Discharging question.

[Hymerboy]

I'm still scratching my head about the shunt readings, nothing is switched on in the van and yet the readings show a discharge, is this normal ?, I know that the engine battery will slowly drain over time but I am concerned about the Habitation battery.

 

[Andy MacD]

Anything plugged into a usb socket? It’s a consistent small draw, I have an Alexa dot and MiFi router always plugged in. Could also be a tv ariel booster

 

[monzer]

The draw is minimal and normal in my opinion but over what period of time were the first and last screenshots taken?

 

[fishplug]

Yeah - a quarter of an amp constant.

That sounds like something like a phone charger that's plugged in but not charging anything (it's a small inverter taking 12v down to something like 5v)

Could even be all the various LEDs on your power sockets or something similar.

I'd pull the fuses on each circuit one at a time and see which one has the offending draw on it, but it may be a combination of really small draws on various circuits.

As monzer said, I would expect some nominal draw of that nature and wouldn't necessarily consider it to be a problem.

If your van is going to sit for a prolonged period and isn't going to mitigate this loss with solar or other charging then I would just flip the battery isolator switch when parked up.

If you don't have one then I would consider getting one anyway. I personally think they're a good idea, both for working on the system and in the event of the electrics getting warm and starting to cause a problem. Having an easy to get to switch that kills all the power to everything could be the thing that prevents an electrical fire.

 

[Guigsy]

Mine will discharge about half an amp, even when everything is off.

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[growly_bear]

What is your camper? If as you're user name suggests it's a Hymer it'll be your EBL. Turn it off and see.
Some say never to turn it off. I've never had an issue.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

Some systems may not be truly switched off. Cab radios may be powered from the leisure side and have a standby parasitic draw. Systems such as battery master transfer some charge to the cab battery from leisure, and cab may be discharging from alarms. Even the shunt itself has a tiny current draw.

 

[Hymerboy]

The draw is minimal and normal in my opinion but over what period of time were the first and last screenshots taken?

Teusday 12.11
Wednesday 08.51
Wednesday 17.51

 

[monzer]

Teusday 12.11
Wednesday 08.51
Wednesday 17.51

I don't see any problem there. Even the smallest solar panel would offset any of this loss if you are really worried about it.

 

[Hymerboy]

I don't see any problem there. Even the smallest solar panel would offset any of this loss if you are really worried about it.

I do have a solar panel, dont know the wattage but it's about 4 foot X 2 foot.

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[monzer]

I do have a solar panel, dont know the wattage but it's about 4 foot X 2 foot.

I'm not sure it's working correctly then. Either that or it is working but whatever it is putting in is smaller than a potential draw from some other source.

A bit of investigating there I think.

 

[Pausim]

Motorhomes are full of electronic and electrical devices including the EBL, as mentioned above by growly_bear . Many of them have a small quiescent drain even when you think they are turned off, this includes the bluetooth connection to the shunt. Isolate the battery if you want to shut everything down.

 

[Hymerboy]

I'm not sure it's working correctly then. Either that or it is working but whatever it is putting in is smaller than a potential draw from some other source.

A bit of investigating there I think.

I've just been out and turned the leisure battery off then on again also unplugged a cigar lighter socket that works the camera then plugged it in again and took these photo's, now even more confused, maybe there's nothing wrong at all ?.

 

[monzer]

I've just been out and turned the leisure battery off then on again also unplugged a cigar lighter socket that works the camera then plugged it in again and took these photo's, now even more confused, maybe there's nothing wrong at all ?.



View attachment 1051540

View attachment 1051541

The first set of photos didn't seem to suggest anything was wrong apart from maybe the solar panel.