Battery drain

[dgraber460 at aol.com]

Thanks a bunch for the response.
Its quite a spark at hook up. More than should be. I have had a battery hydrogen flash (explode) on me before so I am very careful about that.
What amp flows am I looking for? What is normal and what is "found the bastard!".


Dennis 
Denver


-----Original Message-----
From: Henry A Harper III <hah at alumni.rice.edu>
To: dgraber460 at aol.com; quattro at audifans.com
Sent: Sat, Aug 21, 2010 3:32 pm
Subject: RE: Battery drain



hat you are looking for is *current* flow through the DVM, between the
attery post and harness terminal normally on the post. Set DVM to measure
mps. You may need to change where one of the DVM wires plugs in. You may
otice a limitation/warning printed  on the DVM of say 10 Amps before you
low a fuse inside the DVM, in that case be careful not to do anything in
he car that will take that much power - interior lights will probably be
ine, but headlights and A/C would be too much.
Meauring 11.7 Volts across the gap between battery post and harness terminal
s about what you'd expect from a flat battery. How much of a spark does it
ake when you hook it back up (in a well-ventilated area of course)?
> -----Original Message-----
 From: quattro-bounces at audifans.com
 [mailto:quattro-bounces at audifans.com]On Behalf Of dgraber460 at aol.com
 Sent: Saturday, August 21, 2010 3:19 PM
 To: urq at audifans.com; quattro at audifans.com
 Subject: Battery drain



 Well one of my worst nightmares has apparently come to pass.
 My battery goes flat after ~ 12 hours. I had the battery checked
 this morning and they said it needed a charge but was not the
 problem. I'm not totally convinced by their testing method, but whatever.
 I remember seeing a post about taking the battery post off, and
 checking the power drain across the post and cable with a DVM
 with everything turned off, then pulling fuses 1 at a time till
 you find the culprit. Is this the method of choice? Am I right
 that you measure across the disconnected cable and the post for
 voltage drain? What is considered normal here for clock, ecu,
 radio, and misc "maintenance".
 I'm seeing 11.7 volts across here which tells me something is
 _way_ wrong and not a small short to ground. More like leaving
 the lights on all day?
 Dang - I _hate_ electrical short issues!! I would rather have a
 mouth full of root canals than deal with this!!
 Patient is an 83 URQ with a 3B motor transplant.
 Help!!

 Dennis Graber
 720-838-0558
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