nile13

Ron, if your battery is about 60 Amp-Hours, which I assume it probably is, the math is fairly simple. 50 hours per 1 amp-hr, 3000 hours on a fully charged battery. About 4 months or so.
Sounds about right.

Randy M

The clock is on right?

kkim

Ron,

Can you also try with the alarm on and see how much the reading goes up?

Ron

Randy,

Yes the clock was on.


Kim,

Actually I was just checking that and to my surprise the reading was the same .02 amp. For a second when the alarm activated it jumped to .03 but it immediately went back to .02 I know the alarm activiated because the red leds in the tops of the doors were flashing.

Of interest was the reading when I opened the door, i.e. both interior lights were on and the reading was 2.26. The trunk was closed enough so that light would not go on. I don't recall if that light around the ignition key was on.


Edited:

For comparison I tested the draw on my 1999 ML 320. Tested with and without alarm on. In either case the Fluke kept flashing between .02 and .03 amp. That is nearly identical to the 993. Again whether the alarm was activated or not made no difference in the current draw.

Stevarino

I installed a trickle charger after replacing my Optima Red Top after two years - under warranty. Install and product can be found here:

https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ghlight=optima

If your car sits, it's a must.

DJD

The battery in my C2S lasted 7 years , approx 11,800 miles on it, thats not too bad if you ask me.
I bought an Optima to replace it.

Pete Lech

I would be reluctant to jump start my 993 if my Optima went dead, as it draws a LOT of current and may overload the alternator.

Shortly after I got the car, I put in a new Optima Red Top, and inadvertantly left the Valentine One on. By the next Saturday, the battery was pretty dead, reading 6 volts. I put my little 4 amp charger on it. When I plugged the charger in, the needle went WHAM to the right and the 110V cord got really hot immediately. I took the battery out, Pep Boys put it on their big charger/tester and it charged up in a hour. Now, 4 years later, I keep a maintainer on it, and no problems, as long as I remember to unplug it before driving away................

Ray Calvo

Interesting and good point. When I drained my Optima to zero volts (interior light left on), car was in a bad location for a jump start from the Audi (probalby just as well). So I hooked up my charger to it which has a 2 and 10 amp setting. On 10 amps I pegged the ampmeter and that charger was humming like crazy! Switched to 2 amps and as I remember the ampmeter reading was about 8 amps. Watched it carefully for about an hour then left it charging for about 8 hours while I popped in and out of the garage now and then. At night I shut off the charger and went to bed (was reluctant to leave it on all night unwatched). Next day let it charge for another hour till I was ready to drive the car. Battery charge was low but enough to kick the car over. I then drove it for several hours with a voltmeter plugged into the cigarette lighter until the reading was close to the normal approx. 14V. This was several months ago; battery has appeared fine so far.

DJD

I was told that the Optima needs a special high power charger.

CJ Dillon

Thanks for all of the comments and suggestions.

The battery will be replaced tomorrow by my local shop, who are sending their technician over to do the swap while I am at work. Total cost about US$100, for a Japanese replacement.

Cheers