Trace breaker positive lead, also ID parasitic draw

[skunther]

Currently the stereo is wired to the starter battery, and I want to Rewire it to the house bank. I have a multimeter but the leads are not long enough to reach from the electrical panel to the battery terminal. What is the best method for tracing the positive lead from the stereo breaker, and where should it be attached to the house bank?

On another note, there is ~1amp parasitic draw on the starter battery. Is there a good method to identify the source?

 

[dlochner]

The 1 amp draw is probably the station memory for the radio.

Is the stereo breaker on the breaker panel or independent?

Many stereos have 2 power sources, one is to maintain memory and the other to power the stereo. The memory power is typically not on a breaker because if it is turned off the memory is erased.

 

[Timm R Oday25]

What has worked for me is leaving the meter on the battery. Now turn off one circuit at a time .
Once you have located the cicuit that shows no amps while being turned off , disconnect the object that the circuit is supplying power to.
If no circuit is found ,perhaps disconnect the starter button for the engine. Occasionally sometimes a sending unit for an engine monitoring gauge will be wired "hot" instead of being supplied electricity only when the engine is running . I've seen oil pressure sending units , gas gauges ,coolant temp gauges incorrectly wired this way

 

[skunther]

The 1 amp draw is probably the station memory for the radio.

Is the stereo breaker on the breaker panel or independent?

Many stereos have 2 power sources, one is to maintain memory and the other to power the stereo. The memory power is typically not on a breaker because if it is turned off the memory is erased.

The stereo breaker is on the panel.

 

[Timm R Oday25]

The 1 amp draw is probably the station memory for the radio.

Is the stereo breaker on the breaker panel or independent?

Many stereos have 2 power sources, one is to maintain memory and the other to power the stereo. The memory power is typically not on a breaker because if it is turned off the memory is erased.

The newer stereos utilize a capacitor to power the memory function of the stereo . The stereos of yesterday weren't supposed to draw much current.
I've had several that drew as much as an amp and a half

 

[Hello Below]

The 1 amp draw is probably the station memory for the radio.

That is a lot of power consumed especially when considered over a couple of days at anchor. In this case approximately 24 Ahr/day, a single starter battery will be drawn down to near 50% SOC or thereabouts after 2 days. I use my (AM/FM) stereo receiver more as an amplifier than a radio. I do have a Sirius satellite radio connected via the R-Aux and an iPhone connected via Bluetooth so I have disconnected the memory power to the radio to save on this unnecessary power usage. All the other settings for the radio seem to remain and are unaffected.