Battery draining dead overnight! Solved?

[tomcourtney]

Changed for a new higher amp battery, dead again next morning.
Flux rescue took me to Lee Hire garage in Brighton where a multimeter was used to find the source of a 6 amp drain.
The inlet manifold under carb heater was live all the time, source found, we think. .
A plastic 'fuse box' type box at the back left of the engine compartment had an extra relay which was suspected to have been stuck. I will have to take the Bosch number off it and order another, it's a 40 amp 4 pin job.
Fingers crossed the problem's sorted. I rang the battery place and they seemed unconcerned that they had changed it unnecessarily, told them to save the orig battery as I wanted it back.
Hope this is of use to someone as a drain can be a horrible thing to track down.

[kevtherev]

Yes Tom
this has happened to me Relay No 1 is the relay for the carb de-icer and manifold heater.
Mine stuck and drained the battery aswell

[tomcourtney]

Is a replacement no 1 relay easy to find?

[kevtherev]

Dunno but I'm sure as hell you'll find one at a show Tom

[tomcourtney]

Relay sourced overnight from the local VW dealer for £9.
Fitted today and multimeter shows no battery drain. Fingers crossed for the morning startup.

[tomcourtney]

Perfect start this morning and van seems to be running smoother than it's ever been. Don't know if this inlet manifold heater and carb de-iced relay being stuck on has been affecting every day running.
It's a great feeling after a rocky week.

[72BUG]

Good work Tom.

[MR T25]

Anyone know what sort of current the clock draws? I'm guessing minimal.

Something is drawing current through fuse 3 (clock, interior lights, radio, fag lighter, etc) when everything is supposedly off. Battery is going flat in consequence. Can't believe its the clock, but maybe it is. I haven't yet measured how much current we are talking about but there is a small spark when the battery is connected.

Or, put another way, how long does the clock take to flatten the battery if the vehicle is not run for 2-3 weeks assuming a good battery?

If that is the cause, is there an easy way to turn the clock off without removing fuse 3?

[kevtherev]

I would think that systematically disconnecting each item on fuse three would tell you which is leaking down to earth.
I doubt a clock would do this, but I have often been amazed at some findings

[jamesc76]

Anyone know what sort of current the clock draws? I'm guessing minimal.

Something is drawing current through fuse 3 (clock, interior lights, radio, fag lighter, etc) when everything is supposedly off. Battery is going flat in consequence. Can't believe its the clock, but maybe it is. I haven't yet measured how much current we are talking about but there is a small spark when the battery is connected.

Or, put another way, how long does the clock take to flatten the battery if the vehicle is not run for 2-3 weeks assuming a good battery?

If that is the cause, is there an easy way to turn the clock off without removing fuse 3?

Look at the radio, they have a memory in them that draws power! Clock is such a small amount I would rule that out!

[tomcourtney]

After the 5.8 amp drain I had was isolated by removing the No 1 relay the meter still showed a drain of between 0.001 and 0.002 amps. The electrician said this was typical of clock and radio memory and was normal. he said turning the engine over for a few minutes each month would be sufficient.

[jamesc76]

he said turning the engine over for a few minutes each month would be sufficient.

the only thing that would do is flatten the battery more! Take it for a good run of at least 30 mins each month more often if you can!

[Ian Hulley]

Many of us have the stereo wired to the leisure battery to stop this. The other method is to fit an isolator and cut off the battery, you'd lose the presets on the radio but you only need Radio 2 anyway Betterer still is to use the van more often

Ian

[pocolow]

I had the same problem with the radio draining the battery if the van wasn't used for a few days. At least for me it was wired into the leisure battery, so the van would always start. This only happened when I changed to a new radio the old one never caused a problem. In the end I fitted a little micro isolating switch for when I wasn't driving the van for a few days.

Mark

[1664]

I've known a Radio/CD player drink nearly half an amp with it switched off. That's quite a drag off a battery on a van that's not used often or a battery that's a bit long in the tooth......