Does anyone know what a normal battery draw is while the burb is off? Mine is a 03 with 5.3 vortec. My battery keeps dying. I want to see if there is some sort of parasitic draw on it. Just need to know what is normal.
thanks
thanks
Battery Draw
- Thread starter RickPo
- Start date
Just checked it but I still have some questions. The battery is new. I checked the volts and they were at 12.75 with the vehicle off. Turned it on and volts checked at 14.5 or so. I believe this means the alternator is functioning?
Checked for parasitic draw and it starts out at .120 milliamps (not sure if that's the correct term). After a few minutes it drops down to .02. My tester was set to 10 amps. Again, I believe this is normal but my question is this.... The values being displayed are showing up as a negative number. Is this normal? Does it matter?
Checked for parasitic draw and it starts out at .120 milliamps (not sure if that's the correct term). After a few minutes it drops down to .02. My tester was set to 10 amps. Again, I believe this is normal but my question is this.... The values being displayed are showing up as a negative number. Is this normal? Does it matter?
VanGo
New member
It's negative because your leads are backwards. The draw isn't excessive. How long does it sit before it's dead? Just because the battery is new doesn't mean it is good.
Take it back to where yiu bought it and get it checked. It will be under wartanty.
Take it back to where yiu bought it and get it checked. It will be under wartanty.
Spriteman
New member
Here's a really good article at Popular Mechanics for your battery draw question - http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/repair/how-to-stop-car-battery-drains
Looks like a 50 milliamp draw or below is normal.
Looks like a 50 milliamp draw or below is normal.
The battery that was in there was only about 3 months old. It was a replacement (under warranty) for one that went dead. When this one died I took it back and they charged it but it would not take a charge.....Long story short my warranty ran out, but to their credit they gave me 80 bucks towards another new battery. I upgraded to the "gold" one.
THis last time the vehicle sat for about a week inside my garage. I was gonna take it to work Friday but nothing....
I did reverse the leads and yeah that did it.
THis last time the vehicle sat for about a week inside my garage. I was gonna take it to work Friday but nothing....
I did reverse the leads and yeah that did it.
I might be on to something.
When I connect it, it seems to "wake up" the system. THe draw does go down to .03.
If I turn on a dome light of course the draw gets bigger. It does drop but it doesn't get back down to the .03. It stays at around .16 to .17. I watched it for several minutes, never did drop. Maybe the dome lights take longer to go back to sleep even after they are turned off? Anyways.... Gonna try again later. ITS FOOTBALL TIME!!!!
When I connect it, it seems to "wake up" the system. THe draw does go down to .03.
If I turn on a dome light of course the draw gets bigger. It does drop but it doesn't get back down to the .03. It stays at around .16 to .17. I watched it for several minutes, never did drop. Maybe the dome lights take longer to go back to sleep even after they are turned off? Anyways.... Gonna try again later. ITS FOOTBALL TIME!!!!
Where are you getting those batteries? It sounds like a bad batch to me. It happens. Get that battery checked and then take the vehicle to your local auto parts store and have them load test your charging system. That will help to eliminate the alternator and battery as the culprit, or confirm that one or the other is to blame.
VanGo
New member
I'm guessing Autozone when he said he upgraded to their gold one.
Yes the batteries are from autozone. I've never had a problem with them till now. Thanks for the links, I'll check them out. I'm working extra all this week. Wont have much time to do repairs.
I did take the burb to work yesterday, it started fine both times. Somebody mentioned to get the system checked, I did that a while back. I guess it wouldn't hurt to get it done again.
I did take the burb to work yesterday, it started fine both times. Somebody mentioned to get the system checked, I did that a while back. I guess it wouldn't hurt to get it done again.