[cherry72]

New Optima goes dead after 3-4 days. Charged battery and had 12 volts on meter.Somewhere in the process of testing, had positive cable off of battery. Touched - side of meter to - terminal of battery(- cable still attached). Touched + side of meter to + cable(not attached to terminal of battery) and it read 12 volts. What the heck? Had wire from Hyfire VI AL box wrapped around post of billet aluminum battery tray then fed into + cable for battery. Disconnected from + cable, unwrapped from post of battery tray, couldn't see any fray, but wrapped it in plastic conduit anyway. Reattached to + terminal, tested again, no longer read 12 volts. Would this have been killing battery? Thanks, George

 

[Finally]

Let me see if I got this straight.

The + battery cable was disconnected from battery.
The - battery cable was connected to battery.
Meter - lead connected to - cable.
Meter + lead connected to + cable.

If thats correct then you were reading 12v from a charged up capacitor. Ignition, radio, etc. The battery was disconnected so no way the 12v came from the battery. The voltage should have dropped down to zero if you left meter hooked up long enough for the cap to discharge.

 

[cherry72]

Excuse my ignorance, but explain discharging capacitor for me , please. Thanks , George

 

[dgwar]

remove the + cable from the battery, leave the - hooked up, connect 1 end of a 12 volt test light to the unhooked cable, and the other end to the + terminal of the battery(don't matter which end of the light goes where) if it burns, you have a draw. start pulling fuses 1 at a time until the light goes out...that will isolate which circuit has the draw. don't forget the hood light, glove box and trunk lights....I usually just touch them to see if they are hot.

 

[BUBBA2711]

remove the + cable from the battery, leave the - hooked up, connect 1 end of a 12 volt test light to the unhooked cable, and the other end to the + terminal of the battery(don't matter which end of the light goes where) if it burns, you have a draw. Start pulling fuses 1 at a time until the light goes out...that will isolate which circuit has the draw. Don't forget the hood light, glove box and trunk lights....i usually just touch them to see if they are hot.

x2

 

[Finally]

Excuse my ignorance, but explain discharging capacitor for me , please. Thanks , George

A capacitor will build up a charge when voltage is applied to it. They're used in electrical circuits for a couple of reasons. One is to smooth out the ripple in a fluctuating voltage. In any case the capacitor can hold a charge for a while once the voltage is removed. You may have seen this 'charge' coming from a capacitor when you hooked up your meter. If that's the case it's not your problem or a problem at all.

Don provided a good method for isolating a drain on the battery. He left out a few critical components though. I would start with disconnecting the main alt output lead to see if the drain goes away. Then the smaller 2 wire plug. Alt and voltage regulator if it's external are common causes of drain.

 

[cherry72]

Thanks for the replies/suggestions. Had alternator disconnected for several days and battery still died. Also took alt to Napa and tested good. Ruled that out at least! Will post back after couple days with results. Thanks again, George

 

[cherry72]

Would testing show a bad regulator if its internal?

 

[bone z]

you can find a draw by removing neg cable from battery get a test light clip one end to neg cable and touch test light probe to neg post on batt if the light goes on you have a draw leave it hooked up and start looking for the source you must have everything off door closed so the lights are not on so you find the problem glove compartment light not shutting off or something like that

 

[Finally]

Would testing show a bad regulator if its internal?

Yes

you can find a draw by removing neg cable from battery get a test light clip one end to neg cable and touch test light probe to neg post on batt if the light goes on you have a draw leave it hooked up and start looking for the source you must have everything off door closed so the lights are not on so you find the problem glove compartment light not shutting off or something like that

This is what Don suggested doing. He said remove positive cable, you said negative. Doesn't make any difference, result is the same, place a test light somewhere in the current path.

 

[dgwar]

An old key or seat belt buzzer works real good too...you don't have to watch the light.

 

[charbilly2001]

Excuse my ignorance, but explain discharging capacitor for me , please. Thanks , George

Capicators(AKA condensors) have the ability to store electricity over time. If the capacitor is connected to a ground of some type, like the body of your coil, it will discharge that electricity to the ground over time.

Similarly the condensor ( AKA Capacitor) in your distributor stores a portion of the arc that occurs when your breaker points open. There is considerable induced current flow resulting from the collapse of the electrical field from the primary side of your coil to the secondary side of the coil. That current arcs across the points and will over time rapidly erode the faces of your points. The condensor (aka capicator) will soak up a portion of that induced current and extend the life of your points considerably.

The capacitor is designed to "bleed" stored energy to ground slowly. "Slowly" being a "relative" term of course.

 

[cherry72]

**Update** Left bat cables hooked up for couple days, read 4 volts this morning. Disgusted with it. Going back to disconnecting cable again. Will give it another try at later date!

 

[Dean]

Check over in the Electrical & Wiring forum.

Might try doing a search on “parasitic battery drain”.

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=237542

http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Parasitic-Battery-Drain

http://www.ehow.com/how_2249402_find-parasitic-battery-drain.html

http://flashoffroad.com/electrical/CurrentDrain/currentdrain.pdf

http://www.autoshop101.com/trainmodules/batservice/118.html

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source...q=PARASITIC+battery+DRAIN&fp=c807e9ccc08a197a

 

[Sean]

Do you have an aftermarket tach?

Check that the positive wire is connected to a "keyed" source, not to constant 12v.

I have seen many struggle with this being the simple fix...

 

[68KMENO]

do you have any relays wirred in ??? MANY times I've found my customers wired them HOT all the time & then just depend on the Fan , light switchs to turn off the load ...... it doesn't work that way ....... the coil in the relay draws current & will kill off a battery if left sitting long enough ....... alarms are a classic example

 

[Trophyman]

I had the same problem. Found it to be the turn signal switch in the coulmn. Found it by accident really.... accidentally hit the 4 way flasher button while in the car. If I jiggled it around, the test light (as described above) would go on and off. Replaced switch. Problem solved.

Randy

 

[Shane 69 Hugger]

Optima batteries are garbage...

 

[Chris R]

Optimas quality and reputation has gone way down hill the last 5 years. I agree with Fishhead. However the problem your having would not be caused by the battery.

 

[Shane 69 Hugger]

I am wondering if the battery is losing charge because its junk. Could be something simple like a hood light being on, car door being open etc...