please help w/voltmeter use, picture included

[TulsaGN]

My battery is discharging rapidly and I need to use the voltmeter to determine where it's coming from. Problem is, I don't have a clue as to how to use the darn thing. Could somebody look at my picture and tell me what setting to have it on. Thanks!

 

[Blown&Injected]

It is almost 180* off

Point it at the 20 that the side oppsite of the pointer on the selector is near.

That is the 20 volt range and since you will be looking of 12 volts it needs to be set higher than 12 so 20 is it.

HTH's

 

[TulsaGN]

Thanks!! Do I keep it on that same setting when I go between the positive cable and battery post, so I can start to check where the drainage is coming from or do I switch to A DC to look at amps?

 

[Blown&Injected]

Your meter has a 2 and a 10 amp DC setting but I would leave it on to 20 v DC range while hunting for the circuit. When you find it then see how much current just for curiosity - but it really does not matter as you know there is an offending wire in there somewhere that needs fixin'

BTW - how does the + cable to the starter look?

 

[TulsaGN]

Blown...thank you very much for your help.

Here's what I found after tapping between the pos. cable and battery:

-using the 20mA DC, or 200mA or 2mA = 1
-using the 20 v DC = 12.30 steady, it's the same number I come up with
when testing the pos. and neg. of the battery itself

 

[Drivenmenuts]

You blew the fuse inside the meter trying to measure voltage with the meter set for current. Take off the back cover and check the fuse.

And remember: If you want to measure current, you have to unhook a battery cable. Have the red lead plugged into the meter socket marked 2A fused and set you meter to 2A. One meter lead shoud be connected to the battery, and the other lead to the battery cable. Hopefully you won't be measuring more than 2 amps because the fuse will blow again, but it's safer that way.

 

[TulsaGN]

ok....I had the red lead plugged into to Max 2A Fused and the dial set to
2A on the A DC and then tapped between the positive battery cable and the positive battery stud and it read .33 and after 5 seconds it went to .01
What is this telling me? Sorry, I'm electrically challenged.

 

[Jbenn911]

A DC is for AMPS direct current..If you are looking for voltage, that wont do it

 

[TulsaGN]

I'm looking for whatever way will help me see if I have anything draining my battery. I've read people using mA and people using volts. Somebody please just tell me what I need to do. I know you have unhook the pos. cable and tap between the cable and the battery, which I did and my reading are listed above. Problem is, I'm not real keen on this type of stuff. Thanks.

 

[cabech984]

Use the Negative cable(disconnected) It's called a Parasatic Load Drain test:

place the DVOM on the 20mA setting
place red meter lead to battery, black to wire
Turn on the DVOM
let the car sit for a couple minutes while the meter is attached to let the mA come to a constant reading.
Once you get a steady reading, start pulling fuses and relays(one at a time) until the meter drops mA.
Whichever circuit you have unplugged is the problem circuit.

You should have less than .4A (4mA)
The battery could also possibly be discharging as well. May look into that.

Good Luck,
Chris

 

[garyk1970]

1) black test lead on com on meter,other end to positive battery cable.
2)red lead on 10 a, other end hooked to battery (use a aligator clip to secure)
3)move dail to A dc/10a
4) make sure car is off,doors/trunk closed
5) let me know how many amps it shows,less than .5 (1/2a)is acceptable.
if shows more UNHOOK meter and pull dome/horn/cig lighter fuse.then read again,keep pulling constant fuses untill meter is in range .5a or less.once you find the fuse that cures problem,find out everything that runs on said fuse.

 

[cabech984]

It could be possible that you have a stuck relay too(fuel pump, hotwire, etc)

 

[garyk1970]

he should start at his meters highest setting(10a) because we dont know what kind/how severe his cars drain is

Use the Negative cable(disconnected) It's called a Parasatic Load Drain test:

place the DVOM on the 20mA setting
place red meter lead to battery, black to wire
Turn on the DVOM
let the car sit for a couple minutes while the meter is attached to let the mA come to a constant reading.
Once you get a steady reading, start pulling fuses and relays(one at a time) until the meter drops mA.
Whichever circuit you have unplugged is the problem circuit.

You should have less than .4A (4mA)
The battery could also possibly be discharging as well. May look into that.

Good Luck,
Chris

 

[garyk1970]

theres a white mark on your meter,its not the correct indicator for the dial.use the indicator thats indented on the dial (180* on the pic you showed)

 

[TulsaGN]

Use the Negative cable(disconnected) It's called a Parasatic Load Drain test:

place the DVOM on the 20mA setting
place red meter lead to battery, black to wire
Turn on the DVOM
let the car sit for a couple minutes while the meter is attached to let the mA come to a constant reading.
Once you get a steady reading, start pulling fuses and relays(one at a time) until the meter drops mA.
Whichever circuit you have unplugged is the problem circuit.

You should have less than .4A (4mA)
The battery could also possibly be discharging as well. May look into that.

Good Luck,
Chris

Isn't there a way to just check to see if there is a drain on the battery before I go pulling all kinds of fuses? The white mark is correct on my meter, I just took a picture of it before I even started doing anything and that's where it was for no reason.

 

[TulsaGN]

1) black test lead on com on meter,other end to positive battery cable.
2)red lead on 10 a, other end hooked to battery (use a aligator clip to secure)
3)move dail to A dc/10a
4) make sure car is off,doors/trunk closed
5) let me know how many amps it shows,less than .5 (1/2a)is acceptable.
if shows more UNHOOK meter and pull dome/horn/cig lighter fuse.then read again,keep pulling constant fuses untill meter is in range .5a or less.once you find the fuse that cures problem,find out everything that runs on said fuse.

I tried this and I got a reading of 0.00, no movement at all. Shouldn't there be at least a little? If I set dial on 2A A DC and red lead to A BAT fused(next to COM on the meter and then touching pos. battery post and unhooked pos. battery cable I get a reading of 1. That's it, not 1.00 just 1.

What are these things telling me? I may have toasted my 10A earlier today when I forgot to change the dial and was testing for volts on the battery itself and it sparked and stank. Did I toast it?

 

[cabech984]

Does your meter read any sort of amperage? I thought that you would want DC mA (the battery is constant current) for the drain. By doing the drain test, you'll find that there is/isnt a drain, pulling the fuses/ relays is what we do at work to find the problem area quick.

How long does it take for the battery to drain? Is it a new battery? I bought a duralast for my old DD and it lasted 2 months. It wouldnt hold a charge for more than 8 hours. Replaced it with a Diehard and had no troubles after.

 

[cabech984]

Also, you do want the battery power to pass through the meter. you should be able to get some lights to come on.

 

[gsgns4me]

Parasitic Draw Test in .pdf

 

[TulsaGN]

I unplugged the orange ECM wire behind battery so as not to blow anything since I'm not the worlds smartest electrician. So, with the negative battery cable off, I tapped between the post and cable to measure mA and it was fluctuating between approximately 11 and 13 mA, back and forth, back and forth, continuous. I then unplugged the Fan Delay Relay and it dropped to a fluctuating approximately 8 and 10 mA, back and forth, back and forth.

2 Questions
1. is it suppose to be fluctuation by 2 amounts all the time or is there something drawing with a pulse?
2. can I assume that the Fan Delay Relay swith is bad and can I also just leave it off with no worries? What do I do with the wires?

Thanks