Having battery trouble, keeps going flat overnight, it may simply be a dud battery (5years old) but during my failed attempts to fit a new one (I ran out of time), I noticed sparking when reconnecting old battery. Thought this a bit strange because nothing switched on, connected meter between terminal and live lead, it measured 1.5 amps.

Now I know the basic systems of the car will be taking some power but 1.5 amps sounds very high to me, although because only 12v, I suppose it is only 18 watts. Do not want to fit brand new battery £70 if the problem is somewhere else.

Is this "normal" or have I got a problem.

Only proper way to check current drain is with bonnet down (or switch bridged) , locked and left for minimum 30 mins. Then you can assertain wether you have a problem or a battery

I have just done some more measurements and the drain is 1.8 amps at first contact, at this point there are a few humming noises from the dashboard, after about 10 secs the noises stop and the drain settles down to 0.8 amps eg about 10 watts.

Is this ok??

Not if it it stays that high when locked and left,

Cannot measure when locked, battery must be connected to lock, if then disconnected, the alarm goes off as soon as the meter connects between battery and wire terminal.

I am beginning to think a drain of 0.8amps (10 watts) may be normal. Tonight I ran the car stationary for 45 mins to charge the battery, then disconnected it overnight. if the battery is flat tomorrow then confirms a dud battery.

how are you measuring the amperage? are you running in serial or parallel with the battery, and when are you doing all this testing?

Have you gone fuse pulling yet?