[DeTomaso] Battery Power Loss

[Rob Dumoulin]

I don't have mine in front of me, but isn't mA Milliamps or 1/1000 of an
amp?  You want Amps instead.

On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 11:52 PM, sean mundy <seanmundy at hotmail.com> wrote:

>
> Tonight I removed one fuse then closed the door.  Using a Craftsman Analog
> Multimeter #82411 set on mA DC 250.   When I touch the mm leads to the
> negative cable and the other to the negative battery post the mm needle
> pegs.  I didn't hold it on very long just sort of tapped it so the needle on
> the mm just bounced.  Does this mean I have a BIG current draw?  I repeated
> this step with every fuse and same result each time.  Does this mean its the
> alternator causing the draw?
> If I disconnect the alternator and measure again will that work?
>
> > From: doug351c at gmail.com
> > To: seanmundy at hotmail.com; mikeldrew at aol.com; detomaso at realbig.com
> > Subject: RE: [DeTomaso] Battery Power Loss
> > Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2011 14:55:32 -0800
> >
> > Sean,
> >
> > Set your multimeter to its current reading mode and start out using it's
> > highest Amps scale or you may blow its internal current fuse. Disconnect
> > the negative battery cable and connect your multimeter's leads between
> the
> > just removed negative battery cable and the battery's negative terminal.
> > Then get into the car with the door closed (as Mike suggests) and pull
> the
> > fuses one by one.
> >
> > Doug Braun
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com
> > [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]On Behalf Of sean mundy
> > Sent: Monday, January 03, 2011 2:35 PM
> > To: mikeldrew at aol.com; detomaso at realbig.com
> > Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Battery Power Loss
> >
> >
> >
> > Thanks Mike, sounds like a good info to start with. Now I have to figure
> > out how to use a multimeter.
> >
> >
> >
> > From: MikeLDrew at aol.com
> > Date: Mon, 3 Jan 2011 17:11:58 -0500
> > Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Battery Power Loss
> > To: seanmundy at hotmail.com; detomaso at realbig.com
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 1/3/11 14 04 9, seanmundy at hotmail.com writes:
> >
> >
> >
> > Suggestions on how/where do I begin figuring out the exact cause?
> Electric
> > stuff scares me.
> >
> >
> > Frightens me no end, too.
> >
> > Bill Taylor will be able to explain this much better than I do. You can
> set
> > your multimeter to register the power draw on the battery. With a helper
> > manning the multimeter, get inside the car and close the door (to
> extinguish
> > the dome light). With the key turned off, there should be zero current
> > flowing, but probably, there will be, if you have an electrical 'leak'.
> > Now, one at a time, remove and replace each fuse. Eventually, if you're
> > lucky, you'll pull a fuse and the leak will drop to zero. You've now
> > isolated the fuse that is contributing to the problem.
> >
> > Then, it's a matter of isolating the various circuits on that fuse to
> find
> > the culprit.
> >
> > You may find that the pull-the-fuse trick doesn't work; that would then
> > indicate that the culprit is an unfused thing. I vaguely recall hearing
> > that the alternator can fritz out and cause such a draw?
> >
> > Okay, we've rapidly reached the end of my knowledge on this topic!
> Somebody
> > else, please weigh in with an actual, informed step-by-step procedure!
> >
> > Mike
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-- 
Rob DuMoulin
904.476.8744
rob at dumoulins.net