# Battery drain down during off time.



## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

In case anyone is wondering. 

22 amps is the initial drain down. Once everything is off and settled down. .3 amps is the drain. Add .05 amps for leaving obd2 plugged in.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

snowwy66 said:


> .3 amps is the drain.


That seems a bit high. I'd hope it would go down in about 10 minutes or so after the car's gone completely asleep (which it won't do if anything is open. In fact, it may not go to sleep in it's unlocked.)


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

ChevyGuy said:


> That seems a bit high. I'd hope it would go down in about 10 minutes or so after the car's gone completely asleep (which it won't do if anything is open. In fact, it may not go to sleep in it's unlocked.)


I"m sure the car went to sleep with doors unlocked. I sat in the back watching the meter the whole time. With fob in my pocket. Waited till it stabilized and gave it 5 minutes. 

Between the radio and however many computers are installed. 

Wished i would have had the meter before to compare to my 14 hyundai and 97 cavalier to the cruze.

When the battery was acting up the dealer told me to leave my obd2 unplugged. Now i have an idea on the drain i'm gonna leave it plugged in and see what happens.

When i see my aunt and uncle next week. I"m gonna measure their 10 dodge truck and 14 traverse.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Yeah, I put mine on a charger a week ago. I saw pretty high current draw when the car was unlocked, which dropped after ~2 minutes after the doors were locked.


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## carbon02 (Feb 25, 2011)

snowwy66 said:


> I"m sure the car went to sleep with doors unlocked. I sat in the back watching the meter the whole time. With fob in my pocket. Waited till it stabilized and gave it 5 minutes.
> 
> Between the radio and however many computers are installed.
> 
> ...


I'm guessing the drain of the OBD connector is really hard to measure, more complicated than you might think. With something in the OBD port the BCM will never go to sleep as it's trying to communicate.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

carbon02 said:


> I'm guessing the drain of the OBD connector is really hard to measure, more complicated than you might think. With something in the OBD port the BCM will never go to sleep as it's trying to communicate.


The obd2 only keeps the red light on. The other lights wake up momentarily when the door opens up. Then they don't do anything till phone connects. It's hard to notice as the drain fluctuates in a very small amount. But the fluctuation DID go up .05. 

That COULD be a plausible theory though. As after 2 nights. My heater started weakening again. So I'll just be leaving it unplugged. I only want mostly for winter as i prefer to know the temp of the oil before putting the engine to use. YOu know, the warmer it gets, the better it splashes and flows through the engine. Try to save on wear and tear on the engine. 

Luckily, winter has been MIA for the most part around here. So far.


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## MRO1791 (Sep 2, 2016)

I had the OBDLink LX connector and Torque App keep the ECU awake all day (phone locked in car) and it drianed the battery in my Gen 1 Cruze. That adapter has special power saving features, but the issue what the phone app keeping the ECU awake. Snipsey added a feature to the BiScan for GM plug-in for Torque to shut the app off with the engine, after a short delay.. this to stop that from happening again. 

So the lesson of this story, you OBD 2 Adapter is very likely the culprit. Best thing to do is keep it unplugged. I can keep my OBD Link LX plugged in, but only because I know the phone app is shut down.. even with that, if it's going to be parked for any length of time, I do unplug it to be sure. 

Good luck, oh, and even 0.3 amps is too much for full sleep, I'd have to go back and see the spec on my Dodge service manual for the test, but it was much, much less than 0.3 amps.. like maybe a tenth of that amount.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

I"m pretty sure mine goes to sleep. The phone is plugged in to charger. So screen shuts down. Phone goes to sleep. Only thing staying on is the power light. When i fire up. Phone wakes up and reconnects. 

Now if all 4 lights stayed on and blinked. I could see that being a culprit. 

It's too bad that couldn't leave the battery under the hood. That would make things easier in regards to car being awake or not. 
@jblackburn. What was your reading?


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

> It's too bad that couldn't leave the battery under the hood. That would make things easier in regards to car being awake or not.
> @*jblackburn . What was your reading?*


Charger was showing in the neighborhood of a 5-7 amp pull when the car was unlocked. Dropped to 1-2 a while after the doors were locked, then down to 0 from there. It's an old analog gauge charger though, so not that precise.


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## snowwy66 (Nov 5, 2017)

jblackburn said:


> Charger was showing in the neighborhood of a 5-7 amp pull when the car was unlocked. Dropped to 1-2 a while after the doors were locked, then down to 0 from there. It's an old analog gauge charger though, so not that precise.


This is what i bought. cheap. YOu need a tiny phillips to take cover off and to install the batteries. But the amp gauge works without hooking up the red and black wires. 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N014USE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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