Mysterious Electrical Issues

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Check the brake emergency disconnect switch to make sure the pin is inserted all the way. It could be that the pin was pulled which would be activating the brakes at full power constantly. Use chocks and stabilize to make sure that the RPod does not roll. Don't use the disconnect switch. That is a big load that will drain the battery. I'm not saying that this is the case, but it is something to check.

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StephenH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6329	Post Options Post Reply Quote StephenH Report Post Quote Reply Topic: Mysterious Electrical Issues Posted: 18 Sep 2021 at 8:59am
	Check the brake emergency disconnect switch to make sure the pin is inserted all the way. It could be that the pin was pulled which would be activating the brakes at full power constantly. Use chocks and stabilize to make sure that the RPod does not roll. Don't use the disconnect switch. That is a big load that will drain the battery. I'm not saying that this is the case, but it is something to check.
	StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

wthoms2000 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 06 May 2017 Location: Costa Mesa, CA Online Status: Offline Posts: 44	Post Options Post Reply Quote wthoms2000 Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 28 Sep 2021 at 11:28pm
	I believe you still need 12V to run the control panel under propane though.
	Porta Poddy Wil and Luz, Orange County, CA 2017.5 179 HRE 2021 Ranger XLT FX4 REDARC Brake Controller

JR Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 31 Aug 2018 Location: Manistee, MI Online Status: Offline Posts: 366	Post Options Post Reply Quote JR Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 29 Sep 2021 at 6:56am
	+1 wthoms2000 and also you need 12v to run the furnace so if you have totally drained batteries you can't run your fridge or furnace.
	Jay 179/2019

Giernan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 22 Aug 2021 Online Status: Offline Posts: 9	Post Options Post Reply Quote Giernan Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 29 Sep 2021 at 8:56am
	I appreciate all the brainstorming. Still not resolved - We have a drip charger connected directly to the battery at night now, which is keeping it charged enough to keep things running if I’m not working late in there. If I’m working and have all the lights on (and the speakers for music), I drain the battery by about 2am. It seems like the only thing left it could be is a bad battery. I took the battery to autozone once to test but the charge level was too low for their tester to work. We’ve double checked the brake cable. We’re definitely not running the electrical outlets off the inverter. Still plugged into shore power. Tested the output from the converter and it was fine. No blown fuses, no tripped breakers. During the day the button on the sensor panel inside will say the battery is 3/4 charged. But before we buy another battery, I am wondering… is there any way to test the actual load being pulled from the battery? Not what the battery is capable of, but what is actually being used? Just thinking through this, either there’s a problem with the battery getting power to charge, storing power to be used later, or provding more power than it can handle. I feel like we’ve run through the tests on the battery getting power and that’s fine. We haven’t been able to effectively test it storing power, but my assumption right now is that this is the problem. But I would love to test whether the power the battery is unreasonable. Googling isn’t working (or my search terms are wrong) because all I’m getting is how to test the voltage the battery can provide - not what it IS providing.

john in idaho Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 04 Nov 2014 Location: Eagle Idaho Online Status: Offline Posts: 611	Post Options Post Reply Quote john in idaho Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 29 Sep 2021 at 9:28am
	For $10 you can have your own volt meter. A fully charged 12v battery should read 12.6 or.7. Unhook the neg terminal and with the meter set on amps, measure the current thru the neg terminal. With the meter connected, start turning off breakers until you find the one that reads 0. that circuit is where your drain is. Let us know what that is.

StephenH Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List podders Helping podders - pHp Joined: 29 Nov 2015 Location: Wake Forest, NC Online Status: Offline Posts: 6329	Post Options Post Reply Quote StephenH Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 29 Sep 2021 at 9:43am
	A clamp-on ammeter that you can get will do that for you. You need to get one that will test both AC and DC amperes. I have a Southwire AC/DC one that works well for me. Here is one similar to mine which I purchased at Home Depot. https://www.southwire.com/tools-equipment/test-measurement/400a-ac-dc-clamp-meter-with-true-rms-built-in-ncv-worklight-and-third-hand-test-probe-holder/p/p-65031840 As for the sensor panel, disregard the numbers. Look at the boxes around the lights. The numbers are for tank levels. The letters refer to battery charge. If all are lit, then the battery is being charged. Then you have good, fair, low (if I recall correctly). To get a good reading, you need an actual meter. I have a meter that monitors voltage and amperage that I installed for use with the LiFePO4 battery. One can also be used for Lead-Acid batteries. It just has to be set accordingly. The meter I installed is this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FGFFHC6/ It is probably what would serve you best to get your electrical issues sorted out. There are other models, but this one is very reasonable in price and will work well. See my mods for pictures of my installation.
	StephenH Happy is the man that findeth wisdom,... ouR escaPOD mods Former RPod 179 Current Cherokee Grey Wolf 24 JS

offgrid Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 23 Jul 2018 Online Status: Offline Posts: 5290	Post Options Post Reply Quote offgrid Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 30 Sep 2021 at 5:59am
	Yes, a multimeter with clamp on DC current measurement is what you are looking for. If you clamp that on one of the cables at the battery terminals you can see directly what is going in and out of the battery. If you turn off all your loads that should be the charging current, and if you turn off all your charging sources that should be your load current. If you leave both loads and charging on you will see the net current flow in or out of the battery depending on whether the loads are larger or smaller than what the charger is putting out. What you will be seeing is current flow (in amps) at that moment. To understand capacity issues you have to look at battery current flow over time which is measured in amp hours. For that you'd either need to estimate it by the current measurement from your meter multiplied by how many hours you are discharging or charging, or you'd need to install a battery monitor, but let's take it one step at a time. I bought this inexpensive multimeter pon Amazon, works fine and gets the job done. multimeter
	1994 Chinook Concourse 1995 RV6A Experimental Aircraft 2015 Rpod 179 - sold

Ben Herman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 26 Apr 2018 Location: Gr Junction, CO Online Status: Offline Posts: 355	Post Options Post Reply Quote Ben Herman Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 30 Sep 2021 at 4:21pm
	Going back to the beginning of your post, I believe you said that this was a new unit, purchased within the past few months. I'd haul it back to the dealer and let them solve it.

SC for Huskers Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 22 Feb 2017 Location: Goose Creek, SC Online Status: Offline Posts: 144	Post Options Post Reply Quote SC for Huskers Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 30 Sep 2021 at 6:09pm
	+1
	Happy Traveling, Tom 2017 172pod 2011 F150 STX