.4 amp draw on batteries w/ shore power AC on

[benjiwoodboat]

This .4 amp draw on my batteries appears to be my Trace charger/inverter, which is just powered up, not charging nor inverting. Is this normal for charger/inverters to constantly draw power? It only happens when shore power is connected and AC breaker on.

Thanks for any insight.

-Ben

[doug86]

Does it have any LED indicator lights that show its power is on? .4 amp sounds like an LED to me. Do you have an external control panel with LED readout?

Also, the circuitry that allows auto-switching from shore power to inverter power takes a small drain. See if you can turn that feature off if it is so equipped.

[btrayfors]

Assuming you're talking about a 0.4 amp DC draw, that's about 5 watts. I'd say that's normal.

Turn it off and see if the load disappears to be sure.

Bill

[mrm]

Originally Posted by benjiwoodboat

This .4 amp draw on my batteries appears to be my Trace charger/inverter, which is just powered up, not charging nor inverting. Is this normal for charger/inverters to constantly draw power?

Charger part of the circuit alone should not draw any power when OFF, except maybe for the voltage monitoring circuitry, however this current is so small it is difficult to measure and insignificant.

Inverter circuitry, when on standby, will draw some current. 0.4 Amp looks about right.

It only happens when shore power is connected and AC breaker on.

This is weird. Are you sure of that? Is there no current draw when inverter is on standby and shore power is off?

[benjiwoodboat]

That is what I found ... I will double check this later today, but I am very sure I only see the draw when shore power AC is on.

Yes there are LEDs on the remote unit, and there is a very noticable hum coming from the charger inverter when shore power is on.

Thanks for the replies. I will get more info later today.

Originally Posted by mrm

This is weird. Are you sure of that? Is there no current draw when inverter is on standby and shore power is off?