canman47 Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 My deep cycle battery is always going dead. I put an ammeter in line and it seems that the only thing running is the propane sensor. I just bought a new battery and thought it might be able to hold a charge for a few days but after 6 days the battery was completely dead. I've had to get in the habit of disconnecting the battery every time I park it. Is it normal for that thing to use so much current? Thinking about disconnecting it. I can smell propane if there's a leak. Rv's never used to have these things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fred heath Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 (edited) 58 minutes ago, canman47 said: My deep cycle battery is always going dead. I put an ammeter in line and it seems that the only thing running is the propane sensor. I just bought a new battery and thought it might be able to hold a charge for a few days but after 6 days the battery was completely dead. I've had to get in the habit of disconnecting the battery every time I park it. Is it normal for that thing to use so much current? Thinking about disconnecting it. I can smell propane if there's a leak. Rv's never used to have these things. Most modern propane sensors use about 1/10 of an amp for power. It sounds like you have some type of short somewhere in your system. What reading did you get on your amp meter? Edited February 11, 2018 by fred heath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 My propane sensor has an off. I only turn it on when I have the tank turned on. Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 72 amps a month. You might want to load test your battery. They are known to kill batteries Linda has the right ideal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanAatTheCape Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 sounds like a short or a bad battery to me. I disconnect my battery if I am going to be away more then a few days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canman47 Posted February 13, 2018 Author Share Posted February 13, 2018 Like I said it's a new battery. Load tester says it's fine. Don't remember the ammeter reading but when I disconnect the propane sensor it reads zero. I guess I expected with a new fully charged battery it would go more than 6 days. I do usually disconnect the battery when I'm not on a trip. Maybe I'll put a switch on that sensor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanAatTheCape Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 sometimes "new" stuff is defective -- I would test that battery, probably not the cause but worth verifying. BTW, an easy way to test for a load is when connecting/ disconnecting a battery, if you get sparks then there is some sort of load. If you disconnect the propane sensor and you still get sparks.... something else is drawing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canman47 Posted February 14, 2018 Author Share Posted February 14, 2018 Like I said I checked the battery with a professional load tester and it's fine. Propane sensor does cause a little spark. Either it's defective or the sucker just uses a lot of juice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 Basic math says if it kills the battery in 6 days, thats about 1.5 amps. Get the amp meter back out and get a complete reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canman47 Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 (edited) I will check that out again. Thanks for the info. Edited February 15, 2018 by canman47 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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