Help finding an electrical leak

[tekdeus]

Since I bought my car, it will have a dead battery after sitting for a week. I've since swapped the red-top battery to an Optima yellow-top, changed the alarm, stereo, amps, and a few gauges with no change in the problem. The battery seems to charge fine when driving, I have an aftermarket 130amp alternator that puts out 14v or so.

If I pull off the battery terminal, and measure the current draw, it reads about 112ma. Is this enough current to drain a big deep cycle battery in a week? I traced the most current draw to the AM2 circuit drawing 78ma. Just wondering if I should keep searching, or if there is another problem I haven't thought of?

 

[tekdeus]

Well, I continued to trace circuits and found things that used small amounts of current, like the alarm 20-40ma, the stereo 10ma, EDFC 10ma. I get the impression that there is no single major electrical draw. Help? Should I get my yellow top battery load tested?

 

[dumbo]

i dont think the yellow top is a deep cycle battery. what is the am2 circuit, the other ones take a little current to run when the car is off.

 

[IJ.]

Dumbo: Do you ever fact check before you hit reply?

 

[jester1341]

i thought the way to go was have a guy check amp draw on the battery and pull fuses one at a time till you find it??

john

 

[TomFraser]

It might be the aftermarket amp you put in...


amps normally have a "p-con" or similar you can connect to your power antenna raiser to turn on with the car, and off with the car. some people I've seen just run 12v across this connector so the amp is always on, this obviously isn't good

 

[90T04]

While a 112mA draw is pretty high, I dont think it should drain that battery in a week. Try this calculator: http://www.csgnetwork.com/batterylifecalc.html
Using that I get 556 hours discharging at .122A continuously to reach 10.5V.

With that said, I usually say anything below 75mA is acceptable for a key off draw.

 

[Pernilongo]

I have that same problem only on AM1 fuse. I traced it to 1K and 1J plugs that are behind the distribution block, but each plug had 4 wires that are grounded somewhere. can't find where they lead yet except for ACC wire.

I'll be tracing each wire further, i can't think of anything other than that.

And no your amps and headunit and alarm will not draw enough to make yellow top empty in a week.

Cygnus has pretty good electrical diagrams, they helped me alot.

 

[tekdeus]

I guess installing a trickle charger is the easiest solution for now, especially for the winter. I'm sure it's not the new amps or alarm, since the problem existed before I installed them. What are the odds it's a faulty diode in the alternator? Would it show measurable current draw?

 

[Pernilongo]

I guess installing a trickle charger is the easiest solution for now, especially for the winter. I'm sure it's not the new amps or alarm, since the problem existed before I installed them. What are the odds it's a faulty diode in the alternator? Would it show measurable current draw?

If you have AM2 that has current when you unplug the fuse then not likely because alternator wires go to other fuses. From quick look i would start with the obvious, 15A EFI and 7.5A IGN see if they have 12v with the fuses unpluged. I don't see where else AM2 going at the moment, but as i go along with my problem i'll post smth, if i find where AM2 connects in fusable link.

 

[tekdeus]

If you have AM2 that has current when you unplug the fuse then not likely because alternator wires go to other fuses. From quick look i would start with the obvious, 15A EFI and 7.5A IGN see if they have 12v with the fuses unpluged. I don't see where else AM2 going at the moment, but as i go along with my problem i'll post smth, if i find where AM2 connects in fusable link.

I found that my alarm, it's backup battery, and stereo and Tein EDFC memory were wired up to AM2. About 40ma for the alarm and battery, and 10 each for the other 2 components. Is it possible that my battery is leaking current through the small backup battery to ground? It is a DEI backup battery with its own little circuit module.

I wonder if I'm just having trouble with both Optima batteries? Is it possible that a battery can work fine and charge fine, but have a hard time holding a solid charge over several days?

Can anyone recommend a good trickle charger? I don't like the idea of having to remember to plug my car in every time I park it in the garage, but I may have to. I'm wondering if I should get one that plugs into the cig lighter, which I could wire up to constant power. This way, I'm not forgetting wires plugged in as I drive off. But then I have a wire always draped over the mint paint on my door.

 

[dumbo]

Dumbo: Do you ever fact check before you hit reply?

my bad i thought only the blue top was a deep cycle.:icon_frow

 

[IJ.]

my bad i thought only the blue top was a deep cycle.:icon_frow

Only mentioned it as it seems to have become a trend lately.....

 

[tekdeus]

After all that trouble, it was actually a faulty Yellow Top battery. I brought it in for testing, and it charged fine, and passed the load test, but they tried letting it sit overnight and it dropped a lot of voltage. Luckily they changed the warranty to a 3-year free replacement on all Optima batteries, so I paid an extra $30 for a blue top which has more cranking amps and better vibration resistance.

 

[cjsupra90]

Glad you found what it was. Just to answer one of your pervious questions cause I didn't see it answered, Yes bad diodes in an ALT can and do cause excessive current drain. This usually cause so much of a drain that the batt. will be dead in a day or two.. Just for future referance, the easily test for a diode issue in the ALT, unhook all ALT connections form the ALT and then check for continuity between BATT terminal of the ALT and the case. 99% of the time if there is a Diode issue within the ALT, they short to ground thus showing continuity between the BATT and the ALT case.

 

[SideWinderGX]

I almost PMed you, but decided to post here for other people to reference.

Info on your alternator plz?




I've never heard of anyone ever having problems with an Optima (color) Top....first story ever.

 

[cjsupra90]

I've seen a couple of bad brand new Optima's over the years. Like everything else that is manufactured, you do occationally get a bad on in a bunch.

 

[tekdeus]

Info on your alternator plz? I've never heard of anyone ever having problems with an Optima (color) Top....first story ever.

My alternator? It's some unnamed aftermarket 130amp unit that came with the car.

I posted this thread on SF as well, and FIVE others are saying they had major trouble with Optima batteries: http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=519879

I guess they are becoming the FRAM of the battery industry, or like AEM: 50% percent of them work %100!

 

[jetjock]

They've always been a substandard battery but I gave up trying to convince people of it long ago. The guy on SF was wrong about one thing though: Interstate doesn't make them. Optima is a Johnson Controls product. Btw your problem only appears to be solved. It'll be back in time...

 

[Nick M]

I brought it in for testing, and it charged fine, and passed the load test, but they tried letting it sit overnight and it dropped a lot of voltage.

That doesn't sound right. The part about it charging fine. Overnight at what amp rate, and voltage? A trickle charge works really good, if you have it on the charger for 24 hours or more.

I've never heard of anyone ever having problems with an Optima (color) Top....first story ever.

That is because you aren't in the battery or automotive business. Don't take it personal, it isn't. I don't know anything about things I don't know about either.

50 milliamps is too high. For future refrence.

JJ, I thought I was the only one on automotive boards that though that they are junk. In the real world they are recognized as such. Just not on the net.