Author Topic: House batteries go completely dead after 6 to 8 hours with no load  (Read 7101 times)

Scott Shearer

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Re: House batteries go completely dead after 6 to 8 hours with no load
« Reply #15 on: November 29, 2020, 10:21:29 PM »
Kevin,

Regarding your ‘bird circuit board’ eight-pin connector.
Pin #4, orange wire, goes to the battery boost switch on the dash.
Pin #5, purple wire, goes to the battery disconnect switch on the dash (‘salesman switch’).

Both dash switches are normally hot and complete their respective circuits using the switch backlighting ground.

I took readings at the eight-pin connector on our coach.
Big Boy de-energized;
Pin #4: domestic battery voltage
Pin #5: ~11.5-volts

Big Boy energized;
Pin #4: ~4.8-volts
Pin #5: ~11.5-volts

I wouldn’t think that your BIRD/Big Boy is contributing to your issue. If the Big Boy was remaining closed after disconnecting from shore power your chassis batteries would also be depleted. The BIRD/Big Boy would not affect the house battery charging from the inverter/charger.

I agree that by disconnecting the inverter/chargers at the positive post on the invertor you have essentially eliminated them as the draw down on your domestic (house) batteries.

Both the Front and Rear Run Boxes feed various circuits from the domestic batteries. All high amperage circuits enter the rear run box via the large terminals along the bottom of the box and then feed through high amperage circuit breakers to their destination.

The Front Run Box is fed from the Rear Run Box by two separate circuits, one is constant hot (not affected by the domestic battery disconnect switch), and one is switched (domestic disconnect switch). These feeds are exposed in the front run box so you could use your clamp-on meter two measure amp draw on each feed. You could also totally eliminate the front run box from the equation by disconnecting the two large terminals at the front wall of the Front Run Box.

2008-2009 Indexed Beaver and Patriot Wiring Diagrams in the Coach Assist section.
Drawing # 38070173 on page 155 shows the feeds to the Front Run Box.

Eliminating the Rear Run Box from the equation would be tough. Many of the components in the rear run box are buss-mounted which makes reading amp draw difficult, however most of the high draw circuits do utilize cabling that would allow you to use your clamp-on meter.

Drawing # 38080547 on page 175 of the same diagram set shows the various Rear Run Box components labeled by source (Domestic v Chassis).

Be aware and use caution as some circuits in both the Front and Rear Run Boxes are still hot with high-amp 12-volt power even with the battery disconnect switches off.

A couple of other diagrams that might be of interest:
DC diagram for the dual invertor
Page 22
Drawing #: 38010651

AC diagram for the dual invertor
Page 32
Drawing #: 38030071

All of the diagrams that I listed are in my 2006 Patriot hard copy wiring diagram and are effectively the same as the 2008-2009 diagrams, some of the 2008-2009 diagrams are ‘colorized’ and a little easier to read.
Scott & Susie Shearer
2006 Patriot Thunder
Lexington IV 40'
Cat C13
2015 JKU Hard Rock

Al Anderson

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Re: House batteries go completely dead after 6 to 8 hours with no load
« Reply #16 on: December 05, 2020, 12:03:43 AM »
Kevin,

Another thing that works great with a draw that big is a infrared camera.  anything that takes that much current is going to get hot.

Regards,
Al Anderson

Kevin Higgins

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Re: House batteries go completely dead after 6 to 8 hours with no load
« Reply #17 on: December 05, 2020, 12:47:15 PM »
Well I took the RV to a mechanic which I’ve known for a lot of years after 30 to 45 minutes explaining the situation to him he was pretty determined that my batteries were bad he told me to charge them up disconnect them from the couch and let them sit for 4 to 5 days. I did that the batteries never lost hardly any voltage.                            i’ve narrowed it down to two problems first I did like you said I hooked my multimeter up to the batteries and then I started disconnecting the feeds in the front run box before I started I was having a 4 amp draw coming from the batteries this is with both inverter disconnected and the battery switches in the on position. One by one I disconnected the feeds from to the front run box and one of them when disconnected the amp draw went to zero I hooked the other three back up left that one unhooked. The Aladdin system Seems to be the only thing affected by that feed. I haven’t tested everything but most things seem to work.                                        The second problem is with the driver side inverter with all the breakers in the off position and Inverter in the off position I have a .3 amp draw. This is normal according to Magnum technical support and that is what the other inverter is drawing also.                    As soon as I turn on the inverter on the amp draw goes up to 3 to 4 A. With all the breakers in the off position and disconnected from shore power.                                                           I have three projects going on with the RV right now and this being the most challenging. Thanks for everybody’s help
Kevin                                                                             2006 Beaver Patriot thunder                                           42ft Vicksburg C13

