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Old 12-05-2020, 01:55 PM
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Default American Autowire, Classic Update Series, battery keeps going dead

I bought the American Autowire, Classic Update Series for my 67 GTO about a year ago. This upgrade is part of my ground-up restoration project. I had pretty much everything working (electrically that is) then I put this resto project on hold for about a year. Now I'm actively working on this car again. The battery goes dead in about a 24 hour period. If I have the battery charged up and disconnect the ground cable, the battery will still be charged up. So, seems to me something is grounded somewhere.

My electrical ability is not very good. To troubleshoot this problem, I don't even know where to start. Could anyone here suggest at least a starting point of where and how to start tracing this problem?

Thank you.

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Old 12-05-2020, 03:23 PM
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You have a draw on the battery somewhere. Remove your negative post clamp from the battery, hook up a volt meter in line with the negative post and the ground clamp. If it is showing a voltage reading, there is a draw. Pull fuses until the draw stops. That will be the circuit that’s live. Do this with the ignition key off and doors closed.

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Old 12-05-2020, 05:24 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tigergto View Post
You have a draw on the battery somewhere. Remove your negative post clamp from the battery, hook up a volt meter in line with the negative post and the ground clamp. If it is showing a voltage reading, there is a draw. Pull fuses until the draw stops. That will be the circuit that’s live. Do this with the ignition key off and doors closed.
tigergto, this sounds brilliant but I'm having some difficulty picturing this in my head. As I said earlier, I'm naive when it comes to anything electrical.

OK, so; this is how I picture your suggestion;

1) Remove the negative battery cable
2) Hook up the voltmeter to the negative post on the battery (inline?) and ground clamp.
This is where I get lost. I believe the voltmeter has a negative and positive? So on the volt meter, I'm hooking up a lead to the Neg post on the battery and a lead to the ground clamp? (ground clamp? The Neg cable?)

Let me stop here so I understand this step by step. Thus far something about your idea sounds good. Thank you.

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Old 12-05-2020, 06:01 PM
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Hook up one lead to your negative cable clamp and one lead to your neg post. Doesn’t matter which lead you put where.

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Old 12-05-2020, 06:33 PM
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OK, just bought the Innova 3320. I'll figure out how to use this device and put your advise to work.
Thanks, (-:

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Old 12-05-2020, 06:39 PM
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OK, just bought the Innova 3320. I'll figure out how to use this device and put your advise to work.
Thanks, (-:
I’m not familiar with that meter, but u need to set it to DC volts.

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Old 12-06-2020, 02:40 AM
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From your tests you obviously have current draw with the battery hooked up. Check your interior light[s] to make sure they are not on. If they are on, could be the door switch or h/light sw keeping them on.
If this checks out ok, I would disconnect the alt wires &/or voltage reg wires. There could be many causes of the battery drain, becomes a process of elimination. Alt/reg wires are easy to disconnect, so a good starting point.

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Old 12-06-2020, 02:43 AM
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No, you don't select DC volts.
Connecting the meter as described in post #4 is measuring current, not volts & requires the meter set to DC amps. Not all meters have this function.

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Old 12-06-2020, 06:29 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoff View Post
No, you don't select DC volts.
Connecting the meter as described in post #4 is measuring current, not volts & requires the meter set to DC amps. Not all meters have this function.
If a circuit is live it will show volt draw as well as amp draw. You can even check it with a simple test light. The problem using amps is most meters can only test up to 10 amps without blowing the meters fuse.

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Old 12-06-2020, 06:47 AM
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There is no such thing as "volt draw"!

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Old 12-06-2020, 07:20 AM
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There is no such thing as "volt draw"!
Ok, I should have wrote, it will show voltage, instead of saying volt draw.

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Old 12-06-2020, 11:14 AM
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That is normal, that's what's called Electro Motive Force. A potential.

That is only part of Ohm's Law. You should not be giving advice on electrical problems.

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Old 12-06-2020, 11:19 AM
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I like to wire an old headlight up with leads and alligator clips, and hook it up between the disconnected battery cable and the battery post. When the draw is happening the light will be bright, and when it stops the light will go out. You can see the light from inside the car, so you don’t have to keep checking the meter.

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Old 12-06-2020, 12:28 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Goat 67 View Post
That is normal, that's what's called Electro Motive Force. A potential.

That is only part of Ohm's Law. You should not be giving advice on electrical problems.
So you’re saying what I wrote about checking for current draw is wrong? I think not.

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Old 12-06-2020, 12:52 PM
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Thank you all for the input.

As seen in the pic, I disconnected the ground cable from the NEG battery post. I hooked up the multimeter black wire to NEG battery post and the multimeter red wire to the black battery cable. At first, the meter read something like 0.285 and after the duration of a few minutes, the meter reading seemed to settle down and hover around 0.210 to 0.215.

So, I guess this indicates an improper ground somewhere? tigerGTO, going by your suggestion, I believe I would start pulling fuses one by one until I see the numbers on the voltmeter drop from 0.215 to 0 or perhaps a lower number?

Geoff: In your post #7, should I disconnect the wires leading the the alt and again do the same test as above?
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Old 12-06-2020, 12:58 PM
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By the way, I should mention, I have not interior in this vehicle because I'm doing a ground-up install. So things like door jamb switches and/or dome lights may seem like the problem, I really don't think it is. By looking at the 2 pic's, one might assume the problem is right in front of me and it could be, but I tend to doubt it.
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Old 12-06-2020, 01:10 PM
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It’s not likely to be a ground problem. Something is drawing a quarter of an amp. It should be les than .025 amps, .050 amps at the outside. Unplugging fuses is a good idea, as is disconnecting the alternator. Could be the radio, too, especially if it’s aftermarket.

Be careful not to turn your ignition on — it’ll blow the fuse in your meter.

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Old 12-06-2020, 01:41 PM
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Thanks LPete;

I removed the wires to the alternator. I put a piece of white paper behind them so it is easier to see the wires in the pic. Didn't seem to make much difference, the multimeter now reads. 0.207.
I'll start pulling fuses one at a time and watch for a drop in numbers (amps?) on the multimeter.
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Old 12-06-2020, 01:56 PM
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That’s about right for a glovebox light, if you have one. Somebody might have mentioned that — it’s a common culprit.

Alternator diodes leak current, so you’ll never see zero unless the alternator is disconnected. Yes, you’re measuring amps.

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Old 12-06-2020, 02:46 PM
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Another easy way to find SOME current draw problems is to check at night when the garage is dark. my be a light on you can't see in the daytime. I had my radio light staying on, after 65 years, and ran my battery down. Showed up in the dark. Unplugged the light for now. Battery problem solved...

"Bill"!

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