battery parasitic drain

[Tuga2112]

i would need to check mine again. but the figures 16mah and 18mah come to mind when trying to recall my last results.

right now im also having parasitic drain issues. my battery was completely drained in 2 days. but i suspect the boot light was on.

[Rambo]

Easy to verify that Jõao. Stick your phone on video mode and close the boot.

PS make sure you don't leave your key in the boot though

[Tuga2112]

PS make sure you don't leave your key in the boot though

I Have my own solution to that installed. comes with the perks of knowing electricity well and installing a boot release solenoid.

and yes, its a easy check with the phone. but an even simpler solution to just disconnect the switch. at the end of the day the light is soo flimsy that even at night i can barely see whats in the boot, may as well just have it permanently disconnnected

now... a warm white LED strip running along the boot lid may be an interesting alternative to light up the boot.....

[Saltire]

now... a warm white LED strip running along the boot lid may be an interesting alternative to light up the boot.....

BTDTGTTS - but what I did was to run the LED strip around the underside of the lip of the boot aperture, so all the light is directed down into the boot and the strip is completely concealed. I did consider using a magnetic reed switch, like I’ve done for the glovebox light, but in the end I just wired it into the normal boot light switch and made sure that was properly adjusted.

[peteoddcar]

Good idea
I suppose this is going a bit off topic
I recently did a LED ( warm white ) footwell lamp addition on an XK150 for a customer of ours. I think I might upgrade the Elan boot light to LED and maybe fit footwell lamps, Winter job list growing nicely !

[Saltire]

Good idea
I suppose this is going a bit off topic
I recently did a LED ( warm white ) footwell lamp addition on an XK150 for a customer of ours. I think I might upgrade the Elan boot light to LED and maybe fit footwell lamps, Winter job list growing nicely !

I did that at the same time, Pete. It’s actually not too bad a job - I was able to pick up the cables which run up the offside screen pillar to the interior mirror light. I soldered a connection into them, suitably fused, and ran the LED strip along the back of the dash moulding above the driver’s and passenger’s feet. I actually had the instrument panel removed at the time, so it was very easy to see, but wouldn’t be too hard to position even so.

I found that the adhesive on the LED strip wasn’t strong enough to keep it where I’d put it, so I used a few dabs of Araldite to secure it firmly.

Makes a big difference when getting into the car on a winter evening

[chrism]

"I recommend using a CTEK, or similar, battery conditioner. It keeps your battery in tip top condition and will add charge as and when the voltage drops"

So, mindful of Rambo's excellent advice, I've got a CTEK. I've connected the permanent battery feed line, brought it out through a 22mm dia hole in the battery cover under the hood-well carpet etc. What's the consensus; leave it fully connected throughout the week or leave it on overnight (say) once-a-week?

When my new battery went fully flat I charged it overnight and it didn't 'go green' until well into the next afternoon...got very hot too. If I connect it every few days (or, say, within a few days of a trip) it goes green within the morning and doesn't get so hot showing, I presume, that it's not needing to provide loadsa amps for the charging process.

I understand why folks leave it connected for long term storage, but what about fortnightly or w/end use? (perhaps longer since we approach chilly + rainy times) Has anyone found a 'working system' to fully avoid the dimmed-dash-lights-and-silence (that I don't want to encounter again, please)?

[Fredjohn]

I leave my CTEK permanently connected until I want to use the car. No ad hoc connection.

I also use cheapo Halfords chargers on other cars and leave those connected all the time too. Never had an issue.

[chrism]

Thanks Fredjohn; that makes sense.
Meanwhile, now that the symptoms can be managed, I can steel myself to get my head around Tuga's fuse removal method to try and find a cure

[Saltire]

I too have a Ctek which is left on. No issues. It senses when the battery is full and maintains a trickle charge from then on so you can’t do any harm.

[chrism]

Thanks, Saltire. That's affirmed then...

