RV Repair: Battery drain on my 22 Four Winds, volt amp, amp meter


Question
Sir: My 1995 22' Four Winds has been eating batteries. I thought I was getting bad batteries but last camping trip I discovered it's the trailer that has a constant drain somewhere. Can it be the power center itself? I turn off everything! Battery drains in a day and a half. It's OK if left disconnected but that's not a solution. Thanks very much!

Answer
Christopher...what you have is called an "electrical draw". and they, can be very tricky indeed. The power center or converter, has no real ability to draw current from the batteries, but distributes it to the D/C circuits. Thats where you will have to look. Without a proper Volt/amp meter you might not have much luck. But there is something you can try.
First go over you trailer carefully and be sure that nothing is on...look everywhere. Then check to be sure your battery is fully charged. Now get down to the level of your converter and pull out the first fuse,then gently touch that fuse back to it's holder and see if you can see a spark. Its safe.
If no spark is seen, even a very small spark....there is no draw on that circuit. Now do the next one and so on.  A small spark means a small draw (current leaving the converter). A bigger spark means a bigger draw and so on.  
If you find a spark, then you need to find what circuit that fuse is connected to...because something is on and it should be labeled on the converter. Now you have a place to look,   refer, furnace and so on.
If you don't see spark then its time to see a repair shop  to get help.
Thom