Up until a few days ago everything was fine with the battery.
I installed component speakers front and rear, and an amp. This has been the third time I have installed this very setup in a car, with no issues the previous times. I did not use any of the factory wiring, and used new speaker wire to re-wire all of the speakers to the cross-overs and to the amp. Both the head unit and the amp are alpine so the remote turn-on wire from the amp wires directly to its own special place on the head unit harness.... so nothing new there.
Anyway, the install process took me about 2 days during which i let the battery die 3 times from having the doors and trunk open for long periods of time.
Day 1, battery died once... charged it for about 20 minutes. Started the car, and made some short trips around town. The next morning I had no trouble starting the car right up.
Day 2, battery died twice... first time charged it enough to start car. Did some trouble shooting and needed music running, so i drained it again for the 2nd time that day. Charged it up to start the car (~20 min), maybe made a few short trips around town.
Next morning car wouldnt start, no clicks or anything, but still had power so it wasnt stone dead. Jumped the car, drove around town a bunch, no problems. Unpluged power and ground to amp as i figured this was the most likely possible drain source (although it didnt make any sense to me, since i've done this twice before). Went to a movie (~15 min drive), but after the movie the car barely started.
The next day I gave it a nice 3 hour charge. At the end of which, I used a test light to see if I had a drain. With the trunk light unplugged, and all doors closed, the test light had a very faint glow. A glow which became very bright with lets say the trunk light left plugged in. Figured that this may indicate a possible drain, so i left the battery un-connected for the rest of the day.
The next morning, I connected the battery back up and the car started no trouble. First thing I did was go and buy a multimeter. Using it in a series between the + cable and + battery terminal, I couldnt get a single reading! I tried every setting (200m,20m,2m) and had nothing show up. I even tried the ground side and nothing either.
So I took some other battery measurements:
Car off -> 12.4V
Car on -> 14V
Let it sit 3 hours with the battery fully connected:
Car off -> 12.1V BUT the car barely started just like at the movies a few days prior.
So... I am a little stumped. Maybe I wasnt using the multimeter properly, but it isnt rocket science ya know... although i should have gotten a reading of at least 5mA. With the battery at 12.1V I should have no problem starting the car right? I am a little more inclined to think that I just ruined the battery draining it all those times. I dont even know how old it is to tell you the truth.
Anyway... what are some opinions? I know this was very very long, but at least now you know what i know.
Dave
I installed component speakers front and rear, and an amp. This has been the third time I have installed this very setup in a car, with no issues the previous times. I did not use any of the factory wiring, and used new speaker wire to re-wire all of the speakers to the cross-overs and to the amp. Both the head unit and the amp are alpine so the remote turn-on wire from the amp wires directly to its own special place on the head unit harness.... so nothing new there.
Anyway, the install process took me about 2 days during which i let the battery die 3 times from having the doors and trunk open for long periods of time.
Day 1, battery died once... charged it for about 20 minutes. Started the car, and made some short trips around town. The next morning I had no trouble starting the car right up.
Day 2, battery died twice... first time charged it enough to start car. Did some trouble shooting and needed music running, so i drained it again for the 2nd time that day. Charged it up to start the car (~20 min), maybe made a few short trips around town.
Next morning car wouldnt start, no clicks or anything, but still had power so it wasnt stone dead. Jumped the car, drove around town a bunch, no problems. Unpluged power and ground to amp as i figured this was the most likely possible drain source (although it didnt make any sense to me, since i've done this twice before). Went to a movie (~15 min drive), but after the movie the car barely started.
The next day I gave it a nice 3 hour charge. At the end of which, I used a test light to see if I had a drain. With the trunk light unplugged, and all doors closed, the test light had a very faint glow. A glow which became very bright with lets say the trunk light left plugged in. Figured that this may indicate a possible drain, so i left the battery un-connected for the rest of the day.
The next morning, I connected the battery back up and the car started no trouble. First thing I did was go and buy a multimeter. Using it in a series between the + cable and + battery terminal, I couldnt get a single reading! I tried every setting (200m,20m,2m) and had nothing show up. I even tried the ground side and nothing either.
So I took some other battery measurements:
Car off -> 12.4V
Car on -> 14V
Let it sit 3 hours with the battery fully connected:
Car off -> 12.1V BUT the car barely started just like at the movies a few days prior.
So... I am a little stumped. Maybe I wasnt using the multimeter properly, but it isnt rocket science ya know... although i should have gotten a reading of at least 5mA. With the battery at 12.1V I should have no problem starting the car right? I am a little more inclined to think that I just ruined the battery draining it all those times. I dont even know how old it is to tell you the truth.
Anyway... what are some opinions? I know this was very very long, but at least now you know what i know.
Dave
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