current drain

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Security and Convenience
Forum Discription: Car Alarms, Keyless Entries, Remote Starters, Immobilizer Bypasses, Sensors, Door Locks, Window Modules, Heated Mirrors, Heated Seats, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=115125
Printed Date: April 26, 2024 at 5:50 PM

Topic: current drain

Posted By: EVIL Teken
Subject: current drain
Date Posted: July 16, 2009 at 6:35 PM

I was asked to help out a friend who owns a 1991 Acura Integra. It appears that his electrical system some where is drawing 300-400 mA. One of the first thing we did was disconnect all third party accessarys from the vehicle, no change.

Next we pulled out all the fuses under the dash, still no change. After almost 5 weeks of on and off testing we are no closer as to what is drawing all this current from the battery. The only saving grace for this client is that he has a Optima Yellow Top battery.

As any other SLI battery would have died long ago, due to the complete run down of the battery.

Would like some idea's or feed back as to what else to look for. One of the things we have considered and will be looking into is all the wiring, given that the vehicle is so old, our thoughts are that many of the wiring harness's are rusted, and adding a large amount of resistance, but untill we check all the wiring harness one by one that is just a thought.

Would greatly appreciate any and all constructive feed-back on this. I have been in the electrical field for a very long time, and honestly I have never been so stumped on a current drain problem with out any clue or some where to go on.

As always many thanks to all...

Regards

EVIL Teken

Replies:

Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 16, 2009 at 6:53 PM

Is there an alarm system equipped with a starter kill relay installed on the car? Have you disconnected the charge wire of the alternator?

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Let's Go Brandon Brown. Congratulations on your first Xfinity Series Win. LGBFJB

Posted By: EVIL Teken
Date Posted: July 16, 2009 at 8:11 PM

i am an idiot wrote:

Is there an alarm system equipped with a starter kill relay installed on the car?

Yes, there is.

[quote]Have you disconnected the charge wire of the alternator?[/QUOTE]

No, we have not.

Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: July 16, 2009 at 8:18 PM

If the starter kill relay is wired incorrectly and staying engaged the entire time the alarm is armed, it will draw 160 Milliamps of current. Remove the relay and see if the current draw drops. Disconnect the large wire from the alternator and check current draw again.

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Let's Go Brandon Brown. Congratulations on your first Xfinity Series Win. LGBFJB

Posted By: EVIL Teken
Date Posted: July 16, 2009 at 9:06 PM

The vehicle is wired with a N.O. starter kill, but at this point we are unplugging every relay in the vehicle to see if anything changes. I will remove the primary wire from the alternator this week-end to see if anything should change.

Any other suggestions are welcomed, many thanks for your input.

BTW: Where the hell has all my postings come and gone too? And after all these years, I have returned to Rookie Status? Mods, Admins? I know I have been away for awhile, but come on.

Regards

EVIL Teken . . .

Posted By: howie ll
Date Posted: July 17, 2009 at 9:14 AM

Sorry to be anal but haven't you fuses and relays under the hood as well, my thoughts might spring to specifically looking at permanently wired parts such as the trunk light (faulty switch in shut) or telephone equipment.

Posted By: EVIL Teken
Date Posted: July 17, 2009 at 10:23 AM

No no, you're not being anal. As it was previously stated, this week-end we are going to pull any and all relays out OEM, and after market in and under the hood to see if that makes a difference.

For the sake of doing, any and all OEM wiring harness's will be inspected, replaced if required. This is assuming that some or all of these harness's are rusted, and adding a higher resistance than normal. I had found two ground straps in the vehicle that were completely green and oxidized, and when measured it was over 10 ohms.

Also found that one of the front OEM horns had shorted out, it too was replaced. But this residue current drain is still present. I am very stressed out at this point in time.

Normally at this point I would pass on this sort of thing, but given the invested amount of time and effort I personally want to know what the problem is. I suspect it is not just one thing, but many small things that are adding up to give the voltage drop.

Just takes alot of time, and sweat equity. posted_image

Regards

EVIL Teken . . .

Posted By: profuse007
Date Posted: July 17, 2009 at 2:14 PM

this happen to my cousin's 93 accord sedan. I went through the engine's fuse box and unplug the fuses as I watch the DMM changes. I narrowed it down in couple of mins.

I suggest trying it again w/ all fuses, even teh big ones.

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Houston,TX
"The two most common elements in the universe are H+ and stupidity" (Ellison).

Posted By: EVIL Teken
Date Posted: July 17, 2009 at 3:37 PM

Will do that for sure. I have a high resolution current meter on order, so this will help out alot, as to exactly how much current drain per hour is actually being taken.

To this point I have been converting the voltage drops to obtain the current drain. Didnt even want to connect the positive terminal in series with my Fluke DMM to find the current drain, risking blowing it out, plus the resolution on the standard DMM's don't go down to 1 mA as is needed in this case.

Many thanks to all, and anymore idea's or thoughts are always welcomed.

Regards

EVIL Teken . . .