Has anybody successfully solved a parasitic battery draw problem?

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RichieW13

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I have searched through here and found a few threads of people having trouble with parasitic draw, but I didn't find anybody who actually solved the problem.

Maybe there is a common thing to look at that frequently goes bad?

I have a 2014 1500 Quad Cab 2WD Hemi.

My battery seems to be drawing about 0.2 volts per hour. I tried the method of checking the amp draw while removing fuses. I think I went through all the fuses, but it didn't seem to reveal any clear problems.

I was hoping maybe somebody had a specific fuse/item that I should look at more closely.
 

Burla

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How old is the battery?
 

Burla

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So you checked every relay with the multi meter attached to negative battery and had no drop? Sounds like you know what you are doing. I'm not sure of the year that many items were taking off the TIPM. I'm not even sure what they do now, I guess there is a fuse somewhere on the circuit, I cant imagine they would be fuseless. See if some folks know what isnt run by TIPM in 2014.. @Hemi395 might know something,.

You checked the fuel pump relay good?

The relays I'd check most are the ones that stay hot most of the time.
 
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RichieW13

RichieW13

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So you checked every relay with the multi meter attached to negative battery and had no drop? Sounds like you know what you are doing. I'm not sure of the year that many items were taking off the TIPM. I'm not even sure what they do now, I guess there is a fuse somewhere on the circuit, I cant imagine they would be fuseless. See if some folks know what isnt run by TIPM in 2014.. @Hemi395 might know something,.

You checked the fuel pump relay good?

The relays I'd check most are the ones that stay hot most of the time.
I barely know what I'm doing.

What's TIPM?

I'll have to research how to check a relay.
 

Burla

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TIPM is your fuse box, the really sucky thing is they fail, the solder joints give way and stuff don't work. It is the usual suspect in this case, but it could be anything, so it's not 100%.

You hook up a multi meter to negative terminal and get your reading, then one at a time you pull a relay and look for a drop. I will see if I can find some instr online.

How did you determine you were losing .2v an hour?
 

Burla

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gotta love wiki

maybe you can find it off that, let us know if that works.

If you don't know how to use multi meter, find someone who does, you have to use correct dial or they can break easily. I speak from experience :)
 

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Burla or anyone that has studied the TIPM ( Fuse Box )

What does the IOD Fuse do & which one is it ? Is it J 13 ?

How long can you use the SHIPPING MODE to shut everything off ?


s-l1600.jpg
 
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RichieW13

RichieW13

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TIPM is your fuse box, the really sucky thing is they fail, the solder joints give way and stuff don't work. It is the usual suspect in this case, but it could be anything, so it's not 100%.

You hook up a multi meter to negative terminal and get your reading, then one at a time you pull a relay and look for a drop. I will see if I can find some instr online.

How did you determine you were losing .2v an hour?
I just measured the battery voltage before and after letting the truck sit. I did it a few times and it is usually around 0.2v/hr.
 

caulk04

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Checking the resting voltage isn't going to definitively tell you much about parasitic draw. A junky battery will lose voltage on it's own.

You need to be checking amp draw. Set your meter up between either the + or - terminal of the battery and the truck side terminal. It takes a while for all the modules to settle and the truck to go to 'sleep' but once it does you should be under ~ .05A or 50 mA. There would be a factory spec somewhere to be exact, but I don't know what it is for these. My 08 Jeep was specified somewhere around there IIRC.

Remember, for everything to sleep all the door latches and the hood latch/switch need to be tripped so the truck thinks it's closed up and locked.
 

Burla

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x2 on that, batteries can lose charge without drag, even just the cold can sap energy from it, and then there is long term results, as in have you needed to jump your truck and that is why you are doing this? There is a couple things you need to look at, did you get a name brand battery? Generally speaking since it is so new I doubt this is it, but it certainly is possible. That is easy to check, unhook battery completely the proper way when the truck will be parked for 2 days, then rehook check charge.
 
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RichieW13

RichieW13

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Checking the resting voltage isn't going to definitively tell you much about parasitic draw. A junky battery will lose voltage on it's own.

You need to be checking amp draw. Set your meter up between either the + or - terminal of the battery and the truck side terminal. It takes a while for all the modules to settle and the truck to go to 'sleep' but once it does you should be under ~ .05A or 50 mA. There would be a factory spec somewhere to be exact, but I don't know what it is for these. My 08 Jeep was specified somewhere around there IIRC.

Remember, for everything to sleep all the door latches and the hood latch/switch need to be tripped so the truck thinks it's closed up and locked.

When I disconnect the battery overnight, the voltage loss is much less than when the battery is connected. But I guess even the expected 50mA draw could explain that.
 

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Disconnect the negative battery terminal. Then measure the battery after a few hours, see if the voltage drops. They way you eliminate everything in the truck, test the battery only. If the voltage drops a bit and stabilizes, you probably don't have a problem. If it continues to drop, the battery is probably no good. If it is two years old, you should be able to get a replacement via warranty, depending on the battery you purchased.
 
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RichieW13

RichieW13

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x2 on that, batteries can lose charge without drag, even just the cold can sap energy from it, and then there is long term results, as in have you needed to jump your truck and that is why you are doing this? There is a couple things you need to look at, did you get a name brand battery? Generally speaking since it is so new I doubt this is it, but it certainly is possible. That is easy to check, unhook battery completely the proper way when the truck will be parked for 2 days, then rehook check charge.
It's a Champion battery.

The other day I had the guy at Autozone test it with his special tester and it checked out.
 

Burla

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You battery should last a decade being in the most mild temperatures anywhere in the usa over there near Camarillo. Check each relay and see if there is any loss as shown. Never heard of Champion Battery, maybe it's good, maybe not. It didnt even make the Consumer Reports tests, which doesn't mean anything, just maybe the distribution is lower then some of the other brands. If you end up replacing it, I prefer interstate to anything, I have replaced 2 oem's with that battery and the first one lasted 8 years and still strong when i sold the Bronco, I am still using the second one.
 
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RichieW13

RichieW13

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You battery should last a decade being in the most mild temperatures anywhere in the usa over there near Camarillo. Check each relay and see if there is any loss as shown. Never heard of Champion Battery, maybe it's good, maybe not. It didnt even make the Consumer Reports tests, which doesn't mean anything, just maybe the distribution is lower then some of the other brands. If you end up replacing it, I prefer interstate to anything, I have replaced 2 oem's with that battery and the first one lasted 8 years and still strong when i sold the Bronco, I am still using the second one.
I bought the truck new in 2014. I replaced the battery in 2017. Then I did a warranty replacement in September, 2019. So maybe I've been having some sort of electrical issue for longer than I realized?

I haven't added any electronics to the truck (still stock stereo, etc.).
 

Burla

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Sounds maybe it's been there day 1, I would not expect that in your area.
 

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You need to do an actual parasitic draw test and see what amp draw there is. Just measuring voltage every now and then isn’t a great way to narrow down a draw.
 

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On my 2011 2500 big horn I installed a marine battery isolator with a on/off switch.
Cured having a dead battery after 2-3 days buy just turning the switch off and no power could be drawn from the battery, it also worked good as a anti theft device.
 
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