Meerkat Battery Parasitic Load

[bigbAZ]

My neighbor has a little Meerkat, an older model. No propane or propane detector, no USB ports (just a 12v cigar socket), no brakes, no fridge or stove, no info center. Basically just a bed and a counter with a hand pump sink. It has a few LED lights, a Fantastic fan with no rain sensor and a 12 volt socket that she plugs a USB adapter with a digital volt meter into only when necessary. Her 3 year old AGM (lawn tractor size) went dead after she forgot to charge it for a few months (I had told her to charge it overnight once a month when in storage) and it's ruined, won't come back.

Today I installed her new battery and when I made the final connection there was a tiny spark, indicating to me there was a load present, but everything was off and the 12 volt socket was empty. The trailer was not plugged into shore power. The trailer is pretty full of camp gear right now so I am not able to get to the converter but I am wondering if the converter can cause a load when not powered up but still connected to the battery? There is no battery switch AFAIK.

 

[Domo]

Yes, the convertor can spark - at the least, as with many modern (in)conveniences, there is a keep-alive voltage waiting for someone to press a button or use a remote...

 

[boatbuilder1]

The converter most likely contains a condenser as a filter that is probably what caused the spark.

 

[Lou Schneider]

The converter has an internal capacitor that has to charge and will create a spark when it's first connected to power, so the spark you saw was normal. Once it's charged it takes just a miniscule amount of current to stay charged, not enough to worry about. A lead acid battery loses a couple of percent of it's charge each month even if it's not connected to anything.

On my trailer the previous owner installed 3 remote controlled Maxx Aire exhaust fans. When I first got the trailer I found the phantom draws from the always on receivers in the fans would drain a 100 amp-hour battery in a couple of weeks if I left the battery connected while in storage.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

No wondering required. You can prove the presence or absence of a persistent draw with a multimeter.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[bigbAZ]

No wondering required. You can prove the presence or absence of a persistent draw with a multimeter.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

I'm somewhat limited in that respect as she doesn't want me to spend a lot of time on it, I think she feels bad about me working on her stuff for free. It's also parked outside in the full sun and it's triple digits here now, so I'm proceeding slowly and can only do it in the early AM hours.

She did ask the manufacturer about it today and they replied that the battery will indeed discharge if left connected and they recommend pulling a fuse near the battery, which I don't recall seeing. If it's inside the battery box she isn't going to like that as it takes tools to get in there. The guy actually first called it a fusible link, then he said pull it

I'd gladly install a battery switch but doubt she would want me to.

 

[CharlesinGA]

Brochure for those interested. Website for Little Guy Trailers. Owners manual for current models

Looks like a fiberglass trailer, though I do not recall seeing it mentioned on the FiberglassRV forum.

As Lou noted, the capacitors in the converter most likely had discharged after the battery died, and when you hooked up the new battery, the spark was charging up the caps.

The owner won't disconnect the battery if it is too much trouble so a switch would make it easy.

It really does need a battery switch, could be a simple rotary switch positioned inside near the power center.

I was looking for a disconnect switch, and most I found were surface mount, This Jayco switch is pricey but has a mounting plate and is flush except for the "key" that is connected with a cable so it won't get lost.

This plate mounted switch is half the price, probably the same switch and would be a better choice.