Shadow triple gauges killing my Battery..
29 January 2013, 05:14 PM
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Shadow triple gauges killing my Battery..
Has anyone else had a problem with aftermarket gauges draining their battery?? Took my car to an auto-electrician today and he reckons the permanent live on my gauges is drawing way too much power and is killing the battery in a few days.
He's advised me to connect the switched live and permanent live onto the Ignition live of the car to stop the battery drain which makes sense.
Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem??
He's advised me to connect the switched live and permanent live onto the Ignition live of the car to stop the battery drain which makes sense.
Just wondering if anyone else has had this problem??
29 January 2013, 06:29 PM
#2
Unless the gauges are faulty, I'm afraid he's talking rubbish.
The permanent live acts to allow the gauges to remember any settings, so is drawing less current than your clock.
Sorry.......if your battery is being flattened and you gauges are wired correctly, you have a fault somewhere else.
Alarm?
The permanent live acts to allow the gauges to remember any settings, so is drawing less current than your clock.
Sorry.......if your battery is being flattened and you gauges are wired correctly, you have a fault somewhere else.
Alarm?
Last edited by alcazar; 29 January 2013 at 06:33 PM.
29 January 2013, 07:32 PM
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easy way to find out if hes telling the truth would be to disconnect your gauges and run the car for a few days see if it goes flat.
on most cars with a discharge the fault usualy lies in aftermarket add ons, trackers,phonekits etc
all cars have a slight drain mostly around 0.060-0.040 but anything more than 0.100 of an amp will cause the battery to go flat over night... normaly
on most cars with a discharge the fault usualy lies in aftermarket add ons, trackers,phonekits etc
all cars have a slight drain mostly around 0.060-0.040 but anything more than 0.100 of an amp will cause the battery to go flat over night... normaly
29 January 2013, 07:50 PM
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The gauges are defo wired correctly as I used the clock wiring which is clearly marked, its been checked and double checked aswell!
With the gauges disconnected the battery is fine, ive already tried this. The auto electrician told me with the gauges connected they were drawing aprox .200 amps which would kill the battery in a matter of days. With them disconnected there was hardly any drain. So its defo the clocks.
With the gauges disconnected the battery is fine, ive already tried this. The auto electrician told me with the gauges connected they were drawing aprox .200 amps which would kill the battery in a matter of days. With them disconnected there was hardly any drain. So its defo the clocks.
Last edited by JohnnyDavies; 29 January 2013 at 07:54 PM.
29 January 2013, 09:10 PM
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I might take it to someone else for a second opinion. The guy I took it to charged me £40 to tell me the gauges were causing the drain which I already knew!! Only when I questioned him did he suggest running them off the Ignition live which im not sure you should do. Not too bothered about the gauge memory function just worried if it would damage them in any way..
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29 January 2013, 10:27 PM
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Thanks for the advice anyway buddy much appreciated
17 February 2013, 09:19 PM
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Mine do the same, after 3 or 4 days I know the battery is down as the dam alarm goes off. The battery has been on there nearly 4 years so I accept it is getting a bit tired now so I normally leave it on charge when in the garage as my charger has a maintain function built in. The voltage is fine so no risk of damaging any of the electrics.
15 March 2013, 09:19 PM
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Just noticed this. Mine do the same too.
I've countered it for now with a solar trickle charger as the car is only used once a week or so. struggles to start, due to ****e daylight though.
Will investigate properly when the weather warms up.
I've countered it for now with a solar trickle charger as the car is only used once a week or so. struggles to start, due to ****e daylight though.
Will investigate properly when the weather warms up.
16 March 2013, 02:17 PM
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I have Shadow triple gauges too plus a UEGO wideband in my old scooby. Haven't had any battery issues since the installation about year ago and the car sometimes has been parked a week or two without a single start. No battery drain issues at all.
The gauges are wired this way:
Red - to a wire straight from battery +12v (fused, of course)
Black - ground
Yellow and Orange - wired togheter to a relay with ignition on +12v input (I like them with the lamps on even during the day)
The four gauges are wired to the same sources with the correct size fuses. They keep the configurations in memory w/o issues too.
Do you know how your gauges are wired?
The gauges are wired this way:
Red - to a wire straight from battery +12v (fused, of course)
Black - ground
Yellow and Orange - wired togheter to a relay with ignition on +12v input (I like them with the lamps on even during the day)
The four gauges are wired to the same sources with the correct size fuses. They keep the configurations in memory w/o issues too.
Do you know how your gauges are wired?
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