My aux fusebox drains battery in 3 hours. How do I stop it?
 

Don't laugh, I'm new to wiring electronics and I did use the search.

Well, I put my e-locker in and was tired of running wires to the battery so I put in a 6 slot 30amp fusebox and ran 10 gauge wire to it from the battery. All I have on it so far is my e-locker switch and my CB, but my battery dies every couple of hours. I thought it was the battery at first and got a new cheap but decent battery, but it was dead two days later and now my truck needs to be jumped every couple of hours again.

I'm almost sure the fusebox is drawing enough power to kill it. I took out the fuses on my fusebox hoping that it will hold the charge it has for now. I don't think it's the alternator because I can still drive the 25 miles to work without a problem and I just left it idling in my driveway for half an our with no problem.

I don't know jack about relays or other products like them, but the little I do know makes me think that when my ignition is off, a relay in the proper place will keep my battery from draining. Is this correct?

If that is right, would I need to put a relay on the power cable from the battery to aux fusebox? Or would they go on each power wire to the CB and e-locker?

Do I have any other good options to keep my draw from the fusebox at a minimum?

Thanks guys.

What sort of fuse box did you use? Is it a strip of fuse slots or does it have something inside like a relay that turns power on and off? How did you wire it? To troubleshoot the drain, invest in an amp meter (ammeter, common function in a digital multi-meter, under $10 at Harbor Freight or similar). Put the ammeter in series with the battery, that is pull the + cable, attch one meter probe to that and the other to the battery + post. Then read the current draw, for a 3 hour battery drain, you should be seeing maybe 10-20 amps. Pull fuses until the current drops, that will be the circuit where the current is being pulled. Narrow down to the device on that circuit. Or, add a relay and/or cutoff switch for the fuse box to turn it on and off with the ignition if that is what you want.

The fusebox is a 6 slot blade fuse rated for 30 amps at each fuse. I ran 10 gauge wire from the battery to the power terminal on the fuse box and then each device is grounded via its own wiring. The fusebox does not have any type of on/off switch or relay to my knowledge. When I hooked it up I was able to toggle my e-locker switch and turn on and use my CB without the engine running. Before I had the e-locker and the fusebox, I had my CB hooked up directly to the battery for 8 months without experiencing this. I also had my e-locker hooked up to the fusebox for a week before having any problems.

I will try to find out how to wire a relay to the circuit that is draining the battery. Hopefully that will work. I'm gonna run up to Schucks right now to see if I can either buy an ammeter or have them test it for me.

Well, I think I've got the solution. I took it to Schucks and the guy pulled out an ammeter and when the ignition was off, my e-locker switch was pulling 3 amps but when I disconnected the locker power, there were only a small amount of milliamps being drawn from the battery. I bought a relay and he showed me how to hook it up. I'm going to rig it up in a few minutes, and then get a new battery because I'm sure the brand new one I have now is shot by now. I also purchased a ammeter just to make sure that this solves the problem. He also tested my alternator and said it worked just fine. That's good news for sure.

I would instead look at how you wired your e-locker, or check the e-locker or switch for shorts or bad limit switches or something (if it has any). I don't think it's supposed to be drawing anything until you hit the switch to lock it.

I think you're right Gallant, but this fix has worked for now. I used the inchwormgear.com wiring kit, and it works flawlessly other than drawing a current when the ignition is off.

I installed the relay today and the switch still works. I tapped the relay into my cig lighter fuse and then hooked the battery up to the ammeter again. There is only 0.09amps (9 milliamps?)drawn right now when the ignition is off. There was over 2.5 amps being drawn constantly before I installed the relay. I also exchanged the battery that I had drain on me to ease my worries when I'm out in the middle of nowhere.

As soon as I get a chance I'm going to double check my e-locker's wiring to see why there is a draw on the battery.

Thanks for all the help guys.