Originally Posted by
CaptArt
Update: watched the video and sprung for a digital volt/ohm/amp meter. Measured the voltage this morning, shows 12.7 volts on the battery which is still disconnected. Selected the 10 amp range on the meter and got no indication when measuring between battery ground terminal and disconnected ground cable. Selected 600m range and got a reading of 24.6 milliamps. If I try to connect the ground cable to the battery it sparks as if trying to weld itself together, so I haven't tried to test the individual circuits yet. Still trying to figure out how to proceed without welding the terminal to the cable.
Do you have any accessories plugged into the cigar lighter? Like one of those multiple USB outlets? Have any of your fuses blown?
Also, you might want to test the alternator as pizzaguy suggested.
You've said that you haven't reconnected the negative cable yet. That means all of your systems should be asleep. You could also try disconnecting the positive cable and see how many ohms your getting between those cables. Make sure all switches are off and the windows, doors & trunk are shut. Remove anything connected to the cigar lighter, etc...
If you measure close to zero you definitely have a short. Then you can try pulling fuses and see if the reading changes.
Remember to reconnect the positive first.