Pretty spendy one year old battery in 2001 Dakota. If it sets for about a month the battery is stone dead. After charging and load testing it shows a fully charged battery of course. When I disconnect the negative post I get a small/medium spark that means a draw of some sort. It's kind of hard to describe a spark. It's not real large. The truck has a clock, but I would think the draw would be minimal. Also has a radio, but I don't think that would count. I added a back up camera, but it still sparks with that unhooked.
Any ideas where to look next?
Thanks, Tom/Idaho

 

Do you hear any noise from the driver side kickpanel behind the parking brake, with key removed?

 

There are a number of items that draw power even when the vehicle is off such as the the clock, the radio memory, and some of the other modules. It's called "Ignition Off Draw (IOD). It varies but can be about 30-35 milliamps.
When you connect the battery there can be a larger draw as capacitors charge and some lights come on.
Most likely, when you are disconnecting the battery it's not a "clean" off, meaning that the terminal is making contact several times as you pull it off. You might see a spark then.

Check the IOD draw and you might consider getting a battery maintainer, not just a charger.

 

No noise at all when testing.
Thanks anyway,
Tom/Idaho

 

Thanks for your reply.
Seeing as how the truck did not come from the factory with one I was hoping there might be a simple fix.
I have an extra maintainer and will probably hard wire it in today.
I also have them on my tractors and ATV so I am pretty familiar with the unit.
Tom/Idaho

 

Install one and use it for those 30-day periods.

 

My battery used to run down after 4 days, so i had it on a maintainer.
you can hook a multimeter and pull fuses 1 by 1 to see where the draw is coming from.

Mine was from the connection to the trailer hook ups. The wire got caught between the spare tire and the frame, and all kinds of mangled. Was a pretty easy fix once I knew where to look.

 

My multimeter went T.U. last week and I have another on order.
Will test for a draw as soon as it gets here. Thanks for the reminder on what to do .
Tom/Idaho