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how to find a battery drain?

userbmx1315

userbmx1315

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Dallas, NC
here recently ive been having a little bit of a starting problem with my jeep. i just recently put in a yellow top battery and it still seems to get really low. i have removed my "Fitch" box and took all my wires from the battery except the main few.

is there a 'common' bad relay or short that i dontr know of?

i put this in mod tech because its not a "stock" battery lol hope that helps.
 
Moving to OEM Tech.

You can use a DVOM set to read miliamps, but a 12 volt test light works best.

Put the test light in series between the negative battery cable end and the negative battery terminal.

There is a very small draw for the PCM memory and radio presets. This low draw will result in a dim glow of the 12 volt bulb. If the bulb lights up fully then you have an excessive draw that needs to be located and repaired.

With the test light in place you can start pulling fuses one at a time to see if the light goes out, or pulling apart harness connections/unplugging accessories.

Good luck.
 
Last edited:
is the jeep your daily driver? yellowtops do not like to sit. also if you have an alarm it may be leeching power. put a multimeter set to show amps inline with the + cable and see if you get a reading. if so you have a parasitic draw. If it sits for awhile at a time get a different battery or a maintainer. My yellowtop used to die after a week of sitting. when charged it was great the battery lasted me 6 years, just didn't like to sit for extended periods of time.
 
joe_peters said:
Moving to OEM Tech.

You can use a DVOM set to read miliamps, but a 12 volt test light works best.

Put the test light in series between the negative battery cable end and the negative battery terminal.

There is a very small draw for the PCM memory and radio presets. This low draw will result in a dim glow of the 12 volt bulb. If the bulb lights up fully then you have an excessive draw that needs to be located and repaired.

With the test light in place you can start pulling fuses one at a time to see if the light goes out, or pulling apart harness connections/unplugging accessories.

Good luck.
Click to expand...


Good one Joe that's what I would have said to a "T"!!!! By far the best way to look for it!
 
Do a search online for parasitic battery drain. There's a lot of good guides on the problem.
 
I'm having the same issue with a blue top, fwiw. It had been sitting for maybe 2 months but now it doesn't want to hold a charge. I'll eventually start diagnosing and let ya know what I find.
 
+1 I have a blue top (starting not a deep cycle) and it sat for about six months and absolutely will not hold any kind of charge. Is it ruined?
 
Milford Cubicle II said:
I'm having the same issue with a blue top, fwiw. It had been sitting for maybe 2 months but now it doesn't want to hold a charge. I'll eventually start diagnosing and let ya know what I find.
Click to expand...

90Pioneer said:
+1 I have a blue top (starting not a deep cycle) and it sat for about six months and absolutely will not hold any kind of charge. Is it ruined?
Click to expand...

Optima is junk now from what I can tell. I just trashed a Red top. Was a little over 3 years old. The one it replaced was 5 years old or older. Joe has the best way to find a draw.
 
I was told that deep cycle batteries require a high amperage charger in order to get it to recharge and hold a charge once it's completely drained. I only had a trickle charger when I tried to recharge it so I'll try a 20 amp and see if it works.
 
Try charging the dead one in parallel with a good one. That trick has been discussed here before for bringing back a "dead" Optima. Use a slow charge setting. I just did that with a red top that was showing about a volt. It would not charge on its own. Used my jumper cables to connect it to a good yellow top and set my charger on 2 amps and let it go. Got it up to 10 volts at which point it would charge on its own. Seems to be fine now.
 
Milford Cubicle II said:
I was told that deep cycle batteries require a high amperage charger in order to get it to recharge and hold a charge once it's completely drained. I only had a trickle charger when I tried to recharge it so I'll try a 20 amp and see if it works.
Click to expand...

You should contact Optima tech. I believe they specify 10 AMPs and a voltage-stabilized charger.

And DieselSJ's suggestion is a good one and is recommended on Optima's website.
 
Well, I found a batt charger with an "agm/deep cycle" setting on it. It was actually just a standard Napa battery charger (this one in fact: http://www.napaonline.com/Search/Detail.aspx?R=NBC85437_0006389653)

So I used it and it worked.

Lol I don't know what else to say, the battery's held about 12.5 volts for a week now where it wouldn't last over night before trying the "agm/deep cycle" setting.

:guitar:

Oh, and I got to looking around on the label for numbers and such and noticed that is said it was made in CO. Does that mean I got one of the non-Mexican crappy ones?
 
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