Voltage Drop with optima yellow top

[mybrohshi5 10+ year member]

So i just tested my battery voltage.

When running it displayed at 14.7 - 14.9 v

i let it run for a couple minutes then shut my truck off

When not running it displayed at 12.00 v then steadily dropped to about 11.6 v

Why is my voltage dropping like this. do i need a new battery? i just got it about 3 months ago from auto zone. should i go have them check it?

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[Oneswtredhead 10+ year member]

OPTIMA **** dude //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[mybrohshi5 10+ year member]

well i needed a new batt cause my old one died and auto zone was close and thats what they sold that were better than the other ones they had. i get that they arent the best compared to some other batts but that doesnt help solve my problem =(

 

[groundpound4200 5,000+ posts]

sounds like something isnt turning off

 

[mybrohshi5 10+ year member]

Both of my amps and deck shut off, i dont have any interior lights on or my neons on. i didnt set my alarm after testing so that shouldnt be draining it.

Should i unhook everything except the stock truck wiring and see if my voltage stays up then? How can i find whats draining my batt?

 

[mybrohshi5 10+ year member]

Ok so i unhooked all the wiring except for the 2 stock wires that hook up to the pos on the batt and the two stock wires that hook up to the neg on the batt.

i started my truck and let it run for a few mins and it was charging at 14.5-14.6 v.

after i shut off the truck it dropped down immediately to 11.8-11.9 v then started decreasing by 0.1 v from there down to about 11.6 v again.

so does this mean something from my stock electrical system is draining my battery or does it mean that my battery isnt holding a charge?

 

[Oneswtredhead 10+ year member]

could be both, but it sounds like you have a draw.

how old is the battery? it could be bad even if it is new.

 

[stilltippin863 10+ year member]

are you useing a DMM to get these volts? or something like a stinger volt meter

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

checking volts with a meter isnt going to tell you if the battery is bad no matter what kind of meter it is, get your battery load tested

 

[mybrohshi5 10+ year member]

The battery is only about 3 or 4 months old.

Its a digital multimeter.

I will go to auto zone and have them load test my battery to see if its bad or not.

Thanks everyone

 

[Dak446 10+ year member]

null

 

[stilltippin863 10+ year member]

no i was gunna say if you are going by you stinger meter you might not have it set right and be set to high and it is coming down to normal...DIK lol WTF

 

[mybrohshi5 10+ year member]

Pull your battery out. Charge it. Then test it. If it's still doing that, get a load test done on it. Autozone's load tester is a piece of ****. Go to a real battery place and have them test it

Don't have a charger at my house down here in AZ cause im here for college. I will take it to a battery place and have them test it and see what they say. I figured autozone's ****** after watchin steve meades vid of that haha. funny sh*t.

What is a real battery place btw? like any names of places to help give me an idea. thanks

 

[cebbeler7 10+ year member]

I wonder why it stops at 11.6 V every time...

 

[mybrohshi5 10+ year member]

Well i drove to the mall today (about 45 mins worth of driving) i didn't bump my stereo about the last 15 min so that my alt would really charge my batt without much stress pullin on it.

I just measure my voltage (about 2 hours after driving) and its resting at 12.54v now //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif so idk why it was dropping to 11.6 but its all fine..... at least for now haha.