Problem with battery drain

[FabianH]

It is not the alternator..have had it tested and checked,but it's draining the Battery..quickly..any ideas?

[Herbie]

First of all, what's the Battery condition and state of charge?

Has the Battery had a heavy discharge test?

If the Battery is OK and the alternator is OK, then you may have a parasitic drain and the best way to check this is:

 

 

[Farqui]

Hi Fabian, welcome to he forum.

Have you checked for a parasitic drain? e.g. https://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Parasitic-Battery-Drain

How long have you had the vehicle?

Is the 12v Battery in good condition/been tested?  Do you know how old it is?

Has the issue only just occurred since the vehicle has been stationary for a long period during COVID quarantine rules?

Good luck tracking down the source of the issue.

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, Farqui said:

Have you checked for a parasitic drain? e.g. https://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Parasitic-Battery-Drain

The method they advocate there Lee is now considered to be 'not good' because the act of taking a fuse out can actually reset whatever is causing the drain so you'll never find the problem.

[Farqui]

How's that then Herb's, if a pulled fuse reduces the drain noticeable then surely your on your way to locating the source of the problem and have an area/circuit to dive into further?

If pulling a fuse somehow resets the duff component, then that's a win too innit, as the reset somehow prevents the issue recurring.

I have seen Charles video you linked above before, found it informative...so thanks for flagging it.  Although it's not his technique, he does explain it well.

There a numerous ways to check for electrical faults and some can be really tricky to track down.

Fabian, do let us know how you get on.

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, Farqui said:

How's that then Herb's, if a pulled fuse reduces the drain noticeable then surely your on your way to locating the source of the problem and have an area/circuit to dive into further?

If pulling a fuse somehow resets the duff component, then that's a win too innit, as the reset somehow prevents the issue recurring.

You're partly right Lee.

The main problem is that you can't find a fault when it's not there - the fault has to be active so that you can "dive into it further" and do more tests. If pulling the fuse resets it then yes, you have a circuit to look at but if no fault conditions are present how can you diagnose it?

[Farqui]

As per old skool method, if pulling the fuse prevents the drain then you re-fit the fuse to investigate further.

If after re-fitting the fuse. the fault doesn't reappear...then you focus on finding the coldest beer 😆

I guess it all depends on what the cause of the drain is.

I eagerly await to hear back from Fabian...

[Shada]

You can't always check for a small drain by pulling fuses at it wakes systems on the canbus and leaves you going in circles. You can certainly try it but results are often inconclusive! 

[Farqui]

Ah, now that makes sense - thanks Shada

[Shada]

On 6/18/2020 at 3:31 PM, FabianH said:

It is not the alternator..have had it tested and checked,but it's draining the battery..quickly..any ideas?

If you post the model age and what exactly you have tested so far you may get good advise. As you had the alternator tested I take it its not a hybrid 

[Herbie]

3 hours ago, Shada said:

You can't always check for a small drain by pulling fuses at it wakes systems on the canbus

Which is nnneeeaaarrrlllyyy what I said when I said it resets things