Parasitic Battery Drain


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Old 01-10-19, 06:24 AM
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Parasitic Battery Drain

Hello everyone. I am having an issue with 200 milliamps still being drained when the car is off causing the battery to die in a short order of time. I went through the process of pulling fuses to see where the drain is occurring and it fell off to almost nothing when I pulled the turn signal fuse. Any ideas on how to proceed? All the turn signals work.
 
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Old 01-10-19, 06:53 AM
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200mA seems pretty negligible. If that is draining your battery, then you likely just need a new battery. It would be a good idea to have the alternator tested as well. A strong car battery should theoretically be able to supply that amount of current for over a week without a charge.
 
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Old 01-10-19, 07:05 AM
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Check with a dealer's (for your car brand) service department to verify if your current drain is reasonable. What do you mean by "short period of time", hours or days? Ifyour ignition off drain is considered reasonable, I have two suggestions. 1-Pull the turn signal fuse when you won't be using the vehicle for a time equal to the battery discharging. 2-Make a circuit consisting of a fuse holder and single pole toggle switch connected in series. Place the switch and fuse holder at an easily accessed location in the dash. Wire other end of switch and fuse holder to sockets of turn signal fuse(after removing) on the fuse panel. Insert fuse of the same amps into new fuse holder. Turning switch off/on is same as removing/inserting fuse. Good luck.
 
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Old 01-10-19, 09:19 AM
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Welcome to the forums.

Very unusual as the turn signal circuit is usually an ignition supplied circuit that is dead with the key off. A 200ma load is significant. Most vehicles should come in around 50-60ma and up to 85ma if other non OEM devices are installed.

Although the load is higher than normal..... it shouldn't be enough to kill a battery quickly.
 
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Old 01-13-19, 01:31 PM
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Pete is right, 200ma is too much. That's about the amount of energy it takes to light a small light like one you have in the interior. Gotta make sure everything is off. If you have any aftermarket accessories installed, disable them and check again.

Is it a newer car? If so, it may not be going to sleep properly. One module staying awake or waking up could do that.

If not then I'm assuming you have an amp meter (Ammeter). Hook it up and watch the current flow while pulling fuses one at a time. It may help you narrow down the particular area where the current is going. If you can see it, you can find it!
 
 

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