worb4me Posted April 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 The point is I was driving the car, daily. Would charge it back up frequently. My brother once drove his Lumina 3.4 from Barnegat, NJ to Massapequa, NY w/a bad altetnator. Don't ask me how he made it, about 100 miles. I was only able to get ~25 miles w/headlights. He did it during the day though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GabsOlds Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 The alternator was not draining the battery. It was failing to charge the battery, and therefore the electronics used the battery up. It's not that he would park the car with a full charge, and wake up in the morning with a battery that couldn't start the car. Instead of getting the alternator tested, he continued to drive the car and charge the battery every day. Just a case of procrastination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nas Escobar Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 I guess I misunderstood the whole thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vipmiller803 Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 (edited) Kinda sorta related rant but also threadjack... I suppose if the rectifier bridge were shorting that would indeed cause an alternator to deplete a battery. As would shorted superfucked windings in theory. This does happen. I actually currently have that problem on a boat motor. Had the boat off but the battery switch on and was fiddling with a bilge pump. Noticed the alternator to be much warmer than ambient temp with the engine not recently run. A dead giveaway. Interesting thing... It still charges the battery when running. Assuming it is a bridge rectifier, I have a feeling only one of the diode sections failed maybe partially, causing a likely high ripple on the charge, but still overall positive. Or maybe it is three phases with one of the phases shorting, leaving the other two to still manage a charge. An oscilloscope would be cool to have right about now... I imagine with a full time battery system like on a car, the battery would not be long for this world with the alternator in this failure mode. Edited April 4, 2017 by vipmiller803 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worb4me Posted April 4, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 It's not specific to auto work, but I found a Tektronix unit for 4$ at a fleamarket. It works afaict, but I never actually used it. Even tossed it in a dumpster once, just to fish it back out LOL. Also bought an older but very high bandwidth color HP unit on eBay, just to find out it needs a seperate component that would cost 3x what I paid for the scope. Never mind... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GabsOlds Posted April 5, 2017 Report Share Posted April 5, 2017 Mods, lock this up. Problem has been solved. All the extra chatter will just confuse people searching for help. Imp558 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgjii Posted April 5, 2017 Report Share Posted April 5, 2017 To touch on your original question (regardless of what was wrong with the car), Lead-Acid automotive batteries can be refurbished in a MacGyver kind of way. I cannot stress enough the dangers of battery acid, using eye protection and the explosion hazards inherent when screwing around with car batteries. My little disclaimer that you need to do your own research and decide for yourself what is right, safe and will work for you. I end with "Don't try this at home kids!" this is for informational purposes only. Drain the acid, neutralize with baking soda and distilled water & rinse thoroughly. Make a solution with Distilled Water & Epsom Salt and refill the battery. Then slow charge for 24hrs on a 2A manual charger to start bringing it up. My understanding of the process is to de-sulfinate the plates in the cells. Google up "car battery epsom salt" for tons of links and YouTube videos. I have personally tried this 3 times. First time, breathed about 9months extra life into the original battery my 2010 Silverado came with. Still always felt the battery was weak. Second time, revived a 5yr old Exide branded battery in a Ford Ranger. Tested out perfect. Best of my knowledge it is still in service 18months later. I sold the Ranger and see it around town all the time. Third time, nill, nauda, nothing. Did not work on the battery that was in the 92 Olds when I bought it. Never got better than 6 or 8 Volts and no current to speak of. I plan to try again with a 2yr old lawn mower battery... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95GS Posted April 30, 2018 Report Share Posted April 30, 2018 There's a relay that controls the door locks that is notorious for sticking in an energized position, draining the battery slowly. When I finally figured that out, voila, battery drain problems went away and I can leave the car un-started for a month and it fires up straight away! What car is it anyways? If if has the seat belt built into in the door setup, then it probably has the bad relay. This comment very revealing as I found my battery flat (~ 6 volts) after the car sat idle for a few days. It's now charging so I can run diagnostics. Background - the last few months my interior electric door lock buttons have acted strangely. Won't work, or have spasms clicking repeatedly. The key remote has always been faithful. Then recently when walking past the car with remote in pocket, doors would unlock!?! Happened twice. (Tesla dreaming?) For the first time, the battery is now drained, and I think you might have the answer pitzel. Never heard of this issue, and likely would have been hard to trace. So.....where is this relay located, and are new ones obtainable? BTW - I see Imp has a new ride (Coupe!) after his long search - good metal underneath. Imp558 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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