Battery dead...AGAIN
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Senior User
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Battery dead...AGAIN
ok 2008 F250 V10 124K
battery is 6 months old and tested fine
alternator tested fine
every morning battery is dead
Anyone have a good technique to diagnose an electrical drain problem?
battery is 6 months old and tested fine
alternator tested fine
every morning battery is dead
Anyone have a good technique to diagnose an electrical drain problem?
Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 6,801
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From: DFW, TX-GoldCanyon, AZ
Put a voltmeter on the battery and start pulling fuses one at a time until you see a fluctuation.
Junior User
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To find a draw close doors and turn everything off, set your meter to amps. Put prob on one side of fuze and the other on the other side of fuze. Watch amperage if there is a draw amperage will be shown. Best to use a meter with 20 amp max. This will direct you to the fuze that is the circuit casing the draw. A word of warning don't open door or turn anything with meter hooked up. When fuze is located I use a head light old stile with two wire attached. Remove fuze and plug into fuze with spade connectors attached to wires from hight light. If head light lights start unplugging connectors on they circuit when light goes out you found the draw. Buy disconnecting batter and testing from battery and cable you can cause problems with components that may need re flash or relearn
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
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From: Waterloo, Iowa
Do you have any aftermarket accessories installed is the first question to ask - sound system?
You want to measure the current draw when everything is off. Should not exceed about 50 milliamps.
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You want to measure the current draw when everything is off. Should not exceed about 50 milliamps.
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Hotshot
Joined: Jan 2004
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From: St Louis
You want to measure the current draw when everything is off. Should not exceed about 50 milliamps.
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 19,311
Likes: 97
From: Waterloo, Iowa
Absolutely, it can take 30 minutes for various components to go into "sleep mode".
Another consideration is that without using a clamp-on meter, it is necessary to disconnect the battery which can cause other problems depending on the vehicle.
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Another consideration is that without using a clamp-on meter, it is necessary to disconnect the battery which can cause other problems depending on the vehicle.
Sent from my iPhone using IB AutoGroup
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I have a HitchCam and a cap with an interior light. Other than that its stock.
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Thread Starter
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Senior User
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To find a draw close doors and turn everything off, set your meter to amps. Put prob on one side of fuze and the other on the other side of fuze. Watch amperage if there is a draw amperage will be shown. Best to use a meter with 20 amp max. This will direct you to the fuze that is the circuit casing the draw. A word of warning don't open door or turn anything with meter hooked up. When fuze is located I use a head light old stile with two wire attached. Remove fuze and plug into fuze with spade connectors attached to wires from hight light. If head light lights start unplugging connectors on they circuit when light goes out you found the draw. Buy disconnecting batter and testing from battery and cable you can cause problems with components that may need re flash or relearn
Hotshot
Joined: Jul 2013
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you can buy a circut tester at harbor freight for 15 bucks that will let you test each fuse circut one at a time....so basically with each circut off you will know if something is drawing a load.
if you want a guess...pull the fuse on the air conditioner...sometimes the air conditioner clutch draws power even when off....enough to kill your battery over night.
if you want a guess...pull the fuse on the air conditioner...sometimes the air conditioner clutch draws power even when off....enough to kill your battery over night.
Junior User
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You don't have to when you hook a big head light to the circuit, you can see it a mile away. Light lite complete circuit, light out open circuit. You can also use this for shorted circuit, lot better then spending $ on fuzes when your trying to find a short that keeps blowing them. Remove the blown fuze, plug in the light. get the wiring diagram for the circuit. Start unplugging or look for wire shorted when light goes out you found it.
Post Fiend
Joined: Jun 2014
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From: DFW, TX-GoldCanyon, AZ
It would cause a higher amperage draw while you were placing large demands on the battery such as when you engage the starter, but I can't think of any way that it would contribute to a drain on the system while the vehicle is parked.