Drivers side seat fan/heater

bpbrans4

Hi, can anyone help me out here? why does this fan keep running constantly? It drained my battery real quick. There is no heat, which I expect with every off, or at "0" on the alde switch. Thanks for your help, just bought our t@b (used) and we're loving it more as we understand it. Bob

Photomom

Do you mean the converter?

bpbrans4

I don't know I'll try to send picture.

ChanW

If it's the Alde, you can shut it off thoroughly by putting all sliders on the control panel to the bottom position. The Alde has no fan, only a pump motor, which makes a bit of noise.

If the fan in your converter is running continuously, that's a little odd. It normally only runs when plugged into shore power, during the time that it's doing a hi-power charge on your battery, then the fan should normally stop.

What year Tab do you have?

Photomom

The picture bptrans sent me was indeed the converter. The fan runs when the trailer is plugged in and it should be charging the battery, not discharging it.

bpbrans4

2015 max s, thanks for helping out. I have it plugged to shore power right now, but what drained battery? Had no problems pulling and running the refrigerator while towing. Again, thanks. Bob

Photomom

Do you have a 12v wire from your tow vehicle's battery back to the 7way trailer connector?

bpbrans4

yes, we do. Had no problems pulling and running the refrigerator while towing. Bob

Photomom

My thought was, if you didn't, or if the inline fuse was blown, the refrigerator would have discharged your trailer battery pretty quickly.

Photomom

Your converter fan is probably running now when the trailer is plugged in because it's trying to charge tier T@B battery. That sounds normal. 

bpbrans4

The battery discharged a week after I put it in the garage. I thought I had everything off, which I did. 

Photomom

I'm not familiar with 2015s but there is parasitic draw from things you can't turn off, like the CO/propane detector and any USB outlets in the trailer. The only way to turn them off completely is to install a battery cutoff switch or to pull the battery fuse.

Photomom

Someone with that vintage trailer can probably tell you what all the "parasites" are.

ChanW

A week to discharge with parasitic draw is about normal, I think.

Parasites: TV, stereo, CO/propane detector, USB outlets...

Maybe the battery is shot, from previous abuse? Have it tested?

jkjenn

ChanW said:

A week to discharge with parasitic draw is about normal, I think.

Parasites: TV, stereo, CO/propane detector, USB outlets...

Maybe the battery is shot, from previous abuse? Have it tested?

This is correct. Remember, you do not want the battery to discharge more than 50%.

bpbrans4

Thanks everyone, I will have the battery tested. Yes, the tv, radio, and co/dector draw lots. I just came home and since we started this discussion @10:50am, the fan is still running, I will time it. I've had a trickle charger on the battery for a week before I plugged into shore power today. It's been a little over 4 hrs....

Photomom

You should get some kind of voltmeter you can use to monitor your battery voltage. There are ones that you can plug into a cigarette lighter style outlet in the trailer, or you can use a multimeter on the battery. Rules of thumb: ~13.5 when charging, ~12.6 when fully charged. You might see 11.something under load. We plug our trailer in to recharge at 12.2.

Ratkity

It depends on what kind of trickle charger you have - it may not keep up with the parasitic load. Some are "smart" types and allow a battery to go down a tiny bit and then charge it back up - others just apply an on/off constant charge. I think it was jkjenn calculated she would lose approximately 300 mA a day in battery with parasitic loads. Make sure your trickle charger is connected to the battery terminals (battery fuse pulled) and you did not plug it into the Zamp controller on the side of the tub. 

Since the dealer puts in the battery, I've seen some group 24 deep cycle batteries with amp hours as low as 60 Ah. That doesn't give you a lot of amperage before you are discharged 50%. When checking your battery (after pulling the fuse), make sure the plates are covered completely with distilled water if you have a lead-acid flooded type. AGMs are more expensive and rarely put in by dealers unless a customer specifically requests it. A battery that has a voltage of 11.5v is completely discharged and one that is below that is shot. Some automotive chargers won't even try to charge a battery below 11.5v (there are YouTube videos to trick smart chargers into giving life to a new battery). 

