The battery drains within a couple of days after taking battery out, placing it on a wooden plank and charging it. Bought the battery a year ago. I first thought I got a bad battery and replaced it again. The car is in the garage and I simply put the battery back in the car and hook it up. I test start the engine but don't run it long. Then after a few days the battery is dead again. The only way I can keep the battery with a charge is disconnecting the cables. I had always thought the alternator is only used to charge the battery when driving. Someone told me if the alternator is bad it will drain the battery. Is this so?
We took the battery out and placed jumper cables from another car to the cables only of the Honda accord. It started. I was told if the car starts that the alternator is bad. I don't know. I don't see how this is any sort of test because we are just using another car's battery. I thought to test the alternator, you start the car and pull one of the battery leads off the battery. If it stalls, then the alternator is bad. Or another test is to test the battery with a meter when not started. Then test again when started. If the battery voltage is more when the engine is running, than the alternator is okay.
Is there a True test I can take to test the alternator, and how can I figure out what is draining my battery? Could it be the regulator and how would I test that?
:confused:

Battery Drain

Parasitic battery drain is the cumulative load produced by electrical devices (e.g. ECMs, clocks, security alarms, and radio presets), when the ignition is turned off. These items continue to operate, when the ignition has been switched off, and are becoming an ever increasing problem. Normal parasitic loads are below 75 milliamps (.075 amps). When parasitic load is greater than 75 milliamps, batteries will drain even faster. Glove box, trunk, and under hood lights that do not automatically turn off when the door is closed, or shorted alternator diodes, are common offenders. Cooling fans, power seat belt retractors, radios and dome lights left on, alarm systems, and electric car antennas can also cause batteries to drain overnight. Leaving headlights on will usually discharge a fully charged car battery, with 90 minutes of reserve capacity (36 amp hours), in a couple of hours.

Two methods are used to test for parasitic load (engine off, under hood light disconnected, accessories off, and vehicle doors closed):

1. The basic approach is to connect a 12-volt bulb across the positive and negative battery terminals to test the bulb and battery. If it glows brightly, remove the negative battery cable and connect the bulb in series between the negative battery cable connector and the negative battery terminal. If the bulb continues to glow brightly, start removing fuses or connections to the positive battery, one-at-a-time, until the offending electrical component is identified by the bulb dimming.

2. The best approach is to use a DC ammeter, connected in series between the negative battery cable connector and the negative battery terminal, or a clamp meter (set to DC amps), clamped around the negative battery cable. Starting with the highest scale (or set multimeter to auto range), determine current load. If load is above 75 milliamps, after the initial surge, start removing fuses or connections to the positive battery post, one-at-a-time, until the offending electrical component is identified by the parasitic load dropping to 75 milliamps.