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

[MK1Scirocco16v at comcast.net (Dave Ewing)]

Pull off one cable and measure voltage in between.  Amps is usually best but
if you have SOME type of reading you can start popping fuses and figure out
where the draw is coming from.  Usually a small amount of power is
acceptable due to accessories that take power all the time such as clocks,
stereos, alarms, etc.  Make sure that you don't have any power accessories
on including your dome light (close the door) while doing this as the
reading will show it and probably confuse you even more.  Once I get my
multimeter hooked up I usually open the door and push the door button while
I pull fuses.  That part is pretty easy but what do you do when you have a
draw and it doesn't go away by pulling fuses????  That's when the REAL fun
starts!!

Dave

-----Original Message-----
From: scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org
[mailto:scirocco-l-bounces@scirocco.org]On Behalf Of Scirocco Pilot
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2003 2:39 PM
To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
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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