Where does your clock get it's power from nowadays?

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver

Chris Paquette wrote:
> Like many listees, I have an Optima Yellow Top under the driver's seat to
> use as an auxiliary battery. I had my mechanic arrange it so that the
> interior lights, stereo, and inverter would draw power from it when the
> ignition was off. However, I've never managed to get it to stay charged. The
> first Optima Yellow Top I bought died after a couple of years and would not
> take a charge. When I was at GoWesty for some other work I had them check
> the wiring and they said it looked fine. Nonetheless, the Optima - which I
> thought could not be killed - was dead.
>
> It was thought initially that the culprit was a small dash display from my
> CD changer - it was an LED readout that said "Stand By" whenever the CD
> changer was off, so it was a small but constant drain on the aux battery
> system. Recently I got a new stereo and had them remove the CD changer to
> eliminate that draw. Then I bought a new Optima and put it in two weeks ago.
>
> When I got in the bus yesterday, I noticed that the interior lights didn't
> come on. Bad sign. I have a voltage meter I can check the aux battery with
> and it was down to 7 volts. I have no idea what could be drawing any power
> from the aux battery now.
>
> Any similar experiences or suggestions? I'm frustrated that I can't get the
> system to stay charged. When I take it back to my mechanic this time I'd
> like to be armed with some ideas on what the problem might be.
>
> Thanks for any thoughts.
>
> Chris Paquette
> '88 Westy, "Rocinante"
> Los Angeles
>
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