Electrical Curse of the 68' Bug - SOLVED!

A few months ago now, I posted to the group about all of the problems I
was having with my 68' bug, and it's curse. It seemed my electrical
system was definitely having some issues, and I kept finding myself
with a dead battery.

Thanks to the advice you all offered, I was able to figure it out. I
printed out all the posts from the original topic and took them to the
garage where they sat for a few weeks until I had the time and the
money to work on it. After some work under the hood, and under the
dash with my multi-meter I was able to track a slow trickle of power
(about 2/10 of a volt). Where was it going?

THE DOME LIGHT.

Yes, the dome light. It should have been obious I suppose. I had
never used the dome light. I just knew it didn't work. Was the bulb
burnt out? Probably. I didn't need it. It never occurred to me that
it might be shorting out, and draining my battery!

And so by unhooking the metal clips, and wrapping them with electrical
tape ... I 'fixed' it. I have now been driving around for a few
months, and I haven't needed a jump.

Again, thank you folks for all your advice.

I know it's a little late for a reply, but - it's fixed!

-Ray

Ray Dios Haque wrote:
> A few months ago now, I posted to the group about all of the problems I
> was having with my 68' bug, and it's curse. It seemed my electrical
> system was definitely having some issues, and I kept finding myself
> with a dead battery.
>
> Thanks to the advice you all offered, I was able to figure it out. I
> printed out all the posts from the original topic and took them to the
> garage where they sat for a few weeks until I had the time and the
> money to work on it. After some work under the hood, and under the
> dash with my multi-meter I was able to track a slow trickle of power
> (about 2/10 of a volt). Where was it going?
>
> THE DOME LIGHT.
>
> Yes, the dome light. It should have been obious I suppose. I had
> never used the dome light. I just knew it didn't work. Was the bulb
> burnt out? Probably. I didn't need it. It never occurred to me that
> it might be shorting out, and draining my battery!
>
> And so by unhooking the metal clips, and wrapping them with electrical
> tape ... I 'fixed' it. I have now been driving around for a few
> months, and I haven't needed a jump.
>
> Again, thank you folks for all your advice.
>
> I know it's a little late for a reply, but - it's fixed!
>
> -Ray
>

HaHa! Thanks for the update.

To my shame, my Bus was having dead battery probs.
Turns out that the radio (which had long quit working
and even had the knobs removed, had been left ON!)

--

Speedy Jim
http://www.nls.net/mp/volks/

Speedy Jim wrote:

> To my shame, my Bus was having dead battery probs.
> Turns out that the radio (which had long quit working
> and even had the knobs removed, had been left ON!)
>

Oh speedy !!!!!!

Rich