Leisure battery drain when everything is off?

[Fatboy]

Hi Funsters,

I have a new Kontiki with 2 x 100ah lead acid and 2 x 100w solar. I have just upgraded to a few add-ons including a 2000w inverter and a Victron Smartshunt. Ive not noticed with everything tuned off including the inverter the shunt is telling me I have a parasitic battery drain on the leisure batteries of around 1.5 to 2a/h. I have even unplugged the TV, is this normal or am I missing something?

 

[tonka]

1.5 is high...

On my previous Autotrail which had the Sargent control panel / PSU there is a drain (confirmed by Sargent) but only around 0.2amp. So 1.5 is high.
If you have one, Check if your rear view camera is being powered because the IR lights would not be noticable with the human eye but could be running all day.

 

[Fatboy]

1.5 is high...

On my previous Autotrail which had the Sargent control panel / PSU there is a drain (confirmed by Sargent) but only around 0.2amp. So 1.5 is high.
If you have one, Check if your rear view camera is being powered because the IR lights would not be noticable with the human eye but could be running all day.

Good point but I would have thought that was the cab battery? I have just set the shunt up so it may be I have the settings wrong

 

[Two on Tour]

If your hab control panel is switched on then that will normally draw about .25 of an amp.
Do you have heaters for your fresh and grey tanks on your van?

 

[Fatboy]

If your hab control panel is switched on then that will normally draw about .25 of an amp.
Do you have heaters for your fresh and grey tanks on your van?

Yes I do, and they were active if I remember correctly

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[Reallyretired]

I have a maxxfan and that draws a small current even when off. Remote control receiver.
TV on standby of course but also any aerial booster will draw a bit. The Victron will take a bit and the inverter can take a substantial current even when swutched off unless actually isolated from the 12v supply.

 

[Carpmart]

Also worth checking the head unit… my pioneer one was more like a heat sink with the current it was drawing.

 

[h8ten]

1.5 is high...

On my previous Autotrail which had the Sargent control panel / PSU there is a drain (confirmed by Sargent) but only around 0.2amp. So 1.5 is high.
If you have one, Check if your rear view camera is being powered because the IR lights would not be noticable with the human eye but could be running all day.

You can check for Infra-Red light using a Smartphone's camera, also handy to check if an IR remote is working or has flat batteries.

 

[robnchris]

Do you have an alarm fitted?

Fiat Ducato's are very power hungry.

 

[Hoovie]

First thing to do before doing all the investigations suggested above ... disconnect the cable on the LOAD stud on the Victron Shunt and confirm the reported current drops to Zero. If not, go into the settings and do a current calibration to set to zero. Then reconnect the LOAD connection and see what the current is reading.

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[Bessy765]

On our Burstner I had panels charger inverter and 2 x 100 amp lithium. I also had a drain of 1.5 to 2 amp. Had a problem with the inverter and it was replaced under warranty. Since then I only have a 8/9 watt draw. Van is fitted with a tracker immobiliser and Victron monitoring of the power systems etc, so I would be disconnecting items one at. A time till you found the cause. Be careful if disconnecting accessories with the power on as you may get a spark from somme of them.

 

[RM_Marine]

Have used the black button to shut everything off

 

[Bleau’s]

Do you have motorhome wifi if so is it off has i found it pulled my battery down when i forgot to turn it off.

 

[Fatboy]

Do you have an alarm fitted?

Fiat Ducato's are very power hungry.

Yes but alarm would be from cab battery right?

Do you have motorhome wifi if so is it off has i found it pulled my battery down when i forgot to turn it off.

Have used the black button to shut everything off

No Wi-Fi set up and yes good call on the EC800 I’ve never tried shutting it off only the swift command I’ve shut that down

 

[RM_Marine]

When I use the black button I get the very very small drain compared wot then I don't shut the Sargent unit down

The solar is able to keep up with the drain when the Sargent unit is turned off.

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[steve69]

Despite shutting off all the master switches, my battery still drains and has done since day one. When I store it I disconnect the battery completely. It holds the charge perfectly then for months. Quite a common problem I gather.

 

[Fatboy]

UPDATE, today after a full charge the drain has now dropped to around 0.8a, nothing has changed, everything still turned off so I can live with 0.8. I’m wondering with a new Victron Smart-shunt do they need a couple of cycles to calibrate?

 

[Hoovie]

UPDATE, today after a full charge the drain has now dropped to around 0.8a, nothing has changed, everything still turned off so I can live with 0.8. I’m wondering with a new Victron Smart-shunt do they need a couple of cycles to calibrate?

current calibration is a manual thing. YOU need to do it. The Shunt won't do it for you (read Post #10)

 

[Diabalo]

0.8 amps is still a lot, your 200ah battery bank will be down to 50% in just over week.

 

[Bart]

UPDATE, today after a full charge the drain has now dropped to around 0.8a, nothing has changed, everything still turned off so I can live with 0.8. I’m wondering with a new Victron Smart-shunt do they need a couple of cycles to calibrate?

As Hoovie already said , disconnect the load at the shunt then manually calibrate the shunt in the victron app, reconnect the load , ensure everything is off then check the shunt app to see what is being drawn.

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[Fatboy]

SOLVED… as stupid as this may sound, when the inverter was installed it’s hidden away under the rear bunks near the batteries. You have to dismantle the damn van to get to it but I have a remote switch located in the Motorhome which is accessible. Last night, the first night I have been in with the lights off since fitting it, I noticed the remote had a standby light on it. So this morning I’ve got the bedroom in bits and sure enough even when switched off the damn thing is drinking juice like a wino on a street corner. So it’s switched off and I’m back to around 0.2amp drain. I thought the whole idea of a remote isolator was to switch the damn thing off… next step to locate a disconnect somewhere so I can isolate the supply without tearing the van apart.