caddylac Posted June 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 lol let me try to word this right. i have somthing draining my battery overnight. so i was tryin to find what was doing it. i was told that the way you find what draining your battery while the car is off is to but a multi meter or test light between your ground wire and battery after you disconect it but leave the postive on the battery and leave in alone. then you start pulling fuses till you test light dims down or your voltage drops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ISO Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 I have never heard any stuff like that before. Unless it some old school trick I have never heard of. The more I think about it guess I get the idea. Remove the short and the test light gets brighter. Or remove the short and the light goes out becuase of better current flow. Have you back tracked and checked everything you have done since you have started to have this problem? How long have you hade this problem? Quote Isobaric - Refers to the practice of coupling two drivers together to make them act as one. "Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak; sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go." Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The Destruction of a person builds character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ISO Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 (edited) Did you ever think about trying to figure out how much current the car was pulling when its off first? So you have an idea how big the short or drain is. Knowing that might help narrow the problem down alittle bit and make it easyer to figure out. Edited June 16, 2008 by ISO Quote Isobaric - Refers to the practice of coupling two drivers together to make them act as one. "Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak; sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go." Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The Destruction of a person builds character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ISO Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 IMO I think you should look at current before voltage for this problem. Please someone jump in if I'm wrong. Quote Isobaric - Refers to the practice of coupling two drivers together to make them act as one. "Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak; sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go." Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. The Destruction of a person builds character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddylac Posted June 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 When I get home I'm gonna go threw it better and are what happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MECHMAN Posted June 16, 2008 Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 When I get home I'm gonna go threw it better and are what happens You are using the wrong measurement setting on the meter. It need to be set to "DC amps" , not "volts". On a lot of multimeters, you have to move the red test lead over to a different plug on the front of the multimeter that is fused. You can then test it like how you were going, (measuring between the ground cable and the negative terminal of the battery) and it will display how many amps are being drained from the battery. You can use the same setting, and test to see if the alternator is draining the battery. (this can be possible with a regualtor that is bad or mis-wired) Hook up both battery cables like normal, then disconnect the alternator charge wire. Measure from the alternator charge wire and the positive terminal of the battery, and see if there is any current flowing with the key in the "off" position. If there is, the alternaor is faulty, or has the wrong regulator wiring. hope that helps MechMan Quote 1-888-MECHMAN www.Mechman.com [email protected] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddylac Posted June 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2008 Thanks man I'm gonna try to get around to doing that today I will keep you posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caddylac Posted June 19, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 Well I did what you said with it on amps and nothing came up with the alternator but here's the twist I left the alt power wire in pluged and tested neg to neg and got a .27 then I plugged the alternator power wire in and test it again on negatives and got a .60 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrrairai Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 You are using the wrong measurement setting on the meter. It need to be set to "DC amps" , not "volts". On a lot of multimeters, you have to move the red test lead over to a different plug on the front of the multimeter that is fused. You can then test it like how you were going, (measuring between the ground cable and the negative terminal of the battery) and it will display how many amps are being drained from the battery.You can use the same setting, and test to see if the alternator is draining the battery. (this can be possible with a regualtor that is bad or mis-wired) Hook up both battery cables like normal, then disconnect the alternator charge wire. Measure from the alternator charge wire and the positive terminal of the battery, and see if there is any current flowing with the key in the "off" position. If there is, the alternaor is faulty, or has the wrong regulator wiring. This post confused the hell outta me. Just like Mechman said you need to be measuring your amps because you had your multimeter in series so you shouldn't have been trying to test AC voltage. Are you going off of the indication that you were measuring 2 volts when the neg was unplugged? Is that how you came up with the fact about the short? I would measure everything normal with the vehicle off and then with the vehicle running. I don't think you have a short at all. Well I did what you said with it on amps and nothing came up with the alternator but here's the twist I left the alt power wire in pluged and tested neg to neg and got a .27 then I plugged the alternator power wire in and test it again on negatives and got a .60 Is that .27A and .60A? If you're measuring current measure right after the alt or are you using the neg on the alt? Remember measuring current is very tricky. Its not as easy as voltage. Quote Member since 25 Jun 2006 2011 Yukon DenaliCustomLightz 4300K HID RetrofitEsky TailsEsky Third BrakeEsky 22sEsky Appliques Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted June 19, 2008 Report Share Posted June 19, 2008 if he says hes blowing the dome light fuse.. wouldnt that have something to do with his radio wiring?? Quote 91 dodge colt gt.. 4 custom t600 15s audioque 3500d.1 tuned to 25 hz... stay tuned. blazer stroker 15 brutus bxi2006d terrible voltage drop 145.4@38HZ... SEALED LEGAL Aim: chewieft09 www.t3audio.com carpe diez nuts !! my house is louder than your car... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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