RE: Drained battery... culprits?

["Jeff Greenfield" <alfaguy@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Don -

<unfortunately, the bumpers on the door jamb are
missing, so that relay thinks the doors are always open (so I had switched
the interior lights off, but maybe the relay itself was still draining
current?).  Does anyone have any experience if either of these situations
would drain the battery in 1.5 weeks of sitting?>

DINGDINGDINGDING ... we have a winner. Yes, the relay draws quite a lot of
current on its own, so if it thinks the door(s) are open it will drain the
battery pretty darn quickly.

The charging system sounds like it is working normally. The voltage coming
up after the engine speed is raised initially should coincide with the
battery light going out. It's at this time that the field circuit in the
alternator gets enough juice to excite and the alternator starts doing its
thing. (or something to that effect, I'm sure some wiseass EE will correct
me :-)

Check the charging voltage with a DMM though, you'll probably find the
voltage  higher than what the gauge reads (and it should be between 13.8 and
14.2 volts).

HTH,

Jeff ... almost an EE but couldn't handle the calculus.
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