*Pic* Am I testing correctly? 12v battery parasitic loss

[Mayhemqx4]

Hey guys, having some troubles in my winter vehicle, the battery will drain from 12.5volts to 10.5 in 12hours, and will presumably continue to drain.



Im trying to do a simple parasitic draw test like Ive done on another vehicle, where you simply disconnect the negative and connect the multimeter to the negative battery terminal, and the now disconnected ground cable, and the meter shows the amperage/milliamps being drawn out, my meter is showing zero, and I know there should be a small amount but Im likely experiencing a lot, so Im confused how Im testing incorrectly. I put the red probe over to the 10A connector on the bottom of the DMM, anybody see anything incorrect?

[Dattebayo]

What does the car show as voltage across the terminals when you're running?

And 12.5 is a little low to start with at rest, have you tried a new battery to see if it loses voltage? Maybe the old one has just got a short inside it... I hate to advocate throwing parts at a problem, but it's only about $80-100 to try it out.

[the converted]

Your probes are in the 10a setup and your dial is in the mili-amp position. You need to move one or the other for it to work. I'd start in the 10 amp just in case your have a large draw so you're not popping fuses straight off. Also, if it's dropping that fast it could be a bad battery. Once you have the car running for a while so you think it's charged, just disconnect the battery and let it sit for a while to see what it says for voltage.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

^+1. Get your cables straight.
Also, try opening a door (so the dome light comes on) to verify the draw goes up.

[Mayhemqx4]

I did have it set over to 10amps aswell but still get no reading. It may very well be a bad battery, but why am I seeing zero loss with the meter, even a small ammount

[the converted]

Check the fuse, you may have blown it.

[float_6969]

Even in the 10A setting, you should still see tenths of an amp at least if you had a real draw. Then you would switch to the red lead to the milliamp location and repeat. Regardless, I'll be willing to bet it's a bad battery. How old is it? Have you done as "the converted" said and try charging it, and then leaving the leads disconnected and then checking the voltage after 12 hours to see if it still drops? If it does, it's the battery.