Battery discharging with no load

Sounds like a bad battery.  Charge it fully then disconnect from the pod.  Check state if charge again after a few hours.  If it's dead, then it's a bad battery.  If it's still fully charged,then you have a current draw somewhere on the pod.  There aren't many things on the pod that draw enough current to completely discharge the battery in just a couple of hours!

+3

Something seems strange here. Is it possible that a bad battery will show good SG after several hours when totally disconnected,  but discharge significantly with just the gas detector (~ 100mA) load? As previously stated, the big current draws are 1: fridge on 12 volts (~ 10A), 2: continuously running pump or furnace fan (2-3A each). The pump and furnace can be heard so I'll rule them out. Incandescent lights left on will also do it, but those can be seen.   The fridge on 12V will certainly discharge the battery, but should run 4-5 hrs before dipping below a 12V reading under load.

Also, how is initial full charge being verified? Open circuit voltage or SG? DO NOT rely on the 4 led status panel.

Originally posted by furpod The only thing on the Pod capable of that, besides a dead short, is the Fridge. Charge fully, let sit not connected to anything at all for 3-4 hours, check voltage with multimeter. You should see 12.6v +. If you don't bad battery.

Absolutely. If there isn't a dead short somewhere and the fridge isn't running on battery power, the battery is dead.