Starting Problem Ideas?

[ARiley23]

What I don't understand is THE OP has a meter and has been given information on how to do a parasitic drain test and yet he hasn't used that information to help him figure out the problem

Lol.
Wasn't sure if it was a parasitic draw or not. Don't worry I'll be watching the video.

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[Bedrck47]

Lol.
Wasn't sure if it was a parasitic draw or not. Don't worry I'll be watching the video.

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The only way you will know is to hook up a amp meter and get a reading Then You know for sure and it takes the guess work out of the problem.

A test light is strictly that "ITS GUESS WORK"

BTW don't use a LED light if you hook it up backwards it will not light up and then your back to guessing

 

[ARiley23]

This problem and the various solutions presented is a good example of why I teach our students Voltage Drop testing. Takes the guess work out of fixing things.

Did the problem exist before the lights were added?
How many amps do the lights draw?
If the draw is high, did you use a relay?

No the problem did not exist before the lights but the lights have been on for a while now and yes I purchased a wiring harnesses with a relay and all connections are correct.

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[ARiley23]

Did a parasitic draw test and my meter read zero.
The picture is what i had it set on.

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[Bedrck47]

redo the test this time have the door open and maybe the heater fan running If you still get 0.00 then something is wrong with the meter

 

[Bedrck47]

You may need a better meter One that is capable of reading 10 amps

Start at the highest scale and then move to the lower scales

 

[ARiley23]

redo the test this time have the door open and maybe the heater fan running If you still get 0.00 then something is wrong with the meter

Yeah still got zero with the door open I'll be buying a new meter today.

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[Bedrck47]

Just remember that even with the doors closed there are some circuits that will always be drawing some amperage PATS PCM CLOCK for the radio. No mater what you should show some type of amp draw. Now two things may prevent you from seeing any reading that could be a blown fuse in the meter or that the meter was in an overload situation.

Just looked at Lowes and they show a meter that will read 10 amps dc
Home depot also carries decent inexpensive multi meters

 

[ARiley23]

Just remember that even with the doors closed there are some circuits that will always be drawing some amperage PATS PCM CLOCK for the radio. No mater what you should show some type of amp draw. Now two things may prevent you from seeing any reading that could be a blown fuse in the meter or that the meter was in an overload situation.

Just looked at Lowes and they show a meter that will read 10 amps dc
Home depot also carries decent inexpensive multi meters

By change have the link? I just looked and could not find one that had 10 amps

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[Bedrck47]

Check Home Depot

Commercial Electric
Manual Ranging Digital Multi-Meter

Model # MS8301A $23.00 It has a 10 amp range

 

[stamp11127]

Probably blew an internal fuse on the meter.

 

[ARiley23]

But the meter works fine when its on 20 DCV to test the battery. Or any of the DCV settings. Thats what I dont get? The meters a few years old anyways. I've been wanting to spend the money and get a good one for sometime. Now I have an excuse to lol.

 

[ARiley23]

Probably blew an internal fuse on the meter.

But the meter works fine when its on 20 DCV to test the battery. Or any of the DCV settings. Thats what I dont get? The meters a few years old anyways. I've been wanting to spend the money and get a good one for sometime. Now I have an excuse to lol.

 

[Bedrck47]

DC VOLTS and DC AMPS are totally different The meter is made to read voltage and also amps The circuits that are used to measure V or A are also different

For example My Fluke will read both DCV and DCA the 10 amp DCA is protected by a fuse on the circuit board and if that fuse were to blow the meter will still function when using DCV

I doubt if your radio shack meter has a fuse for DCA although it may have But that meter does not have a 10A range and you need that

 

[stamp11127]

The normal current draw will be between 300ma and 500ma depending on what additional components he has. The meter is set for 20ma, so, snap-crackle-pop. Oops.....


Look at the Fluke 117 auto-ranging and hrc fuses.

 

[ARiley23]

How about this multimeter? Worth it for $25?

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[Bedrck47]

It will do the job

Make sure you read the instruction about reading DC Amps and make sure you have the leads in the correct spots Lets us know if you need any help

 

[stamp11127]

Buy cheap, get cheap.....I don't waste my money on manual range meters. All it takes is setting the range too low and if your lucky you only pop a fuse. The cheap meters are usually trashed.

 

[1955moose]

I agree with stamp, spend at least $60.00 and get an auto ranging meter. For the novice, or guys like me that don't like to guess, their a safe bet. I saw one for $49.00 at ace hardware that looked nice it was auto ranging. It was made by Klein. You can get it $8.00 cheaper online. Just my 2 cents. You'll use your meter more than you think, I know I did!

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[Bedrck47]

Although I agree that a auto ranging meter would be better

However even with auto ranging the operator must manually put the meter in the correct function