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Does Aims 75amp charger have a parasitic draw when off???

Jones518

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Sep 9, 2021
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After visiting Will’s website and watching some of his videos, I felt confident to buy the Aims 75 amp converter/charger for my class C rv. However, there are a couple people on Youtube that mentioned it has a 40 watt (3 amps) parasitic draw when not on shoreline. This seems problematic for a vehicle I plan to store for periods of time and do lots of dry camping. Can anyone validate this or provide some advice here?? Thank you!
 
I can't imagine any charger that pulls 3 amps when not in use.
How about a link to the video.... must be measured wrong or misled into this conclusion.

Even a 2000 watt inverter idles at less than 3 amps when left on and ready.
 
Shouldn't AC power in your build be shut off when in storage?

If you're storing a vehicle for a while most RVs will have a lot of parasitic draw. It would kill the original battery that came with the trailer, a 92 ah within a couple of weeks. DC items like the .5 amps from the stereo added up.

If a 2000 watt inverter has a 1 amp parasitic draw, I imagine this AIMS charger does also, but if AC power is off, than should not matter.

When I am not on shore power, the circuit breaker will always be tripped, so it will be shut off. When I am on shore power, I will only turn the circuit breaker on in the unlikely even that my solar panels can't replenish the 50 ah or so of DC power I use overnight.

I have ordered and received the AIMSS 75 amp charger for my 24 volt upgrade, but will not install until my 24 volt upgrade is complete.

I will use this boondocking and only for charging the 24 volt batteries on cloudy days when solar won't charge them. I'd get the generator out for those days. I don't expect there will be many if any of those days.
 
Thanks for all the replies. The statement was made that when NOT on AC, some of the “guts” of the converter will draw current. Obviously unverified, but made me nervous. I think I’ll buy the charger and see for myself. I’ll post up results either way. Thanks all.
 
After visiting Will’s website and watching some of his videos, I felt confident to buy the Aims 75 amp converter/charger for my class C rv. However, there are a couple people on Youtube that mentioned it has a 40 watt (3 amps) parasitic draw when not on shoreline. This seems problematic for a vehicle I plan to store for periods of time and do lots of dry camping. Can anyone validate this or provide some advice here?? Thank you!
From what Ive read, yes.

I just bought one btw. Suppose be delivered today. So, my answer is not from personal experience.
 
From what Ive read, yes.

I just bought one btw. Suppose be delivered today. So, my answer is not from personal experience.
Any chance you could hook it up to a battery and measure any current flow from the unplugged (from 110) device?? We’d all love to know!
 
Any chance you could hook it up to a battery and measure any current flow from the unplugged (from 110) device?? We’d all love to know!
Sure.

My new meters arrived yesterday so good timing. I wasnt planning to leave it permanently connected so wasnt big issue BUT THEN I saw the pool pump idea. Ohhh thats excellent. Those suckers pull 24/7.
 
Thanks for all the replies. The statement was made that when NOT on AC, some of the “guts” of the converter will draw current. Obviously unverified, but made me nervous. I think I’ll buy the charger and see for myself. I’ll post up results either way. Thanks all.

A converter will draw some power from the battery, even when the AC input is off. My converter from IOTA Engineering does this for sure. If I peek inside, there is an LED that is on. IOTA confirmed this, but said it isn't much of a draw. If you had a system with no PV, leaving the RV for months at a time with the batteries connected will result in a measurable draw on the battery bank.
 
A converter will draw some power from the battery, even when the AC input is off. My converter from IOTA Engineering does this for sure. If I peek inside, there is an LED that is on. IOTA confirmed this, but said it isn't much of a draw. If you had a system with no PV, leaving the RV for months at a time with the batteries connected will result in a measurable draw on the battery bank.
Yeah, I could easily see a draw in the milli-amp spectrum, but 40 watts seems excessive. Hopefully we can get someone to check it and post up some results. Does Mr. Prowse himself ever get involved in these conversations?
 
Does Mr. Prowse himself ever get involved in these conversations?
He does reply, but this is just one of the 30 threads that get commented on every hour, so he can’t get to them all. You can hit him up with the @ sign.

I will try to take some measurements when I install the inverter in a couple of months. I did find my 500 watt, 55 amp coffee machine had a draw when shut off. I noticed a drop in hundredths of an amp when I uNplugged it, so maybe .4 watts.
 
After visiting Will’s website and watching some of his videos, I felt confident to buy the Aims 75 amp converter/charger for my class C rv. However, there are a couple people on Youtube that mentioned it has a 40 watt (3 amps) parasitic draw when not on shoreline. This seems problematic for a vehicle I plan to store for periods of time and do lots of dry camping. Can anyone validate this or provide some advice here?? Thank you!
I wanted to come back to this thread after I test mine. Update: shipping dates say sept 14-18. I read it wrong.

So gotta mark this thread.

Reminder: I was told it did. I bought one yesterday. Was ask to post after testing current. No problem just gotta get it 1st.
 
He does reply, but this is just one of the 30 threads that get commented on every hour, so he can’t get to them all. You can hit him up with the @ sign.

I will try to take some measurements when I install the inverter in a couple of months. I did find my 500 watt, 55 amp coffee machine had a draw when shut off. I noticed a drop in hundredths of an amp when I uNplugged it, so maybe .4 watts.
What do you think @Will Prowse ?? Does the Aims 75 watt converter/charger have a draw on the batteries when unplugged from 110v? If so, how much? Thanks everyone for chiming in on this!
 
So did anyone actually MEASURE the AIMS drain when not plugged in??

Just curious as I have a cheap charger that destroyed a good battery set for this very reason.
 
I haven’t measured it, but I’m sure it does. Whenever it is connected to my system I hear a relay close, it opens when disconnected.
 
So did anyone actually MEASURE the AIMS drain when not plugged in??

Just curious as I have a cheap charger that destroyed a good battery set for this very reason.
Yes it does. I bought one last yr and run it from generator to charge batteries. I disconnect it after every charge. Didnt measure but it was significant.

Mine is setup for 24v. My next test = seeing if it will charge 2 in parallel. Manual says not to do that but going to try it.

It charges my batteries fast. Only con is only 3 stage cycle.. wish it did all 5; otherwise, pleased w/ it. Careful disconnecting a lot like I do because eventually gotta replace wire connection ends (dont hold up to all the movement)
 
So did anyone actually MEASURE the AIMS drain when not plugged in??

Just curious as I have a cheap charger that destroyed a good battery set for this very reason.
Yes it does. I bought one last yr and run it from generator to charge batteries. I disconnect it after every charge. Didnt measure but it was significant.

Mine is setup for 24v. My next test = seeing if it will charge 2 in parallel. Manual says not to do that but going to try it.

It charges my batteries fast. Only con is only 3 stage cycle.. wish it did all 5; otherwise, pleased w/ it. Careful disconnecting a lot like I do because eventually gotta replace wire connection ends (dont hold up to all the movement)
Yes it does. I bought one last yr and run it from generator to charge batteries. I disconnect it after every charge. Didnt measure but it was significant.

Mine is setup for 24v. My next test = seeing if it will charge 2 in parallel. Manual says not to do that but going to try it.

It charges my batteries fast. Only con is only 3 stage cycle.. wish it did all 5; otherwise, pleased w/ it. Careful disconnecting a lot like I do because eventually gotta replace wire connection ends (dont hold up to all the movement)
Apologies I didn't measure the draw but can tell you, I didn't because it was significant enough.

Also, manual says not to use it while also using inverter... causes damage. That does make since so disconnect inverter when charging also
 
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