Normal Voltage Drain December 09, 2013, 07:23:39 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144003Hi Again, What would be a normal overnight power drain (voltage) on four 6 volt batteries for phantom loads such as gas detectors, refrigerators etc. without any lights in use. Does anybody have an idea about this.Aad Rommelse
Normal Voltage Drain Reply #1 – December 09, 2013, 07:51:30 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144004QuoteWhat would be a normal overnight power drain (voltage) on four 6 volt batteries for phantom loads such as gas detectors, refrigerators etc. without any lights in use. Does anybody have an idea about this.Aad Rommelse Aad How long is overnight? How many so called phantom loads do you have? Let's assume by overnight you mean 12 hours. Let us also assume your "phantom loads" together are 200 milliampers. That is on the high side but we are assuming. That would be 12 hours x .2 Amp = 2.4 Ampere-hours of energy use. Since you have four batteries you should have about 420 Ampere-hours of stored energy. Therefore use would lose about 1/2 of 1%. If you were to let that go on 24/7, it would take 45 days for your batteries to reach the 50% charge level. You should not regularly or often let your batteries discharge to less than 50% charge.Tom
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #2 – December 09, 2013, 09:38:42 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144007"What would be a normal overnight power drain (voltage) on four 6 volt batteries for phantom loads such as gas detectors, refrigerators etc. without any lights in use"Very little--two or three amp-hours.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #3 – December 09, 2013, 10:13:48 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144008Andy and Tom, Thanks for the responses. I did not think that this would be very much. However, I needed some confirmation.
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #4 – December 10, 2013, 02:59:42 am Yahoo Message Number: 144013The refrigerator averages about .5 amp/hour (4-5 amp/hour overnight). The detectors, and radio if turned off, use very little power, not enough to worry about overnight. A four battery pack should have about 440 amp/hours of capacity, of which about 220 is usable. Using 5 amp/hours, per night, is a fairly insignificant amount. Don't use voltage as your main indicator of remaining capacity. A battery capacity meter, such as a LinkLite, is the only accurate way to know the amount of power available or used. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwade/sets/72157602095132826/Larry
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #5 – December 10, 2013, 10:05:07 am Yahoo Message Number: 144015Thanks Ron and Larry,Yes, I have been working voltage as my ma
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #6 – December 10, 2013, 10:54:41 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144026Cold will reduce the battery voltage reading, so you need a state of charge vs voltage table for several temperatures.Eric Greenwell wrote, On 12/10/2013 8:05 AM:
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #7 – December 11, 2013, 09:49:09 am Yahoo Message Number: 144029Eric and Others, I think that I found my problem. The culprit is the radio. After I pulled the fuse
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #8 – December 11, 2013, 11:47:48 am Yahoo Message Number: 144030I'm curious. Was the radio on and you did not know it (volume turned down)? If not and the radio was in the off position, what function of the radio would be causing the voltage drain? Is there some phantom load in the radio?Chris H
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #9 – December 11, 2013, 12:07:49 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144031Chris,The radio was
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #10 – December 11, 2013, 06:49:14 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144034The computer in these modern radios never shuts down and the memory keep alive circuits at times draw more than one would suspect.Sent from Garry's iPhone
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #11 – December 11, 2013, 07:10:44 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144035No radio should draw enough to run down the coach battery overnight! It would be completely unusable as an automotive radio and nobody would buy one. It's some other problem. What's interesting is the cab radio is run off the coach battery. Is that standard on the LD? My 2005 SOB is wired that way, and it makes sense if you want to use the cab radio while your are parked, which we do.Eric GreenwellGarry Foster wrote, On 12/11/2013 4:24 PM:
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #12 – December 11, 2013, 07:45:20 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144036Some one ask why things draw current when shut off. That is the question I responded to. Also didnt he say his voltage is dropping from 12.5 to 12.3 overnight. If so that is not draning a battery overnight.
