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Battery drain question

vtboy51

Sr. Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2016
Messages
389
I’m working on chasing the cause of my dead battery and need some confirmation. I have a new (less than a year old) 1 wire alternator from WH that I think is the culprit. When I disconnect the positive cable from the battery , then put a volt meter between the terminal and the post on the alternator I get 11.3volts. I think that’s telling me the alternator is pulling power, correct??
 

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vtboy51

vtboy51

Sr. Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2016
Messages
389
Some added findings. If I put the meter between the positive terminal and the red (batt) wire of my fitech I get 10.5volts.... and still 11.5v at the alternator.
 

gr8scott

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
1,830
Is the yellow wire from the regulator going to this thing that I've circled? What is it? I'm no electrical engineer,
but I don't think you should see any voltage anywhere with the battery disconnected.
 

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vtboy51

vtboy51

Sr. Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2016
Messages
389
That yellow wire is the old connection, it’s just taped off now. I am measuring .5 amps between the positive terminal and the alternator terminal , so I’m getting more convinced it’s the alternator drawing.
 

needsmoarturbo

Full Member
Joined
May 13, 2015
Messages
278
The way I prefer to test this is to put the meter on amps and put it between the negative cable terminal which is removed from the battery and the negative post of the battery. Then you should have a reading. It should be low, much less than an amp. If it's not, Pull fuses 1 by 1 and see if one makes the draw disappear. The culprit will be on that circuit. Your description of how your testing doesn't make sense to me.
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,645
It's possible, but you could test for certain by disconnecting the alternator charge cable from the rest of the system overnight and see if it still drains.
I realize that's not a "test" per sé, but it'll isolate things pretty certain.

With your setup you can even disconnect it at the Mega-Fuse for convenience.
How long does it take to drain the battery? If just a few hours then it's likely the alternator. Not much else drains a battery that quickly except when the battery itself is going bad.
Unless you have some other fancy electronic doohickeys plugged in somewhere?

Batteries do just go deal all on their own sometimes. We see it happen all the time too. Probably about 30% to an alternator's 70% or thereabouts.
If you disconnect the alternator and it still dies, then it's something else, such as the battery. If that happens, then you disconnect the battery and see if it still dies. If it does, then you know for certain it's the battery alone.
As said, very possible to be an alternator though, as they do fail. Could be the internal diodes, or it could just be the regulator going out. not sure how to test for that.
When the engine is running, what is the charge voltage reading?

Not really a long official warranty on them unfortunately. It's "only" 30 months, so you're good! If it turns out to be the alternator after all then, give us a call and see what we can do to take care of it.

Paul
 
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