unknown constant elec. drain

[glanrichbex]

I liked the advice given earlier about using a multimeter to measure current draw and start removing each fuse until the drain drops.

Also has anyone fitted any after market power sockets or wiring of some sort perhaps?

A multimeter measuring current is O.K ....but if you had a momentary intermittent fault then you are going to have to be looking over the top of the multimeter to see it. The problem may come to light when the alarm activates after you've closed the bonnet and locked her up.

A far easier method is to place a 12volt 5watt bulb on long wires connected between one battery terminal and its connector. If there is a current draw in the proportions you have described then you will be able to see it whilst fault finding standing further away whilst your pulling out fuses and shaking cables etc....

If it is not lighting a 5w bulb then I wouldn't have thought it was enough to drain the battery in the time your experiencing.

 

[micktheshed]

Took 'Jims-terrano',s advice & started removing fuses one at a time. The culprit is the audio circuit @ .3A drain!!!! With this fuse removed (from under the bonnet) the drain drops to .02A (LCD display?).
Don't know if this is normal (or the actual cause) but all's well with the fuse removed until I narrow it down.....any suggestions welcome LOL.

Seldom use the radio anyway (as they weren't even fitted when I started driving LOL) I was brought up to listen to the engine!

Had to give up on electrics as brake pads need changing before MOT & I only managed one side before the light got too bad. Hey Ho....finishing the brakes is tomorrows first job.

 

[jims-terrano]

At least you seem to be getting somewhere, is it a factory standard radio with none of these fancy amps and things?

Good luck with the mot and the remaining pads.

 

[rustic]

I don't think that maths works like that as the voltage will be dropping as well and ohms law shows that if voltage drops and the current draw is the same the amps will increase so you wouldn't have a linear drop but a exponential drop so it will get flatter quicker

No, if voltage drops, and load is a constant resistive drain, then the current will drop in direct proportion to the voltage. V=I x R as you know ohms law.
But as a rule of thumb, if the voltage drops only one volt, in 12 available, it's not such a great percentage to bother the maths, but the battery will be incapable of starting the car, and that's what matters.
:thumb2
Yes sulphation is the greatest killer of batteries, a few total discharges of a starter battery will really kill it's capacity, such that five or six, could render this type of battery incapable of starting a car, even after days of charging.:thumb2
Rustic

 

[rustic]

Took 'Jims-terrano',s advice & started removing fuses one at a time. The culprit is the audio circuit @ .3A drain!!!! With this fuse removed (from under the bonnet) the drain drops to .02A (LCD display?).
Don't know if this is normal (or the actual cause) but all's well with the fuse removed until I narrow it down.....any suggestions welcome LOL.

Seldom use the radio anyway (as they weren't even fitted when I started driving LOL) I was brought up to listen to the engine!

Had to give up on electrics as brake pads need changing before MOT & I only managed one side before the light got too bad. Hey Ho....finishing the brakes is tomorrows first job.

In post 2 I suggested that some radios take 100-200 mA but 300 wow...
If it's an after market one, it might be that the normal 12 volt feed has been paralled off to a constant 12 volts, as it should be wired so that only the memory is connected to a permanent 12 volt feed, the other wires, should be wired to say the accessory feed, for the main radio, and also maybe a backlight should be wired to the side lights.

So you have some investigation to do.
Rustic

 

[macabethiel]

Sulphination Curse

Yes sulphation is the greatest killer of batteries, a few total discharges of a starter battery will really kill it's capacity, such that five or six, could render this type of battery incapable of starting a car, even after days of charging.:thumb2
Rustic

I wonder if the CTEK Model MXS 5.0 Conditioning Cycle mode would fix that on a newish battery ?
On our SL we leave the Mercedes Charger unit (Manufactured by CTEK for Merc) permanently connected when not in use over the winter. Our last Battery lasted 10 years I put a AGM type battery on her a couple of years ago when they were on offer from the Battery Meggastore.

When I looked up the price for the Jeep it was £59.95 for a normal battery 4 yr warranty and a whopping £135.95 for an AGM battery with a 5 year warranty !


http://www.batterymegastore.co.uk

 

[micktheshed]

In post 2 I suggested that some radios take 100-200 mA but 300 wow...
If it's an after market one, it might be that the normal 12 volt feed has been paralled off to a constant 12 volts, as it should be wired so that only the memory is connected to a permanent 12 volt feed, the other wires, should be wired to say the accessory feed, for the main radio, and also maybe a backlight should be wired to the side lights.

So you have some investigation to do.
Rustic

As far as I am aware everything is as standard, ie. radio & cd changer. There is something wired up wrong to take this amount surely. On a caravan I owned several years ago, a similar problem existed caused by the std. fit radio. I resorted to pulling the fuse on that as well! I might take the easy way out & fit an on/off switch in the radio feed as I don't use it much anyway.
On another tack: new brake pads fitted & all is now ready for the dreaded MOT, unless a working 100's digit on odometer is required LOL.

 

[macabethiel]

As far as I am aware everything is as standard, ie. radio & cd changer. There is something wired up wrong to take this amount surely. On a caravan I owned several years ago, a similar problem existed caused by the std. fit radio. I resorted to pulling the fuse on that as well! I might take the easy way out & fit an on/off switch in the radio feed as I don't use it much anyway.
On another tack: new brake pads fitted & all is now ready for the dreaded MOT, unless a working 100's digit on odometer is required LOL.

