battery drained daily!

[DavidT]

this has gotten worse over time. I have been assuming the Odyssey PC1200 to be a dud, but now I am not so sure. After a full recharge, there are times that the battery would not start my car the NEXT day. Here is some data that I need youz guys help with:
Checking with a voltmeter... the battery is at 12.35v. I pulled the cover to the power distribution box, and removed several fuses. The SARC fuse (I have a swith ran to it) and the cd changer/RCU fuse gave odd readings.
I checked the amps (not an expert... on the voltmeter, I left the red probe in the same slot I check voltage with- I didn't put it in the 10A UNFUSED slot. Is this right? I had the dial set to DC A, 200 u ->(a "u" with stems on BOTH sides).
The SARC fuse slot read: 12.29v (battery read 12.35v) and 149.5 (amp setting)
The RCU/cd changer fuse slot read: 10.67v and the amp reading was a 1 at the far left portion of the led screen.
I checked some of the others under PDB cover, and they all read 0, checking the amps.
Interstingly enough, I JUST swapped out my cd changer for an Audiovox 10 disc changer. It has the hookup cables... made for the Taurus application.

Also, I have always noticed this while at idle... if I tap the brakes, or tap the "window up" switch, the headlights and the radio display will dim for a split second. Watching the volts gauge, the voltage drops to about 12.5 while this happens. then back up to ~14.1.

 

[Sagabu]

Any amplifiers installed?

 

[SHOZ123]

Get an amp reading when all is turned off and the key is out of the ignition. There should be less than 50mA draw.

 

[DavidT]

I am running an 8" bozooka tube (different brand) with a built in amplifier. 200W I believe. It has a hotwire to the battery, and the remote/turn on is spliced into the rear speakers. I did recently relocate the ground wire to it... :corn:
Paul, I checked it with everything off and keys out of ignition...

 

[Sagabu]

Ummmm.....
Why is the imitation Bazooka`s remote wire spliced into a speaker line??? Does your amp kick off and on to the music. :laugh_ti:
IIRC most run the remote wire to the power antenna positive.
The only wires that should run to the speaker lines are the high level input wires for a music signal.
Ground it well to the chassis w/a big sheet metal screw.
This may well be the issue . Your sub is draining the batt???

 

[SHOZ123]

Paul, I checked it with everything off and keys out of ignition...

So what were the amperage readings when the key was out of the ignition and all normal loads off? In this matter voltage means nothing no matter where it is being read at.

 

[DavidT]

Ummmm.....
Why is the imitation Bazooka`s remote wire spliced into a speaker line??? Does your amp kick off and on to the music. :laugh_ti:

actually, yes That is the way it was made. I hooked it up by the book.
Paul, assuming I was using the voltmeter correctly, the amperage was:
149.5 -at the sarc fuse
and
1 . -rcu/cd changer
initial post describes how I got these readings... like I said, I have never used the voltmeter as an ammeter, did I even do it right?

 

[SHOZ123]

You need to take the amp reading between the positive battery post and the positive cable. Do this with the cable disconnected from the battery and use the two leads to complete the circuit.

Then you should have a normal reading of under 50 mA.

 

[DavidT]

OK. I just did that. I got 1.13- 1.40- 1.85... jumping around a bit.
I pulled out the cd changer/RCU fuse and got .97.
I then pulled the fuse to the bazooka tube wannabe, got .84.

 

[SHOZ123]

Properly wired none of that stuff should be on at all unless the audio system is turned on.

 

[venom]

OK. I just did that. I got 1.13- 1.40- 1.85... jumping around a bit.
I pulled out the cd changer/RCU fuse and got .97.
I then pulled the fuse to the bazooka tube wannabe, got .84.

Like paul said you should be under 0.050 (50mA) I'd be content with anything under .2 or so however .2 would be 2.4 Watts.

1 Amp (12 Watts) will draw a battery down given enough time, much like leaving a dome light on.

 

[DavidT]

so the problem has to be with the WIRING? What do I need to look for? The 8" self powered bass speaker has four wires to connect... how can you mess that up?

 

[Sagabu]

I`ve seen it before.
On 100% of the bass cannons I have seen, the thicker red wire goes to the battery w/a 30amp fuse, the remote wire will go to the power antenna lead, black to a good chassis ground, and the rest are high level inputs that splice into the rear deck speaker wires.
This isn`t really adding up. I count a total of 7 wires needed. 3 for power that will be actual wires from the tube and 4 for music input that are usualy red/black push connectors. :corn:

 

[DavidT]

I'll double check, but there is not a remote wire to the power antenna, and I am only running the high inputs to ONE speaker.
When I got to work today, I pulled the fuse to the bass cannon. When I started the car to go home, it BARELY started. So what does this mean?
When I got home from work, I pulled the fuse to the cd changer/RCU. I'll know the results in the morning.

 

[nik97]

David, whenever you take your amperage reading, be sure to wait about 45 minutes to allow your modules to go to sleep. If you take a reading within the power down mode, 1.0A+- a is a fairly normal reading. Wait to pull fuses to identify your drain.

 

[Mr. SHO]

A couple of things here:

1. A 200 watt amp will NOT fully drain a good battery in a matter of hours, even if you are actually playing music with it at normal volumes. If the amp is actually draining the battery in this amount of time, either the amp is broken or the battery is junk. If for some reason the amp is staying "on" due to a remote turn-on problem, it will still only be drawing a very small amount of current to run the power supply. Not enough to drain the battery for at least a couple of days.

2. Many amps don't have a remote turn-on lead at all. They sense the presence of an input signal (music from either the speaker-level inputs or the RCAs) and use that as the turn-on signal.

I'm still predicting a bad connection somewhere (as I have been saying for months now.)

 

[Sagabu]

I personaly have never seen an amp w/out a remote turn on wire/terminal.
This may actualy be a combonation of events. The batt may be on the way out (after dieing several times) , you may have the wrong interface for the CD changer (JBL and Mach are different power wise), and the sub may be hooked up incorectly. :corn:

 

[Vroom]

David, I just wanted to say that you're not alone. Whether or not it's your issue, my amp(s) were draining my battery intermittently. I've had to live without a stereo since last summer. Hopefully over !Christmas! break I'll be able to work it out. I'm just hoping it's not the amp, as it was bought to replace another amp with an issue.