Parasitic draw

[threadcutter]

Does anyone know what the acceptable parasitic draw is for a 2001 Tahoe? My brother has been having on going issues with dead batteries. he was told by some mechanic outside pik npull that it was the SEO1 fuse ( guess he used some sort of test light method)

Anyways i had the truck sit over night and currently the 25A RDO AMP fuse is consistently pulling 1.0 mV which translates to 218 mA according to power probe tek website. The battery was at 11.6x Volts when i tested and the radio was removed and disconnected last night.

I know this method can be inaccurate, im waiting on a clamp meter and noco genius 10 battery charger to be able to perform a more accurate test

set your meter to the milliamps scale, move your test lead to the amps position. With the vehicle turned off, pull each fuse and put the meter probes into each socket for each fuse. In other words remove a fuse and temporarily replace it with the meter leads. Repeat the process until you find a circuit with high current draw, thats your culprit.
I had the same problem in a 2000 suburban. Turns out it was the amplifier for the audio system remaining on continuously after shutting the vehicle off.

 

[Fless]

set your meter to the milliamps scale, move your test lead to the amps position. With the vehicle turned off, pull each fuse and put the meter probes into each socket for each fuse. In other words remove a fuse and temporarily replace it with the meter leads. Repeat the process until you find a circuit with high current draw, thats your culprit.
I had the same problem in a 2000 suburban. Turns out it was the amplifier for the audio system remaining on continuously after shutting the vehicle off.

What happens to the meter using the mA scale when the draw is more than the scale max? It's a bit safer to use the built-in test points on the in-circuit fuse, and use the conversion chart to estimate the draw. And sometimes when you pull a fuse the draw stops and doesn't reappear.



You can download the conversion charts here (one download, multiple fuse sizes):
https://www.powerprobetek.com/knowledge/fuse-voltage-drop-charts/

 

[BG1988]

All my aftermarket HU are wired as if they were stock. I don't run anything extra.

Also ive never heard the amp make any noise on any car ive been in. You must have some really great ears

good luck you can always wire in a manual switch for the fuse this will solve the issue... or you can get a small solar panel to keep it charged up

 

[Mickey_7106]

The truck has held power for a week now with the amp disconnected. I've concluded its the amp draining the battery. Thanks for all your help folks!

 

[exp500]

Please edit your original post title, add SOLVED. Thanks.

 

[Fless]

Thanks, i ordered a true rms klein cl390 for $75 on amazon. If i read the description correctly, it will read down to 200 microamps

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Mickey, I'm curious to know what you think about the Klein you bought. Wondering how it worked out for low DC current measurements with the clamp.

 

[Mickey_7106]

it was working fine but at times i kept getting a lot of fluctuating readings around the cables before i put them through the clamp. I ended up removing the negative battery post and connected the meter inline instead to get more accuracy

Mickey, I'm curious to know what you think about the Klein you bought. Wondering how it worked out for low DC current measurements with the clamp.

 

[Mickey_7106]

 

[Mickey_7106]