| Author |
Message |
Nick Morris (Nick3751)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 6:32 pm: | |
I just re-wired my silversides completely. The only thing I didn't replace was the main wires from the bats to the starter and to the front. Now I move the bus out of the way for 48 hours and the bats were dead when I tried to restart it. There's nothing on the bus, the only thing wired is the lights, started and reverse selonid. So where else could my bats be draining to????? |
Frank-id
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 23, 2004 - 8:16 pm: | |
To very easily find any battery draw.. Charge batteries. Disconnect battery ground cable from battery. Connect a horn, a lite or a meter between these points. One connection on cable, one connection on battery post. If there is any draw, the horn will honk, or the lite will shine or the meter will show volts. When the draw or load is found and disconnected, the batteries will stay full. The louder the horn, the brighter the lite or the higher the meter reading the higher the load. I use a head lite or door ajar buzzer. Some times I use a motorcycle horn.. Some folks rewire their busand allow the voltmeter to reflect voltage all the time. Volt meter should turn off with master switch.. Frank in Idaho |
pete hyser (4501pete)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - 7:36 am: | |
nick,
i saw the reverse selonoid, did you make it negitive ground? if not..look for a ground in the wrong place,spike a powercord to metal..i did that one..drained the bats and also fried them while the bus was running and the alt was making power.
if its positive ground look for that ground or anywhere you might have tied them to the frame or metal
i strongly recomend a beer before,during and after this procedure..thats actually how i found mine..
pete |
Nick Morris (Nick3751)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - 8:17 am: | |
It had already been switched to neg ground before I got it but all the wires were run inside in the open and had been spliced several times. I've also got everything currently run through the master switch that's off. It's kinda aggrevating. I tried putting my test light on the positive cable and touching the battery cables and got nothing (found that in the archives) but I do get continuity on my mutimeter as well as the same voltage as when I touch the bat posts. |
Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, November 24, 2004 - 10:05 am: | |
Follow Franks direction and utilize a test light connected between chassis ground and the negative battery terminal (with the cable removed from the battery).
A light is better to use generally because it will illuminate very dim with only a few milliamps of current flowing. Typically not enough to make a horn blow.
Also, make sure you do not have a bad battery!
Richard |
Tim Strommen (Tim_strommen)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, November 28, 2004 - 5:51 pm: | |
just a tid bit of a question, you don't have a battery vanner do you? These devices let a 24 volt alternator evenly charge two 12 volt batteries (or banks). Unfortunately, if there isn't a diode on the negative side (or the negtive battery wires are not pulled from the battery when you kill (I'm sorry "stop") your engine, it will "back-charge" through any 12 volt circuits.
I had this problem when I bought my 40 foot Gillig transit. Someone in the maintenace department had "bypassed" the diode (to this day I don't know why) and the vanner was back-charging through the diodes in my instrument cluster and the 12 volt relays with reverse polarity clamping diodes all over the electrical system. After 36 hours with 2 new 8Ds I couldn't start the darn thing.
This may or may not apply to your rig. Happy bussin'.
Tim |