You could just supply the radio feed from the Ignition "on" terminal so it would only work when the motor is running. Might be a pain if it needs the stations re-tuning every time though.

 

[rustic]

You could just supply the radio feed from the Ignition "on" terminal so it would only work when the motor is running. Might be a pain if it needs the stations re-tuning every time though.

I recall my first car, 1970's Mini, it had an aftermarket Motorola radio, it had 5 or 6 buttons that you tuned the station, then pulled out one of these buttons, then pushed it in, and it went ker-klonk, and every time you pushed it, it worked and got that channel every time. Used no power with ignition off, and had a mechanical memory. We haven't really progressed that far have we lol...:lol

Some friends had the old 8 track, boy I wanted one of those at the time, but settled for the compact cassette player, that I replayed the top 40 that I diligently recorded on a Sunday night, cutting out all the waffle as it was recorded.
I had to flip over the tape part way through, so I could get most on a memorex c90 tape. Still have a few old recordings somewhere lol. :augie
Rustic
Edited found a pic of the old radio lol... only LW and MW lol no stereo...:augie

 

[macabethiel]

and Radiomobile

That takes me back when I was a Car Salesman back in 1973 we used to sell that model Motorola and the Radiomobile equivalent as an after market radio as few new vehicles even Mercs, Opel & Audis had a radio fitted by the factory. We used to charge £49.99 fitted with a manual aerial or £75 with an electric one.

Manual pre-sets we called them with the push buttons!

 

[jims-terrano]

I like old technology cos it works and doesn't try and second guess what it thinks you want. Come back analogue telly with four push buttons:thumbs

 

[macabethiel]

I like old technology cos it works and doesn't try and second guess what it thinks you want. Come back analogue telly with four push buttons:thumbs

You must have been posh our telly only had BBC 1 and when ITV came we had to have a massive box mounted on the back with a big switch that you had to turn to change channel as well as pushing another button at the front.

Methinks I prefer a remote and auto- tune set up !

And in Black & White only!

P.S. Helps when I am in Couch Potato mood on sofa with Tea on a tray !

 

[rustic]

You must have been posh our telly only had BBC 1 and when ITV came we had to have a massive box mounted on the back with a big switch that you had to turn to change channel as well as pushing another button at the front.

Methinks I prefer a remote and auto- tune set up !

And in Black & White only!

P.S. Helps when I am in Couch Potato mood on sofa with Tea on a tray !

If I recall, it was when BBC 2 was introduced you had the conversion, we rented ours from " Red Arrow" lol... BBC1 and ITV were on VHF, when BBC came along, that was UHF, and a huge 2 way rotating switch was fitted to the side, to select it, I think you needed two aerials too. VHF was the huge " H" aerial, and the VHF, the ones you see now. Those who had this new aerial were very posh indeed lol...
Remote control depended on how long your broom stick was, although American TV programs regularly showed wired remote controls, and as I recall, we discussed how lazy can you get lol... Never catch on in the UK...:doh

 

[glanrichbex]

Who would have thought we would have been talking about 4K TV nowadays with 2060P definition. If we look back there is 1080 720 625lines and 405lines.

Can you imagine a television picture made up of 405 lines in a box as deep as the screen width? If you had suggested to a TV engineer back then about 1080P on a picture frame like television :jesterbg

 

[jims-terrano]

I'd love to upgrade to 1080p, my Panasonic CRT is still going strong and doesn't miss a beat.

 

[Banshee]

I'd love to upgrade to 1080p, my Panasonic CRT is still going strong and doesn't miss a beat.

I tell you what mate you'll enjoy it when you finally upgrade to something HD :thumb2

 

[macabethiel]

HD eyesight

I tell you what mate you'll enjoy it when you finally upgrade to something HD :thumb2

I can't figure out how the adverts for HD worked there you were looking at this Boy catching a fish and putting it in a Jar and the picture was brilliant but it was on my same TV ?

Maybe it's that most TV ain't HD and part of the was recording was in HD ?

Either way my eyes aren't HD. lol

 

[macabethiel]

If I recall, it was when BBC 2 was introduced you had the conversion, we rented ours from " Red Arrow" lol... BBC1 and ITV were on VHF, when BBC came along, that was UHF, and a huge 2 way rotating switch was fitted to the side, to select it, I think you needed two aerials too. VHF was the huge " H" aerial, and the VHF, the ones you see now. Those who had this new aerial were very posh indeed lol...
Remote control depended on how long your broom stick was, although American TV programs regularly showed wired remote controls, and as I recall, we discussed how lazy can you get lol... Never catch on in the UK...:doh

You are right as usual Rustic it was the BBC2 Channel (425/605 lines) that required that enormous switch not ITV !

 

[rustic]

You are right as usual Rustic it was the BBC2 Channel (425/605 lines) that required that enormous switch not ITV !

Not always right, :thumb2 Only right when I know the answer lol....

Hate to mention this, following your praise, but wasn't it 405/625 lines.. for VHF( BBC1/ ITV) and UHF ( BBC2) . here I go again... :doh
:lol:lol

 

[glanrichbex]

Not always right, :thumb2 Only right when I know the answer lol....

Hate to mention this, following your praise, but wasn't it 405/625 lines.. for VHF( BBC1/ ITV) and UHF ( BBC2) . here I go again... :doh
:lol:lol

Only if you were very rich and could afford a set with a dual band tuner :lol