is that a drain?

  1. Frequent Poster Joined: Jun 2012 123 happy land, worcestershire/surrey Posts: 798 saxo vtr 2002
    #1
    firstly, volts are fine before and after ignition so alternator is fine. i got a reading of 0.14 A across the terminals without the engine active.

    is that a drain or just a baseline for the clock, etc to run?

    FTR, on 2 diff occasions, volts at started at 12.4 and 12.6V, reaching 14.1 V both times when the engine is running.
  2. Established Member Joined: May 2010 leicester Posts: 1446 Clio 182 Inferno
    #2
    Is your battery going flat over night? 14.1v with the engine running means the alternator is charging. When im checking for current drain i remove the positive battery cable from the battery and place my multimeter (set on Amps of course) with the negative probe on the battery and the positive probe on the battery cable, then you will get an accurate reading of how much 'Current' your car is using when locked up, normally im looking for around 0.07A and lower,anything over 0.10 can be an interior light or boot light remaining on (usally reading around 0.15a)

    I also use clips to hold the probes on and then i lock the car(especially if it has an alarm) and wait a minute or two to see what the mater reads at,hope this helps
  3. Frequent Poster Joined: Jun 2012 123 happy land, worcestershire/surrey Posts: 798 saxo vtr 2002
    #3
    im doing that anyway but thanks for the reassurance! there is no light on in the car when i take th reading. admittedly, a clip would help but holding it ther myself, it stays at 0.14A... could it be a wire i forgot to unplug from the head unit when i removed the sub and amps? i have a stripped interior so a lot of exposed metal, maybe?
  4. Frequent Poster Joined: Jun 2012 123 happy land, worcestershire/surrey Posts: 798 saxo vtr 2002
    #4
    the car dies after about a week stationary? sometimes, the few drives before it dies, when it sparks, it does so late and revs dont peak as high... any clues?