If the meter can do DC amps (but not milliamps) it will give us a starting point, depending on how many digits the meter has and the minimum resolution in Amp mode.


George

 

Afternoon,
Here's what I currently have...

 

That will work. Now you need a way to securely and reliably put that meter inline between the battery cable and the battery post (that you take the cable off of). Here is a commercial solution:



You can rig one yourself but it has to be reliably attached and be able to handle up to 10 amps.




If I was going to rig it I would use two small wood clamps to secure the meter probes to the battery post and cable connector, the ones with the rubber pads that you progressively squeeze closed.



George

 

I went ahead and ordered the Parasitic Drain Attachment Kit you gave me the link off Amazon. Should probably have it by Tuesday maybe...
Thanks George, have a great weekend!

 

Let me know when your ready and we can start chasing down your problem.

George

 

Afternoon George,
I received the drain testing cables and they were so loose on my tester that they would just fall out of the meter.
I'm sending them back so it will be a while before I'm ready. Sorry to drag this on but I'll get back with ya when i get my sh*t together...lol
Later Friend

 

Hey George, just in case I decide to use clamps instead of ordering another drain cable, can you instruct me as to the meter settings I should use?
I think the black cable goes into the "common" and the red cable would plug into the "DC" connector. What should I set the meter to?
Also, should I remove the Ground cable and put the meter between the battery and the cable? Do I do all this after I run the truck to wake everything up?
After the 15 minutes to let everything shut back off?
Thanks

 

open the drivers door and use a clamp to close the door plunger so the interior lights go out. The door has to be open to get to the IP fuse block. Take out any under hood light

Black cable in the common port on the meter, red cable in the 10A port. Meter set on 10A--.

disconnect the red or black battery cable, one meter probe to the open battery post, other lead to the disconnected cable like my diagram. Make sure that the connections are clean and tight and wont slip off.

Dont start the truck but turn on the ignition and turn stuff on and off except the high speed HVAC blower motor, rear defroster and headlights so you dont keep blowing the meter fuse.

Turn everything off and wait 15 minutes. The current (amps) should start dropping as everything starts turning off or going to sleep. Keep the meter connected because if you interrupt the circuit and reconnect it things will wake back up.

Eventually you will be able to change the meter to A--, 200m to read the milliamp draw although you will get some indication on that higher scale, write that value down. If that selector change is a break before make switch the truck may wake back up. If so and the fuse does not blow then just leave the meter on that lower scale until everything goes back to sleep and then read your parasitic current draw. If its 20 - 85 ma your probably OK, especially if in the lower range. If its too high, pull and replace fuses one at a time until it does drop into that range. Be mindful of the fuse maneuvers, the truck may wake back up again.

George

 

If your meters 10A fuse only works for the 10A scale then thats where you will most likely have to stay. Hopefully there are two positions to the right of the decimal point so you can read tens of milliamps and that should be good enough. 0.05 would be 50 milliamps. If the current draw is too high when you turn things on and off and it blows the meter fuse then reconnect the battery, cycle everything and then after 15 minutes, pull the battery cable, hook everything up and begin the process on the 10A scale. I don't know your meter and I dont know the amp draw of this truck under these conditions so some experimentation may be required to get this right.


George

 

Also, the black battery cable may be best simply because if the set up accidently hits something grounded you wont get fireworks.


George