Battery drain help...

[terd ferguson]

You've probably seen my sorrow and woe with rewiring my truck. Here's the latest...




I did a total rewire on my '55 2nd series with 235 and 3 speed. After the rewire, I had a timing/diztributor issue with a big stumble and popping through the carb. I traced it to the insulated bushing in the distributor case and got a new distributor. I installed the new dizzy and I set the timing to tdc today by the "take the #1 plug out, feel the air, line up the ball" method. Went to start it and the battery is deader than disco. The battery is brand new. It worked fine when I first put it in three or four days ago. It cranked the engine plenty strong over and over when I was trying to sort out the timing/distributor issue.

The only accessories I have are factory lights and factory gauges. The key switch was off and the key was out during the time the battery drained. The lights were also off. The horn is not hooked up yet, the wire is loose with the bare end taped up. Same deal with the fuel sender, I haven't taken out the seat yet to hook it up so it's taped up. Everything worked like it should when the battery was new.

After I got it roughly timed today and discovered the battery was dead, I hooked the charger to it. It made a strange buzzing sound at the voltage regulator. Way louder than the normal low buzzing sound the charger makes. Also, the charger cables got hot pretty quick.

I checked and double checked wiring and routing and all seems to be ok.

If I don't get to drive this truck again soon, I'm going to go insane. Please help, I'm sure it's something simple, just don't know what or what direction to start looking in.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[mylow53]

this is very similar to a guy here with a short. very simply remove the positive battery cable and connect a volt meter between the disconnected cable and the positive post. you should read 12 volts. then begin to pull fuses till the voltage drops. what ever fuse drops the voltage has the drain. if this fails start pulling the big wires like amp meter / alternator... till it does. i had a similar problem with the one wire alternator draining the batt. the regulator in a one wire alt senses a drop in voltage and then energizes the electro magnet. problem was the engine wasn't running. so it drained the battery. post what you find
GT
ps this is what the pro's did back when i was an automotive electriction.

[terd ferguson]

Originally Posted by mylow53

this is very similar to a guy here with a short. very simply remove the positive battery cable and connect a volt meter between the disconnected cable and the positive post. you should read 12 volts. then begin to pull fuses till the voltage drops. what ever fuse drops the voltage has the drain. if this fails start pulling the big wires like amp meter / alternator... till it does. i had a similar problem with the one wire alternator draining the batt. the regulator in a one wire alt senses a drop in voltage and then energizes the electro magnet. problem was the engine wasn't running. so it drained the battery. post what you find
GT
ps this is what the pro's did back when i was an automotive electriction.

I should've specified this in the original post, but there's no fuse box and it's a generator. I assume the method is the same, but with pulling wires instead of fuses? Also, this may be a dumb question, but does it matter which lead of the voltmeter goes where on the battery post/cable?

Thanks.

[mylow53]

if you hook it up wrong most meters will still read. you can do this with any bulb as well... and yes it works for a fuseless system. by the way you need to get some sort of fuse system in there, you can catch your truck on fire really easy. at the very least connect a fusible link between your main accessories and you battery. it's a wire that will fail before your truck turns in to a carbeque. i know this cause it almost happened to me...
GT
you only need a couple of inches

[terd ferguson]

Thanks again. Thought the voltage regulator may be bad since it was buzzing there when I tried to charge the battery. I got one from a buddy.

Question- Should the voltage regulator case be grounded?

The old one was not. On the "new" one, there is a hole in the case with the letters "GRD". The old one just had a screw in the hole location. If it needs to be grounded, do I just run a wire from the screw to a clean spot on the firewall?

And thanks again.

[mylow53]

it's been 20 years since i looked at a voltage regulator but i believe it needs to be grounded since its mounted with rubber grommets. not sure if the g is for ground, probably is any one else know?
GT

[john]

Most regulaters have a ground strap over the mounting grommets. I have never needed a separate wire. Might not be a bad idea to help eliminate problems.

[terd ferguson]

Originally Posted by john

Most regulaters have a ground strap over the mounting grommets. I have never needed a separate wire. Might not be a bad idea to help eliminate problems.

The "old" one has a tab like the photo. It also has the hole (not labeled) in the case with a screw in it. The "new" one doesn't have this tab and the hole in the case is labeled "GRD".

[bensimmons_05]

I agree 376% with mylow53. You absolutely need some form of fuse, whether it be fusible link, you can add fuses inline , use a main fuse, or SOMETHING. Those things are used for a reason. I can tell how much hard work you have put in your truck and I could only imagine how you would feel your truck burned. The hard truth is with its current configuration and the problems you are running into you have a high chance that something is going to get too hot and be too close to something flammable.