Battery current at rest

[steve_earwig]

The remote central locking usually goes tit sup...

It'd probably work with one of those gadgets you plug in the fag lighter socket to avoid the need for knowing your radio's code. If the fuse is in the right place obv.

[PeterN]

I do wait for the proscribed period of time before disconnecting the battery, and no problems - so far, but if the battery is nearly flat when you try to engage the starter it goes flat and shuts the processor down anyway, in fact it resets the clock even when not completely flat.

The current that is being drawn from either battery is enough to flatten a good one within about 3 weeks and sometimes the car gets left that long without being used, we only generally only use it if we both need to go out at the same time or the other one is off the road for any reason.

Perhaps some brave person would like to check their car and let me have the results.

Peter

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Peter,
I'd happily check my 110 for you,
But I'm afraid you'll have to explain how to do it
I do have a multi-meter & pp2k
but do not know without reading up on the subject how to check it.

Kind regards Paul.

[PeterN]

Hi Paul

Thanks for the offer. If you have a multimeter set it to 'amps' you may have to change the position of the + lead to do this, it will tell you on the meter. Open the bonnet switch everything off and make sure all the doors are closed, wait for about 3 minutes, disconnect the + battery lead and connect the + lead of the meter to the battery terminal, connect the negative lead to the battery lead you have removed, this will measure the current flowing from the battery. It would be a good idea to leave it connected for about 5 minutes as I found mine dropped to a lower current after this time.

When you have finished just connect the battery up again, you will need to reset the clock but it shouldn't affect anything else.

Peter

[frog]

Maybe it is better to connect the multimeter first, then disconnect the battery. In this way, the current is never really cut, but just re-routed via the multimeter.

After measuring, reconnect the battery first, then disconnect the multimeter.

This procedure will save you from having a disconnected battery altogether, which seems to give a chance of damaging the electronics (inside the BSI box). I read various postings indicating that even if the 3-minutes procedure is followed, the BSI has a possibility of losing its memory.

[PeterN]

True.

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Hi Peter,
No worries, I'll have a go hopefully on Sunday,
Due to needing the car for work up until then & not wanting to mess about in the dark & cold.
Falling then I will have a go over Christmas week, as I won't be using it for that week.
Hope this is ok for you, Have a good Christmas.
Kind regards Paul

[PeterN]

Thank you very much.

Peter

[Welly]

I'm brilliant* with multi-meters, two of mine have made an impressive *pop* sound in my capable hands

[Doggy]

I'm brilliant* with multi-meters, two of mine have made an impressive *pop* sound in my capable hands

My £19.99 Maplins special works perfectly after 20+ years, (& no it's not a Fluke).

[PeterN]

In the olden days I had the same experience, the early digital meters didn't suffer fools gladly, I got through several and they weren't cheap. I eventually bit the bullet and bought a 'Fluke' meter and that was brilliant, also very expensive but I still have it and it still works although the display is disintegrating at the edges, must be about 35 years old now. They are virtually indestructible, you can connect it across the mains on the ohms range and it just shrieks at you.

Peter

[steve_earwig]

I have a Fluke too, a 77/BT which I (obviously) ahem found in a draw at work. The last calibration ended 27-06-1989, so it's a bit ancient, but it's still going despite my best efforts. I tend to stay away from mains ( ) but I've shorted all sorts of things through the current shunt and it still forgives me. It's been amazing, the best £0.00 I ever spent!

[PeterN]

Mine is a Fluke 11, don't know how old that makes it but it's repaired a fair few TV's.

Peter

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Hi Peter,
Sorry for taking so long to reply, during the holidays it was either wet, -temps, snowy
or the wife said family comes first ( it was Christmas ) ie Christmas day & New year's day.

Anyhow I have some results for you , 120ma dropping to 50ma when left for over one hour.
I did fit a brand new Exide EA770 premium 096 battery last winter , 77ah & 760cca but I
don't suppose that would affect the amount of draw.

Sorry I can't be of more assistance, Paul.
Happy new year.

[Doggy]

That suggests an 096, (75Ah) battery should still have 50% capacity after 750 hours or about a month at a 50mA discharge rate.
Obviously the chances of it still starting the car will vary according to temperature, but 3 - 4 weeks in the summer shouldn't be a problem.

To be fair my bro's current 110 HDi doesn't seem to be able to manage a week, but his previous 3 406's and both of mine never had any issues.