Battery drain

[Grant Lenahan]

i think even that is high.  With the car and accessories off, i would expect less than a watt total, which is 0.08A (80 mA) at 12V.

Less on any one fuse

All you should be doing is keeping a few memory devices live.

Grant


On Aug 21, 2010, at 5:54 PM, Henry A Harper III wrote:

> 
> I would guess that a net draw of any more than a few hundred milliAmps (say
> 0.2-0.5 Amp) will drain a battery fairly quickly.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: dgraber460 at aol.com [mailto:dgraber460 at aol.com]
> Sent: Saturday, August 21, 2010 3:47 PM
> To: hah at alumni.rice.edu; quattro at audifans.com
> Subject: Re: Battery drain
> 
> 
> 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
> 
> 
> 
> What you are looking for is *current* flow through the DVM, between the
> battery post and harness terminal normally on the post. Set DVM to measure
> Amps. You may need to change where one of the DVM wires plugs in. You may
> notice a limitation/warning printed  on the DVM of say 10 Amps before you
> blow a fuse inside the DVM, in that case be careful not to do anything in
> the car that will take that much power - interior lights will probably be
> fine, but headlights and A/C would be too much.
> 
> Meauring 11.7 Volts across the gap between battery post and harness terminal
> is about what you'd expect from a flat battery. How much of a spark does it
> make 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
>> _______________________________________________
>> quattro mailing list
>> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/quattro
>> http://www.audifans.com/kb/List_information
>> 
>> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> quattro mailing list
> http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/quattro
> http://www.audifans.com/kb/List_information
> 

Grant Lenahan
glenahan at vfemail.net