I transplanted a blade type fuse box into my '65 Wildcat. All has gone well and everything works fine. The lights are brighter and the top goes up and down much faster. I've put about a 100+ miles on it since the transplant, all the fuses are in, no wires get warm....but I still don't have the guts to leave the battery hooked up overnight. My test was to connect the postive cable to the battery and then connect a test light to the negative cable (disconnected from battery) then touch the negative terminal post of the battery with the test light. The test light does not light up (and the light works). There is not even a sign of dim light. The clock is not installed. Does this mean there is no power draw and therefore no short? Thanks Rick
A very good indicator, but there's always the possibility of some current draw, though not enough to illuminate the bulb. Using a multimeter set to a fine resolution is the ideal way to know for sure. Devon
A very good indicator, but there's always the possibility of some current draw, though not enough to illuminate the bulb. one possible source of a minimal current draw would be a dash clock ... but that would be correct and necessary. modern cars with all that computer crap on them definitely always have a minimal draw (if nothing else to receive the remote lock/unlock signal and maintain radio clock and station presets). long story short, if it's night when you do this test and you can't see anything from the test bulb you should be good to go. as with ANY battery in ANY car though, if you're going to let it sit for months at a time you should be putting a trickle charger on it every other month or so.
I am curious as why the new fuse box is out performing the old one? Is it a resistance issue? an age issue? or something else?
The old box was rusty and corroded. The power top would sometimes stop midway through and I'd have to wait for the relay to reset. Thats not embarrasing at all. I re-terminated, crimped and soldered all the main connectors too. I used a good clean underdash harness from a donor car. I also replaced the headlight switch, ignition switch, dimmer switch and throughly cleaned the power top and power antenna switches. I haven't hooked up the power windows yet, but I have new switches for that too. I hope those work better, I don't want to face new motors. I guess I should reterminate those connectors too. My guess is it was a resistance issue. There were a few hack jobs on the old underdash harness. I attached a pic of the "Have I've lost my friggin' mind" moment. ....and one of the finished transplant. Please Lord no fire! Rick
I re-terminated, crimped and soldered all the main connectors too. good man! most people just do a wire nut or crimp connector and call it done. the only problem is that those often don't provide an optimal electrical connection and take extra voltage to get across the splice. this means that whatever is being fed doesn't receive as much voltage as it 'should'. for things like bulbs and resistors it just means less current/dimmer light ... no big deal. the circuit goes DOWN on current and power draw. things are different with an electric motor. electric motors draw max current / have min resistance at 0 rpm and resistance varies with rpm. top rpm is controlled by how much voltage the motor is receiving ... poor connections in an electrical motor circuit result in a higher current and power draw which heats up ALL of the associated wires and motor windings and reduces their lifespan. note: you can also solder all of the wiring connections in your house. :Brow:
Nice work! That looks like a big project. I imagine it starts out with " well, I need to get the top working better"... and the next thing you know it becomes "lets rewire the car"! Thanks for posting the info:TU:
I agree you are OK to leave the battery plugged in. Nice job! PS How come y'all keep letting beat you?????o No: :rant: :bglasses: :laugh: :beer
You're exactly right. Where does it stop? .........when you've replaced everything! :grin: Thanks Rick
The test you did will tell you if you have a major load or not, but a good test light requires over 100 mA to illuminate, an older or cheaper model may require more. A modern car draws a max of 35mA (2007 Corvette being one of the highest draws). The best way to test your draw is to disconnect the negative battery cable and connect a multimeter in series set up to measure amps, preferable on the the milliamp scale. If you clock is disconnected and you have a non-electronic radio your reading should be almost 0. Usually I like to see anything under 25mA. Having said all that, if your test light doesn't illuminate you don't have a significant draw, so even if there is an excessive draw your battery should die overnight. It may take a couple of days with a draw under 100mA
This test will work on vehicles built before 1980. After 1980, the ammeter will be necessary, as the increased number of possible draws increases significantly. Most of these vehicles will not maintain a charge beyond three months due to the NORMAL draw of some 10ma. This low a draw will require a milliammeter. In this case, however, your check will likely not draw the battery down. Ray
