What is draining my batteries?

[erniecarpet@...]

Ryan- run a 100 foot extension cord to your battery chargers. With the
phantom load on our batteries, the best way to keep them charged till you can
connect to your 50 amps.

Ernie Ekberg
83PT40
Livingston, Mt




************************************** See what's free at http://www.aol.com.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Ryan Wright]

Hi folks,

My new (to me) coach has been parked for the past week in front of my
house while I create it a better parking spot. As a result I can't
reach the 50 amp service on my house so it's disconnected from the
grid.

My batteries are only lasting ~48 hours before the battery alarm
sounds so I'm having to use the generator to recharge. Every time I
start the genset, "DC charge" meter goes up to 150 amps and takes
hours getting back down. I've run it 6+ hours until "DC charge" was <
25 amps and the batteries still die a couple of days later.

So, how do I fix this? "DC Discharge" shows zero (and yes, the meter
works, it goes up when I turn lights on). Nobody has been in the coach
so the lights haven't been used and I turned everything off that I
know of. I set the fridge to run on AC or gas only (no DC, since I
noticed it was hitting the batteries up for juice). The only things I
have on that I know of are:

1. Stereo (it's "off", but previous owner wired ACC right to +12v so
it's always lit up - but that should take months to drain four car
batteries, not days).
2. Battery alarm.
3. Fridge temp alarm.

Coach has 6 blue top 12vdc Optima batteries (two engine, four coach)
with 10/05 manufacture dates. Mix of 50 & 55 amp-hour batteries.

Any advice would be appreciated!

-Ryan
'86 PT-40 8V92
Tri-Cities, WA

[g_man1146]

There are many, many parasitic loads in the coach. Try turning off
the "AT" switch, and the "Electronic Master" switch then see if the
propane leak detector is still "On". If so turn that off. Also be
sure yout inverter or Rediline is switched to "Off". That should
pretty much do it. If not, you need to pull the negative cables for
both the engine and house battery banks.
Rich D. '99LXi43'

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Ryan Wright"
wrote:
>
> Hi folks,
>
> My new (to me) coach has been parked for the past week in front of
my
> house while I create it a better parking spot. As a result I can't
> reach the 50 amp service on my house so it's disconnected from the
> grid.
>
> My batteries are only lasting ~48 hours before the battery alarm
> sounds so I'm having to use the generator to recharge. Every time I
> start the genset, "DC charge" meter goes up to 150 amps and takes
> hours getting back down. I've run it 6+ hours until "DC charge"
was <
> 25 amps and the batteries still die a couple of days later.
>
> So, how do I fix this? "DC Discharge" shows zero (and yes, the
meter
> works, it goes up when I turn lights on). Nobody has been in the
coach
> so the lights haven't been used and I turned everything off that I
> know of. I set the fridge to run on AC or gas only (no DC, since I
> noticed it was hitting the batteries up for juice). The only
things I
> have on that I know of are:
>
> 1. Stereo (it's "off", but previous owner wired ACC right to +12v
so
> it's always lit up - but that should take months to drain four car
> batteries, not days).
> 2. Battery alarm.
> 3. Fridge temp alarm.
>
> Coach has 6 blue top 12vdc Optima batteries (two engine, four
coach)
> with 10/05 manufacture dates. Mix of 50 & 55 amp-hour batteries.
>
> Any advice would be appreciated!
>
> -Ryan
> '86 PT-40 8V92
> Tri-Cities, WA
>

[Leroy Eckert]

I would agree. You indicated you set your fridge to run off of AC or gas. If
you have an inverter, are you certain the fridge is not running off the
inverter? If so, it is using 12v to get to 110v at the fridge.
For info, I can go without external or genset power 2-3 days until the batteries
start going South. If I turn my electronics master off, the LP gas system is
automatically disabled.
A simple solution while your are preparing your pad is to unload the fridge,
take the food in the house and turn off the battery master switch. Mine is back
next to the batteries. I use this technique when I know the coach cannot
receive power for an extended period , usually when I take it in for mechanical
service, or I take it to the hanger to do other things I cannot do in the park.
Leroy Eckert
1990WB-40"Smoke N Mirrors"
Niceville, FL
----- Original Message -----
From: g_man1146
To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2007 9:13 PM
Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Re: What is draining my batteries?


