Hi? my 82 corvette is draining the battery i don't know why. i dont drive the car it parked since am working on slowly but i do start it and let it runs for like five minute twice in a week. but when ever i go to start it , i will have to jump the battery. the battery is good.

 

How did you go about establishing the battery is good. Did you fully charge it with a charger and then do a load test?

 

If you are only running the car briefly in the garage and not driving it you are "short charging" it. The only way to adequately charge the battery is to drive it for an extended period to allow the alternator sufficient time to charge the battery. I would start with a new battery and either drive it or use a battery tender to maintain the battery.

 

Ok just had kinda the same problem I stored the car all winter get it out(starts right up) drive it a week or so the battery goes dead. I look at the Warranty on the Sears die hard 4 days left, I take it in get a new one. the next day i go to put in my new battery and I hook up the positive cable but I ran a 12volt trouble light between the Neg batt and the cable.Right off the bat the door switch takes the light to half brightness with the doors closed i smack the pass door and the light goes all the way out so I start messing with the light switch and sure enough drawing current but not shorted .You must have a small drain on the system.Hook your light up and remove the fuses one at a time that should find your drain.I should not go dead if the battery is good.I have had Bad Battery's though!!!!

 

Light on on the vanity mirror?

 

yes i took battery to autozone. they tested the battery and the result is good. They charged the battery.

 

What did the Autozone diagnostic machine say about your charging system? That is very key in this case...

 

it says good and they charged the battery. the battery will only last for two days from the day i hook the terminals to the battery. . in those two days i can start the car and after the two days, i can't start the car without a jump.

 

If you're not driving it, then just disconnect the battery when not in use or get one of these depending on the battery. Saves a lot of headaches and time.

You may want to test your charging system. If using a voltmeter should get around 14.7v at startup and 14v after a little while.
If using an ammeter, around 55amps at starup and down to 12amps or so when charged.

 

there is a liquid you can put in a battery that keeps them from sulphating while in storage or used very little made by a company from australia called INOX more info if any one Is interesdted PM me

 

Did you read my post ?? do you want to fix it or just hope it goes away,Read my post get a cheap 12volt tester light and just fix the problem.It might take you 5 minutes or it might take a little longer but at least you ll be fixed . If Your Batt is good you can take it on short hops it wont hurt it and you don't need a Cut off switch.I park my car in November, don't see it again till its warm and not rainy(April) and have Never un-hooked my battery. starts every time,I have a 75, granted it does not have as much Electronics but it sure has 12Volts and it screws up from time to time do to bad grounds or this or that .Fear is an evil thing "Just Do It".

 

Where can I buy this? Thanks .

 

There are a few junk imitiaions people have trouble with, but I had mine for at least 15 years and work flawlessly.

http://www.gamainc.com/bd.shtml

 

Noonie,do the side terminal ones have anything to keep the 2 pieces from separating when the **** is backed off ?

edit- Like this pic

 

Don't know, they're at the shop.

 

The wife has a 78 same problem. Lon when you say hook the light up and start pulling fuses what should I be hooking the light up between ?

 

There's a lot of manufacture's hype and misinformation and anecdotal BS about lead acid batteries, and there need not be. It ain't rocket science, and the properties of Pb and Zn in the presence of H2SO4 is well known and characterized (as it applies to automotive applications).

I used to maintain banks of lead acid batteries at remote mountain top radio and microwave sites for many years. As result of lessons learned (and some college chemistry classes) , I have ZERO problems maintaining lead acid batteries well past the usual 5 year warranty. ) I'll get to that in a minute.)

If a good (and proper) car battery is draining "too fast" - like two weeks and the car has to be jump started - excessive drain is usually the culprit. Cars with clocks and computers will typically draw 25 mA or less. (Some GM manuals say 50 mA or less, but I've never seen one that was that high that didn't have something out of whack, FWIW) If you don't have a radio or other stuff requiring a "hot" lead when the car is off, then you should read Zero mA after a second or two - time enough to charge up the various electronics (capacitors) to their quiescent points. More than 50 mA and it's time to pull out the wiring diagram and start pulling fuses, one at a time until the drain is gone. Then start breaking that circuit down.

Back to battery maintenance...

A lead-acid battery will develop lead sulfate (PbSO4film on the lead plates, which acts like an insulator. To prevent this, there needs to be a constant trickle charging current ("float current"), unless the car is a DD (where normal daily driving will keep the plates relatively clean). A lead acid battery at rest and not being charged can deteriorate at rate - that depends on the temperature, etc, but about 4% of capacity per week!

In short: A little trickle charger is all that is needed to keep the battery at full capacity for long term use. (I recommend one of the smart chargers; the Battery Tender series is excellent, for example).

Nothing like running a (normal car application) battery down flat to knock off a year or two of service, EACH time it is done. I'm just sayin'

Bottom line: If as they say, your battery is OK after charging and load testing, then I'm going to guess you have a drain somewhere. One such thing that drove me nuts for a while was the light switch in for the glove box between the seats in the back of my wife's C3 vert. The light would not go out, but in daylight I couldn't see the glow around the edge of the lid. Just that one leeetle bulb killed the battery in as little as a couple weeks.

• Battery = good
• Alternator charging at about 14.5+ volts (cold) when engine running
• no current drains
• float charger between outings...U B a happy camper!

P.