possible car stereo problem

[QueBert]

O)k, I hooked up my car stereo today, I worked slow and was very careful to do everything right. I'm running 4 gauge from my battery to my trunk with a fuse holder next to the battery. Have a distributor block in the trunk with the 4 gauge running to it and 2 8 gauge wires coming out (1 for each amp) I bolted 2 8 gauge ground wires directly to my frame, I picked spots with no paint. Used big sized screws with crimped 8 gauge spades. I don't have a power antenna, so I used a bulb tester to find the remote wire. It was blue and lit the bulb up, so I ran that one to my trunk. I only had one amp hooked up during most of the day, I did have the radio on for a bit, not very long. I actually had the fuse unhooked a lot of the day while I ran the wire. So there would have been no drain unless it came from the remote wire not being connected properly. Not sure how long I had my car in ACC. But when I got in it tonight it tried to start and died. I got a jump and drove around a bit and it seems to be okay. The amps are supposedly 800 and 600 watts. But both are drastically overrated. They're Performance Tekniques, which are pretty much entry level amps so they BS the wattage a ton. Here's my question.

I know there's a way to test for drain on the battery when the cars off, but I don't know how to do it. I have a basic voltage meter, what do I do to test my battery? I'm not sure if it was dead because I had the car in ACC mode a lot and never started it today or what. I sort of lost track of time while I was trying to run all the wire. So it might have been in ACC mode for 3 hours or so. Not sure if that's even enough to lead to a dead battery. I'd like to test my battery for drain. To be safe I unhooked what I thought was the remote wire from my head unit until I can test it tomorrow and make sure. On the head unit the no other blue wire will have power except correct? I suppose if I wake up and it won't start I know there's a problem, but even if it starts I want to make sure there's nothing causing a drain on my electrical system.

It's a 2000 Taurus if that makes any difference. Head Unit is not stock either.

 

[PM650]

Probably the easiest way to do this is to unhook either battery cable and connect the voltmeter in series with the disconnected cable & battery terminal. Make sure to set the meter to the 2A DC range (or close/similar) beforehand and to swap the meter's positive lead to one of the terminals (if the meter has more than 2 ports on it for leads) for reading current (it will be labeled for 2A, 10A or similar - see pic).

Is the remote wire going low (0V) after the deck is shut off? If so, the amps are drawing sufficient current in standby to drain the battery.

 

[QueBert]

Thanks for the reply, I will do what you said, one question though. When the car's off the remote wire should be showing voltage running thru it? If so, what should it read on my volt meter.

 

[brblx]

remote should be 0v when the headunit is off, ~12v (or charging voltage) when on.

if this is not your problem, you should definately do a test for parasitic draw. once the car has settled down (sometimes modules will stay active for a couple minutes, plus lights and such), you definitely shouldn't see any more than an amp of draw. typically less. make sure you hook up your meter in series- disconnect the negative battery cable and use your meter leads to complete the circuit. if you try and test for draw by hooking up the meter in parallel, you WILL blow the fuse in it, and they're not cheap.

 

[QueBert]

thanks brblx, but my problems have evolved. I spent an hour today fixing my shoddy wire job I did yesterday, I cut of all the spades I bought (they didn't fit in the amps screw holes) but Solder on the end of the bare wire to keep ti from fraying and hooked them all back up. Mind you since yesterday I have not touched my head unit at all. And the last time I turned it on it definitely was working. I turn it on this afternoon and nothing. All the re-wiring I did today was in the trunk and for the 2 amps. When I tried to turn my HU on the fuse at the battery was unhooked. I checked the fuse on the HU and it was good, as was the for fuse for the stereo. I'm at my wits end here. I'm assuming if something had shorted out the HU, one of the 2 fuses should have blown. I'm a semi n00b so I don't know what to do to test it, I tried hooking a bulb tester to check the yellow 12v wire on the HU, but it's not lighting up, this could possibly be due to me not doing something right. I know asking for help here seems a bit vauge, but what can I do to see if the HU is still working? This is the last last thing I need to go to get my system up and running. Of course it's always something lol.