Any electrical guru's here...
Post Fiend
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 10,007
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From: Central Florida
The correct drain is 20-50mA. You may have to shunt a little current with a test wire to begin the drain if the meter doesn't have the right resistance.
Now, one battery could be pulling the other down. I don't believe ford uses any isolation between them. If one has a high resistance, it will suck power from the other, then once it's full and the other is weak, it will try to charge that one. Bouncing back and forth will lose a lot of power.
My single battery truck is only good for about 4 days if I didn't drive a lot before parking it, and I am running an optima blue top deep cycle.
The difference in the power from the alt to battery and alt to rad is going to be a ground. In school last week, they recommended upgrading the grounds (batt to frame and frame to block) to the largest wire in the vehicle. Also upgrading the alt wire to atleast 8ga. My stock Alt wire was pretty close to an 8, but if you can get a couple of feet of 4awg you'd be further ahead. Run all of these wires and the stock, they also recommended fusing the new Alt power wire.
Now, one battery could be pulling the other down. I don't believe ford uses any isolation between them. If one has a high resistance, it will suck power from the other, then once it's full and the other is weak, it will try to charge that one. Bouncing back and forth will lose a lot of power.
My single battery truck is only good for about 4 days if I didn't drive a lot before parking it, and I am running an optima blue top deep cycle.
The difference in the power from the alt to battery and alt to rad is going to be a ground. In school last week, they recommended upgrading the grounds (batt to frame and frame to block) to the largest wire in the vehicle. Also upgrading the alt wire to atleast 8ga. My stock Alt wire was pretty close to an 8, but if you can get a couple of feet of 4awg you'd be further ahead. Run all of these wires and the stock, they also recommended fusing the new Alt power wire.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Mar 2002
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From: Wake Forest, NC
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Elder User
Joined: May 2008
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From: Patricia, Alberta
Excellent info elmo8641! I didn't know you could reawaken the computers so I probably did. My kid has the truck up in the mountains right now, so I'll work on it after she gets back if it's still having problems. Sorry to take so long responding - I'm having a hell of a time loading this website. It's a good 5 minutes to get to this thread. I don't know why, I have hi speed internet, and all my other sites load normally.
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Elder User
Joined: May 2008
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From: Patricia, Alberta
Progress report...
The truck is back from the mountains, and I'm going to leave it sit for a week and see if it still starts, but I'm sure it will. The reason I'm so sure is because I put one of the old batteries on an electric fencer yesterday, and it never made the night. A good battery will usually last over a month on a fencer, so the batteries were the culprit. Thanks to all who answered me, and imparting your wisdom on here. I learned a lot in the last few days - I've been doing my own wrenching for the last 35 years, and I never knew about the test light/pulling fuses trick. I hope this thread can help somebody else. That's why I used the word "electrical" in the topic title to help a search engine find it. I'm smarter than I look...
The truck is back from the mountains, and I'm going to leave it sit for a week and see if it still starts, but I'm sure it will. The reason I'm so sure is because I put one of the old batteries on an electric fencer yesterday, and it never made the night. A good battery will usually last over a month on a fencer, so the batteries were the culprit. Thanks to all who answered me, and imparting your wisdom on here. I learned a lot in the last few days - I've been doing my own wrenching for the last 35 years, and I never knew about the test light/pulling fuses trick. I hope this thread can help somebody else. That's why I used the word "electrical" in the topic title to help a search engine find it. I'm smarter than I look...
FTE Leadership Emeritus
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 42,561
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From: Long Island USA
Thanks for reporting back John - just make sure you let us know if the truck starts 
One thing that can really tell you a lot about a battery is a load-tester - it's just a big heater element with a meter on it - hit the switch and watch the needle - if it drops too far too fast, the batt is done for.
Mine looks like this, different brand, but same idea:
Actron®
It's helped me quite a bit since I bought it 10 years ago
One thing that can really tell you a lot about a battery is a load-tester - it's just a big heater element with a meter on it - hit the switch and watch the needle - if it drops too far too fast, the batt is done for.
Mine looks like this, different brand, but same idea:
Actron®
It's helped me quite a bit since I bought it 10 years ago
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