windrover Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 i recently installed several hella relays which are drawing 150mA each when the circuit switch is off... the circuits seem to function normally, but the battery is drained down quickly. the relays show normally open as the relay switch position. any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonb Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 i recently installed several hella relays which are drawing 150mA each when the circuit switch is off... the circuits seem to function normally, but the battery is drained down quickly. the relays show normally open as the relay switch position. any ideas? 150mA is about normal for the coil current when they are energised. So it sounds to me that your wiring is wrong and the relays are energised the whole time hence the flat battery. It the control circuit switch is off, the relay coil should be off and between the C terminal on the relay, there should only be continuity between there and the NC contact, with C and NO open circuit. Depending on the relay they may also be numbered in various combinations of 85, 86, 87, 30 or 15. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Do you mean the coil circuit or the lamp circuit is drawing the current? If it's the lamp circuit try reversing the wires connected to the contacts, they may have a diode connected accross them. If it's the coil circuit do you have indicator bulbs in the switches? You may have got the wiring wrong so the coils and indicators end up in series with the switch off. This will allow current to leak through the coil, but it won't be sufficient to illuminate the bulb in the switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
errol209 Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 If it's the coil circuit do you have indicator bulbs in the switches? You may have got the wiring wrong so the coils and indicators end up in series with the switch off. This will allow current to leak through the coil, but it won't be sufficient to illuminate the bulb in the switch. I can't get that to work, but see the following examples: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 I can't get that to work, but see the following examples: If somehow the bulb ended up in parallel with the switch, it would be in series with the coil if the switch was opened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
errol209 Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 If somehow the bulb ended up in parallel with the switch, it would be in series with the coil if the switch was opened. Indeed, but then the bulb goes out when then the load is off ... Coat! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Indeed, but then the bulb goes out when then the load is off ...Coat! The bulb probably wouldn't work at all, depends on the relative resistances of the bulb & coil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windrover Posted July 19, 2009 Author Share Posted July 19, 2009 Do you mean the coil circuit or the lamp circuit is drawing the current?If it's the lamp circuit try reversing the wires connected to the contacts, they may have a diode connected accross them. If it's the coil circuit do you have indicator bulbs in the switches? You may have got the wiring wrong so the coils and indicators end up in series with the switch off. This will allow current to leak through the coil, but it won't be sufficient to illuminate the bulb in the switch. The present configuration is pin 30-constant power in, pin 86-switch power in, pin 85- grd, pin 87-power to electrical device. I measured the drain from the relay by measuring the current flowing through an ammeter attached to the neg. battery terminal when all of the fuses are removed and only one relay is in place. i see that i will have to be more specific in my approach...this isn't an innate ability for me thanks for all the suggestions, Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragorn Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Check what voltages are present at each pin of the relay with the ignition off. 30 should be 12v, everything else should be 0v. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=4816 might help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windrover Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=4816might help. somewhat embarrassed by this, but it may help someone from making the same mistake...the relays were put into a hella relay box. at the back of the box are plastic inserts with the relay pin numbers. the wires went to the correct plastic insert numbers, but i must have the wrong hella relays for the box because the relay pin numbers did not line up with the box plastic insert numbers. anyhow with wiring rearranged to the correct pins on the relays they are working properly, and the drain is only 30mA now which i guess is normal. thanks for the responses, and i hope i didn't waste too much of your time. Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbarton Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Easy done. I was looking at some flasher units, they seemed identical but two of the pins in the same position had different functions so they could easily be physically interchanged, but one of them wouldn't work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
errol209 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 i hope i didn't waste too much of your time No need to apologise, that's what forums like this are for ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeds Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 If you have corrected the wiring to the pins and there is still a small current draw then everything is still not perfect. Have you taken the negative wire all the way back to the battery? Regards Brendan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windrover Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 If you have corrected the wiring to the pins and there is still a small current draw then everything is still not perfect. Have you taken the negative wire all the way back to the battery? Regards Brendan sorry, what i meant was the drain on the battery from all the circuits is now 30mA. thx, Ken Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonb Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 sorry, what i meant was the drain on the battery from all the circuits is now 30mA.thx, Ken 30mA will still flatten the battery, if the relays are wired correctly it should be zero mA when off. Disconnect all your relays and check again. If you still have 30mA you have another fault elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aragorn Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 if theres a radio or clock installed it will draw some current, which will explain the 30ma draw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 glad you got it sorted, straight amps [dc] are just as tricky as wiggly amps [ac] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 As Aaragon said - I would hope a battery capable of starting a Land Rover can sustain 30ma current draw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
errol209 Posted July 22, 2009 Share Posted July 22, 2009 As Aaragon said - I would hope a battery capable of starting a Land Rover can sustain 30ma current draw Well, for about 7 weeks at least. Radio memory backup, ECU standby, clock, all good candidates* * assuming you have these luxuries fitted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
windrover Posted July 22, 2009 Author Share Posted July 22, 2009 yes, clock and central locking fitted...which is likely drawing the 30 mA. i followed a previous post on fitting central locking to a rear door latch and applied that to the front locking doors also. works well as i am in and out of my vehicle frequently during the day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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