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Post edited 12:41 am – May 11, 2012 by eocamper

I have a 2012 19SB that i've had a month. The battery was fully charged last weekend. Today I went in to stock a few things for our up comming trip and the lights would not come on. Coould someone tell me what is draining my battery?

Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty sure it the gas leak detector. Looking into a cut-off switch for the battery.

eocamper said:Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty sure it the gas leak detector. Looking into a cut-off switch for the battery.

although i am sceptical that the CO detector could drain a battery in a week under the right conditions i guess its possible.  As eugene alluded to, electrical problems are not always easy to pinpoint.  he also mentioned the 20 amp (yellow) fuse in the converter.  if you pull that fuse, i believe  you essentially disconnected the battery from the system (a cheap noninvasive disconnect) just remember to put it back though before taking off.  it looks like that fuse protects the only connection to the battery, and if thats  so, the break away brakes would not work under an emergency situation. 

when this fuse blows (as folks can attest) nothing works inside unless you are plugged into shore power. (connected, you are generating the required 12v in the converter.  however you are not charging the battery because the same path to the battery from the converter is used for charging so its  lights out when you unplug.)

I just got back from my first trip with my 2012 Classic 170RB and had a similar problem with rapid battery drainage.  The lights went out the first and fourth nights.  I also found out that these little trailers do not charge the battery when connected to the truck in fact it did not appear to draw on the truck battery at all so I turned the truck around and hooked up the jumper cables.

if you have access to a clamp on ammeter, it will take  some of the guess work out of equation.  if you are unfamiliar with this tool, you just clamp it around the positive wire from the battery while it is connected and read the display.  with everything off, i would expect less than .5 amp parasitic current draw. (co detector, and maybe a little draw from the converter) grossly more, as in 2 to 10amps or more would mean lights, antenna booster,  pumps on, or a malfunctioning converter or furnace which would have to be checked one by one by clamping on to the positive wire going to them with the ammeter.  (sorry if you know all this already, but for the forums sake someone may not). if there is little or no draw but the battery still dies quickly,  then you may need to take the battery to an auto parts store. they can check the battery's condition.  good sources to borrow an ammeter would be electricians. heat and air guys, and the sorts, along with that tool guy everyone knows.  if that's you and you don't have one, i saw one on sale at sears for about $35.

First cause of drain was probably me leaving a light on.  Continuing problem turned out to be a defective volt meter.  It continued to give out-of-the-park readings for current when dealership's meter showed very small parasitic drain from CO meter only.  Glad I don't have a problem.

Just so it doesn't happen again while the trailer is sitting unused, I've pulled the 20 amp fuse.  It's called closing the barn door after the horses are…  well, you get the idea.