There are many, many parasitic loads in the coach. Try turning off
the "AT" switch, and the "Electronic Master" switch then see if the
propane leak detector is still "On". If so turn that off. Also be
sure yout inverter or Rediline is switched to "Off". That should
pretty much do it. If not, you need to pull the negative cables for
both the engine and house battery banks.
Rich D. '99LXi43'

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Ryan Wright"
wrote:
>
> Hi folks,
>
> My new (to me) coach has been parked for the past week in front of
my
> house while I create it a better parking spot. As a result I can't
> reach the 50 amp service on my house so it's disconnected from the
> grid.
>
> My batteries are only lasting ~48 hours before the battery alarm
> sounds so I'm having to use the generator to recharge. Every time I
> start the genset, "DC charge" meter goes up to 150 amps and takes
> hours getting back down. I've run it 6+ hours until "DC charge"
was <
> 25 amps and the batteries still die a couple of days later.
>
> So, how do I fix this? "DC Discharge" shows zero (and yes, the
meter
> works, it goes up when I turn lights on). Nobody has been in the
coach
> so the lights haven't been used and I turned everything off that I
> know of. I set the fridge to run on AC or gas only (no DC, since I
> noticed it was hitting the batteries up for juice). The only
things I
> have on that I know of are:
>
> 1. Stereo (it's "off", but previous owner wired ACC right to +12v
so
> it's always lit up - but that should take months to drain four car
> batteries, not days).
> 2. Battery alarm.
> 3. Fridge temp alarm.
>
> Coach has 6 blue top 12vdc Optima batteries (two engine, four
coach)
> with 10/05 manufacture dates. Mix of 50 & 55 amp-hour batteries.
>
> Any advice would be appreciated!
>
> -Ryan
> '86 PT-40 8V92
> Tri-Cities, WA
>





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Ryan Wright]

Thanks all for the replies. Lots of excellent suggestions and I'm going
through them now. I'd like to "clean this up" for good if at all possible
rather than patch it, as I want to be able to boondock without the batteries
dying so quickly. So, I can run an extension cord for the chargers for now
(good idea there), but I still need to clean up the phantom loads.

Replying to some questions & comments:

Leroy:

> You indicated you set your fridge to run off of AC or gas. If you have an
inverter, are
> you certain the fridge is not running off the inverter?

Yup. Inverter is turned off. Fridge is running on gas - verified. LP gas
detector is on, however - gas won't flow with it off. Perhaps that is
draining the batteries? I'd be surprised if it pulled that much current,
though.

Curt:

> After installing the EMS system, I'm finding a fantom load of 3 amp as I
> watch the EMS system digital read out.

How does that monitor the 12 volt side?? I looked at the docs and it looked
like just a high voltage unit to me. Or do you have some other monitor for
the low voltage?

-Ryan


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Curt Sprenger]

Ryan,
The EMS is for the alternating current (AC), not for direct current (DC).

I monitor the DC via the dash gauges. Our coach is plugged to 50 amp
service here at the house. New T105 batteries were installed earlier
this year. The batteries are watered with the AquaPro watering system.
They are charged by two Progressive Dynamics PD9160AR 60 amp chargers
with the 4 stage Charge Wizards
http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_detai...izard.html .

When dry camping, the generator is run for a minimum of an hour in the
am and again in the pm. This keeps the hot water hot and the batteries
charged.

Curt Sprenger
1987 PT38 8V92 "MacAttack Racing"
Anaheim Hills, Calif.



Ryan Wright wrote:

> Thanks all for the replies. Lots of excellent suggestions and I'm going
> through them now. I'd like to "clean this up" for good if at all possible
> rather than patch it, as I want to be able to boondock without the
> batteries
> dying so quickly. So, I can run an extension cord for the chargers for now
> (good idea there), but I still need to clean up the phantom loads.
>
> Replying to some questions & comments:
>
> Leroy:
>
> > You indicated you set your fridge to run off of AC or gas. If you
> have an
> inverter, are
> > you certain the fridge is not running off the inverter?
>
> Yup. Inverter is turned off. Fridge is running on gas - verified. LP gas
> detector is on, however - gas won't flow with it off. Perhaps that is
> draining the batteries? I'd be surprised if it pulled that much current,
> though.
>
> Curt:
>
> > After installing the EMS system, I'm finding a fantom load of 3 amp as I
> > watch the EMS system digital read out.
>
> How does that monitor the 12 volt side?? I looked at the docs and it
> looked
> like just a high voltage unit to me. Or do you have some other monitor for
> the low voltage?
>
> -Ryan
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

[Rob Robinson]

Curt you mention 'charge wizards'. Plural. Do you have two wizards working
at the same time? I did with my IOTAs and they conflicted. I corrected the
problem by getting a single wizard called an IQ4 which coordinates the two
chargers so they don't compete with each other. In my case I think one
charger ate the other.

