Dead Battery?

[candyh]

I have a 1994 Four Winns Horizon w/5.0 L Cobra HO w/OMC outdrive. My battery is going dead, I have discovered there is a voltager drain on the battery with all systems off. I disconnected all fuses for all the electrical systems except for engine controls. I do not have electronic fuel injection. Could the charging or starting system have components that could potentially put a drain on the battery? The battery is 11 months old and been used approx. 7 times. <br /><br />What is the best way to find the source of the power draw and if it is the charging system,starting system, or some of their other components -how do I test them?

 

[petryshyn]

Re: Dead Battery?

How did you determine that you have a drain? Just having a spark when connecting battery cable is not a true indication....<br />Are you sure the charging system is working?<br /><br />To track down the drain further, try:<br /><br />>disconnect all the leads from the alternator...<br />>don't forget the sterio and other toys as well....

 

[crab bait]

Re: Dead Battery?

you'll get more & better answers then this but sometimes those " gremlins " are hard to find & you just have to deal with them.. there is a BATTERY DISCONNECT thingy that i seem around thats a battery post clamp thats a switch .. so you can disconnect everything when boat not being used rite at the source...

 

[candyh]

Re: Dead Battery?

The Boat sat from Oct. to March--then started up with no problem. Now wont last a couple weeks. Battery checks fine-, the spark when connecting the battery is the only thing I have to go on. Amprobe wont measure it. I am not sure of another test I could do to see how much power is being used. <br /><br />The battery switch may not be a bad idea.<br /><br />Thanks for the help!

 

[candyh]

Re: Dead Battery?

Sorry I forgot this part.<br /><br />Removed fuses from blower, lights, bilgepump, disconnected stereo and still had the sparks. Have not disconnected the alternator and that is why I mentioned it. Did not know if you could test for a short in the windings or something.<br /><br />Thanks again!

 

[petryshyn]

Re: Dead Battery?

To determine if you actually have parasitic drain, you must do a measurement. If you have an amp clamp as suggested, it may not read low enough to give you a reading. Some amp clamps are like that. They only read higher current. A trick of the trade is to remove the battery cable, take a piece of wire or jumper lead, wrap it around your amp clamp 10 times. Connect the jumper lead to bridge the cable to the battery. The reading you get will be 10 times that of the actual reading. Simply divide the reading you get by 10. In other words, move the decimal one digit to the left. This will allow accurate reading of small currents with the use of a insensitive amp clamp.<br />Another method of determining parasitic drain is to bridge the cable to the battery with a inline ammeter or digital multimeter which has an ammeter built in. One last method is to simply put a test light between the battery post and cable. If the testlight lites, you have substantial drain.<br /><br />*If you measure the drain using the below method, anything above .050 amp is a concern..... <br />BE SURE YOUR AMPCLAMP can READ DC, NOT AC!!! <br /><br />