Parasitic Draw

Nightstang00

Active Member
Mar 20, 2017
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hey everyone.
I have just tested my parasitic draw, this is the first time I have done this. I used the meter on 10a and pulled the fuses with the meter hooked up to the battery, using the negative side. I was at .07. I started pulling fuses and got to fuse #8 and the meter went to 0. I am not sure where to go from here. Any advise? I looked up the fuse and it controls a few things. I unplugged and removed the visors, I unplugged the radio , I have the courtesy lamp, key warning chime left on this circuit. Maybe the diagrams I looked at didn’t have all the info, but do anyone have any advice ?
 
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Plug everything back in like normal. Setup your meter and start unpluging the things on that fuse one at a time untill the vom 0's,
Your radio may have a memory the will use a small amount of juice, but not enought to kill a battery.
 
Power mirrors are also on that circuit. Disconnecting the switch on the console will tell you if that's your culprit
I’ve disconnected everything in the circuit, except the key dinging which is a part of that fuse. Still showing the .07. I’m starting to think maybe there is a wire somewhere, and I am going to probably have to pull the dash. Not looking forward to that.
 
What is a normal parasitic loss on a Fox? .07 amps is a pretty low draw. Radio memory, clock, keep alive memory in the pcm could all be that. How quick does your battery go dead?
 
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is the draw 0.7 amp, or 0.07amp?

0.07 is 70 milliamps. That's really not much and could be the radio drawing power to store the presets.

I wouldn't lose sleep over 70 milliamps
 
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is the draw 0.7 amp, or 0.07amp?

0.07 is 70 milliamps. That's really not much and could be the radio drawing power to store the presets.

I wouldn't lose sleep over 70 milliamps
It was .07 , but when I remove that fuse it goes to 0, I just got a new battery so I’m not sure how long it takes to drain. I unplugged everything in that circuit, and unplugged the fuse and it went to 0 still. Just odd i guess , but this is all new to me so maybe I’m over thinking it.
 
Of course to take it further, a 100ma draw would drain a 100 amp-hour battery to 50% in roughly 20 days. Seems high when you put it that way. Most people don't have issues though due to driving their normal cars every day or other day.

For weekend cars, a good trickle charger is something you might want to invest in if you go a month or so between drives
 
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Of course to take it further, a 100ma draw would drain a 100 amp-hour battery to 50% in roughly 20 days. Seems high when you put it that way. Most people don't have issues though due to driving their normal cars every day or other day.

For weekend cars, a good trickle charger is something you might want to invest in if you go a month or so between drives

That’s exactly what this is, a weekend car. Any specific trickle chargers do you recommend ? Thank you for your information, I appreciate the help!
 
I ran into the German version of CTEK, and got one when I came to the states, too. These things are awesome! Cannot recommend highly enough. I think it's the best one you can buy and really affordable

View: https://www.amazon.com/CTEK-56-864-Automatic-Battery-Charger/dp/B006G14FK8/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1519371939&sr=1-1&keywords=CTEK+4.3&dpID=41SoAaxC2XL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Has a reconditioning mode that I recommend hitting the battery with once a year. Go with the 4.3 or 7002. 7002 has an extra feature or two. I run the 4.3.

The only thing it will not do is charge a battery that is so dead that it can't sense it's connected.
 
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I don't get it. Who wouldn't want a battery charger to charge a dead battery?

Anyways, that's exactly what I do. My father's hand-me-down charger has got to be 30 years old. Fortunately, no one had a problem with battery chargers actually working back then! I guess if it ever goes out on me, I'll just have to connect jumper cables to another battery for a bit.
 
I don't get it. Who wouldn't want a battery charger to charge a dead battery?

Anyways, that's exactly what I do. My father's hand-me-down charger has got to be 30 years old. Fortunately, no one had a problem with battery chargers actually working back then! I guess if it ever goes out on me, I'll just have to connect jumper cables to another battery for a bit.
It's more about safety than charging ability. You can thank stupid people & the lawyers for that.
With old charger you connect the charger to the battery before you plug it in & nobody reads the instructions. Otherwise, it might spark & could explode because charging batteries produces hydrogen gas. That's why they changed how they work. Instructions aren't good enough, have to make them Idiot Proof.

Hydrogen & sparks can have unintended consequences.
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