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short or bad ground

carolinafan4life63

carolinafan4life63

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hey guys, I need some help from the experts.

I have something that is draining my battery , no idea what it is or what circuit it involves. what would be the best way to find out what is draining my battery? I seem to recall something from years ago , that involved taking lose either the + or - battery cable and hooking up a test light between the battery and the cable (or something similar) and pulling fuses until the test light went out to isolate the circuit that would be causing my battery to die. anyone know , or heard of this way of doing it ( the proper way)?? or the best way to find out why the battery is dying on me. the alternator is charging and i can charge the battery untill fully charged , and by the next morning , after sitting all night , it is dead , any and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated , thanks guys , I know its a little premature , but I need this blazer right by march 8th when i get my driving priveleges back!!
 
For me its a drag trying to figure this out, buttt...have you installed anything (stereo, cb, tach) lately before the draining started??
 
no nothing different than the last six months , but something is definitely draining it , i can put the battery in another vehicle and it is fine!
 
is the altenator good?? is it charging??

Got sound system in there, check the amps, i had one that never turned off.

It could be a few things you will have to check every circuit individually id say
 
Check every circuit including the charging circuit. A bad diode in the alternator could lead to a drain. The alternator will still charge. It is rare but something to look out for.
 
take a test light and remove the positive battery cable hook 1 end of the test light to the positive battery cable and the other end of the test light to the positive post. the light should glow pretty bright if theres alot of draw start pulling fuses 1 at at time and checking the test light to see if it goes dim. if you a dvom you can hook it up the same and watch the millivolt scale anything above .5 mv is to much draw it should drop when u disconnect the wire draining ur battery
 
"take a test light and remove the positive battery cable hook 1 end of the test light to the positive battery cable and the other end of the test light to the positive post. the light should glow pretty bright if theres alot of draw start pulling fuses 1 at at time and checking the test light to see if it goes dim. if you a dvom you can hook it up the same and watch the millivolt scale anything above .5 mv is to much draw it should drop when u disconnect the wire draining ur battery"

Thanks guys , this is the test i was referring to in my first post , used to have good results this way just couldn't remember exactly how to do it cuz it has been so long , thanks a lot , i really appreciate it guys , and any more info about this problem would be great.


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Unhook the cables from the battery, and charge the battery with a charger overnight @ slow charge rate ~2 amps or use Auto setting. Check voltage about an hour after you stop charging. Check voltage about 8 hours later, it shouldn't drop more than .5 from fully charged.
If it still has good voltage, hook up the cables again, and watch for voltage to drop.
Start pulling fuses 1 at a time to find the source of drainage.
Make sure the dome lights/hood lights aren't on during this test procedure.
 
ok , i unhooked the + cable from the battery and hooked the test light up between the + cable and the + terminal on the battery . test light lit up , I am assuming that this indicates a draw on the battery?? pulled all the fuses one at a time , the light never went dim or out , unhooked the amp , radio and anything else that might be the curlprit , no luck. any other ideas ? I really need to fix the problem. the battery was bought in 07 , could it be the battery itself?
 
Unhook the amp for a few days.

Maybe just co-incedence, but I've worked on 2 cars in the last year, that the owner put an amp system in (I'm not familiar with what the needs are of these systems) but we had to replace an alternator, and battery on one, and the other, when we unhooked the amp supply from the battery, all the weak battery problems stopped.

Just sayin' something to try.
 
i will unhook the amp in the morning for a few days and see if that helps. am i correct in assuming that the test light coming on when hooked up between the + cable and + battery post indicate a short somewhere? or am i wrong?
 
just read another article on the internet that said to hook the test light between the - post and cable and if it lights up it indicates a short , so which is right between the neg. post and cable or between the pos post and cable ?
 
sorry to say, I might be getting in over my head now....PM Ryoken
 
carolinafan4life63 said:
ok , i unhooked the + cable from the battery and hooked the test light up between the + cable and the + terminal on the battery . test light lit up , I am assuming that this indicates a draw on the battery?? pulled all the fuses one at a time , the light never went dim or out , unhooked the amp , radio and anything else that might be the curlprit , no luck. any other ideas ? I really need to fix the problem. the battery was bought in 07 , could it be the battery itself?
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i hate chaseing electrical problems. it very well could be the battery. right now i have a POS autozone battery. when its warm out it starts,when its cold!! two days and i have to jump it.:rolleyes:and i have zero power draws. no stereo, cb, nothing.JR had an AC Delco that lasted 17 years.with you driveing situation{and we talked so you know I have been there:laugh:} how often do you use your rig?JR sits for weeks sometimes and that doesn't help the charging part.and as dumb as this sounds, look at your brake lites.i had a 74 Monte that had the plunger stick in under the pedal.i didn't figure out why i needed a jump every morning for weeks. i even got a new battery.but i lived in an apartment at the time and backed up to a field. so i never saw the glow of the lites.it wasn't till i was waxing {the car} that i noticed.:dunno:
 
thanks for the link ! and Boggerless , i cant find anything that would be draining the battery ! I am going to put a new battery in this week and see if the problem still persists. thanks for the help. what are your hours that you work , i will try to give you a call this week , i have a short week , off at 2:30 and have thursday and friday off. let me know your schedule as i don't wnt to bother you while you are working.
 
carolinafan4life63 said:
thanks for the link ! and Boggerless , i cant find anything that would be draining the battery ! I am going to put a new battery in this week and see if the problem still persists. thanks for the help. what are your hours that you work , i will try to give you a call this week , i have a short week , off at 2:30 and have thursday and friday off. let me know your schedule as i don't wnt to bother you while you are working.
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monday tru wednesday. 7 30 to 4.00.:Dand don't worry about when you call. i have been there 25 years. i do what I want.:laugh:so unless i am driving, i wiil answer. if not i will call you right back.;)
 
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