What is the normal battery current leakage when a car is off?

Hi all,

I am measuring 20 mA in my Camry'89, 12 mA through the main fuse and 8 mA
through the alternator's one. In this model there is a small fuse box with 3
fuses attached directly to the positive clamp on the battery...

There is no alarm in this car, the only thing that might be drawing some
current would be radio in the standby mode, which I probably should try
disconnecting completely... That would explain 12 mA...

The reason I am asking is because the car did not start after sitting not
used for 3 weeks. I calculated that in 3 weeks it should have lost about 10
Ah at 20 mA drain. I then recharged the battery with a charger, but since
then it doesn't seem to keep the charge anymore... I am going to replace the
battery anyways, but would like to know if I have a leakage problem as
well...


Thanks,
/Mikhail

We experienced similar Interstate battery weakness after garaging our
'95 Camry for six weeks. The Toyota service manager said it's "normal"
and advised battery disconnection next time. The '00 Camry original
battery seemed ok.
-Gordon

"MM" <mbmsv@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3ludf9F14gf4tU1@individual.net...[color=blue]
> Hi all,
>
> I am measuring 20 mA in my Camry'89, 12 mA through the main fuse and 8 mA
> through the alternator's one. In this model there is a small fuse box with
> 3
> fuses attached directly to the positive clamp on the battery...
>
> There is no alarm in this car, the only thing that might be drawing some
> current would be radio in the standby mode, which I probably should try
> disconnecting completely... That would explain 12 mA...
>
> The reason I am asking is because the car did not start after sitting not
> used for 3 weeks. I calculated that in 3 weeks it should have lost about
> 10
> Ah at 20 mA drain. I then recharged the battery with a charger, but since
> then it doesn't seem to keep the charge anymore... I am going to replace
> the
> battery anyways, but would like to know if I have a leakage problem as
> well...
>
>
> Thanks,
> /Mikhail
>
>[/color]

"Gordon Slishman" <slishman@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:LurKe.5278$0E5.3431@fe05.lga...[color=blue]
> We experienced similar Interstate battery weakness after garaging our
> '95 Camry for six weeks. The Toyota service manager said it's "normal"
> and advised battery disconnection next time. The '00 Camry original
> battery seemed ok.
> -Gordon
>
> "MM" <mbmsv@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:3ludf9F14gf4tU1@individual.net...[color=green]
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I am measuring 20 mA in my Camry'89, 12 mA through the main fuse and 8 mA
>> through the alternator's one. In this model there is a small fuse box
>> with 3
>> fuses attached directly to the positive clamp on the battery...
>>
>> There is no alarm in this car, the only thing that might be drawing some
>> current would be radio in the standby mode, which I probably should try
>> disconnecting completely... That would explain 12 mA...
>>
>> The reason I am asking is because the car did not start after sitting not
>> used for 3 weeks. I calculated that in 3 weeks it should have lost about
>> 10
>> Ah at 20 mA drain. I then recharged the battery with a charger, but since
>> then it doesn't seem to keep the charge anymore... I am going to replace
>> the
>> battery anyways, but would like to know if I have a leakage problem as
>> well...
>>
>>
>> Thanks,
>> /Mikhail
>>
>>[/color]
>[/color]
Hi,
I have a 1995 CAMRY had it from new.

Its only about 6 months ago I changed the original battery.
Over 9 years in use was unbelievable.

Mine would still turn the car over after 5 weeks in garage while I was away
on holidays
and that was with the alarm armed.
Yet it died overnight and would not turn car over.
One cell SG was virtually uncharged when I checked it out.
It never recovered even with long external charging.

Just my 2 cents.

Johnny UK.

"MM" <mbmsv@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3ludf9F14gf4tU1@individual.net...[color=blue]
> Hi all,
>
> I am measuring 20 mA in my Camry'89, 12 mA through the main fuse and 8 mA
> through the alternator's one. In this model there is a small fuse box with[/color]
3[color=blue]
> fuses attached directly to the positive clamp on the battery...
>
> There is no alarm in this car, the only thing that might be drawing some
> current would be radio in the standby mode, which I probably should try
> disconnecting completely... That would explain 12 mA...
>
> The reason I am asking is because the car did not start after sitting not
> used for 3 weeks. I calculated that in 3 weeks it should have lost about[/color]
10[color=blue]
> Ah at 20 mA drain. I then recharged the battery with a charger, but since
> then it doesn't seem to keep the charge anymore... I am going to replace[/color]
the[color=blue]
> battery anyways, but would like to know if I have a leakage problem as
> well...
>
>
> Thanks,
> /Mikhail[/color]

20 ma is normal. Anything over 60ma should be investigated. The main current
consumer when the car is off is the clock which today usually lives in the
radio.

Jason

Here's the answer to a question nobody asked, but I've been quite
pleased with this stuff in two vehicles:
[url]http://www.batterystuff.com/productdisplay.html?id=403&c=106[/url]
One is a 1977 Toyota pick up truck that gets driven only rarely - so
that would be the worst possible use for a battery - crank, and crank
to bring fuel up to the carburetor, then relatively short trips, then
sitting again a long time.
The other vehicle is a 1994 Camry driven daily, with headlights on,
generally short trips, hard to keep a full charge, but now always spins
over with gusto.
The fluid doesn't require very much to utilize, so I think I've got
enough left over for several more batteries.