Battery drain

[Dan Simon]

The last time we had the Boler out (last Summer) we had the battery charged /tested at the local battery shop. After one night of using the lights for a couple hours the battery was dead.

Is this the result of a bad ground or is something drawing on the battery?


Thanks,

Dan

In the mean time, my new McCulloch 2000w generator should arrive early next weeek !

[Frederick L. Simson]

This was the same symptom that told me I had "cooked" my battery by leaving the trailer's shore power cord plugged in 24/7. When I popped the water caps off, the interior of my battery was bone dry. I might suggest that you check your battery's distilled water levels.

[Gina D.]

You charged last summer and recently used it? Or this happened last summer?

Batteries discharge just sitting, especially if its cold.

If you had no ground, it would not have worked at all.

[Dan Simon]

I had the battery charged the day before we left and it drained the day after. I can only assume the battery shop checked all water levels? I'll go check on Saturday.

btw: All the Seattle rain (30+ days) resulted in a wet cushion. I now need new foam and will be investigating new upholstry....any thought s on "retro coo"l faux leather ? It would at least be era correct.

Dan

[Benny K]

There is probably not much that will drain your battery in your Boler except possibly if your fridge was on 12V.......recharge your battery and then after a while, give it time to dissipate any gas from the charging otherwise it could blow up, hook up your one cable and touch the other cable to the other battery post or run about a 2 ft jumper from the post and arc that to your disconnected cable away from the battery, and see if you get any spark between the post and cable......if you do, start disconnecting anything that may be drawing current and trying for spark each time until there is no more arcing....or for safety, you could also put a small 12V bulb or test light in series between the wire and battery and if it lights, you`ve got something draining the current....many ways to test but I find these the easiest.....Sometimes batteries can test good and then later dead short inside and you`ll get zero for power....Benny

[Dan Meyer]

How old is your battery, and what sort of construction is it?

If you are using a typical size 24 car battery (starting battery, not deep-cycle), and it is more than 3 years old, it is probably worn out.

Read all about batteries and their care at http://www.batteryfaq.org/

-- Dan Meyer

[Donald Stahl]

If you have a signal amplifier for your television, leaving it on will drain the battery, but not overnight. That would take a few weeks.

[Dan Simon]

OK, I may have overlooked the obvious. I have never used the refridge sine 1) it does not work and 2) we always use a big cooler.

With that, I should probably figure out why it's not working. I poped open the refrig vent and saw the switch had a DC and AC setting....it was set to DC which I assume allowed me to use the 12v lights ....for a day. Does this switch need to be flipped to AC to conserve the battery.

FYI, the battery is 2 years old and is a Marine deep cycle.

Dan

[Steve C.]

OK, I may have overlooked the obvious. I have never used the refridge sine 1) it does not work and 2) we always use a big cooler.

With that, I should probably figure out why it's not working. I poped open the refrig vent and saw the switch had a DC and AC setting....it was set to DC which I assume allowed me to use the 12v lights ....for a day. Does this switch need to be flipped to AC to conserve the battery.

FYI, the battery is 2 years old and is a Marine deep cycle.

Dan

Dan,
If the refer switch is set to DC, the heat strip that operates the fridge will be hooked to your battery. It will (if it is functional) then draw 20 or more amps from your battery which will kill it in just a handful of hours. Most of these fridges have a AC , DC, and gas selector positions - so set it for something other than DC. The DC position is really only useful when travelling to keep the refridgerator running while the vehicle's charging system is helping to supply the power.

Steve.

[Pete Dumbleton]

Altho your fridge isn't working, as Steve points out, the 12VDC heater or the defrost strip might still be working and consuming the battery. I would be inclined to remove the 12VDC fuse in the distribution panel that powers the fridge (It should have it's own fuse) to be sure.