Originally Posted by painfx
You can just google or youtube how to test parastic draw and charging system.
Parastic draw, get a DVOM, set to amps, disconnect negative battery and connect in series. Red lead to the negative cable, and black lead to the negative post. If it shows negative, flip the leads. Usually anything under 30 milliamps is consider good, depending on the vehicle and what add ons you got in the vehicle.
A basic charging system test, turn on high beam, AC full blast with defoggers on front and rear, rev engine up between 1500 -2000 rpms. Battery voltage should ideally be from 13.5 - 14.5 Volts. This is only a guide, vehicles will vary.
I am going to do that, and I am most grateful for your time and explanation.
In the meantime....there's a learning curve involved here (for me); in the few video's that I saw, I didn't (yet) get a good grasp of how to set up a jumper cable.
Added to all of this, we just relocated to a new City, 2.5 hours away from our former home, contacts, and my (former) mechanic. We're renting a garden apartment temporarily, and they don't allow vehicle repairs on the premises.
I just had an "ah, duh" moment: until I get better situated, and have a better handle on how to diagnose this properly, disconnecting the battery terminals should solve all of my problems, correct?
I went out today to a battery that was too weak to start the vehicle. Once the truck was jumped, I drove it - HVAC blower on high; high beams on and off, with no appreciable difference in their performance, nor did I see a change in the voltmeter. Everything worked flawlessly, even at stoplights.
At least for the next week or two until I settle all of this out, a quick, albeit poor, way to see what's going on would be by disconnecting the terminals, no? With daytime temperatures above 50 degrees, I can operate the truck, do errands, and start the truck with no issues 3 or 4 times, so I would imagine that the alternator is putting out sufficient output.
If the battery is good, if I disconnect the terminals, this would prevent a parasitic loss until I can get down to the bottom of this - even if the truck sits for a few days. Correct?
And again, I thank you for your time and detailed explanation. Once I get a multimeter, a place to work on my truck, and a better grasp of everything, I plan on checking the system top to bottom - and performing all of the tests that you suggested (as it would be wise to do so
).