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Welcome to Hartech, the UK's leading Independent Porsche engine specialists, located in Bolton, UK

battery drain.. but no drain? doing my head in

If something is draining the battery , a discharge , then it will show up on an amp meter with a discharge check .

Even an alternator or rectifier.

So far we have recorded No discharge so i think another test there first is in order set at 10 amps and try and see how long it takes to shut down to 30 ish milliamps .

I realise you know how to do it but im doing a recap as this is getting me stumped so i must be missing something.. earth lead off and the meter between the 2 leads :)



Good battery ..
No discharge ..
Good alternator charge ..

Thats it im afraid , there is nothing else , it doesnt have a fault .. erm .. but it does :eek:
 
I'll do a test over the weekend where the meter will be filmed by a CCTV camera with a predefined detection zone and record any changes in the draw.

I accept that in order to discharge the battery, there MUST be a spike on the meter. It's just that I haven't seen it. I will find it.

Yes, earth lead from chassis connected to positive lead on meter, negative lead from meter to negative on battery. Meter cable in 10A socket.
 
Whilst the battery is new, has this been completely ruled out as not having some dead cells and being the problem all along? Has it been load tested?
 
I have 2 batteries that the car manages to drain in 3-4 days in exactly the same fashion. So while i have not had them tested I'd hope its unlikely, but once one of them is charged and back in the car I'll make an effort to get it tested..
 
so i'm running the same test again.
meter in "10" setting in A mode.
reading 0.34-0.4.
Does that mean 350-400mA? surely that's high??
 
You have about 0.4 of an amp .. that is a discharge young sir !

Now .. its down to fuse pulling time or use an amp hound to measure the current draw on each fuse .

i would suggest you start with pulling the radio and amplifer fuses .

To set up the car for this ..

Open drivers door and with a screwdriver drop the door catch so the car thinks its closed .. lock the car with a double press of the key fob .

This will turn off the interior monitoring so the alarm will not trip with the door open.

Wait till it drops to 0.4 on your meter then pull a single fuse at a time untill you see the discharge dissapear.

That will give you the circuit the fault is on .

Amp hound is a lot easier as you just measure each fuse in turn without removeing them .. but its like £80 and whilst its usefull for me you would only use it once i expect .

Do NOT pull any fuse thats listed as alarm .. the alarm will trigger and probably blow the fuse in your meter .
 
Am i reading this right???

does this mean 0.36A ?

CFidRhI.jpg
 
Yup .. as above .. thats a discharge .. not huge and not something like an interior light .. glove box etc but about 0.4 of an amp . .. it should read 0.03 .. thats 30 milliamps .

EDIT .. its pretty low and to stop a car from starting in 4 days would indicate to me a poorly battery but either way its too high .

That is 360 milliamps .

Im guessing your no were near Brighton are you ?
 
i'm in cambridge so not that close sadly :(
 
So is martywild .. im happy to check it one weekend if needed .. foc of cource , just need a date so i can bring home some equipment :)

I agree though its a long way so start with what i suggested and go from there .

ill pm my number if needed but without looking at the car then theres little i can say im afraid .
 
I appreciate your help deMort... you helped me with the door repair and many others with your posts. Amazing community around this old beetle eh ? I wonder if the forum can give you some sort of star for the ongoing support :) :thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:
 
Very good of you young man but im no different from anyone else here .. we all strive to answer a question or a problem.

I will however be taking a step back from now onwards and sticking to the harder faults .. i feel less people answer questions these days due to me ..

Thats not fair and so i will be reduceing my input .
 
no, please don't ;) :sad:
 
So , after many moons car went to a garage as I simply had no time (or will) to troubleshoot this.
The alternator voltage regulator off ebay was found to be the culprit. I guess lesson is learned.. Apparently the diode was broken and it was discharging the battery at a reasonably quick rate. New alternator going in...

demort, thanks again for your time looking at this!
 
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