Best of luck to you in your quest! 

PS The reason given to me to not keep the trailer plugged in constantly was the distilled water in a flooded battery depletes faster and people forget to check it. 

jkjenn

The fan is the converter and it will run as long as you are plugged into shore power. The converter also charges the battery when connected to shore power.

ChanW

Jenn's is different than ours in that the fan in our converter shuts off after the converter goes into trickle-charge mode.

Ratkity, we keep ours plugged into shore power continuously (when not on a trip, that is) and I've only had to replenish the distilled water very minimally in three years. I think maybe twice it's needed a small amount in that time. I think the converter's charger must be well designed in that regard.

Ratkity

Good to know @ChanW! I'm paranoid about the flooded-lead batteries as I've always dealt with AGMs in the recent years. I had to add water after the first 6 months of use, but it was minimal.

My converter fan doesn't stay on continuously unless the battery is completely discharged. This happened one time (prior to realizing the parasitic loads) and I was able to resurrect the battery by taking it out and putting it on a regular automotive charger. Now the only time the converter fan kicks in is when it does its trickle charge. If I short out the pigtail to turn on the running lights instead of turning on that lighthouse beacon they call a "porch light", I can hear the converter fan come on more, but it's still not continuous (I only do this on shore power - otherwise, the "beacon" is just a pretty outside ornament).

bpbrans4

Hey, the battery tested good. It was only 70% charged so the guy put it on the charger for 100%. The only thing, when I disconnected the battery it was pretty warm, almost hot. I brought it home, cooled it over night. this morning I installed it and plugged into shore power. The fan came on once plugged, but it didn't when I installed the battery without shore power. I'll check back in a couple of hrs. Thanks

ChanW

For me, the only time the fan comes on is when connected to shore power and charging the battery.

bpbrans4

I just checked the battery and it was hot. I've been plugged into shore power since July 5th. The middle hole of the three on the positive side was dry and the first hole of the three on the negative was dry, though both were full to required fill line. Is the converter supposed to run on and off intermittly, mine doesn't? Bob

Ratkity

@bpbrans4, your battery if dead if it has dry cells. The converter could be overcharging the battery, making the distilled water boil off prematurely. I'd call the dealer or Pleasant Valley. Your converter could be the problem.

Verna

Your first point of contact should always be your dealer. Most dealers handle different Camper's that use converters, so the dealer should be able to diagnose and repair converters.

Pleasant Valley is on vacation this week. Next week is Tearstock and the repair and warranty departments will be busy with warranty and repairs at Tearstock. Therefore, you really need to contact your dealer even if you are out of warranty (1 year warranty from the purchase date for the original owner). 

Ratkity

What V said! I wasn't thinking about the people involved in Tearstock doing repairs there. Best of luck!

bpbrans4

Ratkity: no problem, timing is always an issue. 

ChanW

I'm not sure what you mean by 'two cell were dry' but also "were full to fill line"... ?

ScottG

Hi bpbrans4. What you describe sounds a lot like my first battery after I killed it--charger runs continuously, battery gets hot, electrolyte boils off, and it doesn't hold a charge even when totally disconnected. Add in that you bought it used and therefore don't know its history, I'll bet that battery is toast (regardless of what the "test" might have suggested.)

Just because a battery will charge to 100% doesn't mean it is good. The real test is how well it holds that charge. A good battery that's fully charged and completely disconnected should hold at least 12.5 volts for quite a long time. If you don't have a multimeter (or some other way to measure actual battery voltage), get one and use it to monitor how your battery behaves over time and under different conditions--you will quickly get a feel for what is right and what is not.

Note--as others stated--that a malfunctioning converter/charger could be contributing to the problem. It's still worth getting that checked out just to be sure you don't fry a new battery! 

Verna

bpbrans4 is on the road and will be visiting an RV repair shop today. The T@B is a used 2015.