04 Taurus battery dying when not in use

[Opr2135]

I am certain I had it plugged in the 10 amp because 1- it says 10 amps right there, and 2- this multimeter lights up the sockets you should plug the probe-things into based on what setting you set it to read. Although, I did leave it hooked up while I went inside to post my results, and when I went back out to reattach the battery terminal the reading was between 19 and 20 mA, but I didn't think it was a significant change.

[serge_saati]

So eveything is normal. I'm surprised how much the standby current is low compared to older car model. In the Windstar 98 it was 55mA. And I didn't have an anti-theft.

[Opr2135]

So there is nothing that could possibly wreck a battery like I had happen that wouldn't take fuses and whatnot out with it? The way the batteries died in such similar ways in such a small time frame is somewhat uncomfortable to brush off as coincidence, but I suppose its good news for me. Anyways, thank you again to everyone for the help you gave me!

[shorod]

Yeah, 15-17 mA does seem quite low, are you certain you aren't off by a decimal point? With that question on the table, the first battery, based on age, was due to fail. You can typically expect a sealed lead acid battery to last about 5 years. Since the store indicated an internal fault in the battery, about the only way your car could have caused that would be in you did not properly bolt the battery in place and it was allowed to bounce around. If the battery had an internal open or internal low resistance "short" there's really nothing your car could have done to cause that.

-Rod

[Opr2135]

Yeah, I even brought a pen and scratch paper out to my car and wrote the measurement directly off the multimeter to avoid goofing up the number before posting back here.