Parasitic load on battery

[Don87]

Sorry. I wasn't being sarcastic. I was sincere.



Right. The head-smacker was that I hadn't thought to remove the battery and just take it in to be tested.

No worries my friend. Hope you find the problem soon.

[pat32rf]

I'm thinking much the same as Rangerrzr, a battery that has an electrically "dirty" top. The way you test by lifting the ground will show a current flow. Have you ever tried the same test by lifting the pos lead instead and did you get the same reading? You can also test by taking voltage readings from one post to various places on the battery top. While the pos lead is off, clean up the lead until it is bright and shiney, both on the battery post and the cable end.
Around here I often find that corrosion has built up just enough to prevent the battery from taking a full charge and the problem always seems to come to light in the fall when it gets cold.Something about the foggy mornings....