Drain on battery

[Eckaslike]

I have a Renault Megan Authentique 1.4 petrol 52 reg. it is used Mon-Thurs for work. I find that come Mon mornings the
battery seems flat & wont start unless I use a jump start. I have changed the battery but to no avail. I am told there is a leak or load on the battery which runs down over 3 - 4 days. Any ideas what to look for or test. I am a domestic sparks

 

[telectrix]

interior light/s staying on? all modern cars have some drain when left standing. can you not give it a run on saturdays?

 

[ruston]

Check the tension of the alternator belt and its output. Check as Tel says for lights staying on , possibly in the "boot" area. If the alternator is OK use your clamp meter at the battery after the car has stood awhile and check to see if there is excessive current draw . One amp for instance will drain the battery in relation to its amp hour rating, but will be quicker if it is not fully charged in the first place. If you are running A/C and other heavy loads the length of your run may not be sufficient to keep your battery fully charged.

 

[snowhead]

Interior lights
Boot lights
I.C.E amps on standby
Alarms
Built in Hands free

 

[Adam W]

As ruston says use a clamp meter to check everything has shut down - apparently on French cars that can take a while because there's a lot of electronics involved.
I was told that by an RAC man.

 

[Geordie Spark]

I had a problem like this on my 1990 Celica.

I tracked it down to a faulty switch on the electric window.

 

[the pict]

Do you have an antistatic strap fitted, the thing that trails along the ground as you move, my mate had one that for some reason would discharge the battery on wet grass overnight on sites, at home on the drive it was ok.
Pict

 

[Guest111]

remember the clamp needs to be able to read DC.

 

[Earthstore]

How to test your battery drain.
Disconnect your battery, set your multi meter to 10ADC then place it in series between battery and lead, IE negative lead from multi meter on battery and positive lead of multi meter onto battery lead, look at the reading, it should be 0.0 something, if higher, pull your fuses one at a time until you find what is draining your battery.
When doing the test, make sure that interior light is switched off, and any other elecrical device, IE radio etc...
I hope this makes sense and helps too...

 

[Geordie Spark]

To prevent battery storage many steps are taken some locked up their screen so that they can save their battery through that but that would not help.These are slow and short term tips.

Would you mind translating that into Geordie for me please?

 

[Earthstore]

Would you mind translating that into Geordie for me please?

I was wondering if it was written in some sort of code too, Maybe we all need to buy an Enigma machine???

 

[Geordie Spark]

I was wondering if it was written in some sort of code too, Maybe we all need to buy an Enigma machine???

No need to buy one.

Mr D Skelton (AKA Rommel) will lend us his - if we ask nicely.