Using 12v dc power everything switched off
I've a Bailey Valencia Unicorn 3 2015 and my leisure battery died so in the process of fitting a new battery I switched every thing off and removed all the 12v fuses after reconnecting the new battery with all the switches off on the control panel next to the door, I refitted all the fuses one by one as I refitted the "van battery12v" fuse I got a spark pulled the fuse again and checked with a multi meter and found 3amps flowing across the terminals. Again I reiterate every thing is switched off. Any ideas?
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I never activated the Bailey tracker and no inbuilt alarm as far as I know.
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A 3 amp current draw is a much higher draw than any alarm, tracker or tv or radio on standby would take.
Could be possible there is a problem with your charger, possibly a short circuit internally ? If you can, discount the charger and test across the fuse holder.
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I have the same model and year.
Just checked mine and on pulling the fuse there is a draw with nothing switched on via the main switch, also fridge is switched off as this powers the light inside independently of main switch.
I also pulled the solar panel fuse (under the bed) and there was no difference. Other than disconnecting the tracker ( and I don’t really want to dismantle my van today - to get to it) I think that the tracker can be the only circuit that would have power to it.
I’m still on the original battery (January 15), use it regularly with motor mover and hydraulic levelling and have never needed to charge it when at home. The solar panel maintains the battery.
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Three amps is quite substantial in dc terms, certainly more than lights, tracker, fridge supply etc. A permanent drain of that magnitude would flatten the battery in less than a day. It makes one wonder whether there is a charger fault and this also caused the battery to fail prematurely.
As far as I am aware, the Bailey does not have an “intelligent” charger so it is best to disconnect the battery periodically and do a full charge with a decent leisure battery charger. On my (older) Valencia I used to recharge regularly with a CTek charger. The standard Bailey charger is not capable of properly recharging a discharged battery as it floats at around 13.8 volts. It is only good if you are on mains EHU all the time. If using the van off-Grid you must recharge the battery separately.
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I agree 3amps as a drain, would take its toll on any battery if left unbalanced / charged.
As I stated I also saw a spark on my Valencia when I pulled the same fuse, but meter readings on mime were in m/amps not amps.
Its not been said how often the caravan in question is used and stored or how its battery has been maintained/ charged.
On reading the information on the Truma solar controller fitted to the unicorn 3, I did discover that it is in fact a three stage intelligent charger. If it isn’t then I’ve just been very lucky with my battery.
It'll be interesting to find the outcome of this, in case it might be a future problem in waiting.
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The solar panel controller may well be three stage but Bailey don’t fit smart chargers for the main ac supply so you cannot properly charge a partially discharged battery by using mains hook-up. They are still fitting a standard 20 amp switched mode charger even on this year’s models which, at £24k for a Valencia, is pretty rubbish.
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Which way is the current flowing?
It seems likely that your new battery is being topped up with a 3A charge.
If your meter reads +3A with the red lead connected to the battery it indicates a discharge. If it reads -3A it indicates a charging current.
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It will not take 3 amps, but is it possible that the TV aerial pre-amp is switched on in the wardrobe?
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The OP said (twice!) that the mains was off. The current is flowing from the battery into the power supply which ain’t right!
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Having looked at my own u3 Valencia, the batt+ fuse feeds the habitation relay and the main switch that controls it. I’m not sure that the charger is wired or charges through this fuse.
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Had a good read of my Bailey manual the manual explicitly states the tracker has its own 5 year life battery the van has no alarm so im at a loss to were the 3 amps is discharging to?
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Andy. Can i just ask how you measured the 3 amps "discharge" Only measuring amps you have to have the meter in series in the circuit i.e.remove the fuse and connect meter in line (some meters have a extra current range socket ) Only 3 amps does sound high,I rally regularly and I would not be able to sustain a loss like that consistantly over say a weekend.
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Using a "Fluke" Quality multi meter using the inbuilt 10 amp setting reading from pos to neg the discharge is 2.86amp in line from the solar panel the charging rate is 2.9 amp which given losses across the battery is correct. But just were is the "3"amps running off to. On the history side Van has just returned from a 3 week tour of Europe with hook up every night and is used most weekends almost always with hook up.
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I had a similar problem fitting a new complete fascia control panel draw to my Dometic fridge. No ac mains connected and the dc master switch turned off. This model of fridge does not have back up batteries in the control facia draw compartment. But I was not surprised that their was still power to the control unit, when you think about it.
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I had a Coachman caravan that alarm kept draining the battery
Dealer said it fault with my battery & loaned me one of theirs to try
two days later I rang them to say their battery had gone flat
The charger & alarm was changed but made no difference the fitter could not make it out as internal battery on alarm was still fully charged
Got fed up with text/calls from tracker people saying there was a power down on caravan all times of day & night so disconnected alarm no more battery down messages
Don't know if this helps
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