electrical discharge

[FLYINHIE]

It seems that I have some sort of current draw with everything shut down. Batt is very dead. What is the easiest way to locate the source of the draw? If there is an easy way.

[earlybronco72]

Re: electrical discharge

Pull the negative terminal off the battery after you charge it and put a test light in series between the cable and the terminal. If it lights up you have a draw. At that point you can start pulling fuses until it goes out. At that point you have at least limited it down to a single curcut. Hopefully that helps.

[welndmn]

Re: electrical discharge

Get a DVOM and put it between the negative post and negative battery cable, they will tell you your mili amp draw, then you just start unplugging and removing fuses until that reading changes.

[kevoson]

Re: electrical discharge

What they both said

[FLYINHIE]

Re: electrical discharge

Awsome. I knew it was going to be something along those lines just didn't think it through. Thanks for the tips.

[DirtDonk]

Re: electrical discharge

As it turns out too, one of the more common failures on a Bronco that can create a drain is the alternator and/or voltage regulator.

So while you've got your light or meter hooked up to the negative cable, you can reach right over and unplug the voltage regulator before you even dig into the fuses.
For the alternator, you have to disconnect the large Black w/yellow charge wire from the backside.
You can simply unplug the 3-wire plug with the two heavier gauge Black wires in it near the battery/starter relay too, but that isolates both the alternator AND the rest of the system at the same time. So that won't narrow it down as much.

With our rigs of course, pulling all the fuses and putting them back in occasionally can help with the connections. So even if you find that it's your alternator doing the draining, might not hurt to pull the fuses anyway.

Paul

[Lars]

Re: electrical discharge

Beer. There is no way to resolve an issue like that without it.

[FLYINHIE]

Re: electrical discharge

Beer. There is no way to resolve an issue like that without it.

Ha........I'm liking your ideas more and more.
Too busy to even mess with it right now. Disneyland trip coming up, my fuel pump is leaking and I can't even buy a new one because we need all the spending money for Mickey Mouse. Good thing they sell beer at Disneyland. Had a run planned for next week and can't go because of discharge issue and leaky fuel pump. This year isn't working out like I'd had planned for wheeling...........

[FLYINHIE]

Re: electrical discharge

I found my discharge.
I actually didn't need an amp meter because when I disconnected my neg terminal I heard one of my relays toggle. Turns out when I wired up my two speed fan I wired the toggle switch into the constant hot lead. So my low range wire always had switched power going to it but I wired in a toggle for my high speed hot lead which went to a relay. If I left my high speed toggle on after shut down it would still be running juice to the relay to keep it closed. Easy fix. I don't seem to have any more amprage draw with the toggle off.

Thanks again for the advice guys. I wish all my issues were this easy to resolve.

[ProudPapa]

Re: electrical discharge

Hopefully its not a green or yellowish discharge, that means the doc will stick a wire brush in with medication on it! Oh wait a minute wrong dischage, should have read the rest of it! Haha!

[FLYINHIE]

Re: electrical discharge

Hopefully its not a green or yellowish discharge, that means the doc will stick a wire brush in with medication on it! Oh wait a minute wrong dischage, should have read the rest of it! Haha!

Doo youuu speak from experience??
I've never heard of that procedure and that's my story.

[ProudPapa]

Re: electrical discharge

No way! Ex-Army buddy had it done while stationed over seas.