2007 Roadtrek Popular 210 Power Draw

[a1parrothead]

Hello all,

My 2007 RT 210 Popular has a 1.6 Amp power draw that is draining my batteries.
I have the Tripp Lite inverter and it already has the remote cable and switch factory wired to turn it off. So, It is not causing the draw.

I have already hooked up my amp meter between the negative battery post and negative cable and that shows a constant draw of 1.6 Amps. After looking for lights mistakenly left on, etc., I tried pulling every fuse and shutting off every breaker one at a time to isolate the draw. No luck.

So, with my main battery switch off on the panel, still a draw. Any idea's would be very helpful!
Jeff

[mkguitar]

sorry, I thought you meant underhood battery:

Radio, alarm and instrument cluster will pull close to an amp on my 2005 chev based pleasure-way...the underhood light is about another 200 mA.

If you leave the meter connected and energised, you will see the current draw drop after a few minutes as the instrument cluster boots whenever power is restored after a loss-- like when we are connecting meters. Then after doing whatever it does it kinda goes to sleep.

if you pull the fuses for the radio, instrument cluster and unplug the underhood light you should see current draw drop to zero...at least that's what I found.

when the van is sitting after the instrument cluster has gone back to "sleep" I see a draw of 500~600 mA which I attribute to radio and alarm.

So I'm using a trickle charger whens it's parked here at the house for long(er) periods of time.

mike

[booster]

1.6 amps is right on what you would draw with the inverter on. Probably good to check to see if the switch is working correctly and the Tripplite is in remote mode. You also could have a bad isolator and are loosing it to the van battery and electronics. With just the 12v battery switch on, you would usually see maybe .3 amps.

[a1parrothead]

I will test my isolator. The Tripp Lite is set in remote mode and switch APPEARS to be working. When the switch is in the "Off" mode, nothing the inverter usually powers will come on and the Tripp Lite has no lights on.

But.... it is weird that when I re-connect a battery cable, I can here the fan on the Tripp Lite come on for a few seconds. This happens even when the remote switch is set to the off position. ?? That seems strange to me, thinking that off is off, and that Tripp Lite fan should not be able to function if the remote switch is off.

Jeff

[booster]

Originally Posted by a1parrothead

I will test my isolator. The Tripp Lite is set in remote mode and switch APPEARS to be working. When the switch is in the "Off" mode, nothing the inverter usually powers will come on and the Tripp Lite has no lights on.

But.... it is weird that when I re-connect a battery cable, I can here the fan on the Tripp Lite come on for a few seconds. This happens even when the remote switch is set to the off position. ?? That seems strange to me, thinking that off is off, and that Tripp Lite fan should not be able to function if the remote switch is off.

Jeff

IIRC the Tripplite goes through and initiation procedure when it sees power and that includes a short burst of fan. It will also give a small spark when you connect for the same reason.

[RT.SS]

Tripp Lite remote on-off switch does not really turns the inverter completely off, it switches between “auto mode=ON position” and “charge only mode=OFF position”. When plugged to shore power and with the inverter remote switch to OFF position, the inverter will continue to charge your coach battery. To completely turn it off, you need to use the built in mode selector sliding switch into the inverter labeled (Auto/Remote-OFF- Charge Only). I’m also guessing that it could be the battery isolator staying energized for some reason and drawing current. The stock isolator draws about 1+ amp when energized. Feel the isolator if it’s warm, it usually gets warm if not hot when it is energized for a given period of time. Or, you can disable it temporarily by disconnecting the ground wire from the isolator, then re-check current draw from battery. Hope that helps.

[a1parrothead]

So.... I still need help. Here's where I am at:
Took out both coach batteries to charge. Then opened hood to look at isolator. While under hood, checked engine battery. It was also very low. So, I did an amp draw test on it. It was pulling .58 amps with nothing on. I did not bother pulling any fuses for the chassis to try and chase down that draw.

But that makes this my situation: The coach batteries are being drawn down by 1.5 amps. The chassis battery is drawn down by .58 amps.

So I re-installed the coach batteries and then disconnected the + cable that runs back to the coach batteries from the isolator. I figured if the isolator were causing the amp draw on my coach batteries, then with this disconnected, the draw should disappear. It did not. Same 1.5 amp draw.

It seems to me that the draw is still somewhere in the coach area for the 1.5 draw on the coach batteries. Battery switch is off, and inverter in "off" position, not just "Remote". Pulled all fuses and shut off all breakers. Still the same draw of 1.5 amps.

But.... my chassis battery is also draining from that .58 draw, even when + wire from coach batteries to isolator is disconnected (so I assume its not bleeding back through to draw in coach).

My isolator has 3 big terminals, one smaller terminal and a bunch of other stuff wired to it. I really need help in testing it. I think the big center post is the alternaor, and each side post is for sending a charge in only one direction to the coach batteries and the chassis battery. I think maybe the smaller 4th post has to do with the ignition switch?


It seems to me I have several problems. 2 separate draws, one on the coach batteries and one on the chassis battery, AND a fried isolator?

I cannot find any labels on my isolator to indicate model # etc.
ANY help and advice would be appreciated.

Jeff

[WJones]

The fourth small terminal on the isolator becomes hot (+12v) when the ignition switch is turned on,. This sends 12v to the alternator because it needs 12v at its output to work.

[markopolo]

Is it an isolator or a separator in your RT?

Isolator: http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f5...last-1158.html

It was an aluminum finned red brick like unit in the RT I had. Some of the info such as battery voltage is a bit dated. I didn't have AGM's then.

Separator: (second photo) http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f8...html#post17805

Another separator topic here: http://www.classbforum.com/forums/f5...blem-2335.html

[RT.SS]

Hi,
With the isolator disconnected from the battery and you still seeing 1.5 amp draw, then it is probably not the isolator. To better understand how your particular RT is wired, here is a link to Roadtrek wiring simulator http://www.metrotrekkers.org/utility/electrical.htm, just select the model/year of your Roadtrek from the drop down menu.

Looking at the wiring simulator, there should be 3 (+) wires connected to the (+) battery post, I would disconnect all (+) wires and connect them one at a time using your amp meter to further isolate which line is causing the draw.