Mine is not too bad. She goes along with me on every trip I take.

I have four "keep alive" circuits in the Heap:  Radio, EEC, alarm, and Vintage Air Gen IV HVAC.  It will handle ten days or so setting but anything over two weeks and the battery is getting weak. If I know it's gonna set that long I always hook up the Battery Minder.
With a 1.5 amp/hr drain you'll be pulling the battery down by 1/2 it's capacity in about ten days so you will need to use the Minder/Tender.  I'd just get in the habit of hooking in up anytime the car is in the garage.  Also do what Gary suggest and see if you can find all the culprits.  Years ago we always disconnected the brake light switch first when looking for a drain.  Those old hydraulic brake light switches were good for a low current drain that would run the battery down but not light the brake lights.

BB

6sally6 wrote:

I have NO "keep alive" circuits. I checked (like Gary sez) to insure it, because I KNOW there will be weeks when the old hot rod is not driven. Like now with 90+ temp and hu-damn-midity to match.
BTW.............you DID have the doors closed(no interior light glowing) when you checked, right?!
Don't ask how I discovered this nugget
6sal6

LMAO

I wish that was true for me.. but lets c.. slow and steady work

Are you still using 1G alternator? If so, may want to check your voltage regulator/wiring as well for corrosion to ground or the case of regulator (look on backside of housing too).

Regarding the old hydraulic brake light switch, a friend's father had a 64 Galaxy back in the day and had this issue of battery drain, one night he could see the taillights were dimly lit, changed the switch and problem solved.

Bullet Bob wrote:

I have four "keep alive" circuits in the Heap:  Radio, EEC, alarm, and Vintage Air Gen IV HVAC.  It will handle ten days or so setting but anything over two weeks and the battery is getting weak. If I know it's gonna set that long I always hook up the Battery Minder.
With a 1.5 amp/hr drain you'll be pulling the battery down by 1/2 it's capacity in about ten days so you will need to use the Minder/Tender.  I'd just get in the habit of hooking in up anytime the car is in the garage.  Also do what Gary suggest and see if you can find all the culprits.  Years ago we always disconnected the brake light switch first when looking for a drain.  Those old hydraulic brake light switches were good for a low current drain that would run the battery down but not light the brake lights.

BB

rpm wrote:

Raymond_B wrote:

MS wrote:

Mine is not too bad. She goes along with me on every trip I take.

Now that's funny!

Glad to see someone else got it.
 

I just got it!! And I feel so stupid while LMAO!!! Wow

Nos681 wrote:

Funny!  Can’t be that bad if you had four a/c vents cooling you off.  Oh, back to subject.  I have only 2 keep alive ckts: KAM and radio memory. Total current = 5.42mA

Just my viper alarm  system takes (0.04A) 40mA ... rest I am gonna figure our .. let’s c

Last edited by Gaba (7/04/2019 3:17 PM)

I can let my car sit for weeks (which I try not to do) and it will still crank over no problem. If sitting for a long time, only drama I have is pumping the fuel back up through the lines, but that just means more cranking.
With my taillights, I went to LED. Will never look back as it has lime 10X the brightness at a fraction of the current draw.

Gaba wrote:

Nos681 wrote:

Are you still using 1G alternator? If so, may want to check your voltage regulator/wiring as well for corrosion to ground or the case of regulator (look on backside of housing too).

No I am using the 3G one wire setup ..

 
3G is three wires. You either have 3G or 1 wire, not both. The choice of one or the other is the subject of many heated discussions in the Sparky community.

I have used this process in the past. I connect my ammeter ( I start on 10amp scale jic I turn lights on) in series with my battery. Then methodically remove fuses one at a time to see if current changes to lower value or goes to zero.  If you have a suspected problem, try flexing wiring and see if values change as well. Might want to look on backside of fusebox to body for any corrosion or pinched wires.  A wire can be pinched and drain battery without necessarily shorting to ground. As mentioned earlier, take a look at courtesy lights and I’ll throw in exterior lights such as turn and parking.  Possible corrosion tracking to metal housings or between terminals in light sockets. Hope this helps.