[SOLVED] Can I use this meter to find out a load on my car ?

[herbeapuce]

Hi. my electronic ( more like electricity I guess ) is quite limited.
now, a few years ago when my car was new, I have had installed some hidden GPS trackers for thief protection ( boomerang was the service). . I no longer use their service and I suspect the gps are draining my battery. If I leave my car sit for 3 days, the battery goes dead.
Now my question is... Can I use this meter to find how much current is being used ?
if so would you please tell me how to set the meter and the exact procedure ?
thank you very much ?

I am familiar with a normal amperemeter with the 2 claws ..but I have no clue if this meter, see picture, can read amperage and how it would be done.

thank you
stef

 

[betwixt]

Actually - THAT is a normal meter, not the type with claws!

Connect it like this:

1. Turn everything electrical in the car off.
2. turn the switch to the 10A DC position (opposite the off position)
3. black plug goes to the COM hole
4. red plug goes to the 'A' hole (on the right)
5. Now the tricky parts: connect the black probe to the chassis of the car but NOT at the negative terminal of the battery, the far (engine or body) end of the wire to the battery negative is OK.
6. WHILE HOLDING THE RED PROBE ON THE BATTERY NEGATIVE POST, slacken and remove the clamp on the negative post. Take care to keep the red probe touching the battery at all times.

The meter will now read the current being drawn while the car is idle. A reading of less the 0.1A is a good sign, ignore whether it says + or -. There will always be some current flowing if the car has remote locking, a clock or an alarm system as these all consume power. Without removing the meter probe, get someone to turn the radio on and you should see a slight increase in current to confirm you are measurng correctly.

7. when finished, refit the clamp on the negative battery post before removing the red probe.

The reason for keeping the probe in place is to ensure the battery voltage is never completely removed. I don't know what car you have but on many, if the voltage drops to zero because the battery connection is broken, the security code for the radio and door locking may be lost and you will find it immobilized until reset by the manufacturers garage!

Under no circumstances attempt to turn the lights on or start the engine while the meter is connected, the current will be far too high for and damage will occur.

Brian.

 

[herbeapuce]

Thank you VERY MUCH for your answer
your help and hard work is very much appreciated.
Best Regards
Below is a graphic of my understanding of this.
thanks
stef

 

[kam1787]

Thank you VERY MUCH for your answer
Below is a graphic of my understanding of this.

Your graphic shows the meter with "0.1A" implying the setting is at 0.1A whereas you SHOULD start with the meter at the 10A setting. ONLY decrease the setting if the value displayed is zero or very low. OK?

 

[herbeapuce]

Got it . Thank you kam1787 .
stef

 

[Audioguru]

I do not know if your battery is for a toy car or a huge real car.
A real car's battery has a capacity of about 60AH so it can supply 6A for 10 hours. Since your battery is dead in 3 days (72 hours) then the continuous current drain is 6A/72= 83mA. A GPS device plus a few other items in the car will draw that much current.

Why bother measuring the current? Simply disconnect the GPS device and see how much longer the battery charge lasts.

 

[betwixt]

Even my modest little Mazda has an 80AH battery - perhaps cars in Canada are all smaller.:wink:

60AH/72 hours = 830mA !

If it were true that 83mA was 'normal' and a normal battery would be dead in 3 days there would be an awful lot of broken down cars around. Mine still starts reliably once a week for a trip to the supermarket and it has all the modern electronic gadgets fitted to it. to be honest, I've never measured the idle current on my car but I would expect it to be ~20mA or so. I doubt a tracker device that could kill a battery in 3 days would sell well!

Brian.

 

[D.A.(Tony)Stewart]

Typically, Car techs will put a light bulb in series with the battery terminal to see if the bulb glows.. The intensity of the glow is a clear indicator of the current being drawn, with the power rating known for the bulb usually <=8W and must be dim or << 1W for reasonable battery life.

 

[herbeapuce]

Why bother measuring the current? Simply disconnect the GPS device and see how much longer the battery charge lasts.

Because it's fun to know ! And yes Canadians have big big Big batteries in their cars, cause it's freaking cold here....

Seriously the reason I want to check is cause I just want to make sure the gps are the culprits here . If my battery drives to much amperage, then there could also be a short somewhere else. btw I'm sure the mechanic will charge me a good amount of $ to remove the tracker. I do not know where they are and how many they are....

thanks everyone for your help
stef

 

[betwixt]

Sorry - I was taking a poke at Audioguru but I can see from your IP address you are also in Canada.

You could try removing fuses one by one while measuring the battery current. If one is labelled 'remote locking' or similar, try to avoid it in case you scramble the lock codes. Some cars use fixed code sequences, some will self synchronize the car with the key but there are a few that need a magic box from the manufacturers agent garage.

Bear in mind that GPS signals come from above so there must be an upward facing antenna somewhere. It will not work if obscured by metal or any other dense object, if you can find the antenna, follow it's cable and the GPS unit will be at the other end. A good candidate is behind the rear view mirror or a high level rear brake light housing if you have one.

Brian.

 

[herbeapuce]

fyi. the load on my battery read 0.186 amp....

my friend know someone that installs gps trackers, so this person will look into it and remove it/them for cheap
I did a bit of reading and the gps in more likely the culprit ... apparently it has its own power pack but its batteries go defective after a while, so after that it sucks up your main battery
Once again thank you all.
stef

 

[chuckey]

I read the info on the Boomerang site and while it was vague, it did not state that it was a "GPS" tracker. As said the device cannot see a GPS satellite and it has not got the power to transmit its coordinates back to the control station.
The system is probablely like the ones in the UK. The device is hidden and is listening to a band 3 transmission. When you phone in and say your car has been stolen, the band 3 transmitter issues your car's code. Your car then picks this up and goes into transmission mode. Your local police tracker vehicle (five monopole aerial on its roof), then does a RDF on the signal and finds its location.
Over here thieves steal a vehicle and park it somewhere for a week, so if it got a tracker fitted the police will come and pick it up, else its theirs!!
Frank

 

[herbeapuce]

chuckey, I think you are right !

Our technoloby: Boomerang tracking's proprietary wireless-based technology provides a broader coverage area, in terms of asset location, than any other tracking system currently available. Unlike GPS and GPS-wireless based systems, the Boomerang Tracking system is capable of locating stolen assets located underground and inside shipping containers

stef

 

[Audioguru]

Why so much worry about car theft? Don't you lock your car? My car is always locked and I have never had a car stolen for 48 years, maybe because I never lived in a ghetto. Maybe your car is VERY, VERY expensive?

Today I went to an electronics products store but it was all boarded up and I thought it went bankrupt, then I saw the sign WE ARE OPEN. I asked what happened and they said a truck broke through the front of the store at night and the most expensive stuff (TVs and computers) were stolen. The thieves were long gone when the police arrived three minutes later.

 

[herbeapuce]

Why so much worry about car theft? Don't you lock your car? My car is always locked and I have never had a car stolen for 48 years, maybe because I never lived in a ghetto. Maybe your car is VERY, VERY expensive?

we were forced by our insurance company to put in a tracking system after 2 claims. the funny thing is for both damage claim the car didn't move one single inch. they broke in twice stealing the airbags, seat belts, etc but they weren't interested in the car . Both times in broad daylight in a paid exterior parking while at work... this was in downtown Montreal, not a church parking but neither a ghetto place. and the car is a Toyota Matrix
Anyways it was the Boomerang or they wouldn't insure the car anymore... they didn't ask us to have installed an alarm system, just the tracking device ...How stupid is that :-(.... but it's an old story now....

anyway that's the story....
stef