Hornet600 121 Posted October 17, 2020 Share Posted October 17, 2020 Hi peeps changed from digital dash to traditional and seem to have introduced a problem. Since completing the installation my battery drains over a few weeks. Tested in line amp reader to see if any drain but can’t see any. Where do I go from here?. I’ve read about alternator being a potential issue but no idea. Any pointers greatly appreciated Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO 4,841 Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 If there is no current drain, I'd suspect a faulty battery. Are all the new gauges fed from ignition fed feeds rather than battery? Equally the alternator charge lamp is usually fe via a ignition feed. Is it? How sensitive is your ammeter? E.g. If you had it on the 10A range, it's not likely to show much if mA's are flowing. Try again on a lower range. An easy way is to pull all the fuses and put the meter probes across the fuse box terminals, to see if each fused circuit is in use. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
clansman 210 Posted October 18, 2020 Share Posted October 18, 2020 Is there an imobaliser on it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hornet600 121 Posted October 20, 2020 Author Share Posted October 20, 2020 Sorry for delay in answering bud.... no immobiliser fitted. I have however found what I think the culprit is. I had a parasitic draw of 65 to 70 mA with nothing switched on. When I pulled the 12 v accessory adapter fuse it dropped to 24 mA. I then re fitted the fuse at up it went. I pulled out the twin USB adapter from the 12v accessory adapter and again the draw dropped to 24 mA. So in essence it seems the USB adapter is the cause of the parasitic draw...... hope this is of interest to someone in the event they have a similar issue. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO 4,841 Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 I'd move your USB socket from a battery feed to an ignition fed supply. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
corsechris 2,618 Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 mA never sounds much, but 24/7 it adds up. Assuming a typical Westy battery capacity of say 35Ah, (probably high TBH), 24mA is going to flatten it in 8 weeks (very roughly). 70mA in 3 weeks (again, very roughly. In reality it will be less than these idealised times). Put a small gel-cell battery in there with say a 12Ah capacity and you only get 1 week at 70mA, 3 weeks at 24mA Makes a good supporting case for having the car on maintenance charge whenever it's not in use. FWIW, I put the USB power socket on my recent build on an ignition switched feed for this very reason, reduce parasitic drain a much as possible. A bit of a challenge given the donor electrics I used, but every little helps. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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