battery drain

[seanschevy]

My truck is not daily driven and i have been having a batttery drain problem when the truck sits(for a couple of hours/ almost like the headlights were on). I had this problem before but then one day it went away. since then the truck has sat for about a month and when i came back to start it, it fired right up. then after a 2 days of driving it on the 3 thrid moring i came out to a dead battery again. The truck also has a new battery and a new 1 wire 140 amp alt. so that not the problem and i know its charging when i drive it. The only thing i can think of is some sort of short but ive checked and found nothing so far.(one of my friends said it might have to do with my ignition swith going bad but i dont know) so if anyone has any ideas what might be doing this please feel free to voice your opinions thanks.

 

[daleearnhardt01]

Have you checked for an open circuit? You can use a testlight for that. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

 

[Sample]

[ QUOTE ]
Have you checked for an open circuit? You can use a testlight for that. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

An open circuit wouldn't drain the battery. No current draw, just potential.

Disconnect the positive cable hook up your ammeter between positive post and cable and watch to see what kind of amerage is going through there.

 

[Curtis2kul]

You may have what is called a "parasitic load" this , even thought the truck may be "off", something is running or draining the battery, if you just installed a winch, cd, player, acessory lights, etc. that may be your problem! Just get out your trusty multi-meter

 

[Waxer]

I had the same problem and since I wasn't an electrical guru by any means, I came here to ck5 for help.

One member suggested using a test light between the positive terminal on the battery and the positive cable (after detaching it from the battery)

I definitely saw the test light glow, that told me current was being drawn. So what I did to isolate the fugger was pull 1 fuse at a time, and waited to see which one would cause the glowing test light to go out.

Well come to find out, an old alarm system is what was causing the draw. I pulled the fugger out, trashed it, and haven't had the problem since.

Using a test light only worked cause there was enough draw to see the light, but if its a smaller amount, then a multi-meter will be your best friend there.

Same method with the multimeter is what I suggest. Have fun and let us know what you find.

 

[daleearnhardt01]

[ QUOTE ]
An open circuit wouldn't drain the battery. No current draw, just potential.

[/ QUOTE ]
Not trying to start a flame war or anything but my boss (a mechanic for over 30 years) calls it an open circuit so thats what Ill continue to call it. /forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

Anyways do what everybody has said to do, I wouldve said that but but for some reason I just felt like saying the minimum. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

 

[seanschevy]

thanks alot guys ill try to mess around with it tommorow. i keep u posted.