battery draw

[des48]

 Hey guys, can anyone help me locating the source of a battery drain ? I was told that if I put my test light between the neg cable to the battery and then touch the probe to the neg. terminal of the battery if my test light lit then I had a draw. Well that is  what happened. I pulled out all my fuses all six and the test light still did not shut off. So I guess I have a short before the fuse panel ? I then tested the resistance in each circuit that comes in to the fuse panel and the only one that read zero was the water pump or water heater it has a 15 amp fuse. the water pump worked with out the fuse and the light for the water heater went on without the fuse. If the water heater element was shorted would this cause a battery drain ?. Also , my converter is putting out 16 volts dc even when the batteries are connected, so if I am not careful I will fry the batteries. I would like to  solve this problem myself without paying some one  can any one out there please help. I am totally at a  loss . Thanks Dr. Dan BTW the batteries are reconditioned two six volt in
series they sat about about two weeks and according to the hydrometer reading they dropped from good to fair and took about 24 hours to bring them up to good again . I did run a 12 volt reading light for about an hour, these batteries are supposed to have 225 amp hours when fully charged, so according to the hydrometer I lost aprox. 1000 amp hours just sitting.

[JerryT]

Food for thought, If you have one good battery and one fair battery they will equalize, or better said the lesser battery will cannibalize the better one which may make you think you have a draw. I have read that if you run multiple batteries they all must be the same brand, age, condition and size for best results. 16 volts does seem a bit high, I have Progressive Dynamics in my coach and they offer an upgrade to a modern converter so I did it. They are two towns east of me so I just went to the factory and they helped me pick out what I needed. With a digital meter my charge voltage seems to stay around 13.6 or so when plugged in to shore power. Electronics will draw when off if they have a memory like in a radio. They are not really off just on standby. I wired my dash radio into my coach battery via the battery isolator under the hood, many do. Clipper wiring is really good so I would check any new/altered wiring that you see. Test each wire the same way and you will find your draw if you have one.
JerryT

[des48]

Thanks for your reply Jerry, Have you heard about the test I mentioned you unhook the neg cable to the battery hook your test light clip to that cable then touch the neg. terminal with the probe you shouldn't get a light if you do then there is a drain ? Dan

[JerryT]

Yes, if you got glow then you got flow!   
If you go test all the circuits (wires that get power from the + side of the battery) one at a time you can pin point where the flow is. Just get the test light in line with the wires so the power has to go thru the test light first. Don't turn anything on or your test light will become a fuse and blow the bulb. Let us know what you find.
JerryT

[John Eversoll]

Hey there Jerry, I am sure glad I read that!!!! I will have to try it out on my righ when I get things put back together...
Thanks for the info,,, John