Battery drain

[randamonia]

Ok, so I know I may as well ask how long is a piece of string, but....................I have something draining my leisure battery. I've seemingly isolated everything and still something is drawing some power. Are there any common known things to may be causing this?

One thought I did have is that Propex heater I think monitors the battery as it won't work if the battery is low - could this be it....pretty rubbish if it is.

Thanks

[itchyfeet]

you need to work through every thing connected one by one with a multimeter set to current.
Could be someting faulty doing it which is normally low power so no point in us guessing.

[CovKid]

Propex only responds to low power if its actually in circuit and running. The usual culprit is radio channel memory on the stereo which is usually powered all the time.

[randamonia]

Thanks for the confirmation about the propex...thought I must have got that wrong. Will find some time To play with the multi meter.

Cheers.

[CovKid]

It can take a while to find the cause. Pulling one fuse at a time can help. I've mentioned this before, but two useful gadgets that cost little are these:

Useful for monitoring draw through USB sockets:


And direct from battery:


If you shop around on ebay you can get both for under £10 the lot. The latter is particularly useful on the leisure side as you'll know in real terms what any item draws.

[mr_nunn]

I found that my Propex was taking around 20-30mA switched off if i member rightly which is quite a drain over time. No idea what for! I put a switch in line with it to cut its power during periods of non use.

Also have a usb charger in the lighter socket and it was draining significantly when plugged in.

My radio was only taking 4mA - not too bad.

As above put an ammeter in the circuit and you'll soon work it out. I pulled all fuses out then put them in 1 at a time.

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[randamonia]

Thanks all. Time to get the multimeter out.

I'll look to order one of those watt meters too......looks handy for the price.

An inline switch for the propex might be a good idea as suggested too.

My radio runs off the car battery so not that....I use a portable unit when parked up.

Cheers

[randamonia]

Well it doesn't look like I have any battery drain but it looks like my split charge isn't working.

While ticking over the main battery reads 13.51v but the leisure doesn't move from it's at rest voltage of 12.71v. Is my conclusion right???
In hindsight this actually makes sense to what I've been experiencing over the last 6 months or so with sporadic use of the van.

Need to find out where my relay is and what the problem might be...grrr

I tested everything to see what it was drawing:

Propex 0.01 at rest (Going to put an inline switch in anyway) (was too warm today to get the propex to run so need to see what it draws while running)
Zig Unit 0.01
LED strip lights (x2) 0.22 each
LED spotlight 0.05
Water pump 0.85

So with the fridge on gas or mains and assuming the propex is running ok (only bought new last year) I guess i'm running quite lean. I did install a 4A aldsi charger before this trip but think i'm going to replace it with one of the Numax devices as they seem to get good reports. Unless there are other recommendations? Solar would be nice but probably on the shopping list for next year.

Thanks

[mr_nunn]

Yes i think leisure+ and starter+ should be at same volts on tickover if on a split charge relay. So would definitely check the relay and all connections to it. If you have the old school basic relay like mine (rather than voltage sensing) then you can: (1) check the trigger signal to the relay by putting voltmeter on the (?usu blue) trigger wire - should be 0v till engine fires then up to 13/14v. (2) check relay clicks when you apply +Volts to trigger terminal. (3) check continuity between each battery +ve and its respective relay terminal, and between relay earth terminal and body. If all that checks out it should work i think.

I have the ctek 7A mains charger which is good but also want to upgrade to solar when time/funds allow!

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[randamonia]

Ok, so managed to grab a few more minutes to dig further and I found my relay as below............seems it's out of a citreon........not sure how I feel about that



I found the fuse had blown (probably from when charging it from deep discharge) so obviously first job to get a fuse and take it from there.
It's obviously not a dedicated relay for the task but should this be a concern - it's rated at 25A?

Cheers

Russ

[CovKid]

About right - well, for fan/blower anyway.

[randamonia]

About right - well, for fan/blower anyway.

I detect an element of sarcasm Sir.......

Ok, so with this and looking at replacement relays I need a review of the whole installation needed.....grrr!

Thanks all for listening to my woes. You wouldn't believe my dad is a retired electrical engineer would you?! Should have listened to him more