On-going electrical drain on series 3

I posted an electrical problem on my landy series 3 a couple of weeks ago. If I leave the landy with the battery coonected (switched off) it drains down from 12.3v to 5v (with battery disconnected).

Ive disconnected the postive and used an ammeter, as suggested to see if any current flows. But no current flows. I did the same procedure on the negative, again no flow of amps. With the battery connected, and using the voltmeter, it shows 1.5v and 5v with battery disconnected.

With a fully charged battery, the alternator works supplying 14v, also the alternator is new.

The wiring from the alternator is a thick brown cable to the starter solenoid with the battery positive and another thick brown cable going to the back of the dash (I think this goes to the started button - as disconnected the starter button did not work) Also on the starter soleniod is a red/white cable going into the loom and to the back of the dash. Also, there is a black cable at the bottom of the solenoid which leads to the push button starter.

Overnight the battery lost 7.3v, something is happening but the checks I have undertaken have not highlighed any current flow etc!!!!

Any help is greatly appreciated.

cheers

are you saying you get drain if battery lead is disconnected,cos if connected i would suspect alt

The drain happens with the battery connected. The alternator is new, do you suspect the wiring. How do I check. With the battery connected, and using the ammeter I cannot detect an amps drain??

tp run battery down you either have to leave lights on or windings as in alt or starter are been energised,in the same way a phone chager uses current if left plugged in even though not charging phone ,disconnect each one in turn over night to isolate fault

Have you tried another battery, it sounds like it may be somehow losing its charge in another way, possible leaky cells if its getting as low down as 5 volts.

sounds like the battery is knackered should not drop down to 5v sound like one of the battery cells is shorting

Hi I've tried another battery and the same happens that it drains down. I've charged the batttery and it recharges back to 12.8v.

It's a real mystery and I'm at a loss on what to do next

cheeers

i did give you a couple of things to try no result with either

So, what you're saying is :-

The battery when disconnected retains its voltage overnight.
The battery when connected discharges itself.
You have connected an ammeter in series with the battery and read no current flow.
What sort of ammeter was it?

Hi, it is a handheld multimeter (has volts, ohms and amps) etc. it's relatively new. It drains overnight when connected.

Could it be the wiring to the starter solenoid, one terminal has the battery connections, with alternator cable and also a brown cable that goes behind the dash to the push start (I think) The starter solenoid also has a red/white wire coming from the top and a black wire from the bottom of the solenoid.

cheers
Paul

try post 4

is it a x military with 6way light switch and inspection socket wired of direct from starter solenoid and aux feed to trailer socket

dangerden said:

Hi, it is a handheld multimeter (has volts, ohms and amps) etc. it's relatively new. It drains overnight when connected.

Could it be the wiring to the starter solenoid, one terminal has the battery connections, with alternator cable and also a brown cable that goes behind the dash to the push start (I think) The starter solenoid also has a red/white wire coming from the top and a black wire from the bottom of the solenoid.

cheers
Paul

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Are you using the DC setting and is the meter the right way round? If in the earth circuit (should be easiest as there's only one wire to disconnect) the meter +ve goes to the chassis and the meter-ve to the battery -ve.

A drain which drains a battery (if its any good) overnight should be easy to find
The method I use to find problems of this nature is as follows
Use multimeter set to amps (10amp setting) disconnect negative terminal of battery place meter between battery and terminal, +ve to battery
Take a reading start removing fuses one at a time take a note of meter reading after each fuse removal, when the reading drops significantly, get the wiring diagram out you have found it .
However I would start with the the alternator (as already mentioned) as these are often the problem

As it started with the new alt, is there a reason no one mentioned it?

Could you have got the wiring on the alt wrong?
Try disconnecting the alt over night.

nobodies listening

jamesmartin said:

nobodies listening

Click to expand...

you is right, sorry mate