transit minibus flat battery

[Havoc99]

Transit minibus
Flat batteries in the morning
Alternator working correctly
With vehicle idle & all of there is a discharge if 0.31A

Is this correct ?
Is there anything which could cause a draw in the battery like this ?
Would a draw in the batteries of 0.31A be enough to drain a charged battery over night ?
Batteries are 11 month old excide 100 71Ah 670cca

Help & advice appreciated

Merry Xmas & a happy new year

 

[diditrain]

Have you tried withdrawing the fuses one by one, to try to identify the load causing the drain.

 

[itselectric]

Have you checked the acid water level in your battery it may need topping up, which could mean the alternator is overcharging.

 

[Havoc99]

Have you tried withdrawing the fuses one by one, to try to identify the load causing the drain.

no I havnt yet.......
first I had to find out if a 0.31A draw was normal or a problem
have looked on you tube etc etc & it seems that anything over 50 milli amps is a problem
would you guys agree 0.31A is not normal & a problem ???

if yes I will start by disconnecting the alternator tomorrow morning & see if that changes the 0.31A draw
and then move on to fuses etc etc

appreciate your help many thanks

 

[Havoc99]

Have you checked the acid water level in your battery it may need topping up, which could mean the alternator is overcharging.

the two batteries were bought new 11 months ago
both good quality excide batteries 71Ah 670cca
I think they are both of a sealed unit type that don't need topping up, but I may be wrong in that assumption.


you help is much appreciated.

 

[overskilled]

Could also be - the starter, starter relay, ignition relay, engine control relay (controls the starter relay amongst other things)
On my vectra dead as doornails first thing, swapped the battery (as thought it was a dead cell), sorted for a week, same symptoms cropped back up, checked the battery with a multimeter rather than a battery tester, showing 12.6V so no problem, tried it a few more times, checked the fuses...nada, then noticed 2 of the relays rather warm to put it mildly, bump started it, bought a couple of new relays...all good.
Though gremlins still lurking on it...handbrake warning light now has a mind of its own since yesterday....flipping vauxhalls.....

 

[Havoc99]

batts ok
alternator ok
ignition ok

pulled a lot of fuses and eventually a power management fuse stopped the 0.13A draw
the associated rely was clicking and was not working correctly
replaced relay........... problem resolved

could not have done it without the assistance offered above..... many thanks to you all

 

[dean.diy]

Good post.I'd be well pleased saving ££. ( I'd swerve an altenator CHANGE. Can be a world of p** when bolt head shears off when working on driveway).

 

[monjoor]

0.31A = 310mA that's a fair bit of drain for a battery at least the problem is solved.

 

[jimmymac]

batts ok
alternator ok
ignition ok

pulled a lot of fuses and eventually a power management fuse stopped the 0.13A draw
the associated rely was clicking and was not working correctly
replaced relay........... problem resolved

could not have done it without the assistance offered above..... many thanks to you all

When you say 'Alternator is ok', have you tested it with and without a load on it? Also, what year is the vehicle?? The reason I ask is that some of the later models (2005 onwards) have a clutched pulley on the alternator which can cause an intermittent fault, which means it might not show up whilst you are testing.