Phantom 12 volt Loads

Phantom loads are those things that really don’t turn off when you turn them off, or things that are always turned on and draw a small amount of power, continuously. i.e. TVs, Radios, monitor systems, etc.

These loads may not seem like a lot when you are plugged into shore power,  but when you are running on battery, these loads can quickly drain your coach  battery.  With my old Dolphin,  I’ve identified these loads,  then added a special switch and circuit for these types of loads, so I could turn them off if we were going to be without shore power for an extended period of time (storing for the winter).

I replaced the coach battery in the Mirada yesterday. The old battery wasn’t to old, but had been run down dead to many times and wouldn’t hold a charge.

The Mirada has one coach battery, a group 24, 80 amp hour battery, located under the hood.

To see how much load was on the battery when everything is turned off, I hooked my ammeter in line with the battery, it read 0.07 amps (70 milliamps)  – Not to much, but lets do the math.

100 hours would consume 7 amps (about 5 days),   50 days would consume about 70 amps.  The reality,  just this tiny small load, and in 1 1/2 months of sitting in the driveway, the battery is dead.

I started pulling fuses to figure  out where the load is coming from.  Turns out its the monitor and the LP gas detector.  (7.5 amp fuse on the right)

I’ll install a switch to turn this OFF.  I’m also going to replace the 110 volt TV with a 12 volt TV.  I’ll install a switch in one of the unused fuses to turn ON/OFF the 12 volts to the TV when its not used.  I’ll post this when I get it installed.