# battery drain



## mickdee (Apr 17, 2010)

help,

we are currently in portugal and we are experiencing difficulties with our batteries.
we have 2 solar panels and 2 auxilary batteries (2 * 110 A)
The power panel reads about 5 A coming in from our solar however our net incoming amps only reads about 2.6A, is this normal, (do you lose 50%)
however even more strange, at night when all is turned off the panel reads a net loss of 1.3A (-1.3A)
im at a loss to work out what would be draining the battery, ive even taken the step of disconnecting our car stereo in case it was draining in standby.
anyone any ideas?

your help much appreciated


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

The controller may not show loads that are supported by the solar panel, only charge into the battery.

When there is no solar panel feed, the charge rate shows as negative as current is presumably going t'other way, so you need to try and sort out what is using the current, as you have surmised.

There are many little gizmos in circuit, like the water heater controller and things like that, which will take current. You may have an electrically operated gas valve or something similar.

If you have a fusebox for the motorhome side of things, have a look at what is fed from the leisure battery and try pulling the fuses one at a time.

Peter


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## mickdee (Apr 17, 2010)

thanks pete

so to summarise i just have to keep looking for what is sucking the power?
ive only just disconnected the stereo, do you know if it would have been drawing (and possibly the amount) in standby mode, it was connected direct to power not to ignition (do you think it could be drawing 1Ah at standby?)

many thanks for your reply


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

Do you have a light in your fridge, and are you sure it is going out when the door is shut?. You could always remove the bulb temporarily to see if it is that.

ray.


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## mickdee (Apr 17, 2010)

hi ray

thanks, just tried to check the fridge but cant tell if light is going off
have a dometic small fridge, cant see where the light switch would be

as an aside the batteries are re charging from the solar but im unsure if they are holding the charge (showing 13.3V when recharging) and seems to get stuck at 98% (wont go to 100% except when connected to 230v) do you know how i can check if the batteries are ok

many thanks


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

mickdee said:


> hi ray
> 
> thanks, just tried to check the fridge but cant tell if light is going off
> have a dometic small fridge, cant see where the light switch would be
> ...


Hi.

How old are they?.

ray.


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## mickdee (Apr 17, 2010)

ray

only 18 months old, but wasnt on trickle charger over winter (although camper is stored in a garage in Dax southern France, wondering if batteries may be the problem.
either that or stereo instandby mode (connected to always on as opposed to ignition)

thanks
michael


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

Could they have froze when in a discharged condition.

If they are not Gel, are the electrolyte topped up over the cells with distilled water?.

ray.


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## mickdee (Apr 17, 2010)

not sure if they are gel(asked for gel but bought in Corsica and not sure what they gave me- cant see teh words gel) but they are both sealed units


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

mickdee said:


> not sure if they are gel(asked for gel but bought in Corsica and not sure what they gave me- cant see teh words gel) but they are both sealed units


Hi.

My leisure batteries showed a wildly changing volts reading when on the 120 watt solar panel up and down like a hoar's knickers, so I bought two new ones and they now show a voltage that is rock steady unless I have a substantial load on them like Sandra hoovering using the 2200 watt inverter..

Have they done a lot of cycles, from flat to charge?.

ray.


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## mickdee (Apr 17, 2010)

they seem to be fairly constant when recharging (13.3 and 13.2 with only about a .1, fluctuation) they do drop charge when down to 80% but still above 12V -about 12.5V, another strange thing though is the water pump now seems to only be pumping a trickle as opposed to full bore- wtf??


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## rayrecrok (Nov 21, 2008)

Hi.

Electrical problems are pants they are so airy fairy nothing obvious to see most of the time, have you checked your earth/negative on the battery to make sure you are getting a good connection and they are not green with gunge..

ray.


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## mickdee (Apr 17, 2010)

hey ray, apologies re delay been off line,
havent found solution yet so going to auto elecrician to see if he can source what draining the battery. Any idea what % we can allow our batteries to go down to? We are currently going down to low 70%

As an aside we now have a problem with the water pump, it is pumping but only at about 50%, do you think it would be related or just co incidience, the pump is only about 12 mnths old and is a truma dual- maybe one of the pumps is defective

your thoughts appreciated


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