How do I check for a draw, i.e. battery keeps dying

[amalventano at sc.rr.com (Allyn)]

your multimeter doesnt have an amp mode?
anyhow, put a 1k ohm resistor (the lower the better) in series with either
of the battery leads, then measure voltage drop across said resistor (on the
lowest scale possible). position the meter so you can see it from inside the
car, then commence yanking fuses till you see a jump towards 0mv.
if its an a2, $5 says its the trunk light (jetta did this to me a while
back).
hth
Al

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Scirocco Pilot" <roclist@yahoo.ca>
To: <scirocco-l@scirocco.org>
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 5:39 PM
Subject: How do I check for a draw, i.e. battery keeps dying


> How do I check for a draw on my battery without an ampmeter?
> I have a quality multimeter and good eletronic knowhow. I seem to remember
something about putting a highly resistive (low wattage) resistor across the
battery and measuring voltages or something...
>
> Battery is brand new, sprial cell type, it's cold here (-20c) but not that
cold, car has been sitting for only a couple of days.  I suspect the draw is
comming from an accessory I installed this summer, but can't be sure.
Accessories are Alpine alarm and power amplifier.  car is 1993 bmw 320i. I'm
thinking of putting an"under hood" trickle charger, is this a bad idea?
>
> thanks,
>
> Jason Adams
> Fahrvergnugen Forever :)
>
>
>
>
>
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