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power drain

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2012 6:38 pm
by coxsy
Have major power drain from left battery dropped off all 12v add ons, and even radio fuse as someone spliced in to that too, no change
dropped righthand lead off 1v drain now not 20v

Re: power drain

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 7:24 am
by DieselBoy
Possible you have farked the battery by running 12v stuff from it constantly.

Long story short, running 12v stuff off the 12v battery means the 12v battery doesn't get charged properly compared to the 24v battery and leads to premature failure of the 12v battery.

To fix, buy a new battery ( replace both at the same time would be ideal)and disconnect all 12v accessories from that battery.

To run your accessories, you can either fit either a solid state 24v to 12v reducer, or get yourself a charge equaliser which means you can hook your accessories straight up to your 12 battery, but the equaliser ensures both batteries are getting charged correctly.

Your 12v battery has probably died due to never receiving a proper full charge.

Re: power drain

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 1:12 pm
by monstr
Agree with DB 100% ,i would stay away from the charge equalizer tho as ive had 2 both packed a sad and at nearly $500 each gets a bit pricey ,now run a good 24/12v reducer just for lockers,radio ,changed everything else to 24v

Re: power drain

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 1:58 pm
by Swamped
:shock: 500 bucks?
My 20A redarc equaliser was no where near that price and its been working fine now for better than 3 years.

Re: power drain

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:44 pm
by coxsy
were does a 20v drain come from then my battery are fine the massive drain on them isn't

Re: power drain

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:46 pm
by coxsy
oh having a 40 amp reducer fitted during the hunt for power drain, wiri auto electrical

Re: power drain

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 5:28 pm
by rangimotors
you can't measure drain in volts. Put your meter on amps and put it in series with the battery lead. That will tell you what the drain is. Then you can pull a fuse at a time to work out when it drops off. That will tell you which circuit is either shorting or faulty so you can track it down.

Re: power drain

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 5:33 pm
by slide
coxsy wrote:Have major power drain from left battery dropped off all 12v add ons, and even radio fuse as someone spliced in to that too, no change
dropped righthand lead off 1v drain now not 20v


Do you mean 20amp draw? (tested like rangimotors mentions)
If so it sounds like a diode blown in alternator. Disconnect all alternator wires and recheck for drain. Drain will be gone if is alternator.
Approx 0.1 amp (or less) is normal drain with everything switched off.
Hope this helps,
Nathan

Re: power drain

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 6:42 pm
by coxsy
can't its a auto electrican's shop

Re: power drain

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 7:33 pm
by coxsy
right hand battery was on its way out never mind its replace reducer fitted as i wanted maybe some spotlights too :D