Previa short, no power

Check the fusible links and 100 amp main fuse .

You sure that the problem isn't the battery itself?...disconnect one side and see if the charger still acts strange...very odd symptoms you have there (unless it IS a battery problem)

Could be the charger too. In any case, it surely isn't a short.

Actually, within 15 minutes of posting my question I had already determined it was the battery. Thats good, because I wast likely to find a short in the wiring.

snip some

Great...and thanks for letting us know what happened Joe.

OK, now what are the odds of this happening? I took the battery out of my other car when I had the problem 2 weeks ago, and now the exact same thing has happened to IT? I've never had this happen in my life, and now its happened twice in 2 weeks-could there be something wrong in the vehicle that is causing the batteries to short, or is this just extraordinary coincidence?

Check alternator output, voltage regulator, loose battery tray and/or holddown, cables to battery.

You'll get counsel more informed than mine, but in general the simplest explanation most likely right. From what you've written, the Previa is the prime suspect.

And as with personal computers, any recent maintenance or modification should be the first area of investigation -- even if its seems implausible in respect of the problem.

Brent "It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment." -- Arthur Conan Doyle in "Study in Scarlet"