On 14/05/07, Curt Sprenger wrote:
>
> Ryan,
> The EMS is for the alternating current (AC), not for direct current (DC).
>
> I monitor the DC via the dash gauges. Our coach is plugged to 50 amp
> service here at the house. New T105 batteries were installed earlier
> this year. The batteries are watered with the AquaPro watering system.
> They are charged by two Progressive Dynamics PD9160AR 60 amp chargers
> with the 4 stage Charge Wizards
> http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_detai...izard.html .
>
> When dry camping, the generator is run for a minimum of an hour in the
> am and again in the pm. This keeps the hot water hot and the batteries
> charged.
>
> Curt Sprenger
> 1987 PT38 8V92 "MacAttack Racing"
> Anaheim Hills, Calif.
>
> Ryan Wright wrote:
>
> > Thanks all for the replies. Lots of excellent suggestions and I'm going
> > through them now. I'd like to "clean this up" for good if at all
> possible
> > rather than patch it, as I want to be able to boondock without the
> > batteries
> > dying so quickly. So, I can run an extension cord for the chargers for
> now
> > (good idea there), but I still need to clean up the phantom loads.
> >
> > Replying to some questions & comments:
> >
> > Leroy:
> >
> > > You indicated you set your fridge to run off of AC or gas. If you
> > have an
> > inverter, are
> > > you certain the fridge is not running off the inverter?
> >
> > Yup. Inverter is turned off. Fridge is running on gas - verified. LP gas
> > detector is on, however - gas won't flow with it off. Perhaps that is
> > draining the batteries? I'd be surprised if it pulled that much current,
> > though.
> >
> > Curt:
> >
> > > After installing the EMS system, I'm finding a fantom load of 3 amp as
> I
> > > watch the EMS system digital read out.
> >
> > How does that monitor the 12 volt side?? I looked at the docs and it
> > looked
> > like just a high voltage unit to me. Or do you have some other monitor
> for
> > the low voltage?
> >
> > -Ryan
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
> >
>
>
>



--
Rob, Sue & Merlin Robinson
94 WLWB


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Curt Sprenger]

Rob,
Yes, two Charge Wizards working at the same time. They have been in
operation for two years. No problems that I'm aware of.

Curt Sprenger
1987 PT38 8V92 "MacAttack Racing"
Anaheim Hills, Calif.



Rob Robinson wrote:

> Curt you mention 'charge wizards'. Plural. Do you have two wizards working
> at the same time? I did with my IOTAs and they conflicted. I corrected the
> problem by getting a single wizard called an IQ4 which coordinates the two
> chargers so they don't compete with each other. In my case I think one
> charger ate the other.
>
> On 14/05/07, Curt Sprenger > > wrote:
> >
> > Ryan,
> > The EMS is for the alternating current (AC), not for direct current
> (DC).
> >
> > I monitor the DC via the dash gauges. Our coach is plugged to 50 amp
> > service here at the house. New T105 batteries were installed earlier
> > this year. The batteries are watered with the AquaPro watering system.
> > They are charged by two Progressive Dynamics PD9160AR 60 amp chargers
> > with the 4 stage Charge Wizards
> > http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_detai...izard.html
> <http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_detai...izard.html> .
> >
> > When dry camping, the generator is run for a minimum of an hour in the
> > am and again in the pm. This keeps the hot water hot and the batteries
> > charged.
> >
> > Curt Sprenger
> > 1987 PT38 8V92 "MacAttack Racing"
> > Anaheim Hills, Calif.
> >
> > Ryan Wright wrote:
> >
> > > Thanks all for the replies. Lots of excellent suggestions and I'm
> going
> > > through them now. I'd like to "clean this up" for good if at all
> > possible
> > > rather than patch it, as I want to be able to boondock without the
> > > batteries
> > > dying so quickly. So, I can run an extension cord for the chargers for
> > now
> > > (good idea there), but I still need to clean up the phantom loads.
> > >
> > > Replying to some questions & comments:
> > >
> > > Leroy:
> > >
> > > > You indicated you set your fridge to run off of AC or gas. If you
> > > have an
> > > inverter, are
> > > > you certain the fridge is not running off the inverter?
> > >
> > > Yup. Inverter is turned off. Fridge is running on gas - verified.
> LP gas
> > > detector is on, however - gas won't flow with it off. Perhaps that is
> > > draining the batteries? I'd be surprised if it pulled that much
> current,
> > > though.
> > >
> > > Curt:
> > >
> > > > After installing the EMS system, I'm finding a fantom load of 3
> amp as
> > I
> > > > watch the EMS system digital read out.
> > >
> > > How does that monitor the 12 volt side?? I looked at the docs and it
> > > looked
> > > like just a high voltage unit to me. Or do you have some other monitor
> > for
> > > the low voltage?
> > >
> > > -Ryan
> > >
> > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
> --
> Rob, Sue & Merlin Robinson
> 94 WLWB
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>

