I've had battery replaced 5 times now, ideas

[c5_nc]

I'm not sure if this is a recent or 1yr+ year problem on my 68 Charger 383.  I had the first battery battery put in a year ago, but it spend the next 6-7 months at mechanics house were it was infrequently worked on (other things), picked it up and battery had very short life so replaced.  The ground broke off when I put in a new battery and wiring fried (brown smoke, burn the shielding off some of the wiring) to it to another place that was recommended for classic car wiring.  They redid all the wiring but it sat for another couple months while they worked on it then it took me a while to pick it back up, battery was very weak and warrantee replaced again.  Drove it once and parked it for a couple days, dead again, warranteed again.  Same story again, I installed the new battery last week and took it for a cruise, another 5 days later its completely dead.  I put in on my trikle charger and it says bad battery, I'm sure I will take it advanceauto they will put it on their machine again and it will be replaced again.  Its really a PITA.  Even if there is a draw somewhere that would just run down batteries right?, you could recharge and it would be fine.  They won't hold anything after a week in my case.  What on the Car can cause this?

[Ghoste]

If you take them completely flat it can "kill" a cell.  If they drain enough and you try and start them it can "blow" the lead off the plates and destroy them.  There must be a draw someplace.

[c5_nc]

If you take them completely flat it can "kill" a cell.  If they drain enough and you try and start them it can "blow" the lead off the plates and destroy them.  There must be a draw someplace.

I guess I will go pickup another battery and install a cutoff switch on it to get it running and take it back.  There is not much on car on could be running like a modern car, its stockish, mechancial fuel pump, etc.  The rear lights cut on with the car (?) but go off when off.  Dome is off. Wiper, Radio, interior lights are not installed.  I have a light on the speedo that is always on, no idea what it is for?

[The70RT]

If you take them completely flat it can "kill" a cell.  If they drain enough and you try and start them it can "blow" the lead off the plates and destroy them.  There must be a draw someplace.

I guess I will go pickup another battery and install a cutoff switch on it to get it running and take it back.  There is not much on car on could be running like a modern car, its stockish, mechancial fuel pump, etc.  The rear lights cut on with the car (?) but go off when off.  Dome is off. Wiper, Radio, interior lights are not installed.  I have a light on the speedo that is always on, no idea what it is for?

\\

Interior and radio are not hooked up or did you eliminate them? Any wires you dont have plugged in could be grounding on something?

[c5_nc]

If you take them completely flat it can "kill" a cell.  If they drain enough and you try and start them it can "blow" the lead off the plates and destroy them.  There must be a draw someplace.

I guess I will go pickup another battery and install a cutoff switch on it to get it running and take it back.  There is not much on car on could be running like a modern car, its stockish, mechancial fuel pump, etc.  The rear lights cut on with the car (?) but go off when off.  Dome is off. Wiper, Radio, interior lights are not installed.  I have a light on the speedo that is always on, no idea what it is for?

\\

Interior and radio are not hooked up or did you eliminate them? Any wires you dont have plugged in could be grounding on something?

Radio and Wiper is not installed.  Dash lights have never worked.  I have a tester, but no idea how to start looking.

[ACUDANUT]

 You could just pull/take off the Pos. or Neg cable when you park the car.  I know this does not solve your problem, but you don't want a car fire when you are sleeping or a dead battery when you want to take it for a drive.  Does the alt gauge show it's charging when you have the engine running?

[The70RT]

If you take them completely flat it can "kill" a cell.  If they drain enough and you try and start them it can "blow" the lead off the plates and destroy them.  There must be a draw someplace.

I guess I will go pickup another battery and install a cutoff switch on it to get it running and take it back.  There is not much on car on could be running like a modern car, its stockish, mechancial fuel pump, etc.  The rear lights cut on with the car (?) but go off when off.  Dome is off. Wiper, Radio, interior lights are not installed.  I have a light on the speedo that is always on, no idea what it is for?

\\

Interior and radio are not hooked up or did you eliminate them? Any wires you dont have plugged in could be grounding on something?

Radio and Wiper is not installed.  Dash lights have never worked.  I have a tester, but no idea how to start looking.

I would start with checking all the terminals that you never hooked up. If you have a draw pull a fuse one at a time and see when it doesn't draw and start checking that part of the wiring for damage or a bad componet.

[bakerhillpins]

I would start with checking all the terminals that you never hooked up. If you have a draw pull a fuse at a time and see when it doesn't draw and start checking that part of the wiring for damage or a bad componet.

Though I might start by pulling the + cable and then hooking up an amp meter between the + terminal and the cable end and check for a draw. Start pulling every fuse in the block and check after each one and see if that has any effect. Obviously, if the draw goes down when you pull a fuse then that is a bad circuit. If that doesn't help isolate the bad circuit(s) then start tracing from the battery cable to the big elements like the starter relay and disconnect them. Eventually you should be able to determine which circuits are the problem spots and work into them. If you get everything unplugged and still have a draw then there has to be a short in the wiring and you have to start checking all runs to where you broke the circuits for the short.

Make sure you check the meter frequently. Better yet get someone to watch while you jiggle stuff.

Good luck.
Bryan