy-camping

[Tvov]

Also.... don't forget dirty or corroded battery cables and connections after years of use. A couple years ago I was always having to recharge my battery, and had a couple dead batteries in the middle of dry camping trips... finally realized the battery cables, about 10 years old, that looked perfectly good had corrosion under the insulation for the first inch or two from the clamp. I cut off about an inch from the positive and negative cables, reattached the battery clamps, and suddenly all my "bad" batteries work great!

[DustyR]

donn0128 wrote:
There is a lot of parasitic draw on modern RV's gas detectors, smoke alarms, radios can all draw from the battery. Sounds pretty normal to me

X-2
The last two TT I've had the same parasitic draw. I installed a battery eliminator switch. Turn the switch off when storing the rig. Problem solved.Click

[dougrainer]

From what you state here are the 2 things that draw a TRAILER battery down and dead.
1. The LP detector
2. The TV antenna boost is on. Out of sight and mind and very few remember to turn it off. Doug

[aruba5er]

My neighbor was constantly having a dead battery. Propane detector, radio (clock and station memory, AND because his antenna boaster switch was behind a panel held on by velcro he never shut his boaster off. about a 1/2 amp sucking power. Best bet yet, a disconnect switch right at the battery. About $7 at harbor freight.

[NinerBikes]

I disconnect the battery when my travel trailer is not in use. Then I give it a 100% state of charge before putting into storage, usually with taking the battery up to near 16.0V briefly or the specific gravity above 1.270, with an equalization charge, and call it good. Usually good for 3 or 4 months or more.

How you treat your batteries camping and during storage, has a huge effect on the life of your batteries.

[BillyandKris]

We had same problem in past. The guys here are correct. Lots of little demons in modern RVs. You can install toggle switches on things like the radio. A friend even put one on the CM detector which you could have turned on when you are in camper and turn off when not there. New refrigerators have these little fans inside there and they also eat power. Our advice is go with 2-6volt batteries of a real good brand and get a solar panel. That is what we are going to do on our new camper. Also, if you are using Interstate battery, get a better brand. We also found that if you let your battery run down too far or dead, it seems to "damage" it and after that won't hold a charge. Our last 12v battery (Interstate) the shop where camper was awaiting repairs well they left switch on and it went dead, then we went on a trip and accidentally let it go dead and after that would not hold a charge.

[korbe]

Yes. The workings of the disconnect switch that I installed are part of the overall electrical process of the unit.

[CA_Traveler]

Most campers have loads that you cannot turn off like smoke detectors, etc. You can install a battery switch right on the battery post as one solution.

Have the battery load checked so that you know your "new" battery is still good.

You can also borrow or buy a DC clamp on ammeter or other equipment to help track down the loads.

[donn0128]

There is a lot of parasitic draw on modern RV's gas detectors, smoke alarms, radios can all draw from the battery. Sounds pretty normal to me