[Rambo]

Yes, I also agree with John and Jonathan's comments. Leave your CTEK or cheapo battery conditioner and it will do everything for you. Keeps your battery in tip top condition, particularly over those cold winter months

[peteoddcar]

NVH is back from its summer location. Had a lot of fun this year with the little tike.
Posed as a super car at Goodwood, went up the Hill at Shere, met with siblings at Thruxton Meet, visited an eminent Woking Technical Centre several times, happily cruised the lanes and B roads. Never missed a beat. Always a talking point.
“Is that a turbo?”
I’ll post in a week or two my findings regarding the individual modules quiescent drain. I’ll create a check list format which fuse has * millaamps.
I’d like to add that this will be based upon a sample of one.

[chrism]

...and should be most welcome, I'd say...

[Stef]

Hello all.
What are the most common electrical drains? My battery is also going dead when not on trickle charge.
It is a new battery and after a week has not enough power to crank :/

Boot light - disconnected
Stereo - removeable panel popped off
- no visible lights can be seen in a dark garage

Will have an electrical diagnostic sometime soon but if there are any other common drains I'll check them first.

[chrism]

Hi Stef. Yes I had anxieties even after a couple of new batteries (replaced under guarantee, thankfully) went down after little more than a fortnight or so.

I've tried disconnecting boot light + interior lights.

There's also a radio fuse (plus a mobile telephone fuse?) between the battery + cabin; I'd remove that, rather than pop the panel off, or remove the power m/plug from the back of the set. (I have a DAB radio with a powered aerial amp and that takes the aerial power out of contention too.)

Something else I'd suspect that doesn't get much of a mention might be the digital clock - Tuga's flagged up a weak spot that one of the resistors gets very hot and burns out - plus light pod circuit boards and alarm circuits that have old relays are up for suspicion. Thankfully a previous owner had my Gemini Aquila (aftermarket fitted) totally removed.

I'd be really interested in your diagnostic results. A new battery drained beyond cranking after a week sounds a bit too excessive - cold weather won't help, either...

My motor factor was quite 'up-front' that even new batteries could be suspect. He changed the brand on the 3rd replacement, but after that I bought a CTEK that stays plugged-in when the car's not used.

[Tuga2112]

I'm poor, I cant afford to pay electrical bills of trickle chargers before the war. im going to have to find other places to make cuts now.

unplug the battery if you know your not going to drive the car for more than 2 weeks

I've had the elan for 8 years now. its still on the same battery i bought it.
Ive had multiple parasitic drains in these 8 years as well (mostly my own fault while tinkering)

no need to make it more complicated or expensive

[M100-NC]

You could always use a solar panel charger.

A bit slow if you let the battery go down a lot, but if left attached all the time, the one I use on the Suburban works fine.

I have an older double din am/fm/cd/dvd player in the suburban and it draws enough to flatten the battery in around a week if I don't use the panel.

It plugs into the cigarette lighter socket and I leave it sitting on the shelf below the windscreen held in place with a couple ot velcro strips.

When I drive it (rarely), I just disconnect it and stow it under the front seat.
JC

[chrism]

Stef, did you manage to resolve this with the aid of your auto -technician?
Have you any updates at all, please?

[chrism]

A bit of an update here...

Using the CTEK and renewing the battery at the same time as totally disconnecting the radio and the digital clock have complicated any real progression to solve the process - but I've noticed that the CTEK now seems to come back to fully charged/float much quicker after a run around the block than before. Again no measurements, just intuition...(I could have been unlucky enough to get 2 duff new batteries in a row from the motor factor - what are the odds of that happening ?)

I feel suspicious that a combination of radio, digital clock (or both) might be the cause of my drain especially after Tuga's incorrect-radio-connection thoughts.

I can live w/out that clock, but I'd like to turn thoughts towards solving the radio wiring issue (with the benefit of getting it to work at the auxiliary position instead of being 'permanently on') so I'm open to suggestions of how to modify the radio adapter wiring loom if anyone's got any ideas?

I know the radio's not critical (although it'd be a novelty to link the phone up) but getting closer to the cause of the issue w/out disturbing the CTEK connections, lifting the cover and crouching over that 'back-crippling hole' to make multimeter measurements would be a step forward. If I can 'make good' here - and the drain stays significantly reduced - then it'll turn the spotlight back onto the digital clock.

So, anyone got any ideas how to test for and corrected the continuity of the radio adapter loom (please)?

Plus, Christmas Greetings to all my LEC 'muckers' Thanks for your brilliant help over the year and I hope I can add, in return, some degree of support in 2023...