Oops, forgot. Cat heaters burn inside air, furnaces burn outside air. Likely everyone knows this, but be sure to open a vent or window and have a working CO detector when using a Cat.

Steve

 

Big Buddy is supposed to be safe inside enclosed spaces. Thing about propane heaters, they produce a lot of humidity, no way around it. Sure are nice on a frosty morning. They'll chew through those cute little 1 pound tanks like candy though. Best solution is to get a filter and hose extension, and connect to a BBQ tank.

 

I have Mr Heater Big Buddy also. Works great! I've used it in the bed of my 1/2 ton truck that had a topper. It was too much heater for that space but it sure was nice. I've used it in my popup ice fishing hut and it does a great job there also. It has an oxygen sensor built into it. If the O2 level drops too low it shuts off. Don't ask me how that works. I haven't had mine turn off yet.

When I run the generator to recharge the batteries I fire up the 110 ac space heater(s). I figure my generator has plenty of excess capacity so I might as well use some of it to bring the heat level up.

 

I'm paranoid enough to only partially trust the O2 sensor and opening a vent when it is dryer outside vents some humidity out, but I do like Mr. Heater!

 

I do put the D size batteries in mine and use the built-in blower. It isn't powerful but it does keep the heat from rising into a single spot.

 

The Big Buddy Heater will burn 9-10 hours on low, saving me having to get in the middle of the night to change propane cylinders on the 1 tank units. I crack a window near the heater and also 1 in the bedroom area, and test my CO detector before using the heater. I haven't tried it in my 5th wheel, but it did a great job in my travel trailer .

 

To get this thread back on topic.....

The camper has been unplugged for about a week now. Fully charged the batteries were at 12.72 they have steadily been dropping and were 11.9 this morning. Does this seem normal? I have the battery disconnect switch in the "store" position and the converter/inverter switch is on converter so the inverter is as "off" as it can get without disconnecting the batteries.

 

Maybe, its really hard to say as I don't know if there is a draw on the batteries. When you shut down your system, do the light stay on on your propane detector?

Steve

 

I am not sure if my response on this point was clear, but I was heading out and wanted to get a response off before leaving the house.

The surest way to know how well batteries hold a charge is to disconnect the grounds and check them after a week or so. In general, I would not expect a fully charged battery to be under 12 VDC in a week. More like maybe 12.3-12.5 just putting some rough numbers to it and 12.72 was low if the batteries were tested immediately when the charger was disconnect as I would expect a surface charge of briefly over 13 VDC.

However, if the 12.72 was registered after a bit of time had passed, my thought would be the batteries are taking a full charge. I would then disconnect the leads and check them again in a few days.

The older batteries are, the more rapidly they will discharge, and the more water they will require to maintain their level (speaking here of flooded cell batteries, not AGMs).

Steve

 

This SHOULD be exactly the same as disconnecting the battery leads, if your setup is anything like mine, however, it's best not to take anything for granted. Charge them, then let the sit totally disconnected and see what happens like RV_tech said. Remove as many variables as possible.

 

My point exactly. I can't tell you how many times I came across things that made no sense at all from manufacturers! So many times I assumed things and got burned.

Steve

 

I've started using a hydrometer to test the specific gravity of my batteries. It let me verify that one of my cells was not performing like the others were.

 

I would start with a multimeter at the kill switch if you haven't already.

 

Perhaps, but how about the Inverter? When it is switched off does it switch off the output and go to sleep or does it entirely shut down. I wanted a way to not even have to wonder. A clamp amp meter would tell you in a second or less, but most folks don't have one and I wasn't sure with the Inverter. Just looking at the propane detector and looking for a light should tell you about the disconnect. Lots of different ways to answer the same question.

Steve

 

I understand what you are saying but in order for the inverter to work it draws from batteries... the kill switch "should" be before the inverter so if it's truely disconnected there will be no power.