Should My Car Battery Draw Current When Off

What is "Normal" for Parasitic Draw?

Location Glendale, Wisconsin

I was having a conversation recently on an Internet message board, when the subject turned to parasitic draws or "primal-off" loads. As I explained the math behind parasitic draws, it was suggested that an 85-milliamp draw is non all that uncommon on newer vehicles. That is absolutely truthful. Memory seats, mirrors, radio presets, satellite radio, GPS systems, Wifi and lots of other fancy electrical gadgets have combined to greatly increase the electric demands of many newer vehicles. All the same, only because an 85-milliamp draw may be normal,that doesn't mean an 85-milliamp draw won't adversely affect battery lifespan and performance, if the bombardment isn't properly-maintained.

Some automakers accept responded by shipping their vehicles with solar chargers, to continue the batteries charged as much as possible between the time the cars get out the factory and when they get in at the dealership. Some high-stop exotics fifty-fifty come with bombardment maintainers as standard equipment. As even more electronics are packed into newer vehicles, those trends are both likely to continue.

Until the day comes when bombardment maintainers are standard equipment on all new vehicles, we just demand to be vigilant with our batteries. If a vehicle is driven daily, the alternator should probably have no trouble properly maintaining the battery, provided that daily use doesn't consist of a multitude of five to ten-infinitesimal drives.

The key to long life for any bombardment is to make sure battery voltage doesn't drop below 12.4 volts. The combination of a meaning parasitic depict and long periods of non-use can easily cause voltage to driblet below 12.4 volts. When that happens, sulfation begins to diminish both capacity and performance. That is why vehicles that only come across weekend or occasional use (this includes boat owners) should have their batteries maintained with a quality battery maintainer, like the OPTIMA Digital 400 or Digital 1200 Charger & Maintainer.

In that same conversation, it was suggested that a 200-milliamp depict was "adequate." That is certainly not the example. In fact, nosotros suggest a 25-milliamp depict is acceptable and anything that exceeds 100-milliamps indicates an electrical issue that needs to be addressed. Although I have checked the parasitic describe on my Excursion in the past, I'd never photographed that exam. I did but that today and information technology indicated a describe of about 60-milliamps.

That's non too bad, considering I take some of the newer electrical accessories, like memory seats, mirrors and radio presets, simply how long can this truck sit before it completely discharges the batteries? This truck is equipped with two Grouping 34/78 REDTOP batteries, which means it has 100Ah of reserve capacity. If the parasitic draw is lx milliamps, that means it will discharge the batteries at a rate of ane.44 Ah per twenty-four hours (.060 x 24 hours). That means if the truck is parked with new, fully-charged batteries (most are not), information technology will take just under 70 days (100/1.44= 69.4) days for the truck to completely belch both batteries.

If the batteries are not fully-charged, that timeframe tin be shortened significantly, depending on the land of charge. That timeframe as well can exist shortened in hotter climates or extended in more temperate climates. The batteries also need to be well above a 0% state of charge to start the truck. That timeframe can too be shortened significantly if in that location are any additional accessories that may draw current with the key off, like an alarm or even a jail cell phone charger. If the parasitic draw went up to 85-milliamps, the math works out to two.04 Ah per twenty-four hours, which would accelerate the belch charge per unit to a 0% state of charge by 20 days.

While these timeframes all seem more than reasonable for a typical vehicle, don't forget this truck is running two batteries. If you accept an 85-milliamp draw in a car with just a single 50Ah bombardment, as is the instance in virtually vehicles that aren't diesel trucks, your battery volition be completely discharged from a full country of accuse in simply over three weeks.

If you call back you've measured your vehicle's parasitic draw and institute it to be nil or you don't know how to measure your parasitic depict, but would like to learn, check out this video for elementary instructions.

Should My Car Battery Draw Current When Off,

Source: https://www.optimabatteries.com/experience/blog/what-is-normal-for-parasitic-draw

Posted by: bryantnorigoind1941.blogspot.com

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