Aladdin says I have 7 amp discharge with inverter and fridge off. What is drawing that much power?

[daveyjo]

When I am plugged in and on shore power, fully charged house batteries, Aladdin says I have a 2  or 3 amp discharge.  When I unplug, it says 7 amp discharge with inverter off (microwave is off, solar disconnected, TV stuff disconnected and fridge is unplugged).  Everything I can think of is off except the Aladdin.  What can be pulling that much power?

Dave Jones

2005 HR Scepter

[jacwjames]

Do you have a salesman switch that shuts the house portion off?  If I leave mine on my batteries will deplete even though I have 325 watt solar.  If I turn the salesman switch off the batteries will stay charged.  I started to try and figure out what the big draw was but had other better things to do.  I did start putting a clamp amp meter on various wires in my passenger side rear electrical, which lead me to shut of the salesman switch, but that's as far as I got.  I did leave the inverter display active to monitor voltage and state of charge, it does not draw much power in idle state.

So I will be following this thread.

Edited September 12, 2020 by jacwjames

[Ivan K]

Feel if your salesman switch is hot, if you still have it. This was the main reason I bypassed ours (we have 2 of them) even tho it was still working fine. It may account for part of the drain.

[jacwjames]

1 minute ago, Ivan K said:

Feel if your salesman switch is hot, if you still have it. This was the main reason I bypassed ours (we have 2 of them) even tho it was still working fine. It may account for part of the drain.

Yup, mine gets warm >>>> heat is energy just like a light bulb.

[Guest Tim503]

When you are plugged in the batteries still take power to keep them at float of 13.5 volts. The fridge runs a board and the propane detector and the one in the bedroom take power. There is also the radio and the antenna and those controls. I suppose the Aladdin takes power if it is telling you the draw. 2 x 12 is 24 to 36 watts. 7 amps is 84 watts. Maybe the water pump is sucking up some or the water heater or maybe a power draw somewhere. I thought most inverters still keep the batteries charged even when off. Disconnect the hot wire on the batteries and see, even the solenoids take power when engaged.

Edited September 14, 2020 by Tim503

[Harvey Babb]

Just a wild thought: could it be your tank heaters? I'm sure it isn't cold enough for them to be on if working properly, but if the thermostat is hosed....

That's the only load I can think of that's pretty much invisible.

 

[daveyjo]

On 9/11/2020 at 4:58 PM, daveyjo said:

When I am plugged in and on shore power, fully charged house batteries, Aladdin says I have a 2  or 3 amp discharge.  When I unplug, it says 7 amp discharge with inverter off (microwave is off, solar disconnected, TV stuff disconnected and fridge is unplugged).  Everything I can think of is off except the Aladdin.  What can be pulling that much power?

Dave Jones

2005 HR Scepter

Solved:

I have been trying to figure out where the 7 amps discharge reported by the Aladdin is going.  The trombetta relay was probably energized.

 The salesman’s switch relay was bypassed.  Here is what I found using an ammeter and NOT the Aladdin display.

 My Aladdin reading is apparently always 4 amps low, i.e., if you add 4 amps to whatever it says, you have pretty much what is flowing in or out of the battery.  So that meant I was really discharging only 3 amps.

 By measuring with an ammeter:

The light in the rear electrical bay pulls a little over 1 amp.

The Aladdin itself draws 1 amp.

The Trombetta relay coil draws about 0.5 amps.

So if I disconnect the Trombetta (I think it should disconnect itself if the house and chassis battery voltage get too far apart), turn out the light in the electrical bay (it’s on ‘cause I am meddling in there), and turn off the Aladdin, my real discharge is a manageable half amp or so.  But the big discrepancy is that the actual house current is always +4 amps more than the Aladdin display says. 

 When plugged in, the Aladdin says -2 or -3 amps and if I add the +4 amp display error, it says I am charging by a couple amps, which is reasonable just sitting with not much on.

 Although the answer was simple, it sure took a while to figure it out.

Edited September 19, 2020 by daveyjo
poor description