5kt drained battery

[Larry C Leung]

Practically speaking, if you have a voltmeter only, the only thing you
can do is connect a 5 watt 1ohm resistor between the battery and a
battery cable. Then measure the voltage change from one end of the
resistor to the other, using the lowest volt setting of the meter. As
before, don't test high current draw items such as headlights, the
starter or wipers. Anyway, using a 1 ohm resistor will make a direct
reading of voltage into a direct reading of current in amps. For example,
if the voltmeter reads 2.4 volts, the current draw would be 2.4 Amps. The
formula, if you can't find a 1 ohm resistor (the lower the ohms, the more
accurate the reading) is Volts = Amps x ohms. 

LL - NY 

On Mon, 16 Apr 2001 07:47:34 -0400 "Michael A. Carr"
<m_wdsllc at bigplanet.com> writes:
>Hi guys,
>
>Just so happens, that this week-end I experienced the same thing out 
>of the blue and was amazed & delighted to find this thread pop up on 
>the
>list.....only to Vanish into thin air all solved !!!
>I have a volt-meter ( have No idea how to use it, but I bought a book 
>) and would sure appreciate a re-cap on what you did told each other 
>to find
>the solution on this one. I have an 85 5k cs (non-turbo/quatt too) the 
>battery is 4 mos old/new the alternator is a year and a half new/old. 
>I have
>another possibly related symptom lately and that is that we've (me and 
>passengers) been getting amazing static shock ( and yes it is only 
>static)
>upon toching anything metal (even painted) when exiting the car 
>lately???
>
>Many thanks to the wisdom and guidance found here, as a newbie & 
>bystander!
>Michael
>
>Orignal message's :
>
>Message: 3, Message: 6, & Message: 15
>From: DGraber460 at aol.com
>Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 23:45:38 EDT
>Subject: 5kt drained battery
>To: quattro at audifans.com
>CC: v8q at bellsouth.net, hah at srv.net, rmyers at inetone.net
>
>My daughters 85 5kt (non quat) has had a dead battery every 3 days. I 
>had the
>battery checked which shows fine. Once fully charged, the car starts 
>and runs
>fine and shows no alternator light. I therefore feel the alternator is 
>not
>the culprit.
>I remember a post that suggested pulling a battery cable and hooking 
>a
>voltmeter in line and pulling fuses till the meter shows zero. When I 
>tried
>this, the meter read 12.54 volts with no change as each (and all) 
>fuses were
>pulled.
>Am I correct in thinking that this shows a drain on the system?
>If so, what could be another method for diagnosis?
>TIA
>
>Message: 6,
>If your voltmeter has a "DC amps" setting, this would be the time to 
>use it -
>amps are measured in series, volts are measured in parallel. Putting 
>a
>voltmeter in series in a circuit will only show the potential of the 
>circuit,
>essentially opening the circuit. Most multimeters have a limited (~10 
>amps)
>current-measuring capability so don't do anything that pulls a lot of 
>current
>(like start the car) while playing around here.
>HTH
>Henry Harper
>
>& Message: 15
>Thanks to Henry Harper, David Head, and Robert Myers for squaring me 
>away on
>the way to test for power drain using amps, not volts.
>Said method points squarely to the driver door jam wiring. I spent 
>about 7
>hours redoing _most_ of the wires in that loom about 8 months ago to 
>fix a
>non operative driver window, but I must have either missed some or 
>buggered a
>few.
>The results were fuses #4, #19, and #23 showing small changes in the 
>.157 amp
>reading shown at static condition. All are related to the driver door 
>loom.
>If all 3 are removed the meter shows .002 amps. Is that normal, 
>and/or
>acceptable?
>This list is invaluable!
>Thanks guys!
>Dennis