Battery draw even while plugged in

[Fyrbug503]

Maybe someone can help me look in the right place for this.
Last trip I found at my last stop that I had battery draw happening even while plugged in. Fridge and lights were under shore power. However when pulling in the slide it was drawing on battery power and had drawn down the battery level. Also the batteries did not seem to charge between stops in spite of a 6 hour drive.
I checked all connections and they were tight. And as I said fridge, lights, outlets, and AC were using the shore power. Weird.

So shoot me some ideas for searching out a ghost draw.

[Hoopy Frood]

It's always good to know what you have.

Generally the slide/leveler pump is driven directly from the battery/ies, because it draws on the order of 60-80 amps. Not knowing what you drive, and what you're pulling it's hard to give any exact advice, but many vehicles do very little charging of the trailer battery/ies while you're driving. Those are very small gauge wires, and don't provide much amperage.

[A.Texas.Yankee]

Maybe someone can help me look in the right place for this.
Last trip I found at my last stop that I had battery draw happening even while plugged in. Fridge and lights were under shore power. However when pulling in the slide it was drawing on battery power and had drawn down the battery level. Also the batteries did not seem to charge between stops in spite of a 6 hour drive.
I checked all connections and they were tight. And as I said fridge, lights, outlets, and AC were using the shore power. Weird.

So shoot me some ideas for searching out a ghost draw.

Your lights never use shore power, nor do your slides. Those always pull off 12v whether plugged in or not. Your converter (120v to 12v) is wired into your 12v system and is charging the battery and powering 12v system. When you use those devices it pulls from the battery and converter (converter only if on shore power).

Make sure your battery disconnect is not engaged (make sure power is passing through). If not that, my guess is you may want to investigate the converter. Check breaker, fuses, and such.

Full-time Traveling Family ,'21 Momentum 395MS-R, '21 F450 King, 2000watts solar, Dual Victron MP-II 12/3000 2 x 120v, 1220ah LiFePo4

[Scott'n'Wendy]

You converter cannot supply the needed power to move the slides, it requires battery power as well.

[Fyrbug503]

2021 Imagine 28 ft bunkhouse pulled with a 2021 Toyota Tundra.

[huntr70]

As stated above, any 12 volt powered items always draw 12 volt, even when plugged in to shore power. Shore power does nothing but recharge the battery.

Was your battery disconnect turned off when traveling? Battery will not charge if turned off. Also, is your charge line active on your truck?

[xrated]

As stated above, any 12 volt powered items always draw 12 volt, even when plugged in to shore power. Shore power does nothing but recharge the battery.

Was your battery disconnect turned off when traveling? Battery will not charge if turned off. Also, is your charge line active on your truck?

You are wrong with the "Shore power does nothing but recharge the battery". Shore power provides 120VAC to the converter/charger. The 12VDC that comes from the converter/charger (I'll just call it C/C) goes directly to the 12V fuse panel section and provides power to everything in that panel that is 12VDC. Then a parallel wire goes from that panel over to the battery disconnect, and if it is turned on, will allow the voltage produced at the C/C to continue on to the battery and charge it....if it needs to be charged. The 12V stuff in the camper will draw power either from the battery or from the C/C, depending on which has the greatest amount of voltage. Example.....if the C/C is at float voltage (approx. 13.2V) and the battery is fully charged and is at 12.6/12.8 volts, pretty much all the 12V stuff will be supplied from the C/C.

Running the slides and or the hydraulic and possibly the electric legs will required more power than the C/C is able to produce, in most instances, so then the battery will supplement with 12V power for that. Make no mistake, the C/C can run most of the loads that are 12VDC in the trailer, and if you don't believe it, turn off the battery disconnect and make sure the C/C is on, and start turning on lights, stereo, water heater on propane, fridge on propane, etc, etc.

[Tigger1]

You converter cannot supply the needed power to move the slides, it requires battery power as well.

This is my understanding too.

Last fall I was preparing to winterize. I had put the slide out/in a few times for various reasons. I was plugged into house power but didn’t realize the battery was disconnected.

I think after the 2nd or 3rd time putting the slide out it would only come in a couple inches on one side. I reset the controller, pulled it in, then put it back out again. Same thing, only moved a couple inches on one side.

I scratched my head, looked all around the trailer and then it dawned on me that the battery was disconnected. I connected it, waited about 30 minutes or so and all was well, even until today.

[huntr70]

You are wrong with the "Shore power does nothing but recharge the battery". Shore power provides 120VAC to the converter/charger. The 12VDC that comes from the converter/charger (I'll just call it C/C) goes directly to the 12V fuse panel section and provides power to everything in that panel that is 12VDC. Then a parallel wire goes from that panel over to the battery disconnect, and if it is turned on, will allow the voltage produced at the C/C to continue on to the battery and charge it....if it needs to be charged. The 12V stuff in the camper will draw power either from the battery or from the C/C, depending on which has the greatest amount of voltage. Example.....if the C/C is at float voltage (approx. 13.2V) and the battery is fully charged and is at 12.6/12.8 volts, pretty much all the 12V stuff will be supplied from the C/C.

Running the slides and or the hydraulic and possibly the electric legs will required more power than the C/C is able to produce, in most instances, so then the battery will supplement with 12V power for that. Make no mistake, the C/C can run most of the loads that are 12VDC in the trailer, and if you don't believe it, turn off the battery disconnect and make sure the C/C is on, and start turning on lights, stereo, water heater on propane, fridge on propane, etc, etc.

Try, but in every day camper language, your 12 volt items still run on battery even when plugged in to shore power.

There is an all too common theory among campers that when they are plugged in, everything works on shore power.

We typically run units at shows just off the converter for 12 volt, but these new high draw items limit what runs anymore and we put batteries on them.

[Fyrbug503]

Update: blown converter. Replaced with upgraded converter. Service dept stated they frequently have to replace the standard brand coming from factory. So here is hoping that Grand Design will cover the cost as trailer is not even a year old yet. Waiting on hold for them is the next project.