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #13 – December 11, 2013, 09:32:25 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144039"What's interesting is the cab radio is run off the coach battery. Is that standard on the LD? My 2005 SOB is wired that way, and it makes sense if you want to use the cab radio while your are parked, which we do."Yes--as far as I know, LD has always done it this way, for the reason you cited.But I agree that the radio should not pose a significant power drain. Any "keep-alive" current should be in the tens of milliamps. And the memory should be stored in flashRAM, which uses no power at all to maintain its data. If Aad's problem is truly his dashboard radio rather than his CB, then that radio should probably be replaced.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #14 – December 11, 2013, 09:46:35 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144041"Also didnt he say his voltage is dropping from 12.5 to 12.3 overnight. If so that is not draning a battery overnight."Right. In fact, as others have pointed out, it may not be draining it at all. That drop could be entirely attributable to dissipation of surface charge, combined with falling overnight temperatures.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #15 – December 11, 2013, 10:05:22 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144042Andy and Others,Fortunately my batteries
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #16 – December 11, 2013, 11:16:19 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144047IMHO. that depends on how and where you travel.If you attend any of the Caravan Club gatherings, a CB is needed to hear announcements.If you travel with other rigs, communication by cell may not be possible (large parts of Alaska) or potentially expensive (Canada without a proper roaming plan). With more than two rigs, CB is easier for group discussions.Most cell phone plans have limited minutes. We've had times where the CB chatter would have eaten those up very quickly.Truck drivers are still a source of information about local roads and traffic problems (but the language is often course).Some people are turning to 2 meter ham radios. That requires a Technician Class amateur license, but those tests have become easier to pass.Art
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #17 – December 11, 2013, 11:30:33 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144048Thanks Art. You made a good point to either keep the C B or, if needed, replace it.Aad
Re: Normal Voltage Drain Reply #18 – December 12, 2013, 12:00:50 am Yahoo Message Number: 144050"Subject C B: With most of our communication on the road by cell phone, how many Lazy Daze owners are still using a C B? Is it worth-while to keep it or just remove it?" Cell phones are nice but IMHO they will never replace the CB radio. With the CB radio you can listen to the truck driver conversations (if you can stand a lot of "potty mouth"). The drivers always seem to know about road conditions, traffic jams, etc. and communicate it to each other. I have often followed their advice about how to take alternate routes. A legal CB radio has a power output of about 4 watts and is pretty much limited to "line of sight" communication or a few miles. Most truck drivers have installed "linear amplifiers" (which are not legal) that can produce a power output of several hundred watts. The truck drivers can usually be heard over much longer distances. Recently I had to make a 2000 mile trip without the CB and I really missed it. Felt like I didn't really know what was going on around me.I don't mean to be throwing stones, but if you have the "CB radio option" installed by Lazy Daze, you do not have the best CB in the world. IMHO the Cobra "all-in-one" unit that LD uses is not a viable unit. Also, they do not tune the antenna, which is an absolute must if you expect your radio to be effective.Doug Baker
C B's and a correction. Reply #19 – December 12, 2013, 09:43:13 am Yahoo Message Number: 144053Doug, I have been convinced already that I should keep my C B. Thanks for your input. I very much appreciate all the responses to my various questions on this forum. In one of my earlier posts I stated that my C B and radio were incorrectly wired on the same circuit by the factory. This may have been a wrong statement. This morning, while still day dreaming in bed, I realized that shortly after we took delivery of our Lazy Daze, I exchanged the radio with the one from my 2000 Ford Ranger which my wife and I both liked much better. I may have been the culprit myself by tying it in to the wrong circuit. Solution: Pull the radio and search for the proper circuit. Just an other fun job in retired life.Aad__
C B's and a correction. Reply #20 – December 12, 2013, 06:06:12 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144065I'm interested in getting a CB radio. I live in southern Arizona but can't find anyone who could install if for me. Anyone have any recommendations?Thank youLangton
Re: C B's and a correction. Reply #21 – December 12, 2013, 06:25:30 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144066"Southern AZ" covers a lot of area! However, I Googled "CB installation Tucson AZ" and came up with lots of hits. You can do the same thing for Yuma or where ever you are located. I know places like Best Buy does installations as well as Car Toys ( although they may be in the Pacific NW only...haven't looked at their locations).Linda Hylton
C B's and a correction. Reply #22 – December 12, 2013, 06:54:24 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144067Lanston, stop at a nearby truck stop and inquire. They should be able to point you in the right direction.Joe Hamm
Re: C B's and a correction. Reply #23 – December 12, 2013, 07:56:00 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144069Good idea-thanks!
Re: C B's and a correction. Reply #24 – December 12, 2013, 08:10:43 pm Yahoo Message Number: 144070I am in Tucson but when I called several places they only seemed to do regular radios and had no clue how to tune the antenna or install it on my LD. I'm going to try the truck stop as Joe suggested but thanks for the suggestions.
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