Battery draw...

[Fellro]

Hmmm, almost sounds like my life lately... I just don't get paid for much of it...

 

[LEB Ben]

Hmmm, almost sounds like my life lately... I just don't get paid for much of it...

No doubt...work from 6-6 lately...then coach the youth footbal team until 9 or so every day. Then get to hop back on my work lap top to make sure nothing catastrophic has happened til about 10...then spend a little time with Bailee. Then head to bed and wake up and do it all over again. But that's life...right???

 

[Fellro]

I just have classes, and study/homework time, which leads to be pretty much 12 hour days in itself, then work every weekend to boot... But it hopefully will pay off in the end. Had an interview already with John Deere, have to see where that goes. They actually have an entry level engineering program, while most just hire you straight into a position.

 

[dakonthemountain]

No doubt...work from 6-6 lately...then coach the youth footbal team until 9 or so every day. Then get to hop back on my work lap top to make sure nothing catastrophic has happened til about 10...then spend a little time with Bailee. Then head to bed and wake up and do it all over again. But that's life...right???

Yup! No rest for the wicked! Yas gotsta pay yer dues while you are young! sounds like schedules I used to keep. This used to help me ... -----> don't drink much anymore during the week though... Keep on truckin!

Dak

 

[fatherdoug]

I just have classes, and study/homework time, which leads to be pretty much 12 hour days in itself, then work every weekend to boot... But it hopefully will pay off in the end. Had an interview already with John Deere, have to see where that goes. They actually have an entry level engineering program, while most just hire you straight into a position.

Good luck with the interview, Roger.

 

[76f350spercamprspeal]

I know this is Ben's thread, but I don't think he would mind if I just asked here instead of starting a whole new thread.
This is on my '74 F-250 Super-Cab. (It has a '77 Grille)
This entails a very long explanation. OK, so last Thursday night (October 6th, 2011) I went out to fire up my truck to pick up some furniture at a friends house. So when I flipped my kill switch to the on position, which controls the power to the coil it did nothing, didn't turn over, my headlights and dome light worked. My truck has always had a electrical pull, as it sparks when I un-hook my battery when I am not going to be driving the truck. (Haven't found a job yet, so driving the truck as little as possible). I had left the battery hooked up for 3 days, with that coil control switch on, and that electrical issue somewhere. So it slowly draws from the battery. So I said no problem, I just hook my battery up to my wall charger. (Which is from the 60s, and works fine) so I plug it in, wait about 30 minutes, and now the truck actually turns over very slowly, but not anywhere near as fast enough to actually fire. So I just let it charge up some more, for about another 30 minutes. So by then it's 8:30PM. I go back out to my truck, turn my coil switch to the on position, and it turns over, but doesn't fire. So I took the little bit of extra gas I had left over from the 1 gallon I had put in the tank earlier in my brand new carburetor. It fired right up, but for 2 seconds. So I knew it was going to fire, so I turned the key on a second later and it fires right up. So I went across the street to the gas station (I literally live across the street from a Shell gas station) and proceed to pump $20 worth of $3.93 a gallon 89 octane (Middle Grade) which I had to pump slow, these '73-'76 Ford Truck style-sides don't like these new models. I left the truck running so my alternator would charge the battery. The gas station attendant, a younger female, came out and said "the gas pump will NOT pump gas with the vehicle running" I just yelled, bull! Watch me" she then starred me down the whole long time I had to pump that $20 very slowly. So then I decide to check all my lights, my headlights, brake lights and everything else works but my turn signals do not. So my first thought was that I must have pulled a fuze when I was trying to hook up my new radio a couple weeks prior. So I get on the freeway and am driving down the 215, and as I am driving my headlights are getting dimmer and dimmer. I've seen this many times with my dad's old trucks, I figured it was the alternator. So then as I continue driving through the darkness with no lights what so ever (Luckily all these fancy new cars had bright headlights, and no CHP was around) all of a sudden the truck dies completely. So I'm like, that is weird, and I flipped the tank switch over (this truck has 4 gas tanks, 2 factory oem tanks, and 2 factory saddle tanks on each side), nothing, no click, no engine turn over, nothing, just like before I left the house. My dome light still worked, but nothing else did. I noticed when I turned my coil switch off, my dome light got a little bit brighter. So I called my friend with some jumper cables, and we hooked it up to his little car and we waited a little bit, he revved his car up a bit and the truck just made the "click" noise of the solenoid. So we waited a little bit more and it turned over very slowly. But now my lights came on. We un-hooked my battery and took it to his house and checked the water level in it, nothing, almost dry completely. So we stuck it on the charger, by now it was 11:15 PM. His charger charged my battery until 2:15 AM and the nettle on it didn't move one bit, which probably means my battery is junk, which by now I already figured. Mean while this idiot is telling me "your alternator is junk, and your starter may also be junk" This truck has rear running lights someone hooked up, that are white and very bright, it also has a trailer brake with a red light on when the key is on. So by then my original idiot friend went to bed, so me and another friend with a '07 F-150 and my battery and jumper cables went back to see if we could get my truck started. I didn't think it was gonna start, so I was just gonna get it off the freeway, as I didn't want the CHP putting a ticket on it or towing it. We put the battery back in, dumped 104 octane in the carburetor. Before we jumped it again, I turned the key, and it started right up, everything worked fine. We didn't even have to take out the jumper cables or open my friends hood, or anything. I also found out that my battery is old, time for a new one. 06/07 manufacture date, batteries only last about that long anyway. My turn signals worked, everything. My headlights not only worked, but were very bright, just like they were before. So we went home and the truck ran flawlessly. I guess my alternator works fine and my battery is old, and is junk. All that other electrical stuff, such as the coil switch, the trailer brake, or the aftermarket running lights could contribute to this issue.

The first picture is on the side of the freeway, the next two are of the truck after I had left the battery hooked up for 3 days, notice how dim my lights are...

 

[Alvin in AZ]

TLDR! :/

A guy can troubleshoot electrical trouble using a volt/ohmmeter.
Any other way is like having one hand tied behind his back. :/

Guessing at the causes over the internet and directing the OP
to swap certain parts in a certain order is the same as guessing
and swapping parts in person. Sounds pretty silly don't it? LOL

Do yourself a favor, get a meter and learn how to use it right
here from -us-.

After you get a meter, the directions given over the internet will
actually lead to the cause of electrical trouble! Weird huh?

No more guessing, just following what the meter tells you is all
there is to it.

Are you game?

Alvin in AZ

 

[money_pit]

You need to put a multi meter on it to know for sure if it has a draw on it, just because it won't light a test light means nothing.

 

[Alvin in AZ]

You need to put a multi meter on it to know for sure if it has a draw
on it, just because it won't light a test light means nothing.

Dang nab it !@#$% !#$% ^&*&. :/
I have to agree with Money Pit.

--------------------------------

It takes a certain amount of current to light up a certain light bulb.
So. What light bulb you got in your silly test light?
Pretty tough to find specs like those even armed with the light bulb
designation.

---------------------

Quit fartin' around.

Get an analog meter.

Read the resistance to ground from the disconnected positive battery
cable clamp. Use that number to help you find the problem or problems.

After finding the first problem, check it again.

My '75 F150 won't move the needle on any normal ohms scale.

Alvin in AZ

 

[Alvin in AZ]

Well, what did you find?

Alvin in AZ