springtime electrical gremlins?

[soultrek]

Pulled the trailer out of the garage for an early-season overnight last week; it got snowed on last night. But that's not the issue! Today, off shore power with sun on the solar panel, the controller indications were erratic - cycling back and forth between 5 seconds of charged (green light) and 1 second of charging (yellow light). While in the green the battery voltage dropped steadily from 14.2 to 13. With the yellow light on the current showed a momentary 2-3 amp draw. On shore power the battery voltage was a steady 13.8 and there was no indicated current draw. My 12V battery is 2 years old. Any thoughts out there as to what the problem, if any, might be? Thanks, Glenn.

[MarksAlot]

You have to trace the problem backwards to troubleshoot. If you have a volt-meter, check the output consistency at each stage, battery, controller, etc. See what your output at the solar panel is too. Maybe the battery just needs a full charge.

[ruscal]

Glenn,
The battery voltage would be expected to slowly drop once the charging was completed (green light). When charging you should not have seen a current draw, but positive current flow from the controller. Could you have been reading the current backwards? You don't seem to have phantom draw, as everything is OK when on shore power/converter.
Russ