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Something Is Draining The House Batteries On My RV

by Dan
(Colorado)

When the house battery is fully charged and the fridge is on, after an hour or so the battery drains down 30% shuts the fridge gas off. The battery gauge inside the RV shows the battery at about dead at this time. I don't know if there is a short or what?

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ANSWER: Hi Dan I am going to assume that when this problem occurs that your RV is not plugged into shore power and that you are not running your generator.

I will tell you upfront that I do not believe that your RV's Refrigerator is causing the drain on your house batteries since you state that the fridge is running on propane. The 12-volt electrical draw of an RV fridge running on propane is normally minimal.

My first suspicion is that there is a problem with your house batteries. You need to make sure that all battery connections are clean and tight and that the batteries have the proper amount of electrolytes.

The first thing you should do is watch the video below by RV Expert Mark Polk from RV Education 101, it gives you the proper steps to maintain your House Batteries.
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If the steps outlined in the video above do not help you resolve the problem with the batteries, then I suggest that you take your RV in and have a Certified RV Technician check out the 12 volt DC system in your RV.

They should load test the batteries to make sure that they can take and hold a charge; they should check the charging system on the RV to make sure that batteries are receiving a proper charge and last and not least they should check for any 12-volt electrical item that might be causing a large load on the batteries.

I hope this helps.

Do you have any suggestions or comments on this topic? You can add them to this page by clicking on the "Click Here To Post Comments" link located near the bottom of this page.


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Comments for Something Is Draining The House Batteries On My RV

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Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Drained batteries
by: Anonymous

Hello,
My parents motorhome is having issues with the batteries going dead. They have replaced all the batteries and the converter and still having the same issues.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Unhooked brake cable.
by: Anonymous

Check your brake cable on a trailer and 5th wheel. If it is unhooked you are sending power to the brakes.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Always drawing power
by: Anonymous

I found that when the climate control switch is in the on position, the fridge draws 0.5 amps even when the fridge is off.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Keystone hideout same issues
by: Anonymous

3years old three batteries. We’ve been trying to find the draw that’s draining the battery. Anyone find there’s? HELP I can’t keep buying $150 battery each year just to go dead! TIA
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Keystone Cougar ruining batteries
by: Thomas Henry Culhane

Our Keystone Cougar 2017 has destroyed 2 new batteries. The first battery came with the unit and we only used it one evening for led lights without connection to house power and the next day day the house battery was dead. We replaced the the house battery with another deep cycle battery and disconnected it from the RV with the disconnect switch to isolate it and hooked it to our solar panels to give it a good charge and after the sun went down and it had been reading 12.2 volts we noticed after 2 hours it read 11.3 volts we went to dinner and came back and the battery wouldn't read at all but when we disconnected it from the RV wires it read at 8.8 volts with no load on it. When we tested the red and black wires coming from the RV to the terminals of the battery they registered no voltage but when we used the continuity Tester the red wire and the black wire registered continuity tone we have now worried that the wiring in the RV must be faulty. What can you suggest?
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Reduce unwanted power draw on your Dometic RV refrigerator
by: Anonymous

Check this out: the "Climate Control" on your fridge may be the culprit. Draws DC amperage when the fridge is on to prevent moisture buildup on the outside of the unit in humid conditions. If you're fortunate you have a switch on the fridge to urn it off when not needed: http://rvtravel.com/reduce-unwanted-power-draw-on-your-dometic-rv-refrigerator/
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		Battery drain on Trailer
by: Anonymous

I am having a similar problem. I have had my travel trailer running on AC while not in use. I went to camp for the weekend in the woods. No AC. My battery went to 8.5 volts which tripped the low voltage alarm. I disconnected battery so I could shut off low voltage alarm and go back to sleep. In the morning I turned on friends generator and charged batteries with a battery charger. Hooked back up to trailer. Battery went to 8.5 volts in 5 hours. I recharged and reconnected to trailer. Went on a hike got back and battery was totally dead. Measured 0 volts on meter. Went and bought new battery. Ran off it and it set off low voltage alarm with 8.5 volt. Took new battery to dealer and battery tested good. I removed all DC fuses. Was not hooked to AC. When reconnecting lead back to battery and had an Arc. checked with amp meter and was drawing 1 amp. I am not sure what problem is. Any advise would be appreciated. I am going to disconnect converter to see if it was causing the draw.
Rating
starstarstarstarstar 		New house battery still draining
by: Anonymous

My rv is plugged into shore power. My adequate sized 5 month old battery was dead after 5 minutes of use this weekend. Last weekend the battery was at a full charge while using a/c, micro, lights, tv etc....

I replaced this battery with a brand new battery and after a nights use, the new battery is almost dead. Connections are tight and clean. I do have a Power Wizard / new power invertor that is 5 months old and since installation, breakers have tripped more than half dozen times, then all works fine. Battery drainage is the latest.
Any ideas? Power wizard or invertor?

Nothing is left on that I know of when away from rv for a week or two at a time.

Jeff

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