I posted this in another thread, but it was in June. So I'm starting a new thread.

I have a 40 ma drain at rest for the 10 minutes while the courtesy light / radio circuit is still on. I had a dead battery a few days ago and figured it was a small 12 to 5 volt converter I had hooked directly to constant 12 volts for satellite radio. I still am getting a near 39-40 ma drain during the courtesy circuit on time. There was as noted no significant change according to my DMM after rehooking up the converter to the courtesy circuit. At complete rest the draw is now 2.9 ma and 40 ma for the courtesy circuit time. Does all the door opening and left open doors and trunk and hood pins put too hard a load on the battery while I am working the car? There are also the sometimes frequent starts that may discharge the battery. I typically work on the car 2-4 hrs every other day but sometimes more.

Am I killing my battery by working on the car so often? Can I disconnect the battery and hook up the charger to save the battery when I'm working on the car? (I can't start the engine with my charger)

My battery is a walmart battery (it was a gift) and is about a year old. I 've drained it to dead one way or the other about 15 times. How much abuse can my battery take before it has to be replaced?

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2001 Bonneville SSEi. 1598xx mi.
great car. Wrecked


Burnt Bonny.

Note if you pull the injectors to obserbe fuel delivery...make sure you leave the plugs in and disconnect the ign. Believe me

The maximum draw with everything (including the courtesy lights) off is 30 ma., so you are well below that. If you are putting a draw on it while working on it, keep the charger on the battery while you are working on things. Deep discharging your battery will shorten its life.

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*Gone, but not forgotten* - Black 2000 SSEi, HIR Headlights, Angel Eyes fogs, 3rd brake light overlay, hi-flo cat, 180 degree thermostat, HS 1.9 rockers, LSx yellow springs, Intense FWI, PCM, shift kit, push rods, and 3.4 Pulley. ZZP Power Log.

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2001 Bonneville SSEi. 1598xx mi.
great car. Wrecked


Burnt Bonny.

Note if you pull the injectors to obserbe fuel delivery...make sure you leave the plugs in and disconnect the ign. Believe me

If I were working on the car that long and that often, either put a window down and refrain from opening and closing doors if you are working outside, or put a charger on to supplement the battery while power is constantly being drawn.

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97 Ei
97 GS
98 GS

I found the drain. I had about 4 Amps current draw with the key in off with doors open. Close the doors a 290 ma draw. Disconnect the main 12 volt plus into my amp and get an instant drop to 40ma. My amp has a remote turn on input. Neither the blue wire remote turn on feed from my head unit or the remote input terminal were plus 12. Anyway the amp comes on as soon as 12v plus is connected to the main plus input, regardless of the remote on feed to the amp which goes to twelve plus as soon as the head unit comes on.

This amp unit comes on when supplied with main power regardless of the remote on input.

I don't know if I should start a thread in Audio/Electronics or not.

The at rest current draw by my main audio amp when everything is off is 250 ma for just the amp. This is without any connection to the amp's "rem(ote)" terminal. Same with a plus 12 feed to the same terminal. The amp's on indicator light stays on anytime it gets 12v + to the main amp's 12v + terminal directly from the battery.

Seems like the amp is bad. Does anybody have any experience with this situation? I don't want to buy a new amp until I know this one's bad.

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2001 Bonneville SSEi. 1598xx mi.
great car. Wrecked


Burnt Bonny.

Note if you pull the injectors to obserbe fuel delivery...make sure you leave the plugs in and disconnect the ign. Believe me

I was seeing some irregularities in the power on lamp. Mainly that it glowed dimly red when the amp was supposed to be off. Disconnecting the main power shut the light completely off. I put a relay between the main power feed and the amps main power in controlled by the Head Unit's remote on feed. The lamp then stayed completely off when the Head Unit shutdown and brightly red when it was on. The drain at rest at the battery was a max of 40 ma.....I guess it's fixed until I can get a new amp after the holidays.

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2001 Bonneville SSEi. 1598xx mi.
great car. Wrecked


Burnt Bonny.

Note if you pull the injectors to obserbe fuel delivery...make sure you leave the plugs in and disconnect the ign. Believe me