I HAVE A FRIEND NAMED RICK, HE HAS A 2009 FORD F-250. AND A '86 JEEP CJ 7 (WHICH IS THE BEST VEHICLE ANYONE COULD HAVE)
HIS F-250 STARTED DRAINING BOTH OF IT'S BATTERIES OVERNIGHT
AFTER A WEEK OF RECHARGING EACH DAY, HE WAS READY TO TAKE IT TO THE DEALER. THEN HE TALKED WITH ME
WHAT HE HAD, WAS A "PARASITIC DRAIN"MEANING, SOMETHING IS DRAWING POWER (ACTUALLY DRAWING MORE), MORE THAN NORMAL. THERE ARE "NORMAL" PARASITIC DRAINS---LIKE THE MEMORY FOR YOUR RADIO. OTHER LITTLE STUFF TOO
I WILL SEND YOU A LINK AS TO HOW TO DO THIS STUFF--WHICH ALSO DEPENDS ON WHAT SORTA "TEST STUFF" YOU HAVE OR CAN GET INEXPENSIVELY. LIKE A VOLTMETER
BEING THAT HE HAD A DIESEL USING 2 BATTERIES, WE SORTA TOOK THE CLAMPS LOOSE FROM ONE BATTERY AND "JUMPER WIRED" THEM TO THE OTHER BATTERY'S CLAMPS. THIS IS NOT NECESSARY WITH JUST ONE BATTERY IN A VEHICLE
THIS NEXT PART IS GONNA BE SORTA GENERICYOU WILL GET THE INFO IN THE LINK
WE REMOVED THE NEGATIVE CLAMP FROM THE REMAINING "STILL HOOKED UP BATTERY"WE THEN SET THE VOLTMETER TO THE PROPER SETTING."MILLIAMPS"----AND USING ALLIGATOR TYPE JUMPERS---WE HOOKED ONE VOLTMETER LEAD TO THE NEG BATTERY POST----THE OTHER VOLTMETER LEAD GOT HOOKED ON THE "HANGING" NEG BATTERY CLAMP
SO. ANYTHING ELECTRIC DRAWING OFF OF THE BATTERY MUST GO THRU THE VOLTMETER--NOW ACTING LIKE A BATTERY CABLE
NOTE----THE VOLTMETER HAS SMALL GAUGE WIRE---IT CANNOT HANDLE SOMETHING DONE "STUPIDLY"--LIKE TRYING TO CRANK UP THE VEHICLE. SO DON'T!
THE METER IS PRESENTLY DETECTING SMALL POWER DRAWS----NOT INTENDED TO RUN ALL OF YOUR ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
EVERY BODY HAS THEIR OWN #'S AS TO "ACCEPTABLE DRAW".I WAS SORTA TAUGHT.05 ma. IF YOU HAVE A NON-NORMAL DRAW, IT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE A 1. SOMETHING OR GREATER ( EX 1.2, 1.4, 2.3)
OK WE WE'RE ALL HOOKED UP---WE REMOVED HIS HOOD LAMP AND DOME LIGHT IN THE CAB, AS THEY DRAW TOO!(WE HAD TO HAVE THE HOOD AND DOOR OPEN THE WHOLE TIME TO ACCESS "BOTH" OF HIS FUSE PANELS). THERE WERE OVER 75 FUSES IN THIS TRUCK!
HIS DRAW WAS SORTA WEIRD. IT WOULD DRAW---THEN IT WOULD STOP---OVER AND OVER CONTINUOUSLY
WE STARTED PULLING FUSES---THIS SHOULD "MAKE IT DROP TO NORMAL LEVEL", ONCE WE PULL THE RIGHT ONE, WHICH HAS SOMETHING DRAWING ON THAT --SPECIFIC--CIRCUIT
I DIDN'T MAKE IT THAT FAR---I FELT A CIRCUIT BREAKER CLICKING ON AND OFF WITH MY FINGER AS I MESSED WITH THE FUSES
WE INVESTIGATED IT---THE CIRCUIT BREAKER WAS FOR THE POWER SEAT. CIRCUIT! (SEVERAL THINGS ARE IN THE CIRCUIT)
WE FOUND THAT, EVEN THOUGH IT WAS SOOOO MINUTE, THE SEAT WAS ALREADY AS FAR REARWARD AS IT WOULD TRAVEL
. BUT THE RELAY DIDN'T CARE!
THE RELAY'S CONTACTS HAD SORTA "WELDED" THEMSELVES TOGETHER (STUCK TOGETHER) INSIDE THE RELAYTHEY SHOULD ONLY TOUCH WHEN THE SWITCH IS ACTIVATEDIN OTHER WORDS THE RELAY WAS BROKE IN THE "ON POSITION"---INSTEAD OF THE "OFF POSITION"
SOOO. WHAT WAS HAPPENING WAS---THE SEAT WAS BACK---THE RELAY MADE THE MOTOR TRY TO SHOVE IT FURTHER---THE MOTOR WOULD HEAT THE CIRCUIT ('CAUSE IT WAS IN A BIND)--THE CIRCUIT BREAKER WOULD TRIP (MILLIAMPS WOULD DROP)IT WOULD COOL OFF---CIRCUIT BREAKER WOULD COME BACK ON. HENCE, THE "WEIRD" OFF/ON DRAW----THEN IT WOULD START OVER AGAIN TRYING TO SHOVE THE SEAT BACK
YOU COULD NOT HEAR THE SEAT MOTOR AS IT COULD NOT TURN AT ALLMAYBE IF I THUMPED THE RELAY, IT WOULD HAVE COME "UN-STUCK"? (I DID'T TRY) I HAPPENED TO FEEL THE FAINT CLICK OF THE BREAKER
WE SORTA NARROWED IT TO EITHER THE SWITCH OR THE RELAY----THE RELAY WAS CHEAPER AND EZier TO INSTALL
WE WE'RE RIGHT WITH THE CALL!
I'M NOT SAYING THIS IS YOU PROBLEM---JUST SHOWING YOU HOW COMPLICATED THINGS CAN BE! IT MAY BE A SIMPLE AS THE HOOD LIGHT NOT GOING OFF WHEN YOU SHUT THE HOOD!
LOOK THRU SEVERAL OF THESE----FIND THE ONE BEST SUITED FOR YOU AND YOUR TEST EQUIPMENT YOU HAVE ON HAND
PLEASE RETURN WITH A BIG OLE GRIN!
LET ME KNOW HOW IT GOES
THE MEDIC
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Sunday, October 21st, 2012 AT 3:16 AM
