Current draw leading to dead battery
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 219
Likes: 0
From: Irma Northern WI
Current draw leading to dead battery
I am curious. How many people are having dead battery issues after purchasing a new alternator? I purchased a new alternator to replace the one that would not charge after years of sitting. Since that time I have had a intermittent issue with the battery being dead after sitting for a few days. I discovered that my alternator was getting hot when the car was sitting and dormant. I now have found that if I pull the two pronged plug from the voltage regulator on the alternator, the current draw stops. I purchased the alternator from one of the vendors on the forum. I may disclose that if enough others are having the same issue. Lets find out what is going on here. My car never had any issues to this point and it is now clear that the issue lies with the new alternator. I did a google search about this issue and it clearly is very common. I simply did not happen years ago. What is different?
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 19,294
Likes: 2,754
From: Charlotte NC
AHHHH...I will give you a guess on where the parts that are being used to build or rebuild these alternators are coming from. Go ahead and guess...I know you know where these parts are being made and shipped from. And now knowing this...and the "BEAN COUNTERS" in this world we live in are now controlling the profit potential on items being made from "you know where"...what do you honestly expect. Then add in the FACT that these parts are assembly line produced and boxed and sold. Do you honestly think they are going to change and make sure that these parts will last....and if they do...they last long enough to go out of warranty. I encounter this more times than I can count and it really ticks me off. But...what are you gonna do??? Parts are more times than not being made as cheap as possible...and they count on the fact that you will get pissed and not make them take care of it and go and buy from some other place...thus they made the profit and are laughing all the way to the bank.
DUB
DUB
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 219
Likes: 0
From: Irma Northern WI
I certainly know where the parts come from. My thoughts are that it is just as easy to make the stuff right as it is to make it wrong. I could go purchase a new voltage regulator and install it in the alternator but, that likely is made in the same factory as the junk I now have. On a daily driven car, it would likely not kill the battery. It still irritates the heck out of me that I have trouble keeping my old car running because of imported crap. Maybe I can find an old alternator in the junk yard that has a US made regulator inside of it. I see many people here have current draws that are difficult to identify. This is the first place to look!
Racer
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 297
Likes: 19
From: arlington TX
Hi,
First off, I assume the real goal is to get it fixed.
Alternators that have a short in the regulator will do a slow drain when all is shut off.
If the vendor is on here, I'd call and get another one (still under warranty period?). Can't be two with that problem, right?? Should be no problem! If you get ANOTHER bad one, talk to the vendor LOUDER and get your money back.
Good luck
walt
First off, I assume the real goal is to get it fixed.
Alternators that have a short in the regulator will do a slow drain when all is shut off.
If the vendor is on here, I'd call and get another one (still under warranty period?). Can't be two with that problem, right?? Should be no problem! If you get ANOTHER bad one, talk to the vendor LOUDER and get your money back.
Good luck
walt
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 943
Likes: 73
Hi,
First off, I assume the real goal is to get it fixed.
Alternators that have a short in the regulator will do a slow drain when all is shut off.
If the vendor is on here, I'd call and get another one (still under warranty period?). Can't be two with that problem, right?? Should be no problem! If you get ANOTHER bad one, talk to the vendor LOUDER and get your money back.
Good luck
walt
First off, I assume the real goal is to get it fixed.
Alternators that have a short in the regulator will do a slow drain when all is shut off.
If the vendor is on here, I'd call and get another one (still under warranty period?). Can't be two with that problem, right?? Should be no problem! If you get ANOTHER bad one, talk to the vendor LOUDER and get your money back.
Good luck
walt
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,056
Likes: 8
From: Redruth Cornwall
What would be considered a normal drain. Let's say radio memory and anything else normally left in circuit. Reason I ask is that I have 0.85 amps and thought that was a little high but then it still shouldn't drain the battery too quickly if battery is in good condition? ??
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 219
Likes: 0
From: Irma Northern WI
The alternator in my car will get so hot that you can not hold your hand on it. That does not happen all of the time. I could not imagine the alternator getting that hot unless the current draw was coming from the 10 ga. wire supplying the battery. I set out to discover the source and found it to be the small wires that go to the regulator. I want to make it clear that I do not blame the vendor. I seriously doubt that there is a U.S. supplier for any of these components. I will call the vendor and talk to them but, my main objective in creating this post was to alert members to this significant issue. If you are faced with a dead battery after leaving the car dormant for a time, this is a very likely scenario. Certainly the first place I will look going forward.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 65,492
Likes: 230
From: Orange Park Florida
What would be considered a normal drain. Let's say radio memory and anything else normally left in circuit. Reason I ask is that I have 0.85 amps and thought that was a little high but then it still shouldn't drain the battery too quickly if battery is in good condition? ??
if you have FI, the computer memory retention will increase that to a level of maybe .020 amps....that's 20 mills/milliamps......
anything higher, and you need be pulling fuses or maybe alt regulator wires to see where that drain is coming from .8x amps says a light is on, I removed all the 'courtesy lights from my 72 vert....
if you have some fancy aftermarket stereo, all bets are off.....
forgot to comment, .8x amps will drain a battery to the point of not starting in a couple days, and certainly take the majority of kick out of the batter after even overnight, you may feel the starter dragging, engine may catch, but you begging troubles with that drain....
Last edited by mrvette; Sep 4, 2013 at 11:53 AM.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 2,056
Likes: 8
From: Redruth Cornwall
Lets say it's a HEI or even points dizzy type shark, you should have almost zero drain, maybe .005 amps....if that....
if you have FI, the computer memory retention will increase that to a level of maybe .020 amps....that's 20 mills/milliamps......
anything higher, and you need be pulling fuses or maybe alt regulator wires to see where that drain is coming from .8x amps says a light is on, I removed all the 'courtesy lights from my 72 vert....
if you have some fancy aftermarket stereo, all bets are off.....
forgot to comment, .8x amps will drain a battery to the point of not starting in a couple days, and certainly take the majority of kick out of the batter after even overnight, you may feel the starter dragging, engine may catch, but you begging troubles with that drain....
if you have FI, the computer memory retention will increase that to a level of maybe .020 amps....that's 20 mills/milliamps......
anything higher, and you need be pulling fuses or maybe alt regulator wires to see where that drain is coming from .8x amps says a light is on, I removed all the 'courtesy lights from my 72 vert....
if you have some fancy aftermarket stereo, all bets are off.....
forgot to comment, .8x amps will drain a battery to the point of not starting in a couple days, and certainly take the majority of kick out of the batter after even overnight, you may feel the starter dragging, engine may catch, but you begging troubles with that drain....
Will check draw by removing fuses and alternator wiring. I do have a new stereo but that shouldn't really draw that much.
Will let you know what I find.