Club 80-90 Forums

New battery fitted but voltage drops to 12.20/30volts after a few days of not being used. Have used Multimeter connected in series between negative connector and negative terminal on battery using 10A DC socket for red and COM socket for black iaw instructions. Rotary switch set to 10A. I found a drain reading 0.03 on the display is this 300ma? The drain is coming from my alarm and does not change if it is either armed or disarmed but remains at 0.03 in both instances. Disconnecting the alarm reduces the reading to 0.00. Is this amount of drain sustainable. Tks Tony.

TONYT25T25 wrote:I found a drain reading 0.03 on the display is this 300ma? Is this amount of drain sustainable. Tks Tony.

No 30ma.
0.06A 60ma Is quite normal and modern cars with ECU's can be around 0.1A 100ma. Not a problem with frequent use but obviously not for extended periods out of use.

Tks thought I got my maths wrong. It does tend to sit around this time of year but I do start it up weekly if not more often to keep things turning. Recently replaced battery so I was hoping it would last longer without use even with this drain I found. Rgds Tony

Mine was draining as well so I have fitted a battery isolation switch and turn it of when not using the van.

Tks the cause of the drain is the alarm system, don't understand why an alarm system would draw amps unless it was activated which it hasn't been. Isolating the alarm by removing the earth or fuse removes the amp drain but then no alarm system. It has an LED but even when this is item is disconnected there is still 0.03 amps showing on the meter, unsure of what other tests I can do to determine why alarm is creating this drain all be it limited. Tks Tony

The alarm, (if it is remote operated) will always use power for the receiver waiting for an on/off signal from the remote fob.

Tks, did not think of that but makes sense. Rgds Tony

at-home hookup or solar is the only way to get around it.

But with a decent battery, 30mA should only be a problem after about 20 years of no use

Sorry for the silly comment, but seriously, 30mA shouldn't cause any issues with flattening the battery for a good many weeks.

Of course, CovKid is correct (as he always is) and a small Solar panel will keep ahead of a 30mA drain.

Tks again, took battery back to supplier who load tested it and said all ok apart from slightly discharged, I have a small solar panel which I use when camping to keep the leisure battery trickle charged, for using my CD/Radio, works fine weather permitting, also use it for the main battery again weather permitting. Been looking on Internet for larger panel seems to be quite a few out there but unsure of quality, bought my last one from Halfords. Rgds Tony