New battery suddenly losing power with everything shut down!

ChrisL said:
Another thing to be aware of if measuring current in series, is if the current being drawn exceeds the range of the multimeter it will blow the internal fuse of the multimeter if it has one, or fry the circuit board if it doesn't. Always better to use a clamp meter for measuring current in my opinion, the ones made by UNI-T are reliable and reasonably priced.
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But the best way to fry a meter is to go and measure the battery voltage when you've left the meter set to measure amps:oops:o_O:giggle:
 
autorouter said:
But the best way to fry a meter is to go and measure the battery voltage when you've left the meter set to measure amps:oops:o_O:giggle:
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Is that the voice of experience I hear? :-) I managed to blow a fuse when the alarm armed itself when I was trying to find a parasitic drain, I went and bought a clamp meter after that.
 
Ok I think I may have worked out the right set up on the multimeter to test the battery voltage.
Does this look right? It’s the dial I wasn’t sure of.
Then red lead positive, black on negative.
07BF440E-1007-4E0C-BBA8-86DAA22050D2.jpeg
 
Jammi said:
Ok I think I may have worked out the right set up on the multimeter to test the battery voltage.
Does this look right? It’s the dial I wasn’t sure of.
Then red lead positive, black on negative.
View attachment 715976
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Correct , red on the +
You won’t do any harm, pop it on the battery, on that setting you will just see the voltage

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Just got back from Julie's, looks like it was the tank heater. A small round illuminated switch but the bulb had gone in it so not obvious it had been switched. Drawing about 2.7 amps when on, with it off the system drain was around 170ma so all looking good. She will monitor it over the next few days but I don't think there will be any problems.,
 
Jammi said:
Ok I think I may have worked out the right set up on the multimeter to test the battery voltage.
Does this look right? It’s the dial I wasn’t sure of.
Then red lead positive, black on negative.
Click to expand...
The symbol next to the V is two lines, one solid, one dotted. That means 'DC'. Batteries and vehicle electrics are DC, the plugs in the house are AC. Next to the other V is a wavy symbol that means 'AC'.

You are expecting voltages between about 10V (very flat battery) and about 15V (a battery being actively charged), so the 20V DC range is just what you want. If you get the positive and negative mixed up, nothing bad happens, but a 'minus' sign appears in front of the voltage reading.
 
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Though further from Lenny HB (Eastbourne) it's still close. It would be useful to know what wine he likes in case of need. (I am mainly quaffing malbec these days)

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Reallyretired said:
Though further from Lenny HB (Eastbourne) it's still close. It would be useful to know what wine he likes in case of need. (I am mainly quaffing malbec these days)
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He got a Rioja. No idea if he like it, perhaps he’ll leave a review? 😉
A wish list of his preferred quaffings could be useful for future reference!
 
Jammi said:
He got a Rioja. No idea if he like it, perhaps he’ll leave a review? 😉
A wish list of his preferred quaffings could be useful for future reference!
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It's red & alcohol so no chance of not liking it. :rofl:

Unless Gary Just smiffy supplied it. :giggle: (private joke)
 

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