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Friday, November 25, 2016

Car battery draining? Check your electronics add-ons.

I came back from vacation to find that the battery was totally dead. I used a 10A charger and it charged to 66% and then the display said "Bat Bad". Car started though and I revved the engine to about 5 min at 3500rpm. Stopped and re-started the car. Next morning it did not start.

I looked at youtube videos which suggested that I connect a meter to monitor current and remove one fuse at a time if the current drain is more than 50mA. That gave me an idea. I removed the OBD2 bluetooth reader. In 5 min the battery trickle charged to 68% from 66%. In 8 hrs, it went to 90% and after over night trickle charge, it is 100% charged.

So, I ordered OBD2 switch to disconnect power when I do not want to use the device. Moral of the story is to go easy on devices we connect in the car. Hope this helps someone prevent a dead battery.

Good to pay more for devices which are smart enough to auto power off or go to sleep mode when ignition is off. Solar trickle charger may help but not if the car is in the garage overnight.



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