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Old Sep 29, 2018 | 09:59 AM
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Phantom Current Draw

I have a 2006 E350 w/6.0 Diesel. It has phantom current draw. I've tracked it down to Fuse 22 in the fuse box under the driver's dash. That is the instrument cluster.

What's my next step? Take the dash apart and look for shorts?


Edit1:Parasitic draw would be a better term.
Edite2: The current draw is ~0.7amps if I did my maths right
 

Last edited by roboto; Sep 29, 2018 at 10:01 AM. Reason: parasitic draw
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Old Sep 29, 2018 | 10:13 AM
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Did you wait the MANDATORY 40 minutes after touching anything before reading the current draw? Failure to do so usually sends most guys off on a wild goose chase in the weeds.
 
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Old Sep 29, 2018 | 10:19 AM
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You got me. I just went back out and checked it and the doesn't seem to be drawing. Will keep looking.

I think it's down to 0.07 amps now. My current measurement setup is a bit wonky and rigged though.
 
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Old Sep 29, 2018 | 11:42 AM
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Well I cleaned up my measuring setup and I now drawing ~23mA (0.023amps). Not zero but not something that should draw the battery down overnight. Any ideas? Maybe there is an intermittent short?
 
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Old Sep 29, 2018 | 01:13 PM
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Max is 50 mA. Your readings are less that half of that.
 
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Old Sep 29, 2018 | 01:51 PM
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Put everything back together and will have to look for a pattern. It is an occasional use vehicle. I had it out two weeks ago camping and the battery was dead overnight. I drove it a lot that day so it should have been charged up. Dome lights are all disconnected.

If I can find a pattern on the discharges then I can track it down.
 
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Old Sep 29, 2018 | 04:05 PM
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The more modern vehicles cannot be left but for a certain period of time before the battery runs down. SHO probably knows the official time period, but I have heard of TSP's coming down the pike from the OEM's warning dealers they will have to deal with dead batteries if the vehicles sit on the lot too long without being started. I want to say it is around a 2 month period but I am not sure about that.
 
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Old Sep 30, 2018 | 08:31 AM
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Originally Posted by roboto
What's my next step? Take the dash apart and look for shorts?
I search for these draws one fuse at a time. I remove a fuse and connect an amp meter to the 2 fuse terminals in the fuse box, then log the draw, if any. I'll do this for all of the fuses and then take note of any that seem to be drawing an excessive amount of power based on what that circuit supplies. Once the offending circuit is identified you can start disconnecting one component at a time from the circuit until the draw is gone.
 
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Old Sep 30, 2018 | 12:22 PM
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Originally Posted by alloro
I search for these draws one fuse at a time. I remove a fuse and connect an amp meter to the 2 fuse terminals in the fuse box, then log the draw, if any. I'll do this for all of the fuses and then take note of any that seem to be drawing an excessive amount of power based on what that circuit supplies. Once the offending circuit is identified you can start disconnecting one component at a time from the circuit until the draw is gone.
That's a fine procedure except for one significant detail: His quiescent current draw is normal after everything goes to sleep.

 
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