 | Home > Maintenance & Modifications > Battery draw woes! |
 
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| rallysteve Member Since: 10 Feb 2014 Location: Cumbria Posts: 2238   
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Is it actually draining the battery? I wouldn't say anything more than 85mA of parasitic draw is actually abnormal for a fairly modern vehicle. I assume when you refer to the central locking, you actually mean the whole alarm system as the central locking wont draw any current when not actually actuating?
Never used an optima red top but they look to all be around the 50Ah (C20) capacity. That should mean that with your 70mA drain the battery should be able to last over 700hrs delivering that load without becoming permanently damaged and dropping below 11V. Obviously this would be too flat to start the vehicle but I would imagine it would happily survive 20+ days of that load before going 'flat'. It looks as thought the National Luna system doesn't have any sort of switched signal to shut it down when parked up but you could potentially modify it so it doesn't do anything when the ignition is switched off? Steve 02' 110 TD5 Double Cab Rebuild Thread |
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31st Jan 2023 1:41pm |
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| bear100 Member Since: 22 Mar 2010 Location: South Wales Posts: 1953  
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Hi Steve, yeah the battery will drop to 11.8v in around 10-12 days
Sorry yes fuse for the locking and alarm system when pulled drops significantly, if left for 20mins plus with the fuse back in it doesn’t drop. I’ve pulled the plug in all the actuators with no change My last battery which was the original Vata would last 8 weeks or more without a problem, I’m also finding that my yellow top is also draining not as quick but still dropping 2023 Defender L663 V8 2016 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 (gone) 2010 110 XS Utility 2.4TDCI 2010 Range Rover Sport TDV8 (gone) 2007 Discovery HSE TDV6 (gone) 1993 110 csw 200 tdi (gone) 1994 90 HT 300 tdi (gone) 1994 discovery 300tdi (gone) 90 hybrid 3.5 v8 (gone) Range rover bobtail 3.5 v8 (gone) |
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31st Jan 2023 3:24pm |
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| bob neville Member Since: 30 Apr 2009 Location: Marbella Posts: 3248  
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Not sure if this is any help to you but I have just spent a couple of weeks investigating battery drain on a Merc SLK. The battery on that would drain in about eight days if not used. I was suspicious it was alarm related so pulled the fuse for the central locking and alarm. This stopped the drain so I then had to find the culprit. After a process of elimination I found that the standby batteries in the alarm backup unit had failed and leaked onto the printed circuit board. This caused a short circuit and it was allowing the main battery to drain to earth. I had to fit a new backup unit as the batteries were fixed to the circuit board and that has resolved the battery drain.
Hopefully this may help you trace your problem. 2015 Jaguar XE240 R Sport - goes like ....... !! 2013 Defender 90 CSW - sold 2009 Defender 110 Double Cab - sold 2001 TD5 90 CSW - offroad project - sold to a forum member 2011 Porsche Boxster - for the sunny days ! |
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31st Jan 2023 3:54pm |
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| bear100 Member Since: 22 Mar 2010 Location: South Wales Posts: 1953
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Any advice welcome!
Actually sounds quite plausible, another member has suggested the internal sensor. I’ve checked all the actuators and plunge switches on doors and bonnet. Hopefully it’s one of them! Has anyone carried out a load/draw test? And what results did you have? 2023 Defender L663 V8 2016 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 (gone) 2010 110 XS Utility 2.4TDCI 2010 Range Rover Sport TDV8 (gone) 2007 Discovery HSE TDV6 (gone) 1993 110 csw 200 tdi (gone) 1994 90 HT 300 tdi (gone) 1994 discovery 300tdi (gone) 90 hybrid 3.5 v8 (gone) Range rover bobtail 3.5 v8 (gone) |
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31st Jan 2023 8:56pm |
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| rallysteve Member Since: 10 Feb 2014 Location: Cumbria Posts: 2238
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30mA is not unreasonable for an armed alarm with volumetric sensors.
Steve 02' 110 TD5 Double Cab Rebuild Thread |
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1st Feb 2023 5:57pm |
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| bear100 Member Since: 22 Mar 2010 Location: South Wales Posts: 1953
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cheers Steve
Going to have another look this weekend, I've disconnected the ultra gauge and the National Luna display i have one of those carling Ctek quick connect maintenance charging ports which has 3 LED's on, normally mine will flash green for a day then yellow (needs charge) soon after, but its still flashing green since Sunday afternoon?  2023 Defender L663 V8
2016 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 (gone) 2010 110 XS Utility 2.4TDCI 2010 Range Rover Sport TDV8 (gone) 2007 Discovery HSE TDV6 (gone) 1993 110 csw 200 tdi (gone) 1994 90 HT 300 tdi (gone) 1994 discovery 300tdi (gone) 90 hybrid 3.5 v8 (gone) Range rover bobtail 3.5 v8 (gone) |
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1st Feb 2023 7:51pm |
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| macfrank Member Since: 05 Nov 2015 Location: somewhere in the north Posts: 1094  
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Once I measured 60mA with door open and key removed. Thought this was ok and never bothered.
