Parasitic Battery Drain

[Oregon_Camper]

Lots of comments around the issue but again, if you want to totally stop the electric draw simply disconnect your negative.

Yep...a $40 switch will do the job and make it easy to turn on/off. Just make sure you get one rated for the amp draw you're RV setup is pulling.

 

[darrell]

With completely disconnecting the battery you HAVE to put reconnect battery on your pre-trip check list. If you do not have your batteries hooked up, your emergency trailer brakes will not work.

 

[Donzi98]

Hi All, I did a bit of troubleshooting. I found that 6 circuits are not disconnected from the battery when the switch is exercised. And 2 of them are high current draws judging from the wire size. I have ordered a current meter (should have had one a long time ago) and a battery switch. I am going to put the switch on the negative side of the battery. I will ensure it is turned on when towing but seeing how the leveling system needs power to pull the jacks up, it shouldn’t be a problem. Here is a picture of buss bar near the battery and existing switch: BTW, on my switch, it says “actuator out”. What does that mean?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Donzi98]

Google says about the actuator question, “If you turn the knob around to that position you can pull it out of the base. That way nobody can accidentally turn it on. For times when you may be working on the system, etc..

 

[Oregon_Camper]

Google says about the actuator question, “If you turn the knob around to that position you can pull it out of the base. That way nobody can accidentally turn it on. For times when you may be working on the system, etc..

Ah man...I was going to answer you, but you already found the answer

 

[darrell]

Is this your only battery disconnect? I am not familiar with the Avenue line, but my Paradigm was not like this one. It had the "keyed" disconnect. So it might not be the same thing I had where the contacts were reversed.

 

[Donzi98]

That is the only battery disconnect. I believe it is wired correctly but there are quite a few circuits not on the switch. One big red lead must be from a charger maybe? Inverter?

Dave

 

[Oregon_Camper]

That is the only battery disconnect. I believe it is wired correctly but there are quite a few circuits not on the switch. One big red lead must be from a charger maybe? Inverter?

Dave

I could see the DC power coming off Converter to your busbar and not being in the disconnect, as it doesn't draw any 12v power it only provides power when you're on shore power.

 

[DanNJanice]

Hi All, I did a bit of troubleshooting. I found that 6 circuits are not disconnected from the battery when the switch is exercised. And 2 of them are high current draws judging from the wire size. I have ordered a current meter (should have had one a long time ago) and a battery switch. I am going to put the switch on the negative side of the battery. I will ensure it is turned on when towing but seeing how the leveling system needs power to pull the jacks up, it shouldn’t be a problem. Here is a picture of buss bar near the battery and existing switch: BTW, on my switch, it says “actuator out”. What does that mean?

Thanks for all the help!

I just worked on mine today and got it rewired. It looks very similar to what you have.
What I found was that 5 wires connected to the busbar are for the jacks and self leveling system, possibly the break away switch too.
Just below the busbar on a 50amp self resetting breaker is the feed for most everything inside the trailer, lights, pumps, fans, etc. I "think" the bottom one is from the solar panel.
I now have everything rewired and the disconnect works as it should. I also have all current draws/sources wired through my current shunt and connected to my Thornwave battery monitor.

 

[Donzi98]

I just worked on mine today and got it rewired. It looks very similar to what you have.
What I found was that 5 wires connected to the busbar are for the jacks and self leveling system, possibly the break away switch too.
Just below the busbar on a 50amp self resetting breaker is the feed for most everything inside the trailer, lights, pumps, fans, etc. I "think" the bottom one is from the solar panel.
I now have everything rewired and the disconnect works as it should. I also have all current draws/sources wired through my current shunt and connected to my Thornwave battery monitor.

Hi DanNJancice, Is it possible to send a picture of your rewired busbar? I want to do the same thing but am waiting to hear from Alliance and any thoughts they have about the battery drain.

Thank you.

 

[DanNJanice]

Hi DanNJancice, Is it possible to send a picture of your rewired busbar? I want to do the same thing but am waiting to hear from Alliance and any thoughts they have about the battery drain.

Thank you.

Here you go. Regarding battery drain, as long as everything is turned off, lights, inverter, refridge, etc. You should only have 0.5 amp draw or less, that is what I measured anyway.

Attached are the pictures you requested. Sorry, have not cleaned up the wiring yet. But it is pretty strait forward. I come out of the battery, into one side of the disconnect. Out of the disconnect, down to the self resetting breaker that says "from disconnect" and then jumper over to the busbar. I think I will clean this up by extending the busbar's copper plate down one more connection and eliminate the jumper. Note, the way I have this wired does NOT turn off the inverter (you can use the inverter power switch for that). I have left that alone as I have to order some larger connectors.

 

[Donzi98]

Here you go. Regarding battery drain, as long as everything is turned off, lights, inverter, refridge, etc. You should only have 0.5 amp draw or less, that is what I measured anyway.

Attached are the pictures you requested. Sorry, have not cleaned up the wiring yet. But it is pretty strait forward. I come out of the battery, into one side of the disconnect. Out of the disconnect, down to the self resetting breaker that says "from disconnect" and then jumper over to the busbar. I think I will clean this up by extending the busbar's copper plate down one more connection and eliminate the jumper. Note, the way I have this wired does NOT turn off the inverter (you can use the inverter power switch for that). I have left that alone as I have to order some larger connectors.

Thank you. I am excited to get started.

 

[Donzi98]

I probably took the easy way out and simply installed a marine grade battery switch on the negative lead of the battery. The Alliance tech suggested taking the neg lead off during storage. So far, no dead batteries. Our first trip is this weekend.

 

[darrell]

I never could isolate the parasitic drain on mine and simple disconnected the battery lead when stored. The switch you are talking about was purchased but we ended up trading before I got it installed.

On a side note, I purchase a solar panel with built in controller to use with that trailer to keep batteries topped off and it worked well for a few months before I traded. It was inexpensive and worked well. Added a few magnets and could stick it on the pin box.