what exactly do i do???

[ocbaud]

okay, i got a multimeter and am at home right now. i need to check to see whats wrong with my electrical system. the battery was dead again this morning. its charged now. what can i do?

[ocbaud]

if i unhook the battery cable, and hook up the multimeter to the bat. ground and then to the battery cable, it pulls a .02 voltage....

[TIMSPEED]

you need to switch the multimeter over to amps my friends. Amperage is the amount of current that's being drawn.

[corn]

This might help. Might not...corn

http://www.carcraft.com/howto/53318/index4.html

[ocbaud]

yeah, i didnt know how to read/write

its pulling a .02 amps

i tracked it down to the alarm system....
if i take power away from the alarm, it drops to .00 amps.
i dont know what to do from here. where should i start first??

[gldevall]

Did the battery start draining after the alarm was installed? If so, who installed it? If it was a shop take it back to them and have them fix it.

[ocbaud]

Originally Posted by gldevall

Did the battery start draining after the alarm was installed? If so, who installed it? If it was a shop take it back to them and have them fix it.

i installed back in july. and its only been draining the battery like this for about 2 months

[jberkeley]

if you installed the alarm in july, that still might be the problem.. it's been draining the battery since.. the battery could be very weak. and with the cold weather, it's not going to take much to kill it... i've had this happen to me in the past...good luck joe b

[ocbaud]

HOLD UP!

i just got to thinking. how is a .02 amp draw gonna drain the battery over night?? .02??
i mean, the alarm is gonna cause a draw anyway right? so is this normal?? if i arm or disarm the alarm it will shoot up to a 10.** amp draw and then back down to .02. if i unplug the fuse for the alarm it will go back down to .00

[ocbaud]

the ground wire for the alarm wasnt connected that well before to the battery. i put on a new connector on it today. if the ground wire to the alarm wasnt making a good connection, would that cause the short???

[beaterC10]

What other troubleshooting have you done? I don't think .02 amps is going to kill the battery overnight.

Since you have the meter, you might try some basic stuff if you haven't already.

With the truck running:

1. Check the voltage at the battery terminals, should be 13-14 volts, if not the alternator is not working or you have a bad connection.

2. Check the voltage across the alternator power lead and ground, again looking for 13-14 volts. If this is good the alternator is working, if not check the connections and belt tension.

You might also have the battery tested to make sure it will hold a charge. Look at the battery cables closely, heat, age, and corrosion will cause high resistance.

If these are good, maybe the .02 amp draw is the culprit, again I would be surprised.

[ocbaud]

Originally Posted by beaterC10

What other troubleshooting have you done? I don't think .02 amps is going to kill the battery overnight.

Since you have the meter, you might try some basic stuff if you haven't already.

With the truck running:

1. Check the voltage at the battery terminals, should be 13-14 volts, if not the alternator is not working or you have a bad connection.

2. Check the voltage across the alternator power lead and ground, again looking for 13-14 volts. If this is good the alternator is working, if not check the connections and belt tension.

You might also have the battery tested to make sure it will hold a charge. Look at the battery cables closely, heat, age, and corrosion will cause high resistance.

If these are good, maybe the .02 amp draw is the culprit, again I would be surprised.

with the truck not running, it reads 12.55 volts. with it running, its about 14.** volts.
the alternator is a 1 wire unit btw. the battery cables are brand new. the ground was put on last april and the positive one about a week ago.

[dwaite72lnghrn]

I don't think .02 amps will drain a good battery over night.
What is the voltage on the battery with the cables disconnected?
If it is below 12.5 I would say the battery is shot.
Do you have a ampmeter in the dash?
Does It show charging when you first start the truck?
After you start the truck (with a quick jump) pull the POSITIVE side terminal and put your meter between the Positive cable and the Positive Terminal "DO NOT START THE TRUCK WITH THE METER IN SERIES LIKE THIS OR IT WILL BE TOAST" See how much current is comming from the Alternator. This will be about 10-40 amps if it is a stock alt. and idle speed. It should put this out for about 15-20 minutes off a dead battery.
This is a start for things to look for.

[ocbaud]

i cant unhook the positive cable since i've got all my msd equipment hooked up to it too.

[TIMSPEED]

Eric, dig up my post about my alternator draw, see what mine was pulling. Are you SURE it's pulling .02amps? Alarms WILL pull SOME amps (due to the alarm being an alarm)
Hold on, I'll dig it up...

[dwaite72lnghrn]

Sorry didn't see your post while i was writting mine. Check your ground on the alternator No paint or grease on the mounting brackets. I would check the the battery volts after a charge and see what it reads. Do you notice the lights dim at a stop light? That could point to the battery, but the high out put alt. you put on there might put enough out at idle to not show a bad battery.

[ocbaud]

lights do not dim at idle. only when the rpm's get below 500 every now and then.

[magnethead]

well, since you have a MSD system, it's getting a low voltage from the battery to start with.

The engine starts off the bettery, and normally takes a split second for power to go from the alt to the battery, at which point the alternator is SOLELY powering the vechicle. Only if the alt goes out is the vechicle running off the battery.

Just some background info (most mechanics should know this before anything else).

[79Silv4x4]

Originally Posted by magnethead

well, since you have a MSD system, it's getting a low voltage from the battery to start with.

The engine starts off the bettery, and normally takes a split second for power to go from the alt to the battery, at which point the alternator is SOLELY powering the vechicle. Only if the alt goes out is the vechicle running off the battery.

Just some background info (most mechanics should know this before anything else).

I'm not sure what this means?

[Trimman]

Sounds like it could be a short in the battery itself. Before you go to bed disconnect the batt and check the volts then check it in the morning

[magnethead]

that would help too- see if it's loosing volts just plain disconnected.

[ocbaud]

well, after being at the movies for 2 hours, i checked it in the parking lot and the battery was still reading 12.57 volts with it not running.
i fixed some wiring and a couple grounds to the alarm. maybe that fixed it ???

[TIMSPEED]

Originally Posted by ocbaud

i fixed some wiring and a couple grounds to the alarm. maybe that fixed it ???

Hopefully..but if you have luck like me, no dice my friend.

[RockHQ]

A 0.02 amp draw would theoretically take 3000 hours, or 125 days, or 17.9 weeks to empty a 60 amp hour battery. That's not your problem. A fully charged, 100% healthy battery will show 12.97 volts unloaded.

DON'T DO what dwaite72lnghrn suggested! Never, under any circumstance pull either of the battery cables when your truck is running! And never use a multimeter to directly measure ANY amp draws that may exceed 10 amps, like the alternator or battery ground, battery positive side! If you want to measure greater than 10 amps draw with a multimeter, get an inductive clamp for the multimeter. I'm not kidding, do things the right way the first time.

If you pull a battery cable when the engine is running, you effectively remove the "ballast" of the alternator, which means instead of getting a smooth direct current at around 13.5 to 14.5 volts to the electrical system, you get a 3-phase regulated current that can range from 0 to 30 volts. Your alarm, ignition, the alt's voltage regulator and infact any and all equipment that use transistors or integrated circuits could be damaged permanently.