I have two 90Ah Batteries with NL solenoid and display. This is what I get after x days, when left without charger (various times of the year). Colour levels and voltages taken from the NL display (which is usually off).  Click image to enlarge |
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1st Feb 2023 8:58pm |
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| bear100 Member Since: 22 Mar 2010 Location: South Wales Posts: 1953
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I see your aux battery also drops similar to the main battery too
Mine has been a bit more severe but now I’ve found the UltraGauge drawing and disconnected the NL display will be more in line with your trend. Dropping to low 12v in 10-12 days is too much. Plus my Optima’s are only 50ah 2023 Defender L663 V8 2016 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 (gone) 2010 110 XS Utility 2.4TDCI 2010 Range Rover Sport TDV8 (gone) 2007 Discovery HSE TDV6 (gone) 1993 110 csw 200 tdi (gone) 1994 90 HT 300 tdi (gone) 1994 discovery 300tdi (gone) 90 hybrid 3.5 v8 (gone) Range rover bobtail 3.5 v8 (gone) |
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1st Feb 2023 10:12pm |
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| custom90 Member Since: 21 Jan 2010 Location: South West, England. Posts: 20612
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A strange one but I found the interior light on mine had wet on the three incoming supply tracks to the the rear of the fitting.
I noticed as my interior light LED’s were glowing very dim, but prior to that you wouldn’t know and I only noticed as it was dark. When tested there was a stray 4v approx at the light when it should have been none or MV. The cause was wet and moisture build up. Chillin In The Backwoods🇬🇧🇺🇸 ⛽️🛢️⚙️🧰💪 |
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2nd Feb 2023 2:07am |
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| bear100 Member Since: 22 Mar 2010 Location: South Wales Posts: 1953
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thanks Steve, I've turned the lights off at the switch but its worth investigating, maybe pull the fuse first? 2023 Defender L663 V8
2016 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 (gone) 2010 110 XS Utility 2.4TDCI 2010 Range Rover Sport TDV8 (gone) 2007 Discovery HSE TDV6 (gone) 1993 110 csw 200 tdi (gone) 1994 90 HT 300 tdi (gone) 1994 discovery 300tdi (gone) 90 hybrid 3.5 v8 (gone) Range rover bobtail 3.5 v8 (gone) |
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2nd Feb 2023 7:06am |
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| custom90 Member Since: 21 Jan 2010 Location: South West, England. Posts: 20612
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Ah well you see, the switch being off won’t matter as the connections are still there.
Mine was switched off but the moisture wet was bridging the rear tracks even with the switch off. So I was getting glowing LED’s in the dark and 4v across the fitting where it should have been no voltage at all. Just enough to drain battery faster, if it wasn’t for the dim LED glow I noticed in the dark I would never know. Chillin In The Backwoods🇬🇧🇺🇸 ⛽️🛢️⚙️🧰💪 |
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2nd Feb 2023 6:00pm |
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| Lightwater Member Since: 28 Jun 2020 Location: Sydney NB Posts: 73 
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A band-aid until you solve the problem, a 5 watt solar panel with diode. Visitor - Freelander owner
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2nd Feb 2023 7:22pm |
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| bear100 Member Since: 22 Mar 2010 Location: South Wales Posts: 1953
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I went out Saturday morning with the sole intention of getting to the bottom of this parasitic load.
So I left it with the UltraGauge and NL disconnected since last Sunday Checked the battery voltages - main 12.55, aux 12.6 umm ok this looks pretty good. Then checked the mA draw on the main 0.6mA faulty meter? Used the other one and the same.
Disconnected the aux earth from clamp 23mA (no draw on the aux system) don’t know why this happening? Plugged the NL gauge back in 25mA total then the UltraGauge 28mA total
Removed the central locking fuse again with hardly any change Just what I wanted an intermittent load!  2023 Defender L663 V8
2016 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 TDV8 (gone) 2010 110 XS Utility 2.4TDCI 2010 Range Rover Sport TDV8 (gone) 2007 Discovery HSE TDV6 (gone) 1993 110 csw 200 tdi (gone) 1994 90 HT 300 tdi (gone) 1994 discovery 300tdi (gone) 90 hybrid 3.5 v8 (gone) Range rover bobtail 3.5 v8 (gone) |
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6th Feb 2023 7:30pm |
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