Kill switch

[Airperson]

Kill switch - Does the kill switch stop all the drain from thebattery. I have a solar panel device on the roof of the trailer. If the killswitch is in the off position does that turn off the solar panel? Also, thetrailer is stored under cover. I have left the kill switch in the off positionbut am still getting a battery drain. Ihave two agm battery’s less than 3 years old. The guy at the battery store toldme to store the batteries with the leads disconnected. Has anyone had this type of battery drain?

[Excella CM]

All of your questions hinge on how your particular rig is wired. For now, charge the batteries and disconnect one lead from each, then see if they still lose charge.

[tinman1]

I think I recall the dealer stating there is a small amount of parasitic drain by certain items, ie....smoke detector, etc.

[Protagonist]

Like Excella CM said, it varies.

Possible sources of parasitic drain, even with kill switch off (not necessarily a complete list):
1 - Solar panel's charge controller. The panel may not be working because you're parked in the dark, but the charge controller is still trying to draw power to control the nonexistent solar charge. If the solar panel bypasses the kill switch, so does the controller.
2 - CO/smoke detector, if it's wired to the trailer batteries and not on its own internal battery.
3 - LPG detector, ditto.
4 - Inverter. Might be wired in parallel to the kill switch like the solar panel. If so, then any 110v appliance that uses power even when switched off (like a television or anything with a built-in clock, like a microwave) could be drawing a small amount of power through the inverter, unless the inverter is ALSO switched off.
5 - Propane appliances, if they have a piezoelectric ignition rather than a pilot light. You don't want propane appliances to flame out and gas you to death just because you shut off the electricity, so they'd also bypass the kill switch.

Even if it's not one of those, the batteries could be on their last legs anyway. If the batteries were drained too far before recharging, that would shorten battery life. The more often it happens, the more the battery life is shortened. It's not inconceivable that a nominally five-year battery could be repeatedly over-drained to become a three-year battery.

Disconnecting the battery cable from the negative terminals will definitely prevent parasitic losses, but only do that once the batteries have been fully recharged. Storing them only partially charged hurts their longevity as well.

[Airperson]

Thanks guys, It is great to talk with someone that has been there and done that. I took the batteries to the battery shop and had them charged. The folks at AutoZone do a great job and the best part it is a free service. Can’t beat that. He said they took the charge and he then put a load on them and said they were o.k. I took them back down to the trailer and did not connect the leads to them. I am going to wait a few days and test them again to see if they hold the charge. If they do I will connect them back up to the leads and test them every few days to see if they lose the charge. If they do I will have to start checking the wiring to see if I have a drain. I don’t have a clue how to find out how the solar panel is hooked up as it is not a factory job and I bought it pre owned.