New battery dying

How long should your average non-AGM Interstate 27F battery last before draining?

• I got a brand new non-AGM Interstate 27F battery a month ago.
• I hadn't driven my truck in about ~2 weeks and it was dead today.
  • Is that expected for such infrequent driving? Or do I possibly have a parasitic drain issue?
• This happened with my last battery twice when I went a couple weeks without driving.

As far as testing for parasitic drain, I had some issues configuring my multimeter to test for it - I need to do more research because the numbers I was getting didn't make sense.

 

Mods?

Parked outside?

What have the overnight temps been on average?

 

Probably some youtoob vids that will show you how to set up your DMM.

try disconnecting the battery next time it sits for 2 weeks. If it still goes dead you'll know you have a weak battery.

 

Battery clamps might not be fully snugged leaving battery not fully charged.

 

• Covered parking outside
• AZ winter-ish temps, so maybe 40-60F overnight

I do have a couple electrical mods I was thinking about unplugging temporarily:

• Morimoto HID kit w/ aftermarket projector headlights (installed for ~3yrs)
  
• Ultragauge (installed for >2yrs)
• Remote Start (installed for ~1yr)
• Switch illumination harness for CH4x4 push switches (installed for ~10months, connects to rheostat wheel on dash, only illuminates switches when headlights are on - switches are not currently wired to anything else)

Definitely going to try this, should I just disconnect both battery terminals or only one?

 

One or both, doesn't matter

 

If you have a roof rack it can drip down inside the A pillar (through roof threads) and onto the aux fuse panel under your left knee

happened to me, drained the battery overnight luckily no other damage

 

It ain’t your battery. You have a parasitic drain. I would also check your alternator, make sure it’s putting out sufficient voltage.

 

Just as Ken said, something is draining it. Your dome light isn't on, is it? If you have a decent digital multimeter, it should be at least 12.6V with it off & around 14V with it running. Good luck Josh. I'm sure you'll get it sorted out.

 

As Alex said also, disconnect the negative cable & check the voltage. Check it again in a few days. Should be the same. If not, bad battery. Batteries sit on shelves at parts stores for months sometimes with no drain.

 

have autozone or similar check the battery. if its good then get or borrow a current clamp and see if anything is drawing from your battery when the key is off. youtube how to use it to check for a drain

 

any recent accessory installs .........

music.......cb/ham.............gps

etc

 

Could just be a bad battery. It happens.

 

So OP did you figure it out yet?

 

Slowly narrowing down the culprit by process of elimination.

So far I've eliminated these two:

• HIDs
• UltraGauge

I just finished disconnecting the remote start and switch illumination harness. I'll be re-checking my battery voltage on Sunday to confirm it's one of those.

 

Back probe all of the fuses (cab and engine bay) for voltage with your meter set on it's lowest setting. You are looking for readings that are not zero. If you find a reading, adjust your meter if/as necessary to get a solid reading, then pull the fuse and measure the resistance across the fuse, it will be quite small. Then, I=V/R will give you the current level. Be suspicious of anything over 150ma (0.150A). A decent drain will be significantly more than that. Tape the "door" switch down else you will see voltage across the fuse on that circuit. Or better yet, test the method on that circuit to see the process work before taping it down. I hate parasitic drains!!! Good luck.

 

So no issues before you got this battery?

Did you cover the basics? Charge the new battery and load test it. Then check charging system; at idle voltage output should be 13.5 - 14 volts.

 

Got sidetracked with other projects and forgot to update the thread.

Turned out it's my remote start kit. I'm guessing it might be the 2,000ft range antenna, but I got sick of testing it. I'm 100% certain it's the remote start kit though, since unplugging it from the OBDII port, and unplugging the long range antenna stops the overnight drain.

Kit was from accessorides:
https://accessorides.com/collection...-plug-play-g-key-start?variant=14441851945017

I reached out to their support today to see if they have any guidance/suggestions.