Keeping your lead-acid battery clean is an easy way to extend service life. Ensure the top of the battery is clean, and that the terminals are free of corrosion. It is a little known fact that a dirty battery can discharge across the grime sitting between the terminal posts, reducing service life.
A thin coating of high temperature grease may also be applied to posts and cable connections for added protection. Get more out of your marine battery with a Century battery charger and maintainer. Like us on Facebook to check out the latest news, events, battery tips and more from Century Batteries.
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Switch to NZ Century Batteries. The test must be run with the battery in a high state of charge. Be sure to read and follow all safety and handling instructions on the battery, this website and your battery tester. If you would like your battery tested, use our Find a Retailer for a location near you. Find the Right Battery for Me. Read This before you disconnect or replace a battery on a late model vehicle. WARNING: When disconnecting or replacing a car battery on a late mode vehicle, you should always maintain voltage to the vehicle's electrical system to preserve learned module settings.
This can be done by plugging a backup battery into the cigarette lighter, or attaching a backup battery or battery charger to the car's battery cables BEFORE the cables are disconnected. As a rule, the parasitic drain on most late model vehicles should be less than 50 milliamps one hour after the vehicle has been shut off and left undisturbed. But this is a rule of thumb only. Always refer to the vehicle manufacturer's key-off electrical drain specifications if available some vehicle manufacturers have no published specifications.
Keep in mind, though, that opening a door, the trunk or turning anything on can wake up various modules and start the timer countdown all over again. So if you want to check the parasitic draw on the battery, leave the hood open or the trunk if the battery is located in the back.
Check for Voltage Drop: Use a digital volt meter to measure voltage drop across individual fuses with the key off. This method does not require removing any fuses or disconnecting the battery. Set the voltmeter to the millivolt Mv scale. No current flow through a circuit should show a zero reading on the voltmeter when the probes are connected to both sides of individual fuses. Any reading other than zero typically a few tenths of a volt would indicate current flow in a circuit and a potential drain on the battery.
Use an ammeter with an amp probe to measure key-off current flow at the battery: Connect an inductive amp probe to your ammeter or digital multimeter, then clamp the probe around one of the battery cables. Set the meter to read milliamps mA.
If there is a key-off current drain on the battery, the meter should detect the current. Make sure the amp probe you are using is one that is calibrated to detect small milliamp currents, not large multiamp currents. Use an ammeter to measure key-off current flow at the battery: This method requires disconnecting one of the battery cables and connecting the ammeter in series between the battery and cable so any current flow will pass through the meter.
Make sure you provide backup power to the electrical system before disconnecting the battery. As before, use the milliamp scale. Causes of excessive current drain from a car battery include things like lights that remain on trunk and hood lights, interior lights, brake lights, etc. Keyless entry systems and anti-theft systems can often be the source of a significant key-off current drain on the battery.
A fuel pump relay that sticks on may keep the fuel pump running after the engine is shut off. A switch or relay that powers a rear window defogger can stick on, pulling current from the battery after the ignition is off. An electronic suspension module, ABS module or keyless entry module may remain active long after it should have powered down. An accessory such as a DVD player, game console or cell phone charger left plugged into a rear seat power receptacle may be pulling power from the battery.
So before you spend a lot of time trying to figure out where the amps are disappearing, check all of the vehicle's power receptacles to see if something is plugged in that may be using power. If the key-off current reading is above specifications typically, more than 50 mA one hour after the vehicle has been shut off , the current drain is too high.
It's time to start pulling fuses and relays to find the fault.
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