When I open the DVD player in the console and place my hand under the screen I notice that it is very warm like the heat is on but is not. Dashboard above is not usually warm through.

Is this normal? Any other Caravan owners of this generation notice this also?
Adding photo

 

If you have been using the cd player or dvd within a few mins. Yes it would be normal. But if you haven't, turn the system off for a while and re-check. If its cool. It maybe the heat from the radio when on. Normal.

 

That's what has me concerned; it has not been on at all, not even the radio.

 

Remove the radio and unplug it. And check you connections too. Also park the vehicle in the garage if you can to have a cool spot.

 

Part of the reason this has me concerned is because the other night I charged my laptop using the rear 12 volt in the media panel behind the drivers side slider and in the morning the battery which was replaced about 8 months ago was completely dead and am wondering if there may a drain somewhere.

 

I have seen radios cause a drain, Charge your battery and recheck the next day to see if it will start.

 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the radio or any parasitic drain of the battery the problem is misunderstanding on how the inverter works.
First all inverters doesn't generate any power it only transform the types of power DC to AC so what taken out from the inverter has to come from the battery.
Depending on the size of your battery usually a GC battery has an 80 Amp Hours life capacity not CCamps here now a laptop again depending on make model size could draw average 85 watts multiply that by 1 hour so 85 WH. The amount of time the laptop can operate or charge depends on the battery power so if the engine isn't running you'll drain the battery very quickly. For this sample we won't get into Power Factor losses we will use the PF of 1 so Energy= Volts x Amps
Inverter output amps = Watts/ Volts 85/115=.75 amps Inverter input amps = Watts/voltage 85/12= 7.1 amps in order to charge the laptop the inverter is drawing 7.1 amps from the battery if the battery has a 80Ahour life 80/7.1 = 11 hrs approx.if you had your laptop plug in 10-12 hrs = Dead Battery No Start.

LED screen needs power to show the clock when off and it take slightly more power to display a black background than a white one so there will be heat built up behind the Uconnect 430 screen that is perfectly normal mine is the same.