Fred Brooks

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Re: House batteries go completely dead after 6 to 8 hours with no load
« Reply #18 on: December 05, 2020, 01:40:05 PM »
   Kevin,
  I admire your tenacity and certainly your frustration when trying to figure out this issue. Electrical issues can be mysterious but not insurmountable. The hardest thing is "how do I divide and conquer" what my problem is. I think you have zeroed in on your issue. The 4 amp draw is not normal. Inverter's when "on" and idling will draw what you stated. Off and connected will also draw what you stated. You said the Aladdin system is the 4 amp draw. We need to narrow that down, and only look at this one thing. I am not sure if there is another fuse down stream of what you are disconnecting to eliminate the 4 amp draw. You may try un-plugging each of the Aladdin modules located in the compartments that monitor information. Another thing you may try to isolate the problem, is to unplug the monitors associated with the Aladdin. You can call me at 520-309-1260 for further discussion. Hope this helps, Fred
Fred & Cindy Brooks
2000 Marquis, Jasper
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Bill Lampkin

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Re: House batteries go completely dead after 6 to 8 hours with no load
« Reply #19 on: December 05, 2020, 02:18:58 PM »
You might want to check to see if your over-the-air TV antenna amplifier is connected to that Aladdin circuit.  That's one load that is easy to miss.
2005 Patriot Thunder Lexington, 3 slides
40' tag axle (short wheelbase)
525 hp C13

"Goin where the weather suits my clothes..."

Steve Huber Co-Admin

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Re: House batteries go completely dead after 6 to 8 hours with no load
« Reply #20 on: December 05, 2020, 07:31:54 PM »
Kevin,
The Aladdin wiring is shown on page 10 of the 2004 Patriot Wiring Diagams in Coach Assist. Should be identical (or very close) to your coach.
Steve
Steve
2015-          07 Contessa Bayshore C9,  400 hp
2013-2015: 00 Marquis Tourmaline, C12, 425 hp
2005-2013: 01 Contessa Naples, 3126B, 330 hp

Kevin Higgins

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Re: House batteries go completely dead after 6 to 8 hours with no load
« Reply #21 on: December 07, 2020, 09:26:13 PM »
The power antenna is in the off position.I’ve located some of the Aladdin modules in Driver side ceiling front bay. I still haven’t located all of them still looking. Fred I will call you soon as I find all the modules .
Kevin                                                                             2006 Beaver Patriot thunder                                           42ft Vicksburg C13

Bill Lampkin

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Re: House batteries go completely dead after 6 to 8 hours with no load
« Reply #22 on: December 07, 2020, 10:09:05 PM »
LP tank shutoff solenoid? Its always 'on', unless you turn it off.
2005 Patriot Thunder Lexington, 3 slides
40' tag axle (short wheelbase)
525 hp C13

"Goin where the weather suits my clothes..."

Kevin Higgins

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Re: House batteries go completely dead after 6 to 8 hours with no load
« Reply #23 on: March 12, 2021, 01:17:51 AM »
Well I thought I do a write up on my conclusion to this problem bottom line batteries were bad.                                          But I’ve learned a lot about the electrical system on my couch. I’ve upgraded the remotes to ME -ARC and installed a BMK. I also had to upgrade my AGS.       In the process I found that one of my temperature sensors was broken and non-functional but it wasn’t a big deal because I had to run a new network cable from the BMK to the inverter anyway.                                                              I’m still drawing about 14 Amps with basically nothing else on but the refrigerator. Not a big deal I have 640 amp hours. It sat in front of my house for three days not plugged in and I still had 40% battery capacity. I do have solar panels  so during the day it’s not drawing hardly any amps.                                                   Thanks again for everyone’s help
Kevin                                                                             2006 Beaver Patriot thunder                                           42ft Vicksburg C13
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