current draw while off

[BLACKonBLACK98]

i'm trying to get to the bottom of my battery delima. it could possibly be that i had a battery dead from sitting followed by a defective unit. anyway, i decided before i put another one in i should make sure i don't have a parasitic drain. i am pulling 74 mA with everything off. is this within spec or should i start looking for an issue?

[Infinitiguy19]

I hate to say this but search, because I once saw a topic where Q45Tech posted the correct power draw when the car was off. the 1990-1993 Q45 being the lowest and the 1994+ being the highest.

But its out there.

[Q45tech]

74mA x 24 hours= 1.776 ampere hours per day or 12.432 per week.

The problem is defined by how well the battery is actually charged, as the bulk of Q are only half charged because of driving location and style.

Disconnect the ground on battery and measure the voltage that gives a rough estimate of % of charge [varies with battery temperature].

Study this:http://www.buchanan1.net/lead_acid.shtml

Also note that a battery self discharges at a 1% per day rate with nothing connected to it. Why a brand new battery needs recharging just from sitting on display rack.

It is likely that YOUR battery will lose 25% of capacity per week and will not start car after 3 weeks IF IT BEGAN with a 100% charge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Much depends on the oil viscosity and starting temperature so Houston is about as good as it gets in winter, well Brownsville would be better [80F+ now]............might get 4 weeks of cranking there and 2 weeks in Fargo ND.

Report your unloaded battery voltage now so we may all see your previous state of charge and calculate the exact number of days and minutes left just as they did in Apollo Missions.

Think about the case up North where someone cranks a cold car rushes to airport lights on, heater on, defroster on and leaves a half charged or less battery in long term lot for a week or two and comes back expecting to crank.

[BLACKonBLACK98]

found the info. couldn't think of "parasitic drain" when i was doing my first searches.

pulling the room lamp fuse dropped me down to .032.

thanks for your advice also qtech. the car just got out of the shop and they had it on a charger.

one problem is the battery i bought was too small to begin with, and the other being the drain i imagine.

[Q45tech]

The following doesn't apply to poster since he obviously passed many tests but a good place to insert for the bulk of members:

" The Brief Electricity and Magnetism Assessment, measures students’ understanding of electric forces, circuits, and magnetism, which are often considered to be more abstract concepts and more difficult to learn than mechanics. Here Chinese students averaged close to 70 percent while American students averaged around 25 percent -- a little better than if they had simply picked their multiple-choice answers randomly."

"The Force Concept Inventory, measures students’ basic knowledge of mechanics -- the action of forces on objects. Most Chinese students scored close to 90 percent, while the American scores varied widely from 25-75 percent, with an average of 50."

"Researchers tested nearly 6,000 students majoring in science and engineering at seven universities -- four in the United States and three in China. Chinese students greatly outperformed American students on factual knowledge of physics"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/re...0.htm

[qship96]

found the info. couldn't think of "parasitic drain" when i was doing my first searches.

pulling the room lamp fuse dropped me down to .032.

thanks for your advice also qtech. the car just got out of the shop and they had it on a charger.

one problem is the battery i bought was too small to begin with, and the other being the drain i imagine.

The only way to measure TRUE parasitic drain is to set up your multimeter THEN lock all doors and tape/weigh down open hood alarm pinswitch and wait 3-5 minutes for alarm and electronic modules to fall asleep before taking a reading.

[BLACKonBLACK98]

i'll keep that in mind in case it continues to be an issue.

[unknown007]

Hope you fix it that cars a beast!!!

[Q45tech]

A Mighty simple beast with 18 year old technology.

[unknown007]

he's not 18 i am!!!

[qship96]

Oh brother! We are back to pre-school level of comprehension.

[unknown007]

Oh brother! We are back to pre-school level of comprehension.

yes sir okay stay on topic.