Puzzling parasitic battery drain
#1
Puzzling parasitic battery drain
I have a 98 Civic that is driven infrequently. The battery drains over 4-6 weeks. When I do a parasitic test, the multimeter initially shows a very high drain when I first connect it (the meter changes quickly, but I certainly see .5 or .6 amps on the scale) before it drops to .02 amps. On the 200 mA scale it always blows the .5 A fuse in my meter. This occurs whether it is the first time I connect it or the 5th. Any ideas? I could simply disconnect the battery when I leave it, since the drain only seems to be a problem when it is used infrequently, but I would prefer to hunt down and fix the problem.
#2
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Re: Puzzling parasitic battery drain
any aftermarket things installed? alarm,sound system, leds? its blowing your fuse is cause the amperage readings exceed the fuse rating. so it's read 20 milli-amps once its settled?
cause thats not awful, but will drain in 4/6 wekks if not used.
cause thats not awful, but will drain in 4/6 wekks if not used.
#3
Re: Puzzling parasitic battery drain
The only aftermarket stuff is a Kenwood sound system
I agree that the 20mA is not necessarily a bad number, but i just don't trust it. I would feel better if I could confirm the reading on the 200mA scale, but that scale is fused, and when I connect my meter always blows the meter's .5 A fuse which makes me suspicious of the readings I get on the 10 A scale. I think that a 20 mA parasitic draw should only drain the battery about 14 Ahr in 30 days and although the battery is not huge, I think that is not a large fraction of a size 51 reserve capacity. It could be my calcs are wrong. At any rate, I am looking for reasons that the initial draw during the test could be so high.
I agree that the 20mA is not necessarily a bad number, but i just don't trust it. I would feel better if I could confirm the reading on the 200mA scale, but that scale is fused, and when I connect my meter always blows the meter's .5 A fuse which makes me suspicious of the readings I get on the 10 A scale. I think that a 20 mA parasitic draw should only drain the battery about 14 Ahr in 30 days and although the battery is not huge, I think that is not a large fraction of a size 51 reserve capacity. It could be my calcs are wrong. At any rate, I am looking for reasons that the initial draw during the test could be so high.
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rhd_ef8
Honda CRX / EF Civic (1988 - 1991)
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04-29-2007 11:27 AM