The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay how do i find an electrical short?

I own a 59 chevy 3600 and I keep drainign the battery when I leave the battery cables hooked up. I put in a new battery but still have the same problem. Most of the wiring is stock with the exception of installing an alternator. I had the problem before I make the conversion so I don't think that is the problem. Any tips on how I can find the short??

John

John, here is a previous post about same problem,, may help you
click here you can also use the search at the top of the page, type in what ever you might be looking for.


here is one more previous post for you

click here

jw4413,

You have narrowed it down pretty well with the new battery and alternator.

Both of these items can cause what you describe, but your clues say it must be something else.

With your well fused '59, the procedure would be to pull fuses, eliminating circuits, until the drain stopped. The circuit that was pulled and killed the drain would then be put under a microscope to find the location of the bare wire, or grounded device.

A small automotive lamp in series with the negative post and the battery cable (taken off) will illuminate when current is passing through it on the way to the short. When you pull the fuse on the circuit that has the problem, the lamp will/should go dead.

A VOM meter can be used in lieu of a light bulb. I think the setting would be DC amps.

This is sort of a overview of the process, and I think you will get the idea. It's a process of elimination using the fuse panel. Good luck.

Stuart

I don't know how Joker linked up with his post to another post but go to; Oct.20 2006 and see the post by Pm53 in the electrical bay. Very good info there.
How do you link that Joker?

If you put in a quick disconnect switch do you have to polarize the generator every time you flip the switch?

Is this article you keep copying and pasting copyrighted? I'll bet it is. I imagine they have a copyright notice much like the one at the bottom of all Stovebolt pages. You might want to check into that. It would be best to just post a link to it.

i don't believe so nor do i care. It's just a tech tip !!! i prefer to paste the whole article.
thank you
from the same page @ http://www.inliners.org/ [i]These tech tips are just a few of the articles published in over 20 years of "The 12 Port News”. Each issue is packed with more hard-core inline info. We urge you to join the club and experience the full benefits of membership in this terrific resource, and submit your own “tech tip” both to the web site and to “The 12 Port News”.
Disclaimer
[I]Information contained herein has been submitted by members and implies no recommendation or endorsement by Inliners International. While reasonable care has been exercised in preparation of these “tech tips”, Inliners International cannot guarantee the accuracy or propriety of the material and assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of any technical material in this document.
[/i]
that's why i keep refering you ''the reader'' to the inliners international site. giving them FULL credit !!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.inliners.org/ http://www.inliners.org/tech/tech6.html

that's where it comes from
a tech article
does this article offend anyone ?????

It only takes one guy to complain about it and i will not post this shorts article to anyone again

Here's the link to the actual tech article on the inliner's website: Find That Short the Easy Way!

jw,
Harbor Freight has multimeters for $2.99 that work great. In fact at that price, I'm going to get more so that I don't have to walk all the way to a different room to use one, (kidding). Just make sure that the meters have a DC amp limit around 10 amps. If they max out in the milliamp range, you will blow fuses with just a 2-3 amp draw. First see how much current (in amps) is flowing from the battery with everything turned off. Then, like the article and everyone here says, go from circuit to circuit to see if there is current flowing, and if so, that it matches the flow you had at the battery. It could be more than one circuit.