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Old 03-24-2019, 10:03 AM   #1
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Strange voltage drop

New trailer in Oct. Traveling 4 months solar panel working fine. Never let voltage drop to below 12.30 volts in static mode. Yesterday after 4 hour drive voltage was only 12.4 with partly sunny skies. Noticed voltage drop more than normal. Ran genset that evening until 9m. Within an hour with no heater running and refer off voltage dropped to 12.3. Shut master switch off for sleeping. Woke up to 11.6 volts. What's happening?
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Old 03-24-2019, 10:24 AM   #2
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New trailer in Oct. Traveling 4 months solar panel working fine. Never let voltage drop to below 12.30 volts in static mode. Yesterday after 4 hour drive voltage was only 12.4 with partly sunny skies. Noticed voltage drop more than normal. Ran genset that evening until 9m. Within an hour with no heater running and refer off voltage dropped to 12.3. Shut master switch off for sleeping. Woke up to 11.6 volts. What's happening?
I'm assuming that your trailer doesn't have a battery monitor.

If you have a voltmeter that can read amps, pull each DC fuse and read the amps across the two pins that the fuse plugs into. That should narrow down which circuit is pulling the high current.
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Old 03-24-2019, 11:10 AM   #3
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I might be tempted to check the specific gravity of the batteries. New doesn’t mean a battery can’t go bad. Since the voltage went down with the batteries disconnected I would make sure I didn’t have a dead/ low cell. Specific gravity should be within 50 points of each other. A bad cell can draw a battery down overnight. Just a easy thing to check with a hydrometer.
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Old 03-24-2019, 11:28 AM   #4
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I might be tempted to check the specific gravity of the batteries. New doesn’t mean a battery can’t go bad. Since the voltage went down with the batteries disconnected I would make sure I didn’t have a dead/ low cell. Specific gravity should be within 50 points of each other. A bad cell can draw a battery down overnight. Just a easy thing to check with a hydrometer.
Agree , sounds like a bad battery cell . When my battery was going bad it would charge up to 12. 7 VDC and then in about an hour the voltage was down to 12.0 volts ( Battery was disconnected / no load ) Bought a new battery , problem disappeared.
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Old 03-24-2019, 11:36 AM   #5
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Strange voltage drop

Thanks for the feedback...will obtain a hydrometer when in civilization. When main battery isolation switch is "off" shouldn't that stop any amp loss from any house drain except for Go Power solar and invertor system?
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Old 03-24-2019, 12:39 PM   #6
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Thanks for the feedback...will obtain a hydrometer when in civilization. When main battery isolation switch is "off" shouldn't that stop any amp loss from any house drain except for Go Power solar and invertor system?
Yes, with the isolation switch off - the only thing that would drain the battery is self discharge in the battery itself. A lead acid battery typically loses 4–6% per month due to self discharge - one with a bad cell, a lot more.

You have solar - turn off the isolation switch and see if the batteries charge back up. If it's a bad battery, they won't. If it's some device in your trailer that pulling current, it will.
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Old 03-24-2019, 12:43 PM   #7
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I think the trailer brakes are on the rv batteries, don't know which side of the switch though.
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Old 03-24-2019, 12:46 PM   #8
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I think the trailer brakes are on the rv batteries, don't know which side of the switch though.
On my trailer, the trailer brakes are connected after the isolation switch. Good reason to not move the trailer with the isolation switch off.
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Old 03-24-2019, 01:50 PM   #9
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That is what happened to a friend of mine. Someone pulled the emergency brake pin on the tongue and the drain was killing the battery.
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Old 03-24-2019, 01:58 PM   #10
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Strange voltage drop

Thanks for the trailer brake pin pulled out tip...voltage is climbing back quickly...please don't ask me how that happened...only my wife will know and it wasn't her fault!
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