Just connected the clock, got a very small spark on negative cable, .13 mA reading... I won’t crank test till Sunday or Monday. I wanna see if the volts drop by Sunday afternoon I’ll keep the cables of
Crank the engine for 10 to 15 seconds with the ignition disabled and measure the voltage. Post what it is. Then charge the battery back up again. It won't make any difference either way. If it's a defective battery it will show this. You have a charger, correct??
I'd still verify that the meter gives accurate readings by testing how much current a small lamp consumes or something like that. The test lamp lit up a bit too good for me to trust the low meter readout completely without any verification.
I’m thinking the same, my other meter doesn’t measure amps but it measure volts and it reads the same amount as my original meter.
if the test light lights, you have a draw. you still need to find the draw. Keep disconnecting wires until the light no longer lights .13mA draw will not light up the test light.
Here’s where I have a problem!!! “ Omersvette “doesn’t have a battery charger!?!? What up wit that? Lol Bones
Take a look at this... it my passenger side tail light socket. It got my curiosity when I was testing my lights for draw and notice break,turn,and running light weren’t working right. I didn’t think tail light socket can go bad, maybe this was drawing current, grounding?
I had my neighbor charge my battery since I wore it down working on the lights. I replaced the bad socket. Now my tail lights work perfect, I actually didn’t know they weren’t working till I wanted to test the amps to see if my meter was working. As of noon my meter read the battery at 12.33v. I’ll post we’re its at tomorrow morning. FYI my milliamperes are still at .13
And while we’re on the topic of battery charge, which do you recommend? I would love one to jump start a battery also.
Just did this, bat was at 12.36. While cranking it went down to 9.7 -9.4. Bat is at 12.32 now. My garage is around 50deg
9.6 volts is considered a defective battery, although there is a correction factor applied for temperature. Not very much though, just a couple tenths. And ... the battery is still pretty low. 12.65 volts is what you want to see on that type. Still, that's pretty crappy cranking voltage. I think it's toast. Charge it up all the way and try again. Typically a good solid battery won't drop below 11 volts or maybe 11.5 volts when just cranking an engine starter. The actual carbon pile load testers use a test of 1/2 CCA rating of the battery. I think it's a bum battery. What's the manufacturing date code versus when you bought it? Could have been a shelf queen maybe. One thing I do with a new battery is charge them before installation the last new battery I bought took about 6 hours at 6 amps to come up to 100%, saves wear and tear on the alternator or generator.
Charge it up all the way. Overnight probably. 6 amps won't hurt it. Let it cook. Then remove the "surface charge", see that it reads 12.65 volts, or just try the cranking test. If it gets close to 9.6 volts when cranking it is defective in my book. Ted
A battery charger that is capable of enough amperage to jump start a car is a pretty big & expensive charger, more suitable for a pro shop, not a consumer. A decent 10 amp charger will recharge a dead batter enough to get the car started pretty quick, but get one with a slow charge rate as well., something with maybe 2/6/10 amp settings. Doh, I just looked around, seems all there is are these "smart" chargers out there that choose the settings automatically; no regular "dumb" chargers that let you select the charge mode yourself. This one looks decent: https://www.amazon.com/Ampeak-Batte...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=W871JMVPR281P8DXHC1T
One way to test your amp meter when doing a parasitic draw test is to connect your meter in series. Then activate a small electrical device such as a dome light. If you connect to a circuit with more than a 10 amp draw, you will blow the internal fuse. The reading on the meter will go up IF the meter is in good condition, the internal fuse isn’t blown, and the meter is connected correctly. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
A decent battery charger with “jump start” option may run you $300+ BUT.... the 3 times a year you need it makes it totally worth it. ( wife left the lights on, on her car and is yelling at u that she definitely DIDNT leave them on and all you want in life is for her car to start so she can leave and not bitch about the car.... JUMP START BUTTON TIME! Hahahaha) Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
What kind of charger? Voltage is still pretty damn low, when you get down to it. A tenth or two of a single volt sure doesn't sound like much, but as a percentage it's huge. A freshly charged battery (or recently driven and charged by alternator) will typically measure 13.2 volts or thereabouts. This is why the talk about "surface charge" removal before accurate voltage measurement. They will settle down to the true open circuit voltage after a day otherwise. This should be 12.65 volts at 77° F for a battery with fill caps, the old school kind you can add water to. Look for a date code on the battery - a sticker or whatever. If it's more than a few months old they can have problems. Normally though a battery that fails a load test when charged up is exchanged for a new one. It's faster to do that then give you a crash course in battery trivia.
I have always bought Sears chargers, with 2 40 and 200 amp start. Works perfect for me. The last one I got was on sale for about $99 . Good investment! Bones
Drove the car yesterday, tested it in the morning, left it unconnected overnight and it tested 12.4. I left it connected overnight night and woke this morning to a 11.66v battery’s. I ordered a new one Sunday night.
Why would 2,40,200 amp start options be important? I see some that only have 1.5 or some that have 12amps option.
2 amps for a slow charge, if you have the time batteries prefer to be brought up to charge slowly, not boiled. Especially batteries you're trying to resurrect from the dead. 40 amps for a quick charge on a dead battery. Personally, I think this is too much, too fast. But it works well if you're in a hurry and can't wait. Better keep an eye on it though, watch for the battery getting hot, the electrolyte boiling off and uncovering the plates, or the voltage level too high. 200 amps to jump start the car. This is actually a little on the low side for a high compression big inch V8, but should get your average car going, especially the V6 or 4 cylinder daily driver. For when the wife leaves something on in her car and runs the batter dead, and you're trying to get to work. Roll the charger out & hit it with 200 amps and get it going real quick. It's easier than pulling another car up alongside and hooking up jumper cables to get the car started. As I posted above, I like something with a low rate, 1.5 - 2 is fine; a middle rate of around 6, and a high rate of 10 - 12. Even with a dead battery if you hit it with 10 - 12 amps for 15 - 20 minutes that is often enough to get you started, depending on how much your starter draws and how dead the battery is. In cases where I don't have time to wait I just jump start it from another car. But we're all different and have different ways of doing things. One of the nice feature of the newer chargers that is very helpful is the "float" charge features many have, they sense the charge level and when the battery gets fully charged they reduce the rate automatically, to prevent an overcharge condition, then they'll keep it there as long as needed, like a couple of months, or longer, if needed. Some charges have some kind of a pulsing action that they claim will knock any sulfide build up off the plates. That may or may not be snake oil, I'm not sure about that.
Wow, Blues4U saved me a lot of typing! My charger cuts back when the battery is charged up and kinda adjusts along the charging, a lot at first, less as it get close to 100% charge. All except the 200 it’s on like 100%. I have never seen my charger boil a battery. I use mine to maintain my huge motor home batteries during the winter. Workes good. Bones
The Jalopy Journal
