P80 Parasitic draw, 150 mA. [ glovebox light ] Topic is solved

Post by **mecheng** » 20 Oct 2018, 11:39

My wife’s 850 is drawing 140 mA at rest, is this considered high? Her battery is draining after 1 week of no use. The battery is only 1 year old
And was checked to be ok.

I might need to check each circuit one by one
Thanks

Post by **abscate** » 20 Oct 2018, 12:29

A bit high. I think 50 mA is considered normal.

Radio, anti theft System non-stock?

Post by **mecheng** » 20 Oct 2018, 15:18

Everything stock, time to trace it argh
I thought it’s high too

crlande · Post by **crlande** » 20 Oct 2018, 15:21

A quick check of glove box or trunk lights?

Post by **oragex** » 20 Oct 2018, 16:39

No more than 10-20ma. Basically even 20ma is suspect. That is assuming all - but all - computers and lights are really off - on the S60 it takes exactly 10 minutes for the computers to shut off.

Use a battery switch until you find the drain, cut the battery when parking the car, or you will be needing soon a new battery as well

Hint: on the S60 the rear plate light bulbs corrode and drain current - maybe check if your bulbs are both working

Post by **scot850** » 20 Oct 2018, 17:21

140mA is a lot. If I recall (as others have said) our 93 850 only drew 10-15mA, but my 98 V70 XC was higher, and my 00 V70R is about 60-65mA. That is down to the Viper alarm/anti-theft system installed.

There has to be a short on the car where there is a live circuit even with the key out of the ignition. Although it could be the ignition switch itself.

Is it a wagon or sedan? If a wagon, look at the famous tailgate wires.

You haven't fitted or have a garage door opener in the LH sun-visor? I fitted one to my 98 V70 and it had a faulty switch that ran all the time draining the battery.

It looks like you are pulling fuses to find what circuit is doing the draw. Good Luck!

Neil.

Post by **mecheng** » 20 Oct 2018, 17:43

Yeah I will have to take each fuse out and check. I was busy during the day changing the front brake hoses and brake flush. One bleed screw required me to crack out the spiral flute bolt out remover and a trip to the dealer for a $15 screw lol. I know German stuff is expensive but I chuckled when he gave me the price.

Good thing ATE still makes the brake hoses, they came off without any issues.

Are all the fuses under the hood?

Post by **mecheng** » 20 Oct 2018, 22:33

The culprit was fuse 15: accessory lights. To track it down further, I opened each door and when I opened the glove box the current did not change: bingo it was the glove box switch. Once I opened and closed it, I could not duplicate it.
So I would say the switch may stick on occasion. I took the glove box out and sprayed wd40 on the switch which helped it move properly. In the end I removed the light because I didn’t want it to stick again

I would suggest to check your glove box switch or remove the bulb. The current went down to 40 mA

crlande · Post by **crlande** » 21 Oct 2018, 04:20

I think it was RSPI who once put his camera inside the glove box to see if light went out. A forum search show several instances of the door not making contact with switch.

Post by **abscate** » 21 Oct 2018, 05:57

Calculations

150mA * 24 hours* 12 volts is 40 watt hours per day. Your battery capacity is roughly 960 watt hours, so one week should have been about a 25% drained battery with no use. Maybe get that battery on a charger for a bit and check alternator output ?