Forgot about this post until the auto notification. Early in the summer the brake controller quit. When I picked up the new one the guys at the RV store mentioned that the old controller could have been the culprit.

Got tired of fighting it and just put on a battery tender.

Jim

 

Whats a battery tender?

 

Battery tender is a float charger. It will maintain the batteries charge without overcharging.

 

Replacing the guage cluster did the trick! No more battery drain. It cost me about $650 at the dealer. The part was about $450. The dome lights are tied to the same fuse as the cluster. Try disconnecting the positive drivers side battery terminal. Attach the positive meter lead to the positive side of the battery and the negative to the terminal and set your meter on dc amps to check the amount of draw. It takes a few minutes to charge the capacitors and will have an initial draw of about .45 amps. with the fuse in but then it should drop down to around .015 . This is normal. Then try the same test with the fuse pulled. Mine was never dropping down until the cluster was replaced. Hope this helps.
Good luck!

 

two days 20 hours later and 300 in parts changes. batterys discharged, to begin with, over several days and discharge became more rapid over time. seems to be a common problem. i too checked milaamp draw after disconnecting negative battery connections and checked all circuts. #3 fuse and # 1 relay were showing first 60 millia then ol (overload). the readings were bouncing back and forth sometimes and just ol other times. when i made the link with my tester from negative terminal to one of my negative battery post,on the battery, number 1 relay and my dome light would accuate in conjunction with each other (flick on and off). the problem was i had a short in one of the batteries which manifisted itself in my electric system. it was verry hard to diagnose because of the duel battery setup. if you are having this problem when you jump or charge your batteries, to start your truck, if either your terminals at battery connections or the battery heats just alittle your battery may not show bad when tested. lots of work and worry later my battery drain was simply a bad battery. when i found it i was to the point of taking it to the delership.

 

I had a similar problem with my wifes brand x truck. Turned out to be the delay relay that kept the inside lights on for a few minuites after you leave the truck.

It would turn the lights back on after the truck sat for a while and that would kill the battery in a few days.

I pulled the fuse on it and the problem went away.