Battery Draining!

[hobiesbestfriend]

OK, I own an 81 Bj60 that for no explicable reason just seems to lose all battery power if it sits for a couple of days without running. Till now, I have had bigger fish to fry in building my monster, but eventually gonna need to solve this. I am also getting an 86 HJ60 that apparently has the same power drain(it's a 24v system though). I tried searching for anything on this but nothing comes up. Anybody come across this before? Am I missing something obvious? Is this maybe a common problem with older LC's? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[iron_giant]

My HJ60 does the same thing. I'm wondering if it is a small draw from the converter (aftermarket). I have heard of several 24volt trucks with this problem. I really haven't explored the matter, I just use a battery disconnect when its going to sit.

 

[brownbear]

You must have a power drain. No converter in the Bj60.

If you put a clamp on amp meter around the positve wire to the battery, I presume you could pluu fuses till you found the culprit. Or at least get you close. Some fuses have many circuit.

You could get the isolation switch for the battery terminal, like mentioned above.

I have not tried the clamp on amp meter technique. So its theory at best.........

 

[M John Galt]

All clamp-on ammeters I've seen only work with AC circuits. What model works with DC circuits?

 

[nickw]

If you put a clamp on amp meter around the positve wire to the battery, I presume you could pluu fuses till you found the culprit. Or at least get you close. Some fuses have many circuit.

You could get the isolation switch for the battery terminal, like mentioned above.

I have not tried the clamp on amp meter technique. So its theory at best.........

I have done this.

Put a multi-meter in the line of the positive battery terminal and the postive lead. Find a small draw. Then as you say, start pulling fuses when you find a fuse that drops the draw, you know you are in business. Keep in mind things like the clock will draw all the time. But a .01 volt draw will not drain your battery that fast. In my case it was an aftermarket amp that had gone wrong inside.

Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Nick

 

[Garry]

My 60 has a similar problem. It has a 24v to 12v reducer to run the cd player, CB, etc. If I don't run it for a week or two, the batteries run down, so I rigged up a switch to isolate the reducer and no worries since! (unless I forget to turn it off)

 

[brownbear]

Ya but then you lose the radio presets. That would drive me bonkers......And the time on it would be lost too.

 

[Greg_B]

My 60 has a similar problem. It has a 24v to 12v reducer to run the cd player, CB, etc. If I don't run it for a week or two, the batteries run down, so I rigged up a switch to isolate the reducer and no worries since! (unless I forget to turn it off)

Some of the older school converters were very inefficient. The larger the heat sinks the more so as a general rule. Sometimes, they do go bad inside too. Years ago I had a small IPC that would kill my batteries in a week on the BJ42. Replaced with another new IPC, the same model, I had laying around and everything was fine. Any good new converters should be much more efficient then days of old. Find the stats for the converter you are using and see what the static draw is.

hth's

gb

 

[brownbear]

All clamp-on ammeters I've seen only work with AC circuits. What model works with DC circuits?

Like I said I have not tried. But I own one that goes on my meter. But I searched and found one similar.

http://www.amazon.com/Fluke-FLUI410-Current-Clamp-DMMs/dp/B0002T5U9A?tag=ihco-20


thats an AC/DC current clamp on.

 

[brownbear]

If you are using your meter on just amp mode, you need a shunt inline with the power wire, and you read the amps across the shunt.

If you search on google you can find reading amps with a DMM.

 

[hobiesbestfriend]

Sweet, well, the 130 dollar clamp on would be nice, but budgets being what they are, I might read up on doing it with a DMM, the pulling fuses seems to be right up my alley. I'm not sure what it could be since there is nothing aftermarket in/on the vehicle(can't say for the HJ but on my BJ anyways) and there is no wiring going past the dash so it has to be something in there. Could this be a glow plug related issue? Not sure how, but someone mentioned them being a problem in theirs. The converter that you all speak of, is this only on the HJ due to it being 24v?

 

[ivanhoe]

hi,
it could be a bad diode in the alternator! happen a few times to me, frozen batteries! ouch! funny no one mentioned it yet? try removing the battery connection on the alternator when the vehicle is not in use and see if the batteries stay charged.
hth,

 

[hobiesbestfriend]

Thanks Ivanhoe, will do. I will keep you all posted as to possible cures etc.. as i learn more