Get a VOM (Volt Ohm Meter), pull the neg battery cable and connect the
meter in series between the cable and the battery  neg (ground)
terminal. If there is any current flowing (with all systems off) you
have a short that is draining the battery. That's the easy part.
determining where it is takes a little more time.
Keeping your eye on the meter, pull and replace your fuses, one at a
time. When the current flow stops, you've found the circuit that has a
short.  From there isolate the leads within the circuit one at a time
to find where the "action' is.

Keep in mind that clocks and radios do have a constant draw so
disconnect them before you start searching.

Good luck

On Wednesday, March 31, 2004, at 06:17  PM, Automatic digest processor
wrote:

> Date:    Wed, 31 Mar 2004 16:33:57 -0800
> From:    Dylan Kahler <dkahler@UPS.EDU>
> Subject: battery questions
>
> I've been having regular problems with batteries in my '85 westy. I've
> replaced the battery twice now in 3 months (on warranty luckily). I
> checked the alternator and it's giving the right voltage, and nothing
> else seems to be draining down the battery. I don't set my fridge to
> battery, and the water in the battery seems just fine. I've been using
> the DieHard 30042 WeatherHandler which is what came in the van when I
> purchased it from the PO.  Is this battery too weak for the Vanagon? I
> looked up this battery series online and it says they have up to 700
> cold cranking amps, so I don't understand why it wouldn't be
> functioning fine (the '85 vanagon requires ~435 cca's right?) to start
> up the van. Any clues as to what direction I should take from here?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Dylan
> dkahler@ups.edu