"Something" is killing new battery.
Thread Starter
8th Gear
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: Honolulu Hi
"Something" is killing new battery.
Have not had this problem before. I keep a float charger on the battery as the car does not get driven enough. I replaced a bad battery on my 96 LT1 in April with a new AC Delco. Found it dead in Jul and took the battery back to GM thinking it just had a bad cell. Put the new one back on the car, fully charged, drove it, two days later float charger still on, batter is dead again. I am at a loss as to what it could be. Any assistance is appreciated!!!
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 3,108
Likes: 126
From: S.L.C. UT
You need to make sure it's charging. It should have between 13.4-15.0 volts running. If that is good check for a draw. The easiest way is pull off one of the battery cables. It doesn't matter which one. Put a test light between the battery post and the end of the battery cable. Make sure everything is off, the doors are closed, keys off, ect. If the test light is on, you have a draw. The brighter it's on, the bigger the draw. Pull one fuse at a time until you find the circuit it's on. You can also use a volt meter to check amps drawn, but a test light work good too.
Thread Starter
8th Gear
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: Honolulu Hi
Yes, it's one of the Harbor Freight ones. I will give myself 30 lashes. Thanks for all the good ideas, A soon as I get home from Japan in a week, this problem is front burner. Thanks again!!!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 769
Likes: 22
From: California
FL Events Coordinator
St. Jude Donor'13
Something that used to do that to me before I changed it was my bose radio relay. The relay went bad and it stayed constantly on without it looking like it was one and would kill the battery very quickly.
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Verdad Gallardo
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 1999
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From: Lacey WA RVN 68-69
NCM Sinkhole Donor
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
Trickle chargers do not put out enough current to, "cook", a car battery!!!!! I own two HF trickle chargers and they work fine and I have had no trouble with them.
I am sure your problem is that the leakage current exceeds the trickle charger current so that the net effect is that the battery is discharged even with the trickle charger on. My older trickle charger delivers about .25 amps and the newer one, .4 amps.
At night check the underhood lights, vanity mirror lights, door panel lights, center console light. If you leave your key in the ignition this keeps the security circuit on, always remove your ign key. Do you own a radar detector, CB, GPS, aftermarket alarm or radio or audio amp? Check em! If you get this far, then you need to measure the leakage current with a meter and pull fuses one at a time and watch for a drop in current. Pull the courtesy fuse so you can keep the passenger door open while pulling fuses.
I am sure your problem is that the leakage current exceeds the trickle charger current so that the net effect is that the battery is discharged even with the trickle charger on. My older trickle charger delivers about .25 amps and the newer one, .4 amps.
At night check the underhood lights, vanity mirror lights, door panel lights, center console light. If you leave your key in the ignition this keeps the security circuit on, always remove your ign key. Do you own a radar detector, CB, GPS, aftermarket alarm or radio or audio amp? Check em! If you get this far, then you need to measure the leakage current with a meter and pull fuses one at a time and watch for a drop in current. Pull the courtesy fuse so you can keep the passenger door open while pulling fuses.
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 11,889
Likes: 8
From: Whitefish Falls Ontario
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Some interesting reading.. Normal drain s/b about .05 amp.. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/sear...rchid=30828158
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 3,752
Likes: 276
From: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
You obviously have a load on your battery, it happened to me as well.
One battery lasted 6 years and the new one just months, it was so flat it couldn't be recharged. I did find the cause, i heard a click every few minutes and it was the antenna over current switch.
I now have a yellow top optima they are deep cycle battery's so completely discharging one wont kill it. They just keep on bouncing back.
So check your antenna motor and headlight motors? also check the under hood lights that they actually turn off.
One battery lasted 6 years and the new one just months, it was so flat it couldn't be recharged. I did find the cause, i heard a click every few minutes and it was the antenna over current switch.
I now have a yellow top optima they are deep cycle battery's so completely discharging one wont kill it. They just keep on bouncing back.
So check your antenna motor and headlight motors? also check the under hood lights that they actually turn off.
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 136
Likes: 3
From: pittsburgh pa.
do you drive the car or does it stay in garage? i had same problem, kept killing batterys during storage. i used it for a couple of days and the battery light itermittently would flicker very lightly and only for seconds. alternator had an insulator beginning to fail. had it rebuilt,working fine now.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,649
Likes: 863
Just my $0.02, but make decisions based on data - not conjecture whenever possible. Take 30 minutes and run a couple of simple tests. First - disconnect one of the battery leads, and put an amp meter between the cable and the battery and measure the current draw. As the other posts have said - about 0.05 Amp (50 milliamps) is the limit.
If you think the Cheap Battery trickle charger is to blame - CHECK IT. Check battery voltage with no charger hooked up (and after verifying static current draw is not excessive), then chek voltage with maintainer charger hooked up. Typically a good - fully charged battery runs around 12.5 Volts with no load, hooking up a 1/4 Amp charger should get the voltage up into the low to maybe mid 13 V range at most. Let the charger run for 12 Hours and recheck - then check again in 2 days.. If you were to check the voltage at the battery with the car running - you'll typically see high 13V to low 14V readings - sometimes up to 15V in cold weather with a battery that's somewhat discharged. Low 13V long term charging wont hurt anything. If you want to verify that go to the Optima battery webvsite and look at the specs for their Optima Red Top battery amd see what they say about trickle charging...
If you think the Cheap Battery trickle charger is to blame - CHECK IT. Check battery voltage with no charger hooked up (and after verifying static current draw is not excessive), then chek voltage with maintainer charger hooked up. Typically a good - fully charged battery runs around 12.5 Volts with no load, hooking up a 1/4 Amp charger should get the voltage up into the low to maybe mid 13 V range at most. Let the charger run for 12 Hours and recheck - then check again in 2 days.. If you were to check the voltage at the battery with the car running - you'll typically see high 13V to low 14V readings - sometimes up to 15V in cold weather with a battery that's somewhat discharged. Low 13V long term charging wont hurt anything. If you want to verify that go to the Optima battery webvsite and look at the specs for their Optima Red Top battery amd see what they say about trickle charging...