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[phil her up]

My old omega ( which I sold to a mate) has developed a battery drain fault, when I swopped the battery for another one I noticed it arced when I reconnected, with the ignition off surely no power should be going anywhere. The charging light goes off when the engine starts, I know sometimes a relay can be faulty leaving accesories connected when the  ignition switch is off, has anyone else come across this fault ? any help will be much appreciated  

[Entwood]

Common reason for this happening is the door/boot left open

Courtesy lights are then powered so cause a spark on connection

There is also a small current going to the alarm/immobilisor ar all times ... the part that will set the alarm off if you disconnect the battery wrongly...

So several circuits are live with the ignition off  

[Dave DND]

Also worth checking that your mate hasn`t put an aftermarket stereo in it, and wired it up wrong?

[Taxi_Driver]

Worth checking the battery voltage with the engine revving @ 2k - 3k

Should be around 14v.....

Alternator may not be giving the battery enough of a charge.......
Theres a maintenance guide on howto overhaul the alternator if this is the case  

[Ian_D]

Every modern car will spark and crackle as you connect the battery terminals.

In cars (Esp the Omega) there’s lots of electrical gizmos (Alarm, Radio, ECU, Clocks and  Central locking ECU are a few that spring to mind) will all have capacitors in them which will instantly charge up when you connect the wire and thus create the spark as a rush of power goes into them!

If you think something is up, get a multimeter and check if there’s much drawing power from the battery... You will need to put the meter in series with the battery (Best to remove the -ve on the battery, and then hold one wire from the meter on the battery -ve, and the other on the battery wire -ve)

NOTE: Dont turn any high power electrical items on in the car... especially the Starter Motor, as you will melt the multimeter!

The reading after the initial peak should be next to nothing (ie 0.05 amps)