"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 11 Jun 2017 13:00:34 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

[battery drain]
Audible/spark check. Disconnect battery, pull clock fuse/hood
light,
wait 1 minute, touch cable terminal to battery lug, listen for relay
clicks and look for spark. (In your case, listen for lack of relay
click. I love the headlight relay in the Toyota, ensuring that I
never have a dead battery from leaving the lights on when running in
from a stormy day. I first saw those in Japanese import pickups in
the '70s and thought they were a great idea. I think Mercenary
Bends
always had them, too.

(The aforementioned test is more risky nowadays with electronics in
every vehicle, but I've never fried anything. And most HIFI gear has
ferrite bead protection, too.)

This neatly solves the problem:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testge...-uni-t-ut210e/

It isn't the right choice for an electronic tech's bench meter that
may need to measure low milliAmps or microAmps accurately but it's
been fine for my vehicle and appliance diagnosis and repair, and solar
panel, battery and inverter testing.

I don't like having battery power exposed to accidents on shunts and
loads connected with stiff heavy cables, or bare banana plugs. That's
why I sprung for the expensive fine strand silicone-insulated wire and
lots of Andersons to connect it..

-jsw