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01-01-2009, 08:38 AM | #1 |
Drives: Black HB Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: AK
Posts: 542
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Current draw on battery, possibly glowshift gauges?
I have three glowshift gauges installed, volt, rpm, and water temp. I have had them installed for a while, but recently I have been noticing some issues with my battery. Every time I go to start my car I have to get a jump start. I thought it was just the cold + a bad battery, but when I took it in, the dealership said that there was something pulling more current than normal. I think he said it was somewhere around 330mA. Is it possible that my gauge cluster is causing this?
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01-01-2009, 10:27 AM | #2 |
SIPNDEW
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the 3 gauges wont draw nearly enough power to make even the slightest difference.
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01-01-2009, 04:05 PM | #3 |
It's the illusion you see
Drives: 07 Yaris Sedan Aero Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Brossard, QC
Posts: 3,888
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300mA is not going to affect anything. It's like 1 extra 5w light bulb. lol
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01-01-2009, 04:59 PM | #4 |
The Old Man
Drives: 2008 yaris HB black sand pearl Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 57
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Interesting my HB is one year old and the battery did the same thing, I have gauges also and a stereo amp +++ and an alarm system. The battery would keep going dead. I realize that the alarm pulls current but not that much. I finally put the battery under and extreme test and found that one of the cells in the battery was shorting out and draining the battery. They must use cheap batterys in the factory install. It gave me the excuse to put in a yellow top, even though they cost 3 times as much.
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01-01-2009, 05:47 PM | #5 |
Banned
Drives: LB Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: OH
Posts: 7,787
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Make sure your stereo systems are grounded.
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01-01-2009, 08:08 PM | #6 | |
Drives: Black HB Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: AK
Posts: 542
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Quote:
I have the stock stereo system. :(
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01-01-2009, 08:28 PM | #7 | |
It's the illusion you see
Drives: 07 Yaris Sedan Aero Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Brossard, QC
Posts: 3,888
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Quote:
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01-02-2009, 07:34 AM | #8 |
Drives: Black HB Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: AK
Posts: 542
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Unhooked the power from the gauges. Battery was fine many many hours later. Why are my gauges pulling so much current?
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01-02-2009, 07:54 AM | #9 |
School'er of hard knocks
Drives: Silver Yaris 4dr. HB Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Sudbury, On
Posts: 556
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01-02-2009, 12:03 PM | #10 |
SIPNDEW
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your gauges wouldnt have anything to do with the battery dying, unless you have the power wire tapped into a constand 12v source. they do turn off when the car is off right?
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01-02-2009, 09:02 PM | #11 | |
Drives: Black HB Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: AK
Posts: 542
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Quote:
Found my multimeter last night. I'm going to confirm that it's my gauges, and then try to figure out which gauge it is. But I really don't want to with it being so cold out. -16F is just cold.
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01-03-2009, 06:14 AM | #12 |
Audio Junky
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330ma hahaha... thats a 4watt drain. yeah... that will take a long time to drain a battery
equation is Amps * Volts = watts .330A * 12V = 3.96watts check all your aftermarket electronics... lights, glowing dash crap, stereo... make sure that none of the connectors have any strands of wire that is frayed out and can possible short out on metal somewhere. That could cause a short which might speed up the discharge rate. |
01-03-2009, 08:41 AM | #13 |
Drives: Black HB Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: AK
Posts: 542
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I guess I need to clarify:
With the exception of the gauges (which are now disconnected) I have no aftermarket electronics in the Yaris. And to my surprise, I found out about an hour ago I could not start my car because the battery had gotten to low. It did just the "click-click-click-click-click-click" thing cars do when their battery isn't dead, but low.
What could possibly be draining my battery???
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01-03-2009, 07:40 PM | #14 |
Drives: Black HB Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: AK
Posts: 542
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When my car is on the alt voltage hovers around 13.5v to 14.5v depending on temperature, weather, rpm, etc. I think the alt might be fine.
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01-03-2009, 10:20 PM | #15 |
Drives: '08 LB MT Bayou Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Colorado
Posts: 1,671
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My stock battery died after leaving the headlights on for 10 minutes without the engine running. I've owned many cars over the years and never had one go that quickly. Replaced it immediately with a Red Top.
I would agree that the stock batteries are crap - or at least there is a bad batch of them running around out there. |
01-04-2009, 03:42 AM | #16 |
Audio Junky
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There's more to checking if an alt or battery is good then just checking the voltage. The amperage is also important. if your alt can charge at 14v but only puts out 20amps at 3000 rpms, then something is horribly wrong.
its much harder to check amperage however as you need an ammeter/amp clamp which are spendy. |
01-04-2009, 06:49 AM | #17 | |
Drives: Black HB Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: AK
Posts: 542
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Quote:
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01-04-2009, 07:12 AM | #18 |
やりすぎだ~
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Though it may seem too early to get a new battery considering that's it's still a pretty new car - get a new battery.
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