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Re: Alternator draining battery.
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CarGuru > Technology > Re: Alternator draining battery. 26 June 2006 08:11:31
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Re: Alternator draining battery.

Lawrence Glickman 21 April 2005 22:33:30
 On 21 Apr 2005 10:04:51 -0700, "Felix" <felix0007@hotmail.­com> wrote:
Hey folks,>
I just replaced the alternator on my 77 midget with a new one from>Autozone. THe next day, I went and tried to start the car and the>battery was dead... THinking i must have left a light on, I recharged>the battery and put her back in..... Car started... Note, i did not>drive it around at all, just started it to test everything...>
Next day, same problem... dead battery... THinking it may be the>battery, I recharged it and let it sit for a night and the next>morning, it was fine...>
I've never heard of an alternator draining a battery just sitting>there? Can that happen? Or should I be looking somewhere else?>
I've disconnected the alternator right now and have left the battery>connected to see if it's something else draining it...>
BTW, a test light on two of the alternator leads shows a continuous>current going through it... that's expected, right? (seems to me it is>as my Golf is the same..)>
Thoughts?>
Felix

Dear Mr Felix,

If the engine is running, yes you want current going through the
alternator; otoh, if the engine is turned off...NO.

When the engine is running, if you have a 12 volt battery installed,
you want to see about 14 volts across the BATTERY TERMINALS.

When the engine is not running, you want to see 12.6 or 12.8 volts
across the BATTERY terminals.

HTH

Lg
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~­~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~­~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I should/will mention you might have a parasitic load on the car
battery from a source OTHER than the alternator, such as a trunk light
staying on or a glovebox light not turning off.

You're battery current drain shouldn't be more than 0.25 amperes
whenever the vehicle is turned off. 0.25 x 12 = 3 watts, and that
would be for powering the PCM/ECM keeping the memory of the engine
computer alive, along with the radio's clock.

If the drain with the vehicle turned off and the lights out ( doors
closed ) is above 0.25 amperes, you have a problem with a parasitic
load.

My original reference meant that there should be no current flowing
through any ALTERNATOR wires with the engine turned off.

HTH

Lg

Add comment
Backbone 22 April 2005 00:34:12 [ permanent link ]
 a little piece of advice here Mr. Lickmen i.e. re-read what the OP said!!! You
really need to stay off that crack pipe!!! Buhahahaha


Add comment
Lawrence Glickman 22 April 2005 01:51:19 [ permanent link ]
 On Thu, 21 Apr 2005 13:34:12 -0700, "Backbone"
<backboneaccessflap­s@flapscomcast.net> wrote:
a little piece of advice here Mr. Lickmen i.e. re-read what the OP said!!! You>really need to stay off that crack pipe!!! Buhahahaha>

Ya know Backtalk, you're becoming somewhat of a liability rather than
an asset. Usually when that happens, I cut the fishing line and let
the creature swim away unidentified. Probably just hooked an old tire
at the bottom of the pond.

I wonder....
Add comment
Nate Nagel 22 April 2005 02:02:38 [ permanent link ]
 Felix wrote:
Hey folks,>
I just replaced the alternator on my 77 midget with a new one from> Autozone. THe next day, I went and tried to start the car and the> battery was dead... THinking i must have left a light on, I recharged> the battery and put her back in..... Car started... Note, i did not> drive it around at all, just started it to test everything...>
Next day, same problem... dead battery... THinking it may be the> battery, I recharged it and let it sit for a night and the next> morning, it was fine...>
I've never heard of an alternator draining a battery just sitting> there? Can that happen? Or should I be looking somewhere else?

Sure it can, if the diodes are bad
I've disconnected the alternator right now and have left the battery> connected to see if it's something else draining it...>

makes sense
BTW, a test light on two of the alternator leads shows a continuous> current going through it... that's expected, right? (seems to me it is> as my Golf is the same..)>
Thoughts?>
Felix>

Depends on where/how you probed the alt. and how the alt. is wired.
Your test of disconnecting the alt. is a good one though. Take it one
step farther, you don't need to let it sit overnight, just remove the
battery ground cable and then connect your test light from battery
negative to chassis ground. If it lights you have a problem. (I don't
think there's anything on a '77 midget that should be drawing current
with the key off, unless you have an aftermarket stereo or an electric
clock - if you do pull the fuses for those two and make sure the dome
light isn't on, if you have one) If the light does *not* come on then
there's no key off current draw any you need a new battery. If the
light comes on but does *not* after disconnecting the alternator, then
your new alternator is bad.

Does this alternator have an external regulator? if it does that's one
more thing that needs to be checked.

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast­.net/~njnagel
Add comment
Nate Nagel 23 April 2005 04:06:18 [ permanent link ]
 Barny wrote:
Dan_Thomas_nos...@y­ahoo.com wrote:>
You could disconnect the alternator output wire (the big one) and>>stick an ammeter between that wire and the alternator terminal. With>>the engine off, there should be no current flow, and if there is you>>have a shorted diode in the alternator. Drains the battery.>> Measure the voltage at the field terminal with the ignition>
off.>
There should be nothing there. If you get a voltage, the regulator>>field relay is stuck shut, and field current is killing the battery.>>
Dan, what exactly is the field terminal? Is it part of the alternator?>

Yes. In a traditional alternator, there are two terminals, the main one
that has the large wire going to the regulator, and the field, which is
smaller but also goes to the regulator. The regulator controls the
output of the alternator by varying the voltage on the field (literally,
the magnetic field is set up in the alternator by the current passing
through the field windings.)

Now a lot of modern alternators have an integral regulator so the above
doesn't apply. There are still multiple connections; they just aren't
the same :)­ If nothing else, an exciter wire is required to tell the
alternator when the ignition is turned on. Also, a lot of alternators
have a connection for the regulator to sense the voltage at a remote
location, usually the end of the positive battery cable on the starter
solenoid, as opposed to sensing the voltage at the alternator output to
compensate for voltage drop through the main alternator wire (this did
not use to be an issue when the regulator was mounted remotely; it was
generally mounted very close to the battery.)

Now since the OP's car is British, it could be wired any number of
crackpot ways... :)­

nate

--
replace "fly" with "com" to reply.
http://home.comcast­.net/~njnagel
Add comment
Guest 26 June 2006 08:11:31 [ permanent link ]
 i'm having the same problem but my car is a 92 towncar
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CarGuru > Technology > Re: Alternator draining battery. 26 June 2006 08:11:31
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