Clayton LPS I 12vDC current drain - ideas/advice pls?

[d8smt]

Hi all,

Just picked up my newly acquired (2019, T6.1) van a couple of days ago and just trying to get to grips with the existing build that was in there already.

The power system is the Clayton LPS (v1) 100Ah version, and it's feeding a 12v Dometic fridge and 3 basic lighting circuits only as far as I can see. 240v output is to one socket only from the unit. Input to the system is via alternator charge from the van or by 240v EHU. There's no solar as yet. There's also a Clayton basic remote panel. The van also has had a brand new main battery in the last couple of months.

So the fridge and lighting are off. However, overnight the Clayton went from 100% to 75% battery level. So it looks like I've got a 12v current drain somewhere, since the Clayton remote panel indicates only 12v active and it doesn't allow it to be switched off (confirmed by LCD panel on the Clayton). The Clayton indicates it has only done 190 recharge cycles on the battery, so I doubt that is the battery in the unit failing.

Any ideas what could be causing the battery drain? There's nothing obvious that I can see that's drawing current, although all the wiring to the unit is either shrouded or hidden from sight.
The previous owner told me that they never switched off the Clayton unit and generally kept the EHU connected when the van wasn't in use, so never paid any attention to the battery levels per se. The unit was professionally installed.

Open to suggestions to go hunting down the culprit!

Also, for those if you with these units, do you normally switch them off when not in use or just leave them on? The Clayton provided instructions are completely useless........

Thanks
Dave

 

[Dellmassive]

Got some me pics of you setup...

Have a look around for third party accessories and bits.

The only real way to test this is with a clamp meter..

You need to meter the 12v out put from the Clayton to see what's being drawn.

 

[Dellmassive]

Clamp Meters

Any recommendations for clamp meters? They have been mentioned in a few threads but I can’t find suggested products. Suitable for small mA measurements with dc in the van and elsewhere and also if possible up to mains ac. I’m not sure how much I need to spend for a tolerably decent one with the...

www.t6forum.com

 

[d8smt]

So the setup looks like this:
- Clayton LPS under the RIB seat
- 240v EHU socket under the rear bumper
- 3 light zones - these seem to be wired in the rear cupboard
- under the sink (I know!) there is an RCD, presumably for the 240v EHU which is likely spurred to a 240v socket behind the driver's seat independent of the LPS
- the sink also has a water pump 12v below it
- the is a 12v switch panel on the side, with the Clayton remote panel above it. These are all switched off but the Clayton panel will not switch off the 12v.
- I've found a USB light in the poptop, this is also off
- otherwise I've not found anything else that is likely to be drawing current.
- there's also a 12v fuse box attached to the battery, no idea what this is for but assuming it's part of the conversion configuration fuse setup. It out might be standard on the transporters?
- attempting to switch the LPS off also doesn't work, even after the 'grace period' (I've reset this to 3 hours).

Thanks for taking the time to reply!

 

[Stay Frosty]

Is the Clayton feeding back into the starter battery and isn't 190 recharge cycles quite a lot?
No experience of the Clayton here but I've got an isolator on the output of my leisure battery to reduce the chance of parasitic current draw, I never leave our camper on hookup unless we're camping and the sun forgot to come along too.
Edit and there's not a USB outlet built into the single socket?

 

[d8smt]

Is the Clayton feeding back into the starter battery and isn't 190 recharge cycles quite a lot?
No experience of the Clayton here but I've got an isolator on the output of my leisure battery to reduce the chance of parasitic current draw, I never leave our camper on hookup unless we're camping and the sun forgot to come along too.
Edit and there's not a USB outlet built into the single socket?

That's exactly what I was wondering - whether it's configured to recharge the main battery somehow. Unfortunately since all the wiring is sheathed and hidden behind/underneath furniture, it's difficult to tell. Also would be interested to hear thoughts on the fuse panel attached directly to the vehicle battery - is that standard for a T6.1? Seems a bit kludgy if it is.
Not sure what you mean by "there's not a USB outlet built int othe single socket"? There is a USB outlet in the 12v beneath the LPS control panel, that's all I have found so far apart from an LED light in the poptop roof. I think the 190 cycles is because the previous owner never switched it off, always left it attached to the EHU even when sitting at home idle.

 

[Stay Frosty]

@d8smt Just wondering if the 13A single skt mentioned had a USB 5VDc supply built in as that would draw current even when not in use.
I think that where you can you're going to have to look for either end of any cable runs you can expose and eliminate them from the current drain.
On my Redline camper conversion there was quite a bit of mucking about to alter their 2018 install which had a split charge relay despite being a Euro 6 smart alternator and a Sargent EC160 caravan 12/230 volt fuseboard with conventional power supply type battery charger.
Some of the electrical detective work was almost fun, almost.

 

[roadtripper]

It does seem odd that you can't shut the 12v output down, will it not shut down even from the unit?

 

[d8smt]

It does seem odd that you can't shut the 12v output down, will it not shut down even from the unit?

No, it won't shut down at all, the 240v does though. Won't even turn off at the menu on the LPS. Maybe because there is some current being drawn, although looking at the menu on the LPS it shows that there is no d.c. current being taken. Very curious. Think I'm in for a fun few days, maybe there's something hidden that I'm not aware of. Only other thing that occurred to me was that there's a Cat5 tracker on the van - maybe that's drawing some current somehow (although I'm not sure why that would be the case).

 

[YellowHound]

No, it won't shut down at all, the 240v does though. Won't even turn off at the menu on the LPS. Maybe because there is some current being drawn, although looking at the menu on the LPS it shows that there is no d.c. current being taken. Very curious. Think I'm in for a fun few days, maybe there's something hidden that I'm not aware of. Only other thing that occurred to me was that there's a Cat5 tracker on the van - maybe that's drawing some current somehow (although I'm not sure why that would be the case).

Did you ever get to the bottom of this?

 

[d8smt]

hi,

no, it suddenly stopped. No idea at all what the cause was. I've traced most of the wiring, but apart from a couple of LED lights, a fridge and a sink water pump I can't find anything that was likely to cause a drain - unless it was backcharging the main vehicle battery. However, just this weekend I was off-grid with only a 2A phone charger switched on to keep my phone charged overnight, and it still managed to drain 50% of the(alleged) 100Ah capacity in just 8 hours.
On the plus side, the additional bank of 4x 12v fuses attached to the main vehicle battery has been tracked to a towbar electrics output that I never knew was there (thanks to@dellmassive's photos of his towbar install) hidden behind the rear bumper!