2.2 Amp Battery Drain Too Much?

[tireman9]

2016 Coachmen 22QB Class-C I bought in July

12v "Marine" coach battery.

When I was connecting battery in prep for the season I noted a strong spark even with the battery switch Off. Tested and found 2.24 Amp drain on the battery.

Does this mean the switch is defective or that there was a mistake in the wiring?

2.2 Amp is enough to kill a battery pretty quickly. I think the only reason the battery lasted it's first few months (July - Sept 2015) was I have using the coach every couple of weeks.

I have installed my own battery disconnect switch till I can figure this out.

--

Roger Marble

Check out my Blog www.RVTiresSafety.com

[kaypsmith]

2.2 X 12 = 26.4 watts, maybe a light bulb in an unseen place staying on? If I remember correctly you now have a class C, maybe a light under the hood.

Probably not, but a place to start looking. I would start by removing the 12 volt fuses one at a time until you find the drain source.

[tireman9]

Thanks for reply but this is not the chassis battery but coach battery. With the factory battery disconnect switch in OFF position I am wondering why there is any drain.

I have looked for a light on but will double check. Yes this is new Class-C.

I have written Coachmen to ask what could / should be "on" with the switch in OFF position. Am not holding breath for answer. That's why I'm here

[hermanmullins]

Tman.

Do you have lights in your Bays? A way you can check is to put a volt meter between the positive lug and the positive post. with any type of drain it should show 12 volts. Pull one fuse at a time. If the voltage still reads replace that fuse and go to the next one. Continue till the volt meter drops to zero. ther is the circuit that is drawing down your battery. Then you can look for what is on that circuit.

Simple but effective.

Tman are you going to be in Perry? Giving a seminar?

Herman

[tireman9]

Herman

Yes I will be at Perry Two different tire seminars Thurs & Fri as I recall Plus I give 3 seminars on Genealogy

I will do another check for lights etc tomorrow. What is strange is the factory battery switch is "off" so I would think the drain is something that is bypassing the switch.

Will post info tomorrow

[abyrd]

IT's pretty common to find that the propane valve solenoid will by pass you main switch to allow you refrigerator to operate on propane.

JIm

[manholt]

Tman.

Factory switch? I really trust the guys that wire them together! I had a coach that "OFF" was "ON" and "ON" was "OFF"...fun!

Carl

[wolfe10]

Roger,

It is common to route some things directly from the house battery, not through the "salesman switch". Things like refrigerator, propane detector, etc.

A schematic of your wiring will tell you what devices and perhaps lights SHOULD be hot with the disconnect switch in the off position.

And then you have the "what did they wire incorrectly" factor.

I agree a 2.2 amp draw is quite a parasitic load.

See you in Perry.

[five]

Tman.

Factory switch? I really trust the guys that wire them together! I had a coach that "OFF" was "ON" and "ON" was "OFF"...fun!

Carl

On the subject of wiring, in our last coach the cruise control on our "smart" wheel was wired backwards. Set/deccel and resume/accel were reversed.

[manholt]

FIVE.

Think the Tech went to work at Tiffin. I had the same on my Bus!

Carl

[mikemcbeth]

I had a similar problem and found it to be the radio.

Mike

2001 Beaver Monterey

[EwenBoyan]

If you are facing this issue with your battery then you must have to check the switch first of all. It may be defective. Because otherwise there is no any other way to the current for drain.

Also if you have your wiring diagram then please share with us here.

Sometimes it may happen due to wrong connections.

multi-layer pcb

[dlarue]

With shore power removed and no generator or inverter running, do the lights in the coach turn off when you set the switch to OFF? If not then it sounds like trying the switch in the ON position might turn them OFF. If they don't turn off in any position the switch or wiring is faulty.

If that's OK then I would look for any other wires connected to the battery terminals and remove them one by one to find out what's drinking your battery power.

[wayne77590]

Roger,

I don't know how the Coachman is wired for the steps, but on my particular installation I have to turn the steps to the off position when I put it in storage. I'm fortunate that the switch is near the entry door and I can reach it with the screen door closed and the little port opened. My converter puts out a 2 amp trickle charge and the step plus the computer dash components draw more than that. The step has a current limiting electronic circuit. When it reaches the closed or opened position the current limiter activates the stop function. There is a constant current to the steps when the switch is on..

When I first acquired this MH I would have a dead battery after several days. Once I found out about the step switch I have never had that problem again.

Since you indicated that you have a 2.24 amp draw I am assuming that you either used a clamp on amp meter or disconnected the negative terminal and put an amp meter in line. That is what I would do and then I'd start pulling fuses one at a time until I saw the current drop. That would be the culprit and if not essential that fuse could be pulled when you are going to park for a long period of time. Might be best if two people did this with one at the fuse box(es) and one at the amp meter to yell.

Okay, just thinking out loud.

[dlarue]

On 4/4/2016 at 11:40 PM, Wayne77590 said:

Might be best if two people did this with one at the fuse box(es) and one at the amp meter to yell.

Or get one if these to watch the meter on your phone while you pull the fuses: http://amzn.com/B01ABERQYC

I have an old video baby monitor I mount the camera to the tailgate and the handheld goes in the cab. I use it to eliminate having the wife waving her arms and hands _helping_ me hookup. I've used it for many other things similar to the two person job scenario mentioned above. This new version is cheaper and uses your smart phone for the video screen.