[IN2DEP]

Ok ive had 3 brand new batterys and all have gone flat with in one night, my 3rd and current battery is a yellow optiman battrey, now that took longer to get flat, but 2 weeks not driving my zook and flat

Brand new alternator, so I dont think its that, any ideas ?

Cheers

[sideways]

IN2DEP wrote:

Ok ive had 3 brand new batterys and all have gone flat with in one night, my 3rd and current battery is a yellow optiman battrey, now that took longer to get flat, but 2 weeks not driving my zook and flat

Brand new alternator, so I dont think its that, any ideas ?

Cheers

Something is discharging the battery, fitted any electronic accessories lately?

[IN2DEP]

sideways wrote:

IN2DEP wrote:

Ok ive had 3 brand new batterys and all have gone flat with in one night, my 3rd and current battery is a yellow optiman battrey, now that took longer to get flat, but 2 weeks not driving my zook and flat

Brand new alternator, so I dont think its that, any ideas ?

Cheers

Something is discharging the battery, fitted any electronic accessories lately?

Nope, but I did flood it one time would that do something

[Gwagensteve]

Why did you spend money on a really good battery when you already had a problem with discharging? Instead of killing $150 batteries you've now killed a $300 battery

A) Check how much amp draw you have with the car switched off with a multimeter

B) Keep disconnecting any accessories you have installed and see if it makes any difference

C) If that doesn't help, start pulling fuses from the fuse box until it stops discharging. this will give you a clue about which circuit the discharge is coming from

D) If you still can't find it, it might well be the alternator, which is connected directly to the battery. If you disconnect the alternator charge wire, it will stop discharging.

E) I know it's not a fix, but why not disconnect the battery if you know you are going to be leaving the car for a while?

You need to be systematic and use a multimeter or you're going to be throwing batteries at this for a long time.

PS when you say flat... how flat? Anyhting under 9 volts or so and the battery is junk - it won't ever recover full capacity - even a Yellowtop.

Steve.

[IN2DEP]

Dont know lol, at the time I just needed to get to work, anyways I have no other acc in the car and I have no multimeter

But I thought the yellow battery cant die, meaning I can always recharge it back to 100% anlike other batterys, thats what my mate said at tower audio melton ?

[Gwagensteve]

Nope. It's just a lead acid battery. Deep discharging will still kill them.

Get a multimeter. You won't be able to diagnose this fault any other way.

Steve.

[steak_knife]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Nope. It's just a lead acid battery. Deep discharging will still kill them.

Get a multimeter. You won't be able to diagnose this fault any other way.

Steve.

Everyone who work's/play's with their own car's should have one, Duck Smuth sell's cheap one's that do the job.....

[IN2DEP]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Nope. It's just a lead acid battery. Deep discharging will still kill them.

Get a multimeter. You won't be able to diagnose this fault any other way.

Steve.

Cheers mate

[Gwagensteve]

My preference:

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.as ... TID=1060#1

Probably a bit of overkill, but the ability to measure amps DC via a clamp meter is gold for checking alternator function, for example.

Steve.

[scorpydude]

This is all you need for the problem your having.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=QM1500

Keep it in your car toolbox and make sure you carry a spare battery for it in your car toolbox.

Total cost of multimeter + spare battery = $12

[Scrawny]

steak_knife wrote:

Everyone who work's/play's with their own car's should have one, Duck Smuth sell's cheap one's that do the job.....

Are you a kiwi???

[Gwagensteve]

scorpydude wrote:

This is all you need for the problem your having.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=QM1500

Keep it in your car toolbox and make sure you carry a spare battery for it in your car toolbox.

Total cost of multimeter + spare battery = $12

That's true - it would allow the problem to be diagnosed, but 10A current measurement is a limitation for further testing.

I carry a small, cheap DMM with me in my toolbox. the clamp meter stays at home.

Steve.

[steak_knife]

Scrawn wrote:

steak_knife wrote:

Everyone who work's/play's with their own car's should have one, Duck Smuth sell's cheap one's that do the job.....

Are you a kiwi???

No, but Duck is.....

[IN2DEP]

Hey I got a multimeter and I just remembered that I dont know how to use them lol

Any help

[Bugsta]

IN2DEP wrote:

Hey I got a multimeter and I just remembered that I dont know how to use them lol

Any help

ROFL!

Sorry I can help here. It will help if you post a pic of the unit here so we can be specific.

And if you can tell us the extent of your electrical knowledge, we can get to what you don't. ie. Dou you understand the difference between AC/DC. DO you know what voltage and current means and what units they are measured in?

I'll just jump in anyways... There are 2 main selections on a DMM that you will use. The most common and easiest is the voltage range. For vehicle purposes you want a range that measures from below say 10v to above 14v DC (DC is often shown as a solid line with 3 broken lines under it) eg 2-20V DC. Useful to find live circuits, approximate battery condition/charge state and alternator state.

The current ranges allow you to measure how much current in milliamps(mA) or Amps(A). 1 Amp = 1,000mA. If your Yellow top is dead after only 2 weeks, something is drawing well more than 1 Amp I would think.

At this point, may I suggest a good quality house charger like a Ctek as this will help get the battery back to best possible condition.

