Electrical Parastic Drain NOT FUSES?
#1
Ok so my battery will be dead if I let the Jimmy sit for about 2 days, I tried hooking my multimeter up to the battery and checking for a drain. getting a drain of about 12mv (I think its milivolts not 100% which range im supposed to be on).
Tried pulling each and every fuse and none show any drop. I doubled checked if the reading changes when i turned on the headlights and it shows. So my question is there something else i can check other than these fuses? The alternator maybe?
I ain't no car genius, just a dude who wants to fix his truck
Tried pulling each and every fuse and none show any drop. I doubled checked if the reading changes when i turned on the headlights and it shows. So my question is there something else i can check other than these fuses? The alternator maybe?
I ain't no car genius, just a dude who wants to fix his truck
#2
BF Veteran
Join Date: May 2011
Location: SW Central OH
Posts: 2,253


You cant find it easily using voltage reading.
Best method is using a 12 volt test lamp.* under 10 bucks any parts store. Remove cable from negative battery terminal and put tester between the battery and the cable.
it will glow if you have a drain. Brightness depends on how heavy the current drain is.
Then pull fuses to isolate.
You can use the multimeter in '10 amp' mode but you have to be very careful not to exceed that.. like turning on headlights.. or the meter circuit will blow.
anything under 150 ma {point 15 amp} is okay. Remember radio and ECM use a little power.
*LED style tester may not work correctly.
Best method is using a 12 volt test lamp.* under 10 bucks any parts store. Remove cable from negative battery terminal and put tester between the battery and the cable.
it will glow if you have a drain. Brightness depends on how heavy the current drain is.
Then pull fuses to isolate.
You can use the multimeter in '10 amp' mode but you have to be very careful not to exceed that.. like turning on headlights.. or the meter circuit will blow.
anything under 150 ma {point 15 amp} is okay. Remember radio and ECM use a little power.
*LED style tester may not work correctly.
#3
A multimeter capable of displaying mA will really help in the diagnosis of a parasitic drain. An incandescent bulb type test light can be used as well, but even a cheap multimeter will be easier to 'read' and give you values that you can manipulate to determine exactly what might be causing the drain.
The system shouldn't show more than ~35mA total parasitic drain after all of the systems have gone to their low power state (aka sleep mode) which can take 10-15 minutes after the ignition is turned off and the doors are all closed (for the '99+ trucks with a BCM anyway). But as pettyfog stated, a battery should be able to withstand up to a 150mA draw for sustained periods of time.
The system shouldn't show more than ~35mA total parasitic drain after all of the systems have gone to their low power state (aka sleep mode) which can take 10-15 minutes after the ignition is turned off and the doors are all closed (for the '99+ trucks with a BCM anyway). But as pettyfog stated, a battery should be able to withstand up to a 150mA draw for sustained periods of time.
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