Something is draining my battery

Mr Blotto · Post by **Mr Blotto** » Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:20 pm

dtrumbo wrote:
Mr Blotto wrote:Am I correct in thinking that the hazard switch is the culpret???
Maybe. Take a look under your dash at the fuse box. There are two screws that hold it in place. Take them out and gently "fold" the fuse box down so you can see the back. Look at how many wires are connected to fuse 8 and see if anyone has added any extra wiring to your bus. If it's all as it was originally, then I'd look at your flasher switch. It's odd that you've gone through a couple of them now. That might point to another issue. Is the one you put in when you bought the bus an aftermarket part or good used from another bus? I'm sure Ken at www.thebusco.com has a good used original one.

BTW, the fact that your meter read zero when the flashers were on is probably due to the fact that the autoranging function of the meter couldn't keep up with the pulsing current of the flasher relay. The fact that only the right side flashes is not good and points at your switch being hinky.

I will do some investigating.

The original flasher was literally falling apart. The replacement was new from Cip1.

BTW - the meter went to zero after I exercised the flasher. It read zero upon tuning the flasher on, and stayed at zero when I turned the flashers off.

Thanks so much for all the help!!!

twinfalls · Post by **twinfalls** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 2:57 am

Mr Blotto wrote: The original flasher was literally falling apart. The replacement was new from Cip1.

BTW - the meter went to zero after I exercised the flasher. It read zero upon tuning the flasher on, and stayed at zero when I turned the flashers off.

Thanks so much for all the help!!!

A weird flasher behavior. It seems the 0.064 trouble went away.
It seems you have an intermittent failure. The flasher or concerned wiring.

Your proccedure going fuse by fuse is the right way to go.

All I can add is:
_Using an analog meter would show better what's going on about pulsed current.
_If you get again the 0.064 at #8; Check with removed signal bulbs and headlamp bulb.

chitwnvw · Post by **chitwnvw** » Sat Sep 05, 2009 8:13 am

You should come to the swap meet on the 20th and pick up another one.

Mr Blotto · Post by **Mr Blotto** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:22 am

OK - digging this up from the dead...(no pun intended).

I am still dealing with this battery drain issue. The mA test now reveals no draw on my battery. I checked the charging system at idle and got a stead 12.6 volts (reving engine had no effect).

Is this low?

Alt belt is tight enough - battery terminals are tight and clean.

Alternator is OG.

Westy78 · Post by **Westy78** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:43 am

12.6 is a fully charged battery but not enough voltage to show that the alternator or voltage regulator is charging. You should see ~13.5-14 volts when the engine is revved up a bit.

Mr Blotto · Post by **Mr Blotto** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:07 am

Westy78 wrote:12.6 is a fully charged battery but not enough voltage to show that the alternator or voltage regulator is charging. You should see ~13.5-14 volts when the engine is revved up a bit.

So am I to assume that my alt or votlage reg is not working? What is odd is that when the battery is dead, it will start off a jump and run fine - I would assume that if my alt was not putting out anything, the engine would not run for very long on a jumped (was dead before starting) battery.

dtrumbo · Post by **dtrumbo** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 9:36 am

Mr Blotto wrote:
Westy78 wrote:12.6 is a fully charged battery but not enough voltage to show that the alternator or voltage regulator is charging. You should see ~13.5-14 volts when the engine is revved up a bit.
So am I to assume that my alt or votlage reg is not working? What is odd is that when the battery is dead, it will start off a jump and run fine - I would assume that if my alt was not putting out anything, the engine would not run for very long on a jumped (was dead before starting) battery.

I would say you are correct in assuming your alternator is working... just not good enough.

Do you have dual batteries and if so, how are they connected in order for them to be charged by the alternator?

Mr Blotto · Post by **Mr Blotto** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 12:17 pm

dtrumbo wrote:Do you have dual batteries

Nope - I wish.

dtrumbo · Post by **dtrumbo** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 1:06 pm

Mr Blotto wrote:
dtrumbo wrote:Do you have dual batteries
Nope - I wish.

Did your bus ever have dual batteries? Mine did, but the aux battery on the driver side was removed. The isolator that keeps the two batteries separated but allows them to both be charged by the alternator was still in place and caused me a bit of grief when it failed. This is the reason I keep harping on the dual battery thing. If you still have the isolator in place, and it has failed (like mine did), it can cause problems. I was under the impression that all Westy's had dual batteries at least at one point in their lives.

chitwnvw · Post by **chitwnvw** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 1:09 pm

dtrumbo wrote: I was under the impression that all Westy's had dual batteries at least at one point in their lives.

I don't believe that is true. Possibly after the fridge went electric, but prior to that, what would be the point?

dtrumbo · Post by **dtrumbo** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 1:13 pm

chitwnvw wrote:I don't believe that is true. Possibly after the fridge went electric, but prior to that, what would be the point?

Good point. I shouldn't have generalized. However Mr. Blotto's is a '78. What say ye, Mr. B?

Mr Blotto · Post by **Mr Blotto** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:37 pm

dtrumbo wrote:
chitwnvw wrote:I don't believe that is true. Possibly after the fridge went electric, but prior to that, what would be the point?
Good point. I shouldn't have generalized. However Mr. Blotto's is a '78. What say ye, Mr. B?

There is no evidence that mine came with dual batteries. Could they have been standard equipment on late Westy DELUXE models (stove/propane tank/fridge), rather than the "base" Campmobile ones (no stove, no propane, just an ice box/cooler in place of the fridge)? I think the deluxe ones also had that fancy electrical meter/electrical outlet/circut braker doohicky under the rear bench seat, rather than the base Campmobile (just an outlet and breaker).

dtrumbo · Post by **dtrumbo** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 7:02 pm

Mr Blotto wrote:There is no evidence that mine came with dual batteries.

O.k. I'll let it go. I guess the next thing I'd do is make sure the wiring to the regulator and associated connections are all good. If that checks out, I'd swap out the regulator and see if your alternator starts putting out the correct voltage. Like Westy78 said, it should put out close to 14 volts when working correctly.

Mr Blotto · Post by **Mr Blotto** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:58 pm

I will test the VR next.

Thanks

chitwnvw · Post by **chitwnvw** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 9:14 pm

Mr Blotto wrote: I think the deluxe ones also had that fancy electrical meter/electrical outlet/circut braker doohicky under the rear bench seat, rather than the base Campmobile (just an outlet and breaker).

Interesting. My '79 parts bus has an electric fridge, the gas heater (at one time) and an extra battery, but no stove or propane. So maybe the fridge was the deal breaker. BTW Blotto I have a fridge in working condition if you are interested.

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Itinerant Air-Cooled

Something is draining my battery