This morning at 4am I had 11v on my battery. Low, I know, but its always been enough to crank it over. This morning at 10:45 Ive got 2v. Nothing was left on. Theres nothing that can possibly be left other than headlights and they werent. I have no radio. The alt says its charging at 13v and I know its low but its 2v higher than when off so I figured it was working and maybe my $13 mulitmeter was inaccurate. The battery is 1.5 yrs new and has little mileage on it. It was about half low on water the other day so I topped it off with tap/well water. Now, this is the 3rd time Ive had to jump it since rewiring. I know I connected my wipers to constant power just to test them but theyre not on.
So, is there any wiring configuration or faulty components that could possibly draw juice from the battery with the ignition off and nothing turned on?

 

I had a Kenworth that had 3 batterys, the truck was one year old, if it sat for too long the batterys would drain down. Tested EVERYTHING! turns out one of the one year old batterys had a short, (bent plate). Screwed everything up.
It might not be your problem, but I know almost new batterys can be screwed up.

 

Another quick thing you could check, take one cable off, then tap it on the battery post, see if you can see or hear an arc. that will tell you if you have a draw with everything off.

 

Ya know, I was using that method while rewiring but at some point I thought the results were inconclusive so I didnt pay much mind to it after I finished. Now that you mention it, this is a very faint spark...barely noticeable. I cant wait to find out whats drawing juice without being on. Then Im gonna rip it out and huck it across the street.

 

If your voltage regulator is sticking it can drain your battery.

 

I solved a problem similar to this in my 2000 F150 by connecting my multi-meter to the battery in series and reading current.

Disconnect one of the batter cables. Attach one meter lead to the battery terminal and the other meter lead to the batter cable. Then set the meter to read current (amps).

Once it is hooked up you can see is there is a draw from the truck. if there is pull one fuse at a time until the draw goes away. You can also disconnect other things that might not go through the fuse block, like the previously mentioned voltage regulator.

If there is no draw from the truck I would suspect the battery.

In my case it turned out that the radio was drawing an Amp when the truck was off. Disconnected it and no more problems.

I think that this would help you narrow it down a lot quicker than having us guess at issues for you.

~Jesse

 

Quote:
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset"> Originally Posted by Rust is too a color
What does it mean if my "I" terminal isnt producing 12v when running and charging? The only way I get a 12v reading there is from the alt warning wire being supplied by the ignition. It also is not grounding the alt wire when not on because that doesn't light it up either. This is also a new regulator and ignition switch. What needs to happen in order for the "I" terminal to ground? I tried grounding it the old fashioned way which lit up the bulb but since its not producing 12v, it just stayed on. We're getting close, I can feel it.
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This is a thread between me and Confederate Diesel regarding my very simply wiring for the alternator idiot light, that I just could not get to work properly. He also points a finger at that NEW regulator of mine. Maybe it was sticking? Come to think of it, the plug never really fit exactly right either, causing me to remove it and wire each lead separately. Either way, theres good news to report! No, I havent started pulling fuses yet but a fantastic idea that still may be needed. My new 1 wire alternator showed up on the late UPS truck!!
Getting the old one out and the new one mounted in less than 5 min was no problem when the first tool I reached for was my wire cutters! I wasnt able to throw it as far as I would have liked but the thud was satisfying.
Now, I dont know if theres still a draw and I will find out soon enough and I still have to tackle that frickin idiot light again, but I have no doubt that its charging and I know for a fact it aint drawing through that goddam regulator. That actually did go as far as I expected...its stuck in a tree too.

 

Tap water also has minerals in it that will short out the plates.

Batteries require distilled water for this reason.

Garbz

 

Did not realize this was a Private conversation in a public forum.
Don't worry.
You will not get any more advice from me!

 

Not sure what you mean Blackwaterforge. This is meant as a public conversation. I was simply offering an excerpt from a different public thread to shed some light on the history of my issue via other threads and other folks' comments on them. I think you misunderstand my wording. Your opinion and advice is always welcome. In fact, it was your comment that made it all click together in my mind.
See, my new wiring kit told me to connect my excitor wire to the I terminal on my regulator. However, it didnt know that it was grounded by the PO and it fried that wire in seconds. I questioned the regulator after that but since there was an indication of charging, I let it go. Now I see it could have been damaged, allowing a battery draw and yet still allow charging.