Home Forums Articles How To's FAQ Register
Go Back   Xoutpost.com > BMW SAV Forums > X5 (E53) Forum
Arnott
User Name
Password
Member List Premier Membership Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Xoutpost server transfer and maintenance is occurring....
Xoutpost is currently undergoing a planned server migration.... stay tuned for new developments.... sincerely, the management


Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
  #21  
Old 08-18-2020, 08:36 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Saskatchewan Canada
Posts: 2,053
80stech is on a distinguished road
Using a buzzer in place of the milliamp meter works nicely for the pulling fuse/locating the problem phase.
__________________
1988 325is (purchased new) sold
2004 X5 3.0 2005 X3 2.5
2008 X5 3.0 (new to me)
Reply With Quote

Sponsored Links

  #22  
Old 08-18-2020, 08:45 AM
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Omaha, NE
Posts: 1,609
cn90 is on a distinguished road
Is this $29 item good for battery drain check?


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B075Z1GH5L
__________________
1998 E39 528i 5sp MT
2006 E53 X5 3.0 6sp MT
Reply With Quote
  #23  
Old 08-18-2020, 01:15 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 1,423
oldskewel is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by cn90 View Post
Is this $29 item good for battery drain check?


https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B075Z1GH5L
That does seem to have the needed functionality. But I'd be just a little concerned with the low price.

I got two of these:
https://www.amazon.com/UNI-T-UT210E-.../dp/B075ZHDQFP

a year or two ago, ended up shipping the second one to my dad when he needed it. I probably paid half the Amazon price since I got them from chinaBay, waiting a couple of months for delivery, not being in a rush.

That UT210E (note they make A B C ... models which are different and may not be what you want) is really good. Almost milliAmp stability (true accuracy is unknown of course) for low current DC measurements, which is reassuring. However, not absolutely needed to detect parasitic draw since you're mainly looking for an on-off sort of thing, and don't care if it's 230 mA or 228, when it should be much lower.
__________________
2001 X5 3.0i, 203k miles, AT, owned since 2014
Reply With Quote
  #24  
Old 08-18-2020, 01:49 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 1,423
oldskewel is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by andrewwynn View Post
The workaround and I've done it countless times: you connect the meter to terminal and the cable while they are still connected but loose. Disconnect the terminal after you pull thr key and maybe even shut the doors.

push the tailgate latch closed to get the lights off. i usually hang something from the latch because the odds you’ll remember the latch is closed it’s in the single digits for sure.
When I was helping my dad (with his Subaru), I came across this Subaru publication for measurement of "dark current" as they call it . Sounds like a slightly tuned up version of what you do, meaning it is more likely to succeed for the average Subaru tech.

Pretty cool though - running an extra little wire to keep things connected while the terminal is lifted off the battery post. I can see how that would make it reliable, and you can then put the meter in parallel with the little wire, then disconnect the wire, making it a smooth handoff.

But really, I can understand doing all this if it were 1820 and electromagnetism was not yet understood. But these days, with that being taught in middle schools, and decent $30 clamp meters available, I don't know why they use that procedure in their dealerships. The PDF is 4 pages long, and definitely more complicated that using a clamp ammeter.

I tried to upload the PDF, but this site wants to waste a lot of my time while trying and failing, so I found this link to it:
https://www.subaruforester.org/attac...14-pdf.522942/
__________________
2001 X5 3.0i, 203k miles, AT, owned since 2014

Last edited by oldskewel; 08-18-2020 at 01:55 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #25  
Old 08-18-2020, 01:52 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Calgary
Posts: 872
Bmwe5320023.0 is on a distinguished road
Starting to feel like an overload of intormation lol!
I got the tool, hopefully won't blow any fuses this time!
Do i need to do anything with this red big clamp or do I just use the probes as on the multimeter?
Reply With Quote
  #26  
Old 08-18-2020, 01:57 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 1,423
oldskewel is on a distinguished road
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bmwe5320023.0 View Post
Starting to feel like an overload of intormation lol!
I got the tool, hopefully won't blow any fuses this time!
Do i need to do anything with this red big clamp or do I just use the probes as on the multimeter?
Leave the probes in the box, and you will not be able to blow any fuses even if you wanted to. Really. That was fast. Good luck.
__________________
2001 X5 3.0i, 203k miles, AT, owned since 2014
Reply With Quote
  #27  
Old 08-18-2020, 02:47 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Calgary
Posts: 872
Bmwe5320023.0 is on a distinguished road
So I just clamp the cable with the clamp, that's it?

Reply With Quote
  #28  
Old 08-18-2020, 09:31 PM
wpoll's Avatar
Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: South Island, New Zealand
Posts: 4,659
wpoll will become famous soon enough
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bmwe5320023.0 View Post
So I just clamp the cable with the clamp, that's it?

Nearly there...

The two ends of the "clamp" meter must be closed. You don't actually clamp the cable being tested - the cable being tested must be entirely within the red "loop", which must be closed.

Your first image is correct - the one that is reading 2.6A. Normally, you only measure one wire at at time, but in this case, both wires have current running in the same direction, so it works.

Just put the clamp around the negative wire and leave it there for all your tests.
__________________
Wayne
2005 BMW X5 3.0d (b 02/05)
2001 BMW F650GS Dakar (b 06/01)
Reply With Quote
  #29  
Old 08-18-2020, 09:31 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 1,423
oldskewel is on a distinguished road
As said in post #16, "When you just turn it on, it may default to AC current measurement, so be sure to set it to DC. At that point, it will be giving you a reading based on the ambient magnetic field wherever the clamp is. You should move it to the vicinity of the wire you will measure, and zero the reading, and then clamp around the wire. That way, you will be estimating a current based on the magnetic field generated by the current flowing in the wire you are measuring, and not based on any other stray magnetic fields from other wires."

So to slow it down ...

leave the cables in the box

turn it on

set it into DC Clamp current measuring mode, however you do that on that meter

move the clamp part of the meter in the vicinity (within a few inches) of the wire you want to measure.

hit the zero button

then open the clamp and clamp it around the wire you want to measure

the meter should be measuring DC current through that wire

----
have you done that and things are not working?
__________________
2001 X5 3.0i, 203k miles, AT, owned since 2014
Reply With Quote
  #30  
Old 08-18-2020, 11:57 PM
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Calgary
Posts: 872
Bmwe5320023.0 is on a distinguished road
Thanks for your help guys, it seems to be working.
To switch between DC and AC is the button "select".
I don't see any button for zero.
But looks like after I clamp around the wires, it settles at around 1.3 AMP. So thats like 26 times more than a normal draw should be?
I'll try waiting 20 minutes after opening the door to have the car go so sleep.
Then if it's still high, I just start popping fuses to see when AMPS will drop?
Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On





All times are GMT -4. The time now is 01:53 PM.
vBulletin, Copyright 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. SEO by vBSEO 3.6.0
© 2017 Xoutpost.com. All rights reserved. Xoutpost.com is a private enthusiast site not associated with BMW AG.
The BMW name, marks, M stripe logo, and Roundel logo as well as X3, X5 and X6 designations used in the pages of this Web Site are the property of BMW AG.
This web site is not sponsored or affiliated in any way with BMW AG or any of its subsidiaries.