New stereo draining battery :(

Post by **dublicious** » 02 Aug 2008, 15:59

Angelo, was great to chat to you earlier

Battery is on charge as only 9.6v! Might be a combination of new stereo and an unwell leisure battery. Charging over night and will have another look tomorrow afternoon, entertaining my kids in the morning.

Will ask on the westy forum what size and type of leisure battery to fit

Take care and big thanks

Jamie

Post by **kevtherev** » 02 Aug 2008, 17:58

dublicious wrote: Will ask on the westy forum what size and type of leisure battery to fit

Are we not good enough then?....

Code 096 from any motor factors

Post by **dublicious** » 03 Aug 2008, 08:10

lol, of course you are my friend. Just thought its a westy focused forum and would know the exact dimensions for the leisure to fit.

Big thanks, will look into it

kevtherev wrote:
dublicious wrote: Will ask on the westy forum what size and type of leisure battery to fit

Are we not good enough then?....

Code 096 from any motor factors

Post by **dublicious** » 03 Aug 2008, 20:38

Right, just round to checking the battery and I must be doing somik wrong.

I put the battery on a 24 hr charge via the van external connector to mains.
The leisure battery's initial voltage reading was 12.88v though after going for a drive and coming back, with out the stereo connected, it read 10.8v! Maybe because of the central locking and eber display?

Anyway, went on to do a current reading to find first the reading without stereo connected then with. Now my multimeter, draper expert DMM14, has a 10A , mA and uA units of measurement, the 10A being a seperate connector to the mA and uA. If I connect the multimeter leads one to battery and other to removed positive lead via the 10A setup I get no reading at all and no circuit is created, which I know as the eber display doesn't illuminate. If I move my positive lead on the multimeter to the mA/uA setup and change the unit of measurement to mA a circuit is created, eber display lights up, but I get an erratic reading ranging up to 75.0 mA.

If I now connect the stereo and conduct the same reading if goes off the scale finally reporting 0L and if I change the multimeter back to the 10A unit of measurement it again doesn't create a circuit and no reading!

I am a little confused by this, as you may have gathered

The current leisure battery is a 056 59Ah if that helps. I am thinking of changing it for a proper leisure battery like this one someone recommend on brickworks http://www.elecsolbatteries.com/product ... l-100.html

Appreciate any thoughts and help.

Take care,

Jamie

Post by **AngeloEvs** » 03 Aug 2008, 20:51

10A range not functioning. Check fuse in rear of multimeter (or your not selecting the 10A range on the multimeter if applicable).

Voltage dropping to less than 11V is not right after a drive. Is the leisure battery charging from the alternator? Switch engine on and measure voltage across leisure battery, should be at least 13.5V.

Still reckon you have a suspect battery and a power consuming stereo due to the RC function.

Post by **dublicious** » 03 Aug 2008, 21:00

I agree my friend. Not sure how the leisure is charged, brain shutdown due to bottle of red, but it is a standard westy and has a box of tricks underneath the rear seat. Will test the voltage across battery with engine running tomorrow.

Appreciate the help my friend.

Take care,

J

AngeloEvs wrote:10A range not functioning. Check fuse in rear of multimeter (or your not selecting the 10A range on the multimeter if applicable).

Voltage dropping to less than 11V is not right after a drive. Is the leisure battery charging from the alternator? Switch engine on and measure voltage across leisure battery, should be at least 13.5V.

Still reckon you have a suspect battery and a power consuming stereo due to the RC function.

Post by **AngeloEvs** » 03 Aug 2008, 21:04

Hi Jamie, just looked at your DMM14 on the net (good spec!), in the back you will find a 10A fuse, probably blown thats why your not getting a reading on the 10A range.

Post by **J188** » 03 Aug 2008, 21:06

I had my radio fitted at a car audio place in preston, and they told me that with the ignition as it is in my van it wouldn't not cut off the power to the radio when i turned the key, because of the already mentioned two wires on new radio thing. However the facia of the radio i have comes off and i was told (and so far after 4 months and leaving the van not running for a week or so every now and then) the battery won't go flat, yet it still keeps it's memory as that only takes tiny amount of power.

Post by **AngeloEvs** » 03 Aug 2008, 21:14

That would make sense J188 and worth checking that the standby current drops when the fascia panel is removed. Thinking about it, I always remove the fascia panel and never had a problem. Good un!

Post by **dublicious** » 03 Aug 2008, 21:22

I also remove the fascia as well

AngeloEvs wrote:That would make sense J188 and worth checking that the standby current drops when the fascia panel is removed. Thinking about it, I always remove the fascia panel and never had a problem. Good un!

Post by **AngeloEvs** » 03 Aug 2008, 21:28

Yes Jamie, but you still haven't measured the current so you may have a bit of a lifeline> get the meter fixed and take it from there....you got my number and I got naf all to do this week.......

Post by **DivingDaisee** » 04 Aug 2008, 21:21

If I move my positive lead on the multimeter to the mA/uA setup and change the unit of measurement to mA a circuit is created, eber display lights up, but I get an erratic reading ranging up to 75.0 mA.

Sounds like you have the meter set to AC. Certainly if it spikes when you apply the current and disconnect the current. Check it is in DC mode!

Post by **dublicious** » 04 Aug 2008, 21:42

trust me its DC

Just managed to remove 10A fuse from multimeter, will test in morning and try and find a replacement, struggling online with Farnell, RS, Maplin ...

DivingDaisee wrote:
If I move my positive lead on the multimeter to the mA/uA setup and change the unit of measurement to mA a circuit is created, eber display lights up, but I get an erratic reading ranging up to 75.0 mA.

Sounds like you have the meter set to AC. Certainly if it spikes when you apply the current and disconnect the current. Check it is in DC mode!

Post by **AngeloEvs** » 04 Aug 2008, 21:51

Got a soldering iron? strip a strand of copper wire from a short section of cable and solder it across the fuse, your only going to measure around 500ma and you can put the 10A when it arrives> the amount of times I have had to do this ...

.....sometimes couple of strands if you know that you might read 3 or 4 amps.........

Post by **dublicious** » 05 Aug 2008, 21:03

Well after an endless search for a 10A fuse, draper are ripping one out of another unit to send to me as they even don't have stock! Should be here tomorrow so no bother. Has put me off spending money on drapers better end of products like my multimeter but hey.

If the battery is unwell I will order one up and fit this weekend hopefully.

Take care,

Jamie

AngeloEvs wrote:Got a soldering iron? strip a strand of copper wire from a short section of cable and solder it across the fuse, your only going to measure around 500ma and you can put the 10A when it arrives> the amount of times I have had to do this ... .....sometimes couple of strands if you know that you might read 3 or 4 amps.........