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Old 12-30-2021, 07:10 AM   #1
dvines
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My 2018 321MK is haunted

I've had this RV since new. Yesterday, I was putting it away after a trip and as is my standard practice, I removed all power from the rig via a knife switch. I then noticed a chipping sound. Further investigation revealed the chipping is coming from somewhere in the ceiling near the fan over the island. But here is the weird part: both Dometic thermostats are illuminated. At 10 second intervals, both thermostats blank and I hear the chirp. Keep in mind ALL power is removed from the rig. Where are the thermostats getting its power? Ghosts?
 
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Old 12-30-2021, 09:29 AM   #2
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Extremely low battery in smoke detector? Remove battery from detector and see if it stops.
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Old 12-30-2021, 01:36 PM   #3
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If all you did was cut power from the cut off switch, you still have other items using your battery and they are not powered off. Co2 detector is one of them. It is not wired through your battery cut off switch.

Smoke detectors will also chirp when their batteries get low.

Also, if your house battery is low, the converter (that panel with all the breaker switches and the automotive style fuses) will also make a beeping sound ever few minutes. It's a warning your house battery is low.

Simply flipping that switch will not turn everything off. If you truly want everything turned off, disconnect the battery. The easiest way to do that is to simply remove the ground (black) wire from the battery.

If you have a residential refrigerator, there is yet another cut-off switch that runs to your inverter. Of course if the inverter is turned off, it won't draw down the battery. But if it's turned on, it will draw down the house battery, regardless if the other cut-off is on or off.

Disconnect the battery cable at the battery. This is the only true way to kill everything using your battery.
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Old 12-30-2021, 01:49 PM   #4
dvines
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I guess I didn't make myself clear. The battery is physically disconnected. There is NO power going into the RV whatsoever. That's why it's so baffling to me.
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Old 12-30-2021, 03:52 PM   #5
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Jim,

I would suspect the smoke detector which has an independent battery.
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Old 12-31-2021, 03:37 AM   #6
dvines
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Originally Posted by AZ Traveler View Post
Jim,

I would suspect the smoke detector which has an independent battery.
There are two smoke detectors; bedroom and hallway outside bathroom. Neither detector is chirping. It sounds like the chirping is coming from inside the ceiling next to the fan in the kitchen. Weird. But the really strange thing is why the thermostats are lit and cycling with NO power applied to the RV.
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Old 12-31-2021, 03:58 AM   #7
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Capacitor in the AC units just hasnt bled off yet would be my $2 bet
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Old 12-31-2021, 05:42 AM   #8
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Just a guess, but was your TV still hooked up? Could be getting power from the truck.
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Old 12-31-2021, 05:55 AM   #9
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Well, I'm stumped, if the battery is disconnected.

Little off topic: Your story reminds me of a situation I experienced with our previous travel trailer, a Keystone Outback (bedroom in the front). With that, and every other travel trailer I had before, every single time we came from from a trip, I'd drain completely all the holding tanks, including the fresh water tank. I'd also drain the water heater, and of course, turn the on-board water pump off at the switch.

We'd get home, I'd unhitch, clean out the laundry, any food we wanted to bring back in the house and call it a day. However, we never locked the door of the camper at home either, as we used the camper a lot at home home.

After a while, every time we returned home from a trip, I'd go out into the camper the next day or two and the on-board water pump switch would be flipped on and the water pump running (dry). I had no clue why the pump was turned on. I talked to my wife, my son who lived with us, and no one had been in the camper, let alone flipping the switches.

This went on for for several months, as at the time we were going somewhere almost every week-end with the camper. I even started locking the entrance door, and the next day, the pump was running again, switch turned on.

I decided to second-switch the water pump. The pump had very easy access inside the trailer, so I cut the power line to the pump, ran an extension to the under side of the bed, and installed an automotive toggle on-off switch. In order for the water pump to turn on, both switches had to be "on". So, when we returned home from our next trip, both switches were now turned off.

Guess what? It never happed again. The main switch on the wall was never flipped on again. And of course, the water pump never ran again either unless we flipped both switches on.

Did I confuse the ghost that insisted on flipping on the water pump switch? I don't know. But that took care of the problem.
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Old 01-02-2022, 02:06 PM   #10
dvines
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I figured it out - human (me) error. When I connected my battery charger, instead of connecting the positive clip to the battery terminal, I connected it to the terminal that feeds the rig. So . . . the mysterious power source was the battery charger. It's all good now. Thanks for your input. No ghosts. BTW, the chirping was coming from the Fantastic fans. The rig doesn't like a battery charger as a power source.
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