New Battery going flat

G

gizzy98

Member +
Hey all,

I fitted anew battery which was fine at first but is now going flat after a day if left.

I've disconnected the terminals (seperately) and checked with a voltmeter set to 10a and no figures are coming up so it doesnt appear to be something draining it when the car isn't running.

With the car running & raising the revs the battery is reading just over 14v. I'm leaving the ground disconnected overnight tonight to see if its the new battery that just isn't holding charge.

Even though the alternator seems to be charging it, could this still be faulty?

Any help appreciated.
 
weeJohn

weeJohn

Lifer
I am not sure what way you checked if there was a current drain with the engine off, but if its not a clip on type multimeter you are checking for current with, they leads usually need to be in series with the wires. That would mean you remove the positive lead from the battery, the connect the red lead of the meter to the battery positive terminal and the black lead to the clamp you just took off.
 
G

gizzy98

Member +
weeJohn said:
I am not sure what way you checked if there was a current drain with the engine off, but if its not a clip on type multimeter you are checking for current with, they leads usually need to be in series with the wires. That would mean you remove the positive lead from the battery, the connect the red lead of the meter to the battery positive terminal and the black lead to the clamp you just took off.
Click to expand...


I took the positive lead off (with the engine off and keys out the ignition) then clipped a lead onto the positive lead and the other lead on the battery terminal so the mm bridged the gap.

Reading on the 10A setting was 0.00.

That right?
 
A

AdamB

Member +
gizzy98 said:
I took the positive lead off (with the engine off and keys out the ignition) then clipped a lead onto the positive lead and the other lead on the battery terminal so the mm bridged the gap.

Reading on the 10A setting was 0.00.

That right?
Click to expand...

That doesn't sound right, you'll always get a slight amount of drain because of things like the clock has a memory, ecu settings etc.
 
weeJohn

weeJohn

Lifer
gizzy98 said:
I took the positive lead off (with the engine off and keys out the ignition) then clipped a lead onto the positive lead and the other lead on the battery terminal so the mm bridged the gap.

Reading on the 10A setting was 0.00.

That right?
Click to expand...

Its the right way to test it but I think it should have shown a little current. Did you switch the lights on to see if the meter registered anything then?
 
BallıGee

BallıGee

Member +
should thıs test not have been done on the negatıve sıde ?
as it the last part of the current you want to mesure not the first part would you mesure before the light bulb to mesure amp draw. i dont think so :confused:
 
G

gizzy98

Member +
All sorted I think (well ill know for sure in the morning)

Borrowed another multimeter & there was a 0.46 amp drain.

Traced it to one of my amps drawing over 30 amps so think its shorting out, I've disconnected it & the drain is down to less than 0.10 so that was most likely the cause.

Thanks for everyones help.
 
weeJohn

weeJohn

Lifer
BallıGee said:
should thıs test not have been done on the negatıve sıde ?
as it the last part of the current you want to mesure not the first part would you mesure before the light bulb to mesure amp draw. i dont think so :confused:
Click to expand...

Its DC mate, current is the same the whole way through the circuit!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top