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So both console/aux and cig lighter are intended to be always on. I am putting a mm in series on the neg battery conn and plugging my cell phone in to charge on the console. I also tried the cig lighter. The car is off been off for 1 hr.
Why no draw?
mA scale, meter set correct & all. Thoughts?
What fuses/circuits are always on?
Last edited by froggy47; Feb 25, 2019 at 06:01 PM.
Assuming you have the black MM cable on COM. MM Black to Neg bat and MMRed to Neg cable. Typically you start out higher (Amp--->ma) and dial down till you get a reading. Even if the car has been off for some time, once you make the connection between the two it will wake the computer up.
Assuming you have the black MM cable on COM. MM Black to Neg bat and MMRed to Neg cable. Typically you start out higher (Amp--->ma) and dial down till you get a reading. Even if the car has been off for some time, once you make the connection between the two it will wake the computer up.
I can post how I have the meter set, but really I tried it multi ways ac vs dc etc. The meter has a 10 amp hole for reading amps and it a self ranging meter. The connection at the battery in series is (I believe) either way - does not matter which meter lead goes to the post and which goes to the cable, right? I will try with my fluke and my radio shack. But the fluke only reads to 2 amps. Not sure the RS.
This is pizzing me off.
Even if this wakes up the car the console and the cig lighter will be on. I should be able to read the change in draw by attaching devices to those & then taking the devices off. I am getting zero's draw.
Last edited by froggy47; Feb 26, 2019 at 01:17 PM.
Meters should have both (10A) and ( ma) RED jacks, Front Switch with options for to select A or ma . The meter should have Button to select either AC or DC.
(10A) jack---Switch turned to 10A-----Button pushed to select DC
(ma) jack---Switch turned to ma----Button pushed to select DC
(Ua) jack is the same as (ma)---Switch turned to Ua---This is specific to DC
I have burned up a few meters before when testing in series on the positive side of the battery when load side of the meter connection slipped and hit Ground with the other end still connected.
Meters should have both (10A) and ( ma) RED jacks, Front Switch with options for to select A or ma . The meter should have Button to select either AC or DC.
(10A) jack---Switch turned to 10A-----Button pushed to select DC
(ma) jack---Switch turned to ma----Button pushed to select DC
(Ua) jack is the same as (ma)---Switch turned to Ua---This is specific to DC
Common is black always.
Yest to all above, I need to do an amp draw test on a little elec dc motor if I can find one.
I have burned up a few meters before when testing in series on the positive side of the battery when load side of the meter connection slipped and hit Ground with the other end still connected.
Right, that's why all I saw said use the neg. side.
Yes you will need some type of load. After I make the splice I plugged the wallart in and plugged in the phone I actually used to take the pic. As you can see from the second picture it showed load when plugged the phone in while taking the picture it was charging the phone as the same time.
Yes you will need some type of load. After I make the splice I plugged the wallart in and plugged in the phone I actually used to take the pic. As you can see from the second picture it showed load when plugged the phone in while taking the picture it was charging the phone as the same time.
I assume you are trying to find a parasitic current drain.?
You will need some type of draw to get any type of reading and will need to make sure you have your meter set to pick up the smallest load or you will not get a reading. So setting it on 10A might not give you a screen reading of fractional Ma's.
I assume you are trying to find a parasitic current drain.?
You will need some type of draw to get any type of reading and will need to make sure you have your meter set to pick up the smallest load or you will not get a reading. So setting it on 10A might not give you a screen reading of fractional Ma's.
Yes, trying to determine a baseline parasitic draw on a c6z, Then going to circuits (like dash cam I added) and figure the extra draw if I leave the cam on 24/7. The cam has a proximity trigger (for parking lot surveillance) . Over night in a dark garage should not trigger. I want to leave it powered 24/7 because it loses the date stamp otherwise. The internal batt not enough to keep the date & it resets to 2017.
I also have some buddy fuse taps for radar detector and the exhaust cut out. I am almost 100% sure there is no drain when those are off (unless they draw a standby current like tv's - but I don't think they do. off=off as far as I know.
I can't just pull fuses because all the computers talk to each other & this causes the car to wake up/go to sleep with some fuses. So ultimately will try to measure voltage drop over each fuse, but I'm a bit over my head, not even knowing how to ck the meter.
Seems like even disconnecting the car battery at neg. messes up the whole plan. With the sleep/awake and all.
Last edited by froggy47; Feb 26, 2019 at 08:01 PM.
You might just have a bad meter for testing current draw. The battery test should work but you will need to leave it alone until it goes to sleep and make sure you don't have your fob near. The in series battery test is to easy and if you are not getting a reading I am thinking you might have something wrong with the current side of the meter. Do you have another meter?
Draw test on c6
