JSM Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 When you remove or add power to the positive side of the battery is it normal for the voltage regulator to click once when added and once when removed? I just don't remember. Searching didnt' seem to help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted August 19, 2006 Author Share Posted August 19, 2006 Also, do the Voltage regulators get warm to the touch at all when cranking or charging? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ihatejoefitz Posted August 19, 2006 Share Posted August 19, 2006 mine does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted August 20, 2006 Author Share Posted August 20, 2006 mine does. To which Question. I found out my battery had a bad cell in it. Wal-mart special. Less than a year old replaced 100% for free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted September 11, 2006 Author Share Posted September 11, 2006 Okay, been 2 weeks since I replaced the battery. Jumped in and it was dead as a door nail. I mean, like only .5 volts. Obviously something is shorting or on. Where is the best place to start w/ the investigation? Mechanically, I fairly strong, electrically, I'm a novice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eec564 Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 When it comes to fixing drains on batteries on cars, it's fairly straight foreward if you use a lot of patience and are methodical. It's fairly easy to get frustrated, but it does help to go back to the beginning and try again. You can think of the flow of electricity through the car like the flow of water. It leaves the battery (when car is off) at a certain pressure (volts) and flows at a certain rate (amps) through a restrictor (load, ie light bulb, electric motor, etc) and then back to the battery. Using an amp-meter capable of handleing at least 20amps (it'll need to be an in-line, where you connect it inside the circuit, or path, the electricity flows in, clamp-on amp meters are for AC, or alternating current, while cars are DC, for direct current) to see which paths the power is taking when your car is turned off. I know I'm going completely back to basics, but I have no idea what you already know. Keep in mind you may have gotten another dead battery, it is wallmart. First, disconnect the negative terminal of your battery, when it has a FULL charge in it. Breifly touch the terminal to the battery clamp, and see if it sparks much. If it does, more then a 9V battery with a screwdriver across it, then you may have too much current flowing to measure with a common meter, and you could damage it. If there is little or no spark, then connect the meter between the battery post and the clamp. That will tell you how much power is flowing while the car is off. If you have more then around 150ma (milli-amps), or 0.15 amps (same thing, which is about what all my electronic toys such as alarms and stereo memory backups, clocks, etc use when off) then something is pulling enough power to make your battery go dead in a reasonable amount of time. Once you've verified that power is being drawn at a decently large rate while the car is off, you can start to isolate where it is being drawn from. You can connect your meter in-line with any circuit path in the car to see if the problem lies there. By removing any fuse, or one end of a fuseable link, and connecting the meter where the fuse was, or between the end of the link you removed and the place it plugs in to, or where each end of the link went if you removed the entire thing. I just don't like man-handling 30+ year old wires more then I have to. You can keep checking each section of wiring that recieves power while the car is off in this manner, until you find the branch(s) using power. You can then disconnect devices fed by that branch until you un-hook one that stops the current draw. If you unhook one that lowers the current draw, then you've found one problem, but there's more out there. Last time this happened to me, it was my power antanna, very weird, but now fixed. Good luck, if you have any questions or want/need clarification or to just flat out ask WTF did I say, I'll be around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rztmartini Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 that is a very good way to isolate battery drain that never occurred to me...thanks, good for future troubleshooting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSM Posted September 17, 2006 Author Share Posted September 17, 2006 Yep, Very good advice. I will give it a shot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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