Current draw, when the car is off Options

[tradisrad]

I had a dead battery in my car yesterday, I jumped it and went on my way. After a 15 mile drive the battery was still dead and I had to jump the car again. I borrowed a battery from a friend and put mine on the charger.

And now I am wondering why my batter was dead. I disconnected the radio and with the car/ignition/lights/etc. off I put my Amp meter in line between the battery and the + cable an found that I have a 0.60 Amp draw on the battery.

Are there any usual suspects that may cause this drain on the battery?

The car is a 1970 with a 2056 D-jet.

[charliew]

I have two fieros and a 86 k5 blazer and a 91 3/4 ton suburban with optimas. I keep battery tenders on all of them that I don't drive weekly and they seem to be ok but optimas do not work well setting. I do not like the thought of battery acid getting on the metal around the battery. One of these days I will try a different brand of sealed battery but the optimas are easy to find. Also I remember there being a special charge procedure to bring a optima back if it has set with low voltage for awhile.

[realred914]

I have two fieros and a 86 k5 blazer and a 91 3/4 ton suburban with optimas. I keep battery tenders on all of them that I don't drive weekly and they seem to be ok but optimas do not work well setting. I do not like the thought of battery acid getting on the metal around the battery. One of these days I will try a different brand of sealed battery but the optimas are easy to find. Also I remember there being a special charge procedure to bring a optima back if it has set with low voltage for awhile.

I run optimas on about four or five of my cars. they work great. many posts on optimas tell of how nice they are at preventing hell hole rust and other acid damage. dont let online so called experts fool you into thinking optimas are not good. very few folks have an obsession with talking bad about optimas, many are very happy with the optima. the optima fixes the hell hole rust issue from happening, no need to move the battery or avoid it getting rained on. just run it, and enjoy.

these batterys are fantastic. I had one that sat in an un-used car for about a year, (it was a five or six year old optima) it was dead, but took a charge just fine, and today it still starts the car fine, some four years later. I have some optimals that are near ten years old and still cranking.

I have not had one fail on me in less than 8-10 years. some have lasted longer. strictly from a economy stand point, even though they cost more, than a regular battery, you get the money worth in long life, plus no nasty acid leaks.

Never had an alternator fail with an optima battery. they just plain work great.

as far as an alternator being called a battery charger or maintainer, that is just mincing words, to maintain a battery you charge it. maintain = charge in this case.

a car alternator can charge a nearly dead battery. just run alternator at high enough rpms for it to have enough output, and avoid turning on accesories like headlight lights for a while until it gets a fuller charge. battery that is stone dead wont work with an alternator, cuase you need some voltage to excite the alternators winding so you get the magnetic field that is required. (hence dont run an alternator with no battery connected or a battery that is stone dead/or open circuit etc...)

for instance you can jump a dead battery in an alternator car becuse the good battery your jumping with will supply the voltage needed to excite the magnetic field, and assuming the dead battery is simply discharged (not internally open) it should in short order have enough power to excite the field coil on its own (the field requires very very little current, it can self sustain by the alternator once started) to speed up the charging of a jumped battery, avoid accesories until it has a chance to get up a full charge, else if you stop the motor, you may not have enough charge to crank it over again. .

at anyrate the optima is a great addition to the 914, had it been in use by the factory, chances are many more 914's would be on the road today rather than rusted out due to battery leakage