battery keeps draining

[beatnbronco 10+ year member]

okay, truck was running fine last night. got up this morning and no power. i checked the connections and the battery(underhood) was dead. i tried to jump it with the wife's truck but no go. i took it to advance auto to have it tested and it tested good, after 3 years its still reading the same CCA's. anyways, what was installed before this all happened is I added another 0ga wire from the alt to batt +, another 0ga from batt - to engine block. I have 2 runs of 0ga to the back. Nothing was left on in my truck but obviously something is draining the battery. is it a waste of wire to add that extra 0ga from alt to battery pos. should i install a battery isolator? i found a 500a isolator and checked the wiring diagram to see if i could connect 2 aux batteries but the diagram only shows 1 aux battery. could i hook both aux batteries to the same post on the battery isolator? and what is the best way to wire the 2 aux batteries? should i use 1 run of 0ga from the front per aux battery? or is there a better way to do it? sorry for so many questions, i've just installed my first HO alt on the bronco and added the 0ga wire for this amp. amp was getting a little warm so i wanted to beef up the electrical thinkin it was choking from not getting enough power. thank you all for any advise and help making me a much smarter audio person..lol..

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[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

If you have a short somewhere it could be draining your battery. Do you have a spare bat some where you could swap out

 

[beatnbronco 10+ year member]

yeah, i could give that a try first thing in the a.m.

 

[beatnbronco 10+ year member]

see, first i took the batt to walmart cuz i bought it in 2008 and its still under warrenty but before they will exch the battery they have to put it on a machine that charges and tests it, i got tired of waiting that's why i went to advance..when got back home i installed the batt again and it was reading 12.8v, truck started up and ran fine and i had the aux batt hooked up to it, went out there a little while ago and it was dead again..it's either getting drained or not holding a charge..i'll do the spare batt test in the morn

 

[subzero 5,000+ posts]

better check everything including the alt. Does that alt have an internal regulator? what is it set at.

If you have a bad bat, that can kill your new alt.

If you have an external regulator, you might have a constant. If you use a relay, it might be wired wrong.

 

[beatnbronco 10+ year member]

none of that except for maybe bad batt

 

[beatnbronco 10+ year member]

the truck battery holds a charge w/o the amp power wires connected, i think something mighta gotten left on that night so i'm charging the amp batteries then i'll hook em up to see if they all hold a charge..bought a battery isolator last night and i'll install that to help keep this from happening again..does it hurt to have 2-0ga wires from alt to underhood battery??

 

[beatnbronco 10+ year member]

okay, this is weird..i disconnect the cool *** digital volt meter/battery terminal i bought on ebay and it still reads voltage, yes, that's right, still reads voltage even after i disconnect it from the pos term on the battery..i do a little investigating, start disconnecting wires till the voltage readout goes away on the voltmeter terminal..so i think, the only other place the truck can get power from other than the underhood battery is the aux battery, but the power wires are disconnected and are laying seperated on my plastic fender well..for shits and giggles i decide to disconnect all the wires from the aux battery and guess what happens??? the voltage read out on the voltmeter terminal goes away!! why?? how was i getting a voltage readout on the voltmeter terminal when it's disconnected from the underhood battery, and the power wires for the shuriken were disconnected..WTF!! the only thing connected to the truck was the ground..any ideas? when i can get it figured out i'll have the problem solved..please help me, i'm not smart enough to figure this one out

 

[beatnbronco 10+ year member]

okay, this is weird..i disconnect the cool *** digital volt meter/battery terminal i bought on ebay and it still reads voltage, yes, that's right, still reads voltage even after i disconnect it from the pos term on the battery..i do a little investigating, start disconnecting wires till the voltage readout goes away on the voltmeter terminal..so i think, the only other place the truck can get power from other than the underhood battery is the aux battery, but the power wires are disconnected and are laying seperated on my plastic fender well..for shits and giggles i decide to disconnect all the wires from the aux battery and guess what happens??? the voltage read out on the voltmeter terminal goes away!! why?? how was i getting a voltage readout on the voltmeter terminal when it's disconnected from the underhood battery, and the power wires for the shuriken were disconnected..WTF!! the only thing connected to the truck was the ground..any ideas? when i can get it figured out i'll have the problem solved..please help me, i'm not smart enough to figure this one out

does this new info spark any ideas?

 

[domtaggart]

i just got a new head unit and i just tried to put it in i hooked all the colors up with the same color and replaced a fuse i blew and it still wont turn on. i read that the remote wire will not let it work so i tried that and still no power or sound or any thing

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

i just got a new head unit and i just tried to put it in i hooked all the colors up with the same color and replaced a fuse i blew and it still wont turn on. i read that the remote wire will not let it work so i tried that and still no power or sound or any thing

this should be a new thread. please start one.

beatnbronco: multiple batteries will feed off each other and if not equal, the weaker one will drag the others down. if they are not sealed AGM batteries - check the water levels.

your wiring sounds like there is a lot going on. draw diagrams - as clearly as possible, to describe power and ground. yes, a 500A isolator would allow two batteries to land on the terminal. but the isolator isn't really a solution since the batteries shouldn't drain if everything is ok. batteries need to be charged and they should rest between 12.5-13 VDC. lower than that and they aren't charged.

more rugs of 0 awg will just lower resistance and shouldn't have adverse affects if properly done. if any insulation is compromised or a slight short has developed, the batteries will drain. in your diagram, include fuses. you should have a fuse on every power wire that leaves the positive terminal of a battery (except the wire that parallels the aux batteries).

 

[beatnbronco 10+ year member]

this should be a new thread. please start one.
beatnbronco: multiple batteries will feed off each other and if not equal, the weaker one will drag the others down. if they are not sealed AGM batteries - check the water levels.

your wiring sounds like there is a lot going on. draw diagrams - as clearly as possible, to describe power and ground. yes, a 500A isolator would allow two batteries to land on the terminal. but the isolator isn't really a solution since the batteries shouldn't drain if everything is ok. batteries need to be charged and they should rest between 12.5-13 VDC. lower than that and they aren't charged.

more rugs of 0 awg will just lower resistance and shouldn't have adverse affects if properly done. if any insulation is compromised or a slight short has developed, the batteries will drain. in your diagram, include fuses. you should have a fuse on every power wire that leaves the positive terminal of a battery (except the wire that parallels the aux batteries).

i'll get right on it, good idea that way you guys will understand more about what's going on..i'm just trying to find out why there would be a charge on my elec system in my truck if there were only grounds hooked up on the shuriken..i'll def find out tomorrow cuz i'm going to do some wire tracing..thanks

 

[beatnbronco 10+ year member]

not to be nasty dom but if there are 2 seperate problems that need troubleshooting in the same thread things can get a little difficult and confusing

 

---------- Post added at 12:11 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:10 AM ----------

 

hey keep_hope_alive, what brand are those blue coned mids in your doors??

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

i don't have blue cone mids in my doors. my doors currently have 1999 6.5" Massive Audio midbass drivers with carbon fiber cones.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

i realized you were talking about an older picture where i had Alpine SPX-177R mids in my doors that have blue cones.