Parasitic draw at alternator.

[510revisited]

I hate to be the guy who makes a million topics, but here goes, again. Sorry admins, if you dont approve, just combine them.

New o'Reillys alt. Charging around 14 ish.... with all new electrical devices disconnected, I still see a 2.7 milliamp draw on the brand new battery. I disconnect the wire from bat to alt, and it drops to 1.7. I disconnect the signal wire from the back of the alt and no more draw. Now I'm no expert, but shouldn't there be absolutely no draw on a perfectly good 510? Meaning there are no alarms, no stereo, nothing that needs a wee bit of juice to stay alive. Could that mean a bad alt??? 

[datzenmike]

Well I can't remember every post and I'm not going back through all your other posts on the car or alternator so...

 

Is this a stock external regulated alternator? If not, was it converted properly? What alternator are you using?

 

 

An electric clock will draw power. So will an interior light left on or brake lights that are stuck on, although these last two will draw more than .0027 amps. You sure it's milli amps and not amps??

 

Try disconnecting the electric choke relay.

[510revisited]

36 minutes ago, datzenmike said:

Well I can't remember every post and I'm not going back through all your other posts on the car or alternator so...

 

Is this a stock external regulated alternator? If not, was it converted properly? What alternator are you using?

 

 

An electric clock will draw power. So will an interior light left on or brake lights that are stuck on, although these last two will draw more than .0027 amps. You sure it's milli amps and not amps??

 

Try disconnecting the electric choke relay.

I went through and made sure nothing was able to draw any power. I have no clock, radio, or anything. Electric choke relay has been removed. I think. There was a relay, mounted right next to the radiator, that I removed. I do believe its the choke relay. Heres a pick of the drain..

[datzenmike]

Might be the headlamp relay for hi/low beams.

 

A 55 watt headlight draws 4.58 amps with the engine off and could easily power it for an hour.

 

1 milli amp would take 1,000 hours to draw 1 amp hour. So it would take  4,580 hours to do the same with the parasitic draw. That's 190 days. Maybe 2.7 milli amps isn't that much of a worry.  

[510revisited]

On a side note. I just did a diode test on the alt as per this website..

My voltmeter showed .08 ish volts

[datzenmike]

Well starting to get out of my wheelhouse on this. Turn this alternator in or have it checked. Test the new one, it may be similar. 0.0017 amps isn't going to drain the battery and you have good 14v charge.

[510revisited]

This is the new alternator.. Maybe I am over thinking things. But In my mind, if I dont have any electrical devices that would cause a draw, then there should be no draw. Like mentioned before, I went through pulled every fuse and checked every circuit. The only thing drawing power is the alt, the way I see it.. makes no sense... maybe hainz is right. Maybe it's an oreilly alternator thing. I'm literally about to retape my wiring harness, and route all my wires for the holley, and dizzy. I want this to be perfect before that... am I overthinking or big dealing this?  Maybe just say fuck it and drive it till it dies???

[datzenmike]

I don't know. They may be talking in absolutes and under 3/1000ths of an amp is vanishingly small. Maybe diodes do leak a small amount.....

 

http://www.learningaboutelectronics.com/Articles/What-is-the-leakage-current-of-a-diode                                                                        

[banzai510(hainz)]

This is what I would do.

use a test light instead of the amp meter. in series as the amp meter

if the light lights up then I would think it might be a good battery drain.

on my 510 my test light would not come on.I don’t have anything fancy on my car.

 

on my yellow 510 some one hooked up the tact to power cig light circuit and would drain the battery in 3 days .I disconnect it and was good.

 

https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t&p=you+tube+battery+drain#id=51&vid=418de20d5f3335af5d80b045562c43ac&action=click

Edited December 29, 2019 by banzai510(hainz)

[68Datsun510]

If its internally regulated, some of the newer style alternators "sense" circuit does pull a small amount of current. REALLY small, but draw nonetheless. 

[Draker]

Just cause it's new doesn't mean it's good, especially if its a reman. Pull it out, take it to be bench tested. If it's passes, then move on and keep hunting.