series60man
Washington
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Joined: 12/21/2007
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I have all known house current shut off except battery charger running on float. I expected maybe two amps draw but my read out shows a 10 amp draw with nothing on that I can find. Any ideas?
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Ivylog
Blairsville, Ga. USA
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Joined: 06/30/2004
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With a big DP it could be the instant hot water heater is on or the AquaHot is on electric or the converter is on. The bad news is that it hard to get it below 5 amps. Also when the ice maker cycles it will pull 10 amps.
04 Monaco Dynasty 42' quad slide
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series60man
Washington
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Ivylog, thanks but none of those were on. I just discovered something. I had many interior 12 volt lights on. I did not expect this to have any affect unless in set the charger to bulk instead of float. It stayed on float, the lowest setting. Then I turned off all of the 12 volt lights, 110 amps dropped to 2, go figure.
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Big Katuna
Deland, FL
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Joined: 12/27/2003
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Or your block heater is on. Mine is a standard new style rocker light switch near the floor on the bed pedestal and my girl dog would turn it on when she laid there sometimes. I made a little tab out of aluminum that I put under one of the screws. Others replace the switch with a timer but that required me spending dollars.
Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing plaids with stripes comes easy.
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Golden_HVAC
Fulltime, CA, USA
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Joined: 08/19/2003
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Hi,
I was thinking it might be tank heaters or the engine block heater.
There is a tiny heater on the refrigerator, that prevents frost build-up on the freezer door gasket. There is a tiny switch on my RV that can only be seen with the freezer door open, and is black. It will draw about 1 amp at 12 volts.
10 amps at 120 volts is about 1,200 watts? That is a lot of power to be used up.
Fred.
Money can't buy happiness but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche or Country Coach
If there's a WILL, I want to be in it!
You meet the kindest people at RV Rallies. 21 rallies so far
I havn't been everywhere, but it's on my list
Escapees
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Jim@HiTek
Gresham, OR, USA
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Joined: 07/17/2004
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It would help if you told us what kind of rig you have.
Anyway, check or unplug:
Refer;
Block heater (in my DP there is an AC like switch in the bedroom);
Aux heater element in the hot water tank;
Satellite equipment;
Coffee pot, microwave, or any appliances with clocks or memory circuits;
VCR & TV equipment.
Good luck. Come back and let us know what you find...
 Jim@HiTek
Have shop, will travel!
Visit my travel & RV repair blog site.
1994 Fleetwood Bounder
Cummins Diesel, 190HP, 36.5'
Black Rock Lava Park, Nevada
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series60man
Washington
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I have double checked. Turning on all 12 volt house lights increased 110 volt amp draw by about 8 amps without resetting the battery charger from float to absorb or bulk charging. Who knew?
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wa8yxm
Wherever I happen to park
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Joined: 07/04/2006
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Most 12 volt lamps = about .1 amp at 120 volt, perhaps a bit more
(Take 12 volt amperage from the assorted charts and do a 12v/10)
so that's your problem
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business
John is Near Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
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dougrainer
Carrolton
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Joined: 06/11/2007
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What gauge are you reading for your "Amp" draw? 12 volt lights cannot draw even 1 amp AC current. Are you reading DC or AC amp draw? Doug
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series60man
Washington
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My Alladin system gives me AC amps being drawn at any given moment. I assumed nearly every light inside was 12 volt running off the batteries. A higher draw would at most cause the charger to ramp up from float to cover the added drain. I have a Monaco Exec so there are many lights. Like I said previously, the float charge did not change but turning on the extra lights ramped up the amp draw from 2 to 10 only by turning on the interior lights. I checked and do not believe any other appliance of any kind turned itself on.
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