battery drain problem

[Jim Flower]

Is it possible that the draw is on the positive side of the circuit and due to a poor ground some where, not registering on the negative side where the measurements are being taken? I'm thinking of a malfunctioning exterior marker light with either a messed up bulb or messed up ground or just a rusty positive connection. Jim

[tphan]

I suppose that is possible, if it's not the converter/charge wizard, though I think all my exterior lights are functioning perfectly. Thanks for the idea!
I'm just relieved to have figured out the BIG problem, and I hope I didn't weaken or ruin my brand new deep-cycle battery. Any thoughts on this? Walmart said that it diagnosed out fine when I took it in dead, and they charged it. Does a total discharge typically NOT ruin a battery? I don't have a lot of experience with this stuff..

[idroba]

I am so glad you found the problem and figured out when/why it happened (lid open only).

A total discharge does not do a battery any good, even once, but if it did not sit long totally discharged, you probably did not hurt it much. It is sitting discharged for any length of time which will kill a battery capacity, even one time. By length of time, a week or more I would judge.

Keep it in mind when you come close to the free replacement warrantee time, and check it for capacity then. Wal mart is pretty good about exchange at your say so, at least in my limited experience.

[tphan]

I think it sat dead only for one night. I was checking it often (by turning on the "porch" light) since I knew something was iffy...I feel bad about it, and can only hope I didn't shorten it's life too much. My last Walmart deep-cycle battery came with a pop-up I bought in about 2000, and I put it in the AS when I sold the pop-up. It lasted until a month ago!
I agree - Walmart has been very decent with me as well, regarding warranties on their batteries, free testing and charging, etc. And they're less than a mile away. I don't buy much else there, but they are where I go for an automotive battery.

[tphan]

The up-date on this is that since having removed the ailing sky-light fan that was not working but still drawing current, and having fully re-charged the battery the same day, I still show (5 days later) 13 volts with the trailer not plugged in to shore power. For this '70's model with nothing to normally draw any current (besides the tiny led light of the Charge Wizard), this is the normal state of things that I was used to for the last 9 years. So- problem solved, with no readily apparent damage to the battery from the 1 short-lived discharge.
But the lesson here is to more closely monitor and control any possible electrical draws than I did this Spring, when I cranked open the front skylight and completely forgot that a fan was supposed to start whirring rather loudly. I think that all you '70's owners with that type of fan up in there might want to consider getting rid of the automatic pressure switch and replacing it with a toggle switch, or a rocker switch that lights up, maybe in the ceiling right next to the light shroud. If I ever fix the fan motor and put it back in, I will definitely re-do the switch like this.
Happy Camping! We'll be in Moraine Park campground, Rocky Mt. Park, this coming Sunday and Monday nights. Anyone else going to be up there?