Re: [DML] Newbie Owner - First Question

[Todd Nelson <tan5732@xxxxxxx>]

Bill,

Congratulations on the purchase, by now all the fun is beginning to start 
I'm sure.  "Negative Earth" means the car has a negative ground system, like 
pretty much all cars.  You would probably have to look at an old British car 
like an Austin Healey to find a positive ground system.  The battery losing 
its charge is probably a combination of a lot of things, the most common is 
the stock door locking system.  The original logic box was faulty and soon 
failed on all cars which caused constant power to be sent to the solenoids 
on each door, in-turn destroying them too.  For now you can just unplug the 
unit and decide if you want to fix it yourself, buy an upgraded module, or 
just rid of the whole electric locking system altogether, like I did.  If 
you look at the http://dmcnews.com site you'll find a bunch of articles on 
how to rid of the electrical problems that plague most Deloreans, as well as 
a lot of other good information.  You will also have to clean all of your 
ground connections, otherwise you will notice all sorts of odd electrical 
behavior including the battery not charging depending on where the weak 
connection is.  The best way I've found to track down electrical leaks is to 
connect an amp meter in series with the positive battery terminal and 
corresponding battery cable.  This will tell you how many amps are being 
pulled from the battery.  You then begin to pull fuses and when you notice a 
significant drop of draw from the battery then figure out what was powered 
by the fuse you just pulled and looked there for problems.  What type of 
alternator do you have?  If you have one of the original Duciellers then 
dump it and get a new one from one of the vendors, if it's the newer 
Motorola that the factory switched to mid-production then you're probably 
OK.  Using a trickle charger is fine, although I would steer away from using 
it with the battery hooked up to the car.  I've heard some of the cheaper 
units can cause damage to the electrical system when used in that fashion. 
What I did when I bought my car was buy a brand new battery and just left it 
disconnected until I got all of the electrical bugs worked out, it has been 
fine since.  You might want to consider just buying a new battery as the one 
in there could be shot from all of the discharges and will not hold much of 
a charge.

Also, while you're at the dmcnews site, add yourself to the owners 
directory.

Good Luck,
Todd Nelson
1561, Vermont
http://www.rit.edu/~tan5732


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "o0shoryuken0o" <dmc06976@xxxxxxxx>
To: <dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 7:33 AM
Subject: [DML] Newbie Owner - First Question


> Hello everyone.
>
> I've been lurking here for quite some time as I've had an interest in
> buying a DMC - finally bought one this month!
>
> There is so much that I have to learn but my first question is:
>
> What the heck is "Negative Earth"?  What about this vehicle's
> electrical system gives it that classification?  One thing that the
> owner made me aware of is that over time, the battery will lose its
> charge.  After about two weeks I am starting to notice that.  It still
> starts, but gradually it is losing it.
>
> I bought a charger, the "trickle" kind that will automatically shut
> off when the battery is charged, but I don't want to F up my DMC by
> doing something stupid.
>
> What is the proper method for charging a battery on a DMC?  Also, are
> there any good walkthroughs or sites of interest that have to do with
> the electrical system that would be good for a newbie like myself?  I
> really want to learn more about the car and start checking stuff out
> for myself.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Bill
> 06976 





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