The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Grounding question

I wish I knew more about electricity because this is probably a dumb question, but I'm a novice when it comes to electrical circuits. I converted my '53 Chev 3/4 ton from 6 volts to 12 and re-wired it completely. Everything works, but I noticed when I first hooked up the horn that even with the negative terminal disconnected at the battery, I could push on the horn relay and it would beep. Sick sound, but there was an electrical current there. The truck has been sitting for about 2 weeks. This morning I noticed that the battery is dead. I had it sitting in the garage with the negative battery terminal disconnected and it was still dead. I got to looking and the battery hold-down bracket touches both the positive and negative posts. If the positive cable was connected to the battery and the negative was disconnected, would this grounding of the hold-down bracket to both + and - posts cause it to drain the battery? I have since removed the hold-down bracket and I modified it so it doesn't touch either post. I am charging the battery right now. I think this may have been the problem, but being a novice at electrical problems, I'd like someone to weigh in that knows way more than I do. Thanks.

You found the problem. The horn relay was getting some current from the hold down touching the negative post, and if it touches both posts it will definitely drain the battery.

Thanks for the reply, Baldy. I suspected that was the problem. Many thanks.