New Voltage Regulator drained battery / Old regulator now buzzes when key in run

[cbecker713]

Hi folks,

Quick question regarding a voltage regulator issue. I had been having an issue where my headlights got a bit brighter when RPM's were up so I figured I would replace the old mechanical voltage regulator with a new solid state one. Everything went great then I didn't use the truck for a couple days and came out to a dead battery. It's been super cold and the battery was old and was producing low voltage anyways so I just went and got a new battery. 24 hours later I checked on the truck and the new battery was dead.

The only thing I've changed recently is the voltage regulator so I jumped truck so I could start charging the battery and switched back to the old voltage regulator to see what happens. Well the old mechanical voltage regulator now buzzes when the key is in run. So I'm figuring I need a new voltage regulator but does anyone have any clues why a new regulator would start a parasitic battery drain? The rest of the charging system works well. It has a new alternator and voltages across the system are great when the truck is idling. All of this just started when I swapped in a new voltage regulator.

Thanks!

Chris
1972 F250 - FE360 2v

[cbecker713]

The buzzing from the old voltage regulator may have been amperage related. I went back out last night and started the truck to check and see if my battery charger was keeping up with the possible parasitic drain and after running the truck for a couple minutes the buzzing went away when the key is in run so I'm now left with figuring out why there was a drain in the first place. I pulled the charger off this morning to see if the drain happens during the day today (I suspect it won't now that the old VR is connected). I guess if there's no drain I'm just going to have to figure I got a bad voltage regulator out of the box.