>
> I have a problem with the auxiliary battery in my '76 Palm Beach. It
> seems to drain itself after only a week or so... After several
> "dective" tries I've decided to just put a shutoff switch on the battery
> while it's in storage.
>
> Problem: The switch I bought says to install it on the negative side of
> the circut, is there any reason not to put it on the positive side?
John,
You didn't say what type of switch it was, but many of these are a bare
knife switch. By putting it on the negative side of the battery, if
anything conductive touches the switch and gets grounded, it will not
cause a problem. If the above occurs with the switch mounted on the
positive side, the best outcome will be a nasty spark and an ensuing
fire would be very likely.
Your problem is "parasitic" drain on the electric system. In the GMC's,
this is usually a result of added "extras". Sound systems seem to be
the worst culprits. You didn't outline what type of detective work you
did, but the best approach is to turn everyting off and unplug
everything you can from the 12V system. Next remove all the fuses(be
sure to label each one or you'll have lots of fun getting them all back
in the right slots) and disconnect the negative cables on both the motor
and aux batteries. Connect an ammeter between the aux battery and
negative cable. Hopefully, it will read zero. If not, then you
probably have a short somewhere between the battery and the fuse
panel(or someones tapped onto the cable before the fuse panel - it
happens). Then insert and remove one fuse at a time noting which ones
result in a reading on the ammeter. That will tell you which circuits
are causing the problem. Once you know which circuit the culprit's on,
you can disconnect the accessories on those circuits one at a time,
noting the change in indication on the ammeter.
This is a long process and may be more trouble than it's worth since
you've already decided to install the disconnect.
Hope this helps,
Patrick
- --
Patrick Flowers
Mailto
atri63
The GMC Motorhome Page
http://www.gmcmotorhome.com
