<VV> Battery drain on '62

[Craig Nicol]

From: Craig Nicol [mailto:nicolcs at aol.com] 
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 6:43 AM
To: 'virtualvairs at corvair.org'
Subject: 

 

Brett Griffin wrote:

 So I did some basic maintenance this weekend. Found I have a 4 amp draw on
the large positive cable with the key in lock.  Bad Starter or Coil?
Installed a Quick Disconnect so I don't drain the battery again. Starts fine
on a good charged battery. Discovered the generator has no output, or not
enough to overcome the 4amp draw.

 

Craig replies:

The symptoms sound like a bad voltage regulator. If the field relay is stuck
it can create a drain.  The usual way to isolate a drain is to disconnect
suspected components until the drain stops so I'd start with that. There are
quite a few components that are powered even with the key OFF such as:
charging system, horn, headlights, courtesy lights, brake lights, tail
lights, dash lights. The #1 cause of a battery drain is the "courtesy-clock"
circuit (usually wired with orange wire). Since you otherwise have a
charging system issue, that's where I'd start.  Are you using a clamp-on
ammeter; is that how you can isolate the drain to the battery-starter wire?

Craig Nicol