So 1.00 would be 1mA? I know I sound stupid but I want to be sure because other website are confusing I want to be below 50mA
Thanks. It would be less confusing if 1 Mico Amp was just 1 amp and it just went up from there, instead of all this Mico and Milli stuff. I may ask them to change it.
1 Amp = 1,000 MilliAmps = 1,000,000 MicroAmps Engineers talk this way and it makes perfect sense to us. We use the same prefixes for all kinds of things. Also we use 1,000 and 1,000,000 times things such as Kilo and Mega to indicated big quantities. I doubt anyone is going to change this, just to make you happy. If you learn how it works, it's not very complicated, and it will make it easier for you to work on stuff and understand what's going on.
What would the nanoampere (0.001 microampere), picoampere (0.001 nanoampere) and so on be called then? There's always a smaller unit, even if average joe may not be using it every week. And wouldn't it be a bit cumbersome to have megaamperes for normal loads, and even gigaamperes in relatively common things? And why do Star Trek keep using kilometers when it comes to thousands of them, when megameters would be the obvious unit to use?
And still, people never seem to be happy with the ones available. I've got a book about lumber (and international trade of it) from 1908, it lists about a dozen different inches and feet one could run into when selling or buying within Sweden or internationally. It also mentions things like the decimal inch (ten in a foot instead of twelve), and the meter foot, being 1/3 of a meter. There's always room for "improvement", it seems.
New, from o Riley’s. This problem started a month after I started using the battery. The only accessory I have are power windows. I did have fuses in that I wasn’t using, fan, power seats, a/c, radio etc. I removed all fuses I’m not using. I thought maybe it’s my converter box. 6v to 12v. My gauges are 6v. But my system is 12v. And I disconnected the alternator and the coil to see if my amps changed but they didn’t.
If you are checking amperage draw.... I think you have the positive lead of the meter in the wrong place. It should be in the fused amp socket on the left side of the meter.
Take another look at the multimeter picture. The right side socket is for Volts, Ohms, Temp, Diode check, MicroAmps and MilliAmps.
Greybeard, I own several different meters, and the setup is the same for all of mine. Just think that, for most meters, when you are measuring amps, all the current is going through the meter. An improper connection without fusing would blow your meter. Bob
0.13 micro amps is essentially zero, a measurement error so to speak. Switch the red lead over to the other side, put it on the 10A scale, and pull the positive cable off the battery. The meter needs to be inline with the current flow when measuring amperage. So one lead will go to the positive cable clamp, the other to the battery positive terminal.
Pull the battery out and go to a shop/ store that can do a load test to it. No sense in chasing your tail over a junk part. I’m a professional auto mechanic. I’ve definitely installed brand new batteries that wouldn’t hold a charge above 10v . If it tests good, then start checking other stuff. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Exactly what I was getting at. I assumed he was testing from the battery to the cable, which is the proper way to do an amp draw test... I have done this test many times over the years. My gf's OT car would drain the battery in a week. Amp draw was just over .2 amps. Bad radio..... Didn't work anyway so it got replaced. Amp draw is below .02 now and the battery is happy.
In a dark garage after you have removed the ground cable, bring the cable close to the the ground post. If you see a spark there is a load. The clock in my 1956 Ford rewinds every 10-15 seconds for 1 sec and will take down a battery in a month. An interior light can do it over night.
Super easy check! Disconnect the battery leave it overnight, connect it back in the morning. If it starts you have a draw, if not it’s a bad battery! Almost all cars have some draw on them. Especially new cars and will kill a battery over time. But how MUCH time is the difference. I’ve got a Jeep that will kill the battery in about two weeks, since I don’t drive it very often, I just disconnect the battery after I drive it. Works for me! Edit: If your car has run the battery completely dead several times, your battery is compromised! No matter how old it is! Bones
While not a true torture test - like using a carbon pile load tester - you can give the battery a pop Quiz by disabling the ignition and cranking over the starter for 10 to 15 seconds and monitor the voltage across the battery posts, it is considered defective if voltage drops to 9.6 volts or below at 77° F. A healthy battery will hold well above that. Be sure to charge it back up.
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