Short that's not fused?

Thanks guys,
The most common suggestion is the battery so I gave it a full charge, disconnected both battery cables so there was nothing tied to it. She sat overnight and in the morning the battery was showing 80%.
I just put a brand new battery in it, charged it to 100%, and have left both cables disconnected again. I'll check it again in the morning and see what it looks like.
If she's still near 100% in the morning, I'll disconnect the alternator, hook up both terminals and let it sit for another day before checking it.

thanks again.

 

replace the triode

 

2 things I can't live without (among lots of other things ) are a good multi meter and a good carbon pile load tester. a battery can have a good surface charge you'll see 12v, then it can go in the can when you hit the starter button (like 2v). also you can chase your tail trying to find a short that's isn't there and that's where the amp meter comes in.

hook up everything like normal, hook your volt meter to the battery, have someone start it and watch the volt meter......it shouldn't dip below 10.5 volts while cranking.