RobCarden

afternoon all

think i ve got a drain on my battery.... keeps going flat... new battery... alternator charges at 13.8volts on secs....

i think its to do with the electrical aerial as that doesn't work.... but can't hear anything from its motor...

so...

using my multimeter if i test the battery with both terminals disconnected i'll get the battery voltage and then if i re connect the battery and have everything turned off inc interior light the diff in volts would be a battery drain? is that right? or is there a better way...

car has a clifford intelliguard 950 on it... the alarm has been on for years without a problem

thoughts please? i don't use the car that much and its a pain charging it more than once a week!

cheers!

tabetha

The alarm will obviously drain a certain amount, but just disconnect aerial and take another reading tom see if it has gone up slightly(voltage).
A quick and easy way to tell is to get a 5watt bulb(festoon is best) and solder a wire onto each end, then disconnect the battery, and insert the bulb between the battery laed and battery post, any flow of electricity here will make the bulb glow.
Drain could also be the alternator if the diodes(one way electrical valves) are leaking, to discount this just, disconnect the alternator main lead or battery whilst car is left, sometimes you will get a very faint glow from the ignition warning light whilst the car is running when these are going duff but not often.
It is totally possible to charge perfectly even when these(diodes) are going a bit duff!!
tabetha

RobCarden

cool...i ve disconected the plug on the aerial....

i ll give the bulb thing a try...

thanks for the reply

tabetha

No probs, good luck.
tabetha