Power Drain (1 Viewer)

[Attila the Hen]

Hi, I could do with some advice on a power drain
I have a 2011 Autocruise Tempo PVC and with everything turned off and the doors shut but not locked (to turn the alarm off) the Sargent unit shows a current useage of 0.4 amps. The only electrical items not turned off are a couple of USB charge points that are permanently connected and have LED indicator lights. Could these be responsible for the power drain? On a mucky day my solar panel can only just keep up.
Before I set to and put in isolating switches on the USB points any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Zigisla]

Could be the charger unit itself or look to see if a radio is connected to the hab side. There was a thread a while back ref electrobloc parasitic drain. Sergeant could have similar.

 

[Jaws]

Have you calibrated the control panel ?

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[andy63]

I wouldn't bother with fitting switches to anything unless you know it's a culprit and even then it will be possibly be a fault that's causing it.
You haven't mentioned the fuse pulling process to see if you can find a circuit that's at fault...
What does the sarent draw by been switched on ?? And your solar controller ?just to start with !!
Andy

 

[Lenny HB]

Sounds normal to me most modern Motorhomes draw 300-400ma with nothing apart from the panel on, usually drops to 200ma or less with the panel off.
Even a small solar panel should be able to cope with that sort of drain on a cloudy day.

 

[tonka]

I can only quote ref my Autotrail that has a Sargent EC500 fitted. This has a constant drain of 200-300ma and when i contacted Sargent was told that is normal.
Common to get new At owners asking why their battery has gone flat.

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[Bart]

our 07 Fiat Bessacarr Draws 0.3 >> 0.4 Amps with everything turned off , that drops to like zero once the control panel is turned off , readings are from a Victron battery monitor.

 

[Attila the Hen]

Pulled all the fuses and it made no difference so I checked with a meter and yes, with the panel off, the drain drops to zero. It looks like it is a paracytic drain. As the alarm runs off the cab battery I am taking to switching off the panel and letting the solar panel auto switch to just charging the cab battery.
Thanks for all the hints and advice on where to look.

 

[Diabalo]

Have you calibrated the control panel ?

I had the same, did what John advised and it went down to 0.2 which I am told is the norm. You can get the calibration instructions from Sargent's web site.

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[Jaws]

On most of the Sargent panels it is just a matter of selecting the amp reading on the display and then holding the centre button for a few seconds. It should beep and say calibrating.