Parasitic drain

Technical questions and answers about the Mazda Bongo

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Bonneville
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Parasitic drain

Post by Bonneville » Wed Jun 16, 2021 11:53 am

Hello all.
I'm trying to trace the cause of fairly rapid leisure battery depletion. I have 5 fuses (interior fuse box) through the leisure battery and the following 2 show a drain:
Fuse 1 .118A
Fuse 8 .1A

Total drain .22A or thereabouts. Nothing switched on, radio disconnected.

I have a GPS device on fuse 8 (together with whatever else is through there by design) so not much I want to do about that but was wondering what else could be drawing this down.
Should the central locking draw current even when unlocked? Other than that, I can't see what would be draining it.

Thanks all.
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g8dhe
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Re: Parasitic drain

Post by g8dhe » Wed Jun 16, 2021 1:09 pm

Both those currents are a bit high.
If Fuse 1 is the un-switched supply - top left fuse on the original fuse box then you would expect of the order 0.05A (50mA) from a standard Bongo with central locking.
The Ancillaries Fuse 8 is the top right on the original then again it seems a trifle high.
Do you have a Radio fitted, some of the Android based systems are notorious for not switching off power and drawing excessive currents from both those circuits!
Geoff
2001 Aero V6, AFT, full side conversion.
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Bonneville
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Re: Parasitic drain

Post by Bonneville » Wed Jun 16, 2021 1:32 pm

Thanks, Geoff.
I've pulled the plug out the back of the radio so not that. Fuse 1 is where I'm concentrating as fuse 8 also has a GPS tracker on it with a battery backup.
Are there any other suspects on fuse 1 that may be likely?
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g8dhe
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Re: Parasitic drain

Post by g8dhe » Wed Jun 16, 2021 3:27 pm

If you have a LB then its quite likely that other things will have been connected to the unswitched supply within the conversion, basically anything hangin off the lighting circuits as they extend all round the van so are easy to tap into!
Geoff
2001 Aero V6, AFT, full side conversion.
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