[Jon]

--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Ryan Wright"
wrote:
>
> Hi folks,
>
> My new (to me) coach has been parked for the past week in front of
my
> house while I create it a better parking spot. As a result I can't
> reach the 50 amp service on my house so it's disconnected from the
> grid.
>
> My batteries are only lasting ~48 hours before the battery alarm
> sounds so I'm having to use the generator to recharge. Every time I
> start the genset, "DC charge" meter goes up to 150 amps and takes
> hours getting back down. I've run it 6+ hours until "DC charge" was
<
> 25 amps and the batteries still die a couple of days later.
>
> So, how do I fix this? "DC Discharge" shows zero (and yes, the meter
> works, it goes up when I turn lights on). Nobody has been in the
coach
> so the lights haven't been used and I turned everything off that I
> know of. I set the fridge to run on AC or gas only (no DC, since I
> noticed it was hitting the batteries up for juice). The only things
I
> have on that I know of are:
>
> 1. Stereo (it's "off", but previous owner wired ACC right to +12v so
> it's always lit up - but that should take months to drain four car
> batteries, not days).
> 2. Battery alarm.
> 3. Fridge temp alarm.
>
> Coach has 6 blue top 12vdc Optima batteries (two engine, four coach)
> with 10/05 manufacture dates. Mix of 50 & 55 amp-hour batteries.
>
> Any advice would be appreciated!
>
> -Ryan
> '86 PT-40 8V92
> Tri-Cities, WA



Ryan this may sound kind of dumm but when I went out to my bird this
morning to check on something I noticed the heater blower was on.
This blower comes on automatically if you don't turn oft the
thermostate, is your thermostate oft? It an easy thing to forget
about if you just turn oft your propane and don't think about that
thermostate. Hope you figure out your problem soon. Jon

Jon
78 Wanderlodge
Bremeton
>

[Pete Masterson]

I think you need a controller (wizard) that's appropriate for your
setup. I have two inverter/chargers with my batteries in two banks --
and a Heart Link 2000 R which controls two chargers. (One inverter,
one bank, then the Heart Link 1000 will do the job.)

Pete Masterson
'95 Blue Bird Wanderlodge WBDA 42
aeonix1@...
On the road at



On May 14, 2007, at 9:45 AM, Rob Robinson wrote:

> Curt you mention 'charge wizards'. Plural. Do you have two wizards
> working
> at the same time? I did with my IOTAs and they conflicted. I
> corrected the
> problem by getting a single wizard called an IQ4 which coordinates
> the two
> chargers so they don't compete with each other. In my case I think one
> charger ate the other.
>
> On 14/05/07, Curt Sprenger wrote:
>>
>> Ryan,
>> The EMS is for the alternating current (AC), not for direct
>> current (DC).
>>
>> I monitor the DC via the dash gauges. Our coach is plugged to 50 amp
>> service here at the house. New T105 batteries were installed earlier
>> this year. The batteries are watered with the AquaPro watering
>> system.
>> They are charged by two Progressive Dynamics PD9160AR 60 amp chargers
>> with the 4 stage Charge Wizards
>> http://www.progressivedyn.com/prod_detai...izard.html .
>>
>> When dry camping, the generator is run for a minimum of an hour in
>> the
>> am and again in the pm. This keeps the hot water hot and the
>> batteries
>> charged.
>>
>> Curt Sprenger
>> 1987 PT38 8V92 "MacAttack Racing"
>> Anaheim Hills, Calif.
<snip>