Ok, To measure voltage, you simply place the probes on 2 opposing rails. ie. Black probe on the negative rail such as the chassis on some bare metal, or negative(-) batt termintal and the red probe on the positive rail of what you are trying to test. eg. Battery terminal, or output of a relay.

Current is a little more difficult. Unless you have a clamp meter, which are generally expensive and not provided with cheap meters, then you need to break the circuit and insert the meter in series (in the correct CURRENT mode - probably 10A) between the soruce of your power and where its going. You may also need to move the red probe to a different connection point on the meter when measuing high current, say "10A DC" or you wil blow the meter or at least the fuse.

For your situation, disconnecting the main POSITIVE battery terminal is the way here. You might like to get some aligator clips, and slip them on your probes, that are big enough to connect your probe to the batter terminal and the clamp of the cable you just disconnected from the battery.

There is more but tell us first how much of that you've understood?

[IN2DEP]

Well I know how to use a test light lol,

For someone that did a vet automotive course in school, I dont know much lol

But I can pick up the basics pretty quickly

This is what I got

[IN2DEP]

mine shows

DCV ACV DCA

and theres 3 spots for where the needles go

10a dc
V horse shoe symbol, (I think that means oms) ma

1000vcd
200ma max

Witch one do I put them in ? Lol

[Reubs]

IN2DEP wrote:

Witch one do I put them in ? Lol

Black -ve probe ALWAYS connects to COM.
Red +ve probe connects to V,mA, Ohm when measuring on those scales.
Red +ve probe connects to 10A DC when measuring on that scale.

[IN2DEP]

Reubs wrote:

IN2DEP wrote:

Witch one do I put them in ? Lol

Black -ve probe ALWAYS connects to COM.
Red +ve probe connects to V,mA, Ohm when measuring on those scales.
Red +ve probe connects to 10A DC when measuring on that scale.

Nice, now all I need to do is work out what the hell im doing lol

What setting would I need to put it on to chech my battery ?

[Moph]

Plug the black probe into the COM socket and the red probe into the 10A socket.

Put a charged battery in your Zook. Fit the positive terminal but leave the negative cable loose (ie not connected to the battery). Ensure that ignition switch is in the 'OFF' position and that everything in your car that should be off is off (lights, door courtesy light, radio, UHF, etc).

Turn the multimeter switch to the current setting. It might be marked 10A, A, Current, Amps or something like that. Touch the black probe onto the negative battery terminal, then hold the red probe against the end of the negative battery cable so that you're completing the electric circuit. Read the meter reading (noting the units - is it mA or A) and report back to us.

[Bugsta]

Moph, any reason you've suggested measuring on the NEG side?

[Moph]

Nope ... would work fine on the positive side too.

I always work with negative disconnected though, because that way nothing happens if I accidentally bridge between the positive terminal and the body while working on the car. Try that with the negative still connected (ie body grounded to battery) and you'll get sparks.

[sogone]

How do ya test the health of a battery using a multi meter?

[royce]

sogone wrote:

How do ya test the health of a battery using a multi meter?

first of all you can check its state of charge (soc) when rested, generally this means the battery is under no load and has been sitting without having any charge applied for a few hours, compare to this table.


if your fully charged rested voltage is lower than say 12.5 then your battery is losing capacity

next you can do a rough load test on the battery, keep testing the voltage and now crank the engine, you probably dont want to see under 11 volts here but because its a rough test and we dont know how much current we are pulling at the time we cant say if we have a battery or starter problem, only that the system is good or bad

[IN2DEP]

This is good stuff guys, im going to buy a battery chager today day and chager her up and let yous know

Cheers guys

[Bugsta]

IN2DEP wrote:

This is good stuff guys, im going to buy a battery chager today day and chager her up and let yous know

Cheers guys

Choose a multi stage charger, not an Arlec or simlar POC. This will help keep your batery in good condition and may even improve its performance and lifespan. Some good ones are C-Tek, Projecta, or one that your local Auto Elec or mechanic sells and recommends (as long as you trust his judgement).

[IN2DEP]

Bugsta wrote:

IN2DEP wrote:

This is good stuff guys, im going to buy a battery chager today day and chager her up and let yous know

Cheers guys

Choose a multi stage charger, not an Arlec or simlar POC. This will help keep your batery in good condition and may even improve its performance and lifespan. Some good ones are C-Tek, Projecta, or one that your local Auto Elec or mechanic sells and recommends (as long as you trust his judgement).

Good, I bought the projecta 5400 12v, takes about 6 - 10 hours to charge, will wait and see

[Bugsta]

I have a calcium battery in my van and it is buggered. I have to put it on charge with my C-tek alost every weekend or the van won't start. And as long as I use the vehicle every day, its ok. I have had lots of trouble with this new calcium tech batteries. I believe part of the problem is they require a higher charge voltage which my alternators cannot give.

[IN2DEP]

Is there an altornator upgrade for our zooks ? I know from my gti days that a falcon one fits the g13b but will that be good with the carby/ 1.6l motors ?

[Gwagensteve]

It would have been quicker to find it than to type that question:

http://www.auszookers.com/index.php?nam ... pic&t=5529

It's never far down on the"good tech" page

Steve.