Can't figure out an electrical draw?

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169dart4y

169dart4y

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So I bought a test light pulled the negative battery cable and started pulling fuses to see what the draw was.
I had figured out last year my stereo was the draw so I bought a new one installed it and the same problem arose?
Any stereo guy's out there ? I went back and checked to see that the red wire was hooked up to the acc power only when the ignition is on for the memory? Right?
Then I have a yellow that is hooked direct to the positive battery cable with a fuse right before the battery.
If the yellow wire is hooked up there is a draw when the car is shut off.
I tried pulling just the acc or just the yellow wire but the stereo won't work if they are not both hooked up.
Any thoughts would be great , I'm getting tied of pulling the negative battery terminal every time I drive the car every weekend.
 
I thought the memory wire always went to 12 volts constant.
 
all the memory back up radios I have had the yellow wire was the memory.and the red was hooked to the org.radio connection.what does the directions say. or take it to a best buy or HH Gregg.and those boy will usually hook it up for a little bit of nothing ...Artie
 
The sterio memory draw can drain a battery over a long period of time. How long depends on how good the battery is.
 
169dart4y said:
Yes I have the memory wire hooked strait to the positive side of the battery and the other wire powererd by the radio fuse only gets power when the key is turned on? :supz::supz::supz::supz:
Click to expand...

Ok. You said it the other way around in your first post. Did the test light go off when you disconnected the stereo fuse?
 
StrokerScamp said:
Ok. You said it the other way around in your first post. Did the test light go off when you disconnected the stereo fuse?
Click to expand...
No the light went off when I pulled the yellow memory wire hooked direct to the battery positive. That's what I can not figure out why the draw is there. Unless the clip on the back of the stereo is wired wrong? I don't think so because this is the second stereo and both were brand new. Only thing I can think is to switch the yellow wire withe the red and see if the light goes out that way? :wack:
 
OK let's get this straight.

You have eliminated your draw down to ONLY the yellow wire on the stereo, right?

The next step is to determine if it is enough draw to really affect the battery

So you need to get/ borrow a meter and hook it up in place of your test lamp and actually measure the draw. Depending on your meter, it may display in decimals of an amp (ampere) or milliamps (thousandths of amps), I.E. 1000 ma is same as 1 amp.

DO NOT DISCOUNT the fact that there actually could be some sort of electrical failure in your stereo that is causing a more than normal draw.

Is your battery going down? How long does it take to do so?

How GOOD (old) is your battery? Have you had it "load tested?"

How is the charging system, is it keeping the battery "up?"
 
67Dart273 said:
OK let's get this straight.

You have eliminated your draw down to ONLY the yellow wire on the stereo, right?

The next step is to determine if it is enough draw to really affect the battery

So you need to get/ borrow a meter and hook it up in place of your test lamp and actually measure the draw. Depending on your meter, it may display in decimals of an amp (ampere) or milliamps (thousandths of amps), I.E. 1000 ma is same as 1 amp.

DO NOT DISCOUNT the fact that there actually could be some sort of electrical failure in your stereo that is causing a more than normal draw.

Is your battery going down? How long does it take to do so?

How GOOD (old) is your battery? Have you had it "load tested?"

How is the charging system, is it keeping the battery "up?"
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply,
This is the second stereo to have the same problem both new stereo's.
I changed out the other one because of this problem.
New battery's I have gone though four before I figured out the draw.
If I leave the negative battery cable hooked up it will draw the battery down in two days.
I have had the charging system checked, new alternator all is working correct and load tested the battery is fine.
Yes I have tracked the draw down to the yellow wire for the memory.
That's why I'm stumped on what to do beside have to unplug the stereo every time I park the car. Thanks
 
OK I'd be screamin and yellin to whoever I bought the stereo from, just for the record, what is it?

Check with your meter--just how much current does it draw? Do any lights --indicators, panel lights, etc, come on with the yellow wire? Any chance the destructions are a misprint?
 
How do we make you understand there is supposed to be a draw shown on a test light ? A volt meter would show you how small that draw is.
The yellow wire is correct for memory power. I wouldn't have went to the battery for that power though. Simplest power source in the cabin, is the interior lamp circuit.
 
RedFish said:
How do we make you understand there is supposed to be a draw shown on a test light ? A volt meter would show you how small that draw is.
The yellow wire is correct for memory power. I wouldn't have went to the battery for that power though. Simplest power source in the cabin, is the interior lamp circuit.
Click to expand...

Red, he said he draws down a battery in two days. That's a pretty BIG memory!!!
 
67Dart273 said:
OK I'd be screamin and yellin to whoever I bought the stereo from, just for the record, what is it?

Check with your meter--just how much current does it draw? Do any lights --indicators, panel lights, etc, come on with the yellow wire? Any chance the destructions are a misprint?
Click to expand...

They are both Pioneer super tuner, I'm starting to think there is another problem it's not the stereo's. since both draw down the battery.
If I pull the yellow wire there are no draws. I know there will be a little from the yellow, it's supposed to have a small draw. Going to a mechanic friend to have him put a meter on it to see how much draw. Regardless it kill's a brand new battery in two days.
 
Good luck finding the problem. A neighbor called me once at around 3:AM to tell me my brake lights were on. Intermittently the brake pedal would drop away from the switch. I had been dealing with battery issues for over 2 weeks.
 
I had a problem like yours but it turns out it was simply the glove box light staying on due to a bad switch. I found it at night when I was looking for my cell phone. duh. It would have been easier just to hook up an ammeter to find it.
 
I found that the previous owner of my daughter 66 cuda had wired the tach to constant 12v, instead of switched. The tach + memory was drawing 0.3 amps (300 milliamps). Fixing the tach dropped it to 0.08 amps (80 milliamps) Get a $4 multimeter, the red digital one, from Harbor Freight. They can check amp draw up to 10 amps.
 
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