Battery drain

Sat Aug 21 16:15:55 PDT 2010

How old is the battery, and how heavily do you use/not use the car?  Lots of
winters or none?   Is the alternator newer, and the right size for the
battery?  Like, 110amp or better if you've got any sort of stereo that isn't
the factory one?

Maybe the battery if its pretty old and sits all the time or is used in
stop-go traffic heavily..  The tests at most FLAPS aren't that great and
should be run 2-3 times, if the verdict is good or bad.

On Sat, Aug 21, 2010 at 6:09 PM, <dgraber460 at aol.com> wrote:

>
> Thanks a ton to all the respondents. WAY helpful!
> Well while I was testing for volts, and then amps, I noticed I was not
> getting any amp readings at all. I switched back to volts and showed 12.3
> across the battery. I hooked it back up to the car and got no sparks at the
> post. Trying to start the car showed that battery had gone flat setting
> disconnected over about 6 hours.
> I am rather certain the battery IS bad contrary to this mornings test.
> That is (and would be if true) a huge relief.
> Thanks again to all that responded.
>
> Dennis
> Very relieved in Denver
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Grant Lenahan <glenahan at vfemail.net>
> To: hah at alumni.rice.edu
> Cc: dgraber460 at aol.com; quattro at audifans.com
> Sent: Sat, Aug 21, 2010 4:27 pm
> Subject: Re: Battery drain
>
>
> i think even that is high.  With the car and accessories off, i would
> expect
> ess 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
>
> n 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
> > _______________________________________________
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> > http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/quattro
> > http://www.audifans.com/kb/List_information
> >
> >
>
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> Grant Lenahan
> lenahan at vfemail.net
>
>
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