battery draining randomly

[Dirtbag]

i just cannot figure it out, I have used voltmeter tryna measure voltage over battery with car off. everything is normal, rsm returns around 13.5v-14v when driving around, so alternator would seem to be working. Tried amp meter in line with car off, and there are normal amounts being drained by the clock n crap (cant quite remember the figure, but at the time I looked around on the net and found it to be within decent limits, nothing wired wrongly that i can see, my rsm and headunit are wired to ignition power.

Any last reccomendations before I take it to an auto electrician?
Should I be looking at the battery as the possible source? The fact it happens just so randomly makes me think there is something maybe making contacts at random times after I park up the car, it doesnt have the softest suspension so things may be getting tossed about somewhere somehow, and maybe shorting in someway (oh so specific)

[l1ttle_d3vil]

may just be a stuffed battery. My old battery would charge with 13.5v or something, and I could drive it for 30 mins then turn it off and then it wouldn't even have enough grunt to turn the engine over again. put a new battery in and it has been sweet ever since.

[Dirtbag]

Yea, any random day I could start the car 5 times one after the other and no change in the time it takes to start, no starter motor really straining or anything.

Might as well get a new battery, no idea how old the current one is

[groupagt4]

cheach the age of the battery maybe do a hydrometer test if you can if its older than 2years just chuck it away

[Ae92typeX]

is starting the car the only problem you are having?

[Dirtbag]

Yeap.
it ran out overnight again last night, after jumpstarting it last night and driving it for about an hour. I checked about an hour after that drive, and it started fine. This morning there was 9.8V over the terminals.

Got a new battery on the way, so hopefully it will solve my problems, if not off to auto electrician.

[Jazza]

Turn off your interior light au

[Dirtbag]

haha im not that thick

[l1ttle_d3vil]

yeah same with my car, sometimes it would actually start but most of the time it wouldn't.

generally if a battery gets drained completely flat, or goes flat quite a few times in a short period of time, even once they are charged back up they still won't hold the charge properly.

[trueno_20v]

same sort of thing was happening to my car a while back, this thread might help

viewtopic.php?t=44637&highlight=

[Crampy]

You've probably got a tired cell in your battery, hence the low voltage of 9V as opposed to 12V.

The alternator is still working correctly with it's internal regulator set to 14.5V when charging, but the battery has reduced capacity with the busted cell.

Buy a new battery and you'll be sweet to go.

[Crampy]

When you jump start your car, if you have the battery vent caps off you might even see which cell is stuffed, as it will smoke and bubble a bit.

[Dirtbag]

Yea, it did get a lil low in water a while back, so might still be stuffed from back then. Got a new battery on the way, really hoping it fixes my probs.

cheers for that trueno_20v, ill have a gander at some of those possibilities.

[blitza]

basics, bad earth, water, eng-chassis earth.

[Crampy]

A bad earth will not cause the battery to drain, or to have 9volts across the terminals. The problem is the battery.