Normal drain (amps) on chassis battery?
Moderator: bfadmin
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George Boley
Normal drain (amps) on chassis battery?
Does anyone know what the normal battery drain on a 1999 E-350 should be in the all off position? I realize the clock is still on and the computer has to be powered up, but the one (1.0) amp draw I am getting seems to be high. The battery loses enough voltage over several days to prevent starting. I have had the battery tested for load and it appeared to be OK. This all seemed to have started when I rewired the radio, (per instruction by those of you who know) to operate on the coach batteries. I have since wired it back as it was, but the problem continues. George B
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Bill Ruh
Normal drain (amps) on chassis battery?
Hi George,
I don't have any ford-specific info, but I've seen numbers like 35-50 milliamps for the maximum acceptable parasitic drain. One amp is off the charts.
<Editing to add a reference>
Just found this, perhaps it will help. It says 25-75 milliamps.
http://www.exide.com/products/trans/na/ ... c_load.pdf
I don't have any ford-specific info, but I've seen numbers like 35-50 milliamps for the maximum acceptable parasitic drain. One amp is off the charts.
<Editing to add a reference>
Just found this, perhaps it will help. It says 25-75 milliamps.
http://www.exide.com/products/trans/na/ ... c_load.pdf
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George Boley
Hi Bill,
When I posted this inquiry, I hoped you were reading the mail and sure enough
Thanks for the info. I thought 1 amp seemed awfull high. I got an e-mail from Sab and he suggested I pull each fuse and check the reading until I located the draw circut, then start isolating appliances. Mel had the same problem when he switched his radio, but others have not had any troubles. The problem with a rear door coach, is when you have the key on accessories for the radio, every time you close the door the electric step goes in. Becomes a real pain. Thats why I want to be able to play the radio off the coach battery. Will keep you informed George B
When I posted this inquiry, I hoped you were reading the mail and sure enough
Thanks for the info. I thought 1 amp seemed awfull high. I got an e-mail from Sab and he suggested I pull each fuse and check the reading until I located the draw circut, then start isolating appliances. Mel had the same problem when he switched his radio, but others have not had any troubles. The problem with a rear door coach, is when you have the key on accessories for the radio, every time you close the door the electric step goes in. Becomes a real pain. Thats why I want to be able to play the radio off the coach battery. Will keep you informed George B-
Bill Ruh
parasitic drain troubleshooting
Hi George,
Sab is spot on. I'd also look around for shorts where the wires were perturbed.
Do you have a separate amp and head-unit, and/or a cd changer? If so, are all powered from the same battery? We had a separate amp in our 1991, which was under the unused top-of-dash-center speaker grille. When I installed an am/fm/cd, I removed both the am/fm/cassette head unit and amp, just wiring the new unit to power, switched power, and ground. Since you put the wiring back to original and still have the problem, this probably isn't it, but I thought it worth mentioning.
If you want a rear door coach without an electric step, just let us know.
Sab is spot on. I'd also look around for shorts where the wires were perturbed.
Do you have a separate amp and head-unit, and/or a cd changer? If so, are all powered from the same battery? We had a separate amp in our 1991, which was under the unused top-of-dash-center speaker grille. When I installed an am/fm/cd, I removed both the am/fm/cassette head unit and amp, just wiring the new unit to power, switched power, and ground. Since you put the wiring back to original and still have the problem, this probably isn't it, but I thought it worth mentioning.
If you want a rear door coach without an electric step, just let us know.