Leisure battery drain

[Sir Brixalot]

Found my leisure battery discharged after only a couple of days. When I put the Testune multmeter on, it went to the max drain over -10amp, I couldn't find anything switched on. The main battery did the same. Any idea what could put such a load on the batteries? I recently changed the ignition switch, could the replacement cause this?

[marlinowner]

The fridge is the only thing I can think of that would take that sort of current without it being obvious.

[Sir Brixalot]

The fridge is definitely off and wouldn't the fridge only draw from the leisure battery?

[tonytech]

How did you connect your meter?
To measure current you need to disconnect one battery lead and connect a meter lead to the battery and the other meter lead to the disconnected lead.

The fridge will pull about 8amps, only when the ignition is on, but if the relay has failed it may flatten your battery.
As you say, pulling fuses, one by one, should indicate the faulty circuit.

T

[Sir Brixalot]

Well I didn't do that. I thought those Testune multimeters could test without taking one off. I'll do it properly now. Thanks

[BOXY]

Sounds like you're testing across the terminals? This mistake is normally followed by the meter fuse blowing or the leads melting

[Sir Brixalot]

I seem to have got away with it. Lesson learned.

No drain at so I can't account for the flat battery. Will double check split charge tomorrow

[kevtherev]

Cold weather kills old weak batteries.
It also finds weak earth contacts as the metal shrinks

[tonytech]

It might be worth checking the voltage on the leisure battery with the engine running, this will tell you if the split charge system is working.
Also worth charging the battery for 12 to 15 hours with a mains powered charger.

T

[Sir Brixalot]

Both batteries are only a couple of months old so hopefully OK. I'll check the voltage tomorrow. Thanks for the advice

[kevtherev]

If your battery was flattened beyond 10.7 Volts and left like that for a while it will not recover.

[California Dreamin]

Following what kev has said, if the battery is that flat then get it on charge ASAP. Preferably with a smart charger although you may need to initially start the process with a standard device first.
Make sure you disconnect the battery from the vehicle and leave it on charge for a couple of days.

Martin

[Sir Brixalot]

Battery fine thanks. Seems that the problem is with a faulty strip light which is coming on randomly.

[Ralf85]

How would a strip light affect both batteries? Surely the light is only connected to one.

[Sir Brixalot]

There was a drain but because I wasn't measuring the drain correctly I got false readings which would also account for my failure to identify it by pulling the fuses