Some electrical draw measurements..

[lloydy]

Business as normal with the batteries now, 36hrs later and still at 12.8V

[300CE]

What solar set up have you got Kev?

100 watt Baird panel
Photonic universe dual batt controller.
Remote meter.

I use mine to heat the shower water.
Gives me 8.2 amps.

Cheers for the info Kev! Update on mine - re-connected the battery this evening and the van started straight away so deffo a drain somewhere. Will get it sorted and was thinking of getting an isolator switch on the terminal as well so if it isn't being used I can immediately disconnect it.

[busbuddy]

sony, kenwood and alpine are the usual offenders for battery drain

sony has been the leader in killing car batteries for nearly 20 years and show no sign of giving up their crown,some of their xplod stuff used to kill a battery in one weekend

[busbuddy]

What solar set up have you got Kev?

100 watt Baird panel
Photonic universe dual batt controller.
Remote meter.

I use mine to heat the shower water.
Gives me 8.2 amps.

8.2amps from a 100w panel, err you in the desert?

where did you get the panel from? most 100w I have seen have an absolute max of just over 6amps, happy to change mine if I can get 8amps

[lloydy]

Mines an Alpine..

[kevtherev]

What solar set up have you got Kev?

100 watt Baird panel
Photonic universe dual batt controller.
Remote meter.

I use mine to heat the shower water.
Gives me 8.2 amps.

8.2amps from a 100w panel, err you in the desert?

where did you get the panel from? most 100w I have seen have an absolute max of just over 6amps, happy to change mine if I can get 8amps

It's not the panel, it's the ability of the controller and it's ability
to control the voltage on a heavily discharged battery.
P=I x V
98 watt = 8.3 x 12v

[300CE]

Mines a bloody Sony!

[Timwhy]

When I figured out what was drawing down the power of the battery. It turned out to be the USB port , that I had my Archos plugged into to. It was always on and charging.

[300CE]

Cheers Tim - I have a USB plugged into the cigarette lighter on the dash which is controlled by a switch - Will check this as well, although I am thinking of getting something like this to be a bit different & replace the start button with a lighter port:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 1035462861" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[martinkgray]

Very interesting reading. Mine has a Sony xplod and it killed the old battery before I realised that taking the front plate off stopped the draw - oh and removing the iPod from the connector too [SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH]

[Aidan]

This was happening to my radio/battery as well. I added a key in ignition relay to the radio and the draw went away. Once the key is removed that little bit of power stopped going to the radio. Presets and clock are unaffected.

any info on this mod please ?

[windysurfer]

How did you carry out the test Lloydy?

[MattBW]

My solar array negates stereo draw during the day.
And the lunar array at night.

Even parking it under a street lamp adds half an amp!

Me too, my van has sat all winter not been used, and the solar panel has kept both batteries in top condition. Love my solar, one of the best additions I ever bought for it.

[lloydy]

How did you carry out the test Lloydy?

I disconnected the earth from the battery and attached my ammeter to the earth cable and earth post on battery. Let the reading settle for 30secs-60secs and then read what figure you have.
You'll need a multimeter with a amp setting to do this.

[windysurfer]

How did you carry out the test Lloydy?

I disconnected the earth from the battery and attached my ammeter to the earth cable and earth post on battery. Let the reading settle for 30secs-60secs and then read what figure you have.
You'll need a multimeter with a amp setting to do this.

cheers