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Parasitic battery drain
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    Posted: 19 Apr 13 at 07:11
That's what I thought Jase. But according to this it's not too bad...
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Ignition switch is not as simple as it appears to change seb .
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Right then. Here's where I'm at:

Ignition does have an 'acc on' position which feeds the switched ignition live. BUT there seems to be a problem - the supply intermittently cuts out completely and randomly (but only to this one cable). So I need to replace the ignition switch, which is the most obvious culprit...

In the meantime I've bypassed the ignition and plumbed in an illuminated switch via the battery feed. It means I have to switch the power to the radio on separately even when the key's in the ignition and on, but it also means I can't forget to switch it off.

Current drain is down to 10mA with the new switch set to 'off'. That'll do me Thumbs Up
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Originally posted by SebRogers SebRogers wrote:

Originally posted by Alonline Alonline wrote:


Wire it to the leisure, that way it can kill that, but you will be able to get started and it can charge or as others said
 
Good old switch but how good is your memory to remember to switch it?


Might wire it to the leisure as a future project... For now though, switch'll get me going. Eyeing up one that lights up red when it's on. Reckon I'll remember to switch that off!
 
Will that colour match the colour of the wine?Wink
 
 
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Originally posted by Alonline Alonline wrote:


Wire it to the leisure, that way it can kill that, but you will be able to get started and it can charge or as others said
 
Good old switch but how good is your memory to remember to switch it?


Might wire it to the leisure as a future project... For now though, switch'll get me going. Eyeing up one that lights up red when it's on. Reckon I'll remember to switch that off!
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Wire it to the leisure, that way it can kill that, but you will be able to get started and it can charge or as others said
 
Good old switch but how good is your memory to remember to switch it?
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Originally posted by Piledriver Piledriver wrote:

 

I want one like that LOL
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......sounds like a plan seb Wink

Edited by Piledriver - 14 Apr 13 at 19:17
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... which would explain the stereo wiring Big smile

Looking like a switch on the dash, then...
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Don't have that on my ignition. Off, glow plugs, start...
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Acc live is first click of the ignition key seb.
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Thanks Jase.

Being an early van I think the wiring might be a bit different. Not sure if there's an acc live...
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On the t4s I've done seb I just switch the red and yellow as the iso wiring live and switched live are reversed on the standard wiring. The stereo then just works off the acc live

Edited by jason k - 14 Apr 13 at 17:35
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Update: I'm not 99.9% certain it's the stereo.

Ignition feed wasn't connected; instead the live feed was split and run to the igniton / live inputs on the stereo. So it worked independently of the ignition (good), but was drawing 0.18A permanently (bad). Quick test rewiring as it should be drops the current drain to 0.01A, which is where it should be I reckon. 

The trouble is that wired that way it won't work unless the ignition is on. Which is a pain in a camper...

So before I put plan B into action (wire the ignition feed through a switch in one of the blanks on the dash), is there another way to wire it up so that it'll run without the ignition on but not flatten the battery in a week?
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All good advice, cheers!

Though if I pull the radio fuse and the drain drops from 180mA to zero, I'd have thought that'd rule out secondary pump or leisure battery issues (leisure voltage is fine - 12.7v w/out load, it's just the capacity that's shot).

I'll investigate further...
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I agree with Jase as i recently had a problem charging. The leisure charged but the engine battery wouldnt & my bus was pulling on the leisure when trying to start because the engine battery Amps were low, the issue was down to a simple switch, both batteries will be on the same system.

The 2.4 has got a small electric after run pump under the rad. These are nearly always goosed, on my last 2.4 it was still supping power even though it was not working.
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On the radios seb you switch the red and yellow wires for switched and permanent lives.

I'm still putting my money on the leisure supping it.
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Also... if the stereo was the cause but the drain was on another circuit, then logically I'd get zero drain pulling both the radio fuse AND the fuse on the culprit circuit...right? Or is it not that simple?
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Thanks!

How would I find out? The 2.4d's a pretty simple beast - no ecu to power down afaik. Also... this was happening with the 'old' Blaupunkt stereo too. The new Alpine head unit only went in recently, which makes me think it might be a stereo wiring issue (rather than an inherent problem with the stereo itself).

I read somewhere about VW's switched and permanent live stereo feeds being the 'wrong' way round?
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It might be as simple as the stereo not powering down completely, but sometimes aftermarket Stereos can prevent VW controllers from "going to sleep" properly after switching off the ignition, so it might be caused by the stereo (keeping something else "awake") but the actual current drain is elsewhere.
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