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 1/10 |
when i park my Barth for a weekend or longer, plugged in or not, the batteries go dead unless i use the disconnect. the batteries are all new. what would i look for? 93 breakaway,cummins, allison. | ||
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First Month Member 11/13 |
Do you have a multimeter? If so, use the DC ammeter to read current. Then, one at a time, remove fuses until the meter goes to zero. Sometimes it is a closet or outside light that goes undetected during the day. Or a propane detector. Is your water pump fused? Sometimes they will just have an inline fuse. If there is a small water leak or a leakdown in the pressure side, the pump will come on for a moment every so often, often undetected. If removing the little fuses does not do it completely, remove the large main fuse. If that does not do it, you have a load that is not fused, or at least does not use the normal fuse set up. I am speaking generally here, as your BK could be different from my gasser. . 84 30T PeeThirty-Something, 502 powered | |||
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| 2/16 Captain Doom  |
Be careful with a hobbyist-grade ammeter. They can usually tolerate no more than one amp. However, the voltmeter can serve the purpose for larger drains - if there's someting on, there will be voltage shown. Rusty  "StaRV II"'94 28' Breakaway: MilSpec AMG 6.5L TD 230HP Nelson and Chester, not-spoiled Golden Retrievers Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering. - Arthur C. Clarke It was a woman who drove me to drink, and I've been searching thirty years to find her and thank her - W. C. Fields | |||
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3/23 |
Another way to test is to disconnect the positive connection to batteries between coach (house) and or engine. You then can check for load/resistance between the positive cable and the negative cable. Using V=IR where V=volts (12) and I=amps and R=resistance you can figure how big a 12V load you might be looking for. If you have fuses or breakers you can trip them one at a time to see if the load goes away. If it doesn't pull the main fuse/breaker just to be sure it isn't a fused load. If you still have a load showing you may have an exposed wire or a circuit that is either not fused or has a fusible link. Find out the resistance and let us know so we can confuse you with further speculation. Good luck Tim | |||
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| First Month Member 11/13 |
All Barths are not alike, but ours has two drains that do not go through the main fuse. These could drain power even if the main fuse were disconnected. 1. The indicator light panel above the door. You know, the one that has the digital clock and push buttons to indicate tank levels, etc. 2. The stairwell step light that comes on when the door is open. . 84 30T PeeThirty-Something, 502 powered | |||
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Posting here to try to consolidate posts on battery drain. My chassis battery was toast, after sitting since Dec with no trickle charge or starting and running alternator. I replaced it with a proper start battery. It now seems to draw battery down to a no start, within a week. I just checked the draw with voltmeter set at 10 amp DC between pos cable and pos post. I got .15 amp. Is that enough drain to draw down to 8-10v within a week? I also suspected the monitor panel with clock or step switch or patio lights. The monitor panel was still on with chassis battery disconnected. The step still works. I assume that the breakers shown below would be on house batteries then. I will now have to find and check all chassis fuses for draw. So far, I have only seen a panel under dash with glass fuses. Any others to look for? Another question. How do these 12v breakers work? I tried to turn off #1. All but one of the breakers are sticking out say 1/8". One is out 1/4". I pushed one in, it was under spring tension, it sticks in the in position, flush with panel. If i push hard again, it goes back to 1/8". The power to propane detector never went out. The one that is out will stick flush and then return to 1/4". Is it correct to assume that this transfer switch is not automatic? Should generator be running when power is transferred to and from?  | |||
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7/17 |
If you have a breaker popping out it is either a bad breaker or more likely you have short or high amp draw on that 12v circuit. On the manual transfer switch, I never switch mine with a load on it. Either switch it while not plugged in and gen off or turn off main breaker (7), transfer switch and then reset main breaker. This will prevent arcing in the transfer switch ( Hard to find and expensive to replace ). 1986 31' Regal -1976 Class C 454/T400 P30 -350/T400 G30 twin cntr beds - 21' rear bath | |||
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| 2/16 Captain Doom |
That breaker box is for the house circuits only; it would have no impact on the chassis battery. .15A would only be 3.6AH per day, not enough to draw down the battery to 10V. Try disconnecting the chassis battery and see if it still drains. It's possible the battery is defective. Rusty "StaRV II"'94 28' Breakaway: MilSpec AMG 6.5L TD 230HP Nelson and Chester, not-spoiled Golden Retrievers Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering. - Arthur C. Clarke It was a woman who drove me to drink, and I've been searching thirty years to find her and thank her - W. C. Fields | |||
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I talked to my mechanic/friend and he felt the same, that it wasn't a large drain. He suggested to test draw through the negative cable, it could be larger. More or less, he said a back-feed though chassis ground, from house system? I kinda get the concept, but can't picture a practical wiring example. Any opinions? 80 Saturday, 40 and rain Monday. I'll see if I can get test done between raindrops. It's been disconnected at least 5 days. | |||
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I did test on negative cable, same results, .15 amp. My fuses are the glass type and I assume I can test current flow through fuse by touching leads to end of fuses. I tried fuses above radiator in engine hatch and tried fuses under dash. I didn't find a draw on any of them. Ignition was off. Just for kicks, I tried meter on contacts of that toggle hanging from steering column. In essence, it completed the circuit and fan started and I got a reading of .15 amp. I was surprised that the fan would run. I thought it is quite a coincidence that it draws .15 amp. Doesn't solve anything because I have verified that fan is on house batteries. I guess my next step is to trace the positive cable from the battery and open and test draw at each connection. Thinking starter or isolator would be first in line? | |||
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3/19 |
If I understand what you are asking, then NO, not with the fuse in its holder. Maybe you mean to measure current from one end of the fuse holder to the other, with the fuse out. In that case, Yes. | |||
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Thank you. After pondering a few minutes, I understand why the fuse would need to be out. If not, it would be like touching both leads to a bare wire, about an inch apart. My assumption comes from seeing in video and other posts, that you can test draw on the plastic spade plug-in fuses, by touching leads to the tiny metal tabs on top of fuse, with fuse in place. How is that different? I also wonder, why check these dash fuses that are off the ignition if the phantom draw is with the ignition off. | |||
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| 2/16 Captain Doom |
Touching the ends of the fuses with them still in place is a technique for locating a blown fuse (with power to the fuse block). An intact fuse is a short across the VM leads, and reveals nothing. Rusty "StaRV II"'94 28' Breakaway: MilSpec AMG 6.5L TD 230HP Nelson and Chester, not-spoiled Golden Retrievers Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes I think we're not. In either case the idea is quite staggering. - Arthur C. Clarke It was a woman who drove me to drink, and I've been searching thirty years to find her and thank her - W. C. Fields | |||
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I suspected the pos cable went right to the isolator, I tried a draw test there on the chassis side and got nothing. Went back and traced cable from battery box and into frame rail. found this relay(?) behind a dirt shield. I can't identify it in any wiring diagram I've seen. The pos cable comes in on the right, with at least one other heavy ga cable on the same post. There is at least one heavy ga black cable on the opposite side. I assume one of the pos cables goes to the isolator. Probably a stupid question .. What is it? Is there any potential phantom draw here? Bad diodes? Same question for isolator.  | |||
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Official Barth Junkie |
I think it is the relay which allows you to combine the batteries for starting. You probably have a switch on the panel labelled Aux Start. Try that switch to see if your mystery relay clicks. 9708-M0037-37MM-01 "98" Monarch 37 Spartan MM, 6 spd Allison Cummins 8.3 325+ hp | |||
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