Engine Off Battery drain sources (solved)
02-22-2019, 05:45 AM
#1
Super Moderator
Thread Starter
Engine Off Battery drain sources (solved)
So this is to provide some folks with additional information on engine-off battery drain sources. I used ronjenx's post as reference (https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/stoc...roblem-343890/ ) and was successfully able to determine the sources (plural) of my problem.
So... first, the instructions in the referenced link are spot on. When I did this, I found the following conditions occurring. My jeep (engine off, key off) would settle down and fluctuate between 0.022 and 0.035 amps after about 3 minutes. After about 5 minutes, it would suddenly jump to 1.4 amps and then a few seconds later jump to 2.6 amps.... it would then drop back to 0.022-0.035 amps after a few minutes and then start this cycle all over again.
The first thing I did after seeing this was to unhook ALL of my own equipment from the jeep. This is my aftermarket radio, CB (Cobra 18WXSTII), Aeroforce Interceptor gauge, and switches for on-board air and lockers. When I did this, the jeep went to 'sleep' and settled to 0.022-0.035 amps and remained that way for an hour. This told me it's one of my items causing the problem.
I sequentially hooked items back up until I saw the drain again. The first item to do this was my Aeroforce Interceptor gauge. Doing a bit of research, I found that many folks (not just in the Jeep crowd) complained that the gauge would drain their battery in a matter of as little as 14 hours (which is what was happening to me). The fix for this (based on researching online) is to add the key-on power line to the gauge and disable the gauge from drawing power from your OBD-II port.
I thought I had it all fixed so I reattached everything minus the gauge and then checked draw again. To my dismay, I had the SAME symptoms when measuring amperage draw. SO... I unhooked items one at a time and this time found that once my CB was unhooked, the jeep remained in sleep mode (0.022-0.035 amps).
So, in my case it was two items. The Aeroforce gauge and my CB. I have the CB wired correctly (according to the instructions for the CB), so I can only hypothesize that perhaps the CB is monitoring for weather alerts when the jeep is turned off. I don't see anything in my documentation that states that it will do this when the jeep is off and the power knob on the CB is still on. The CB looks off when the jeep is off. Regardless, removing the gauge and the CB from my system solved my battery drain.
I hope this helps someone and thanks to ronjenx for the reference I used.
So... first, the instructions in the referenced link are spot on. When I did this, I found the following conditions occurring. My jeep (engine off, key off) would settle down and fluctuate between 0.022 and 0.035 amps after about 3 minutes. After about 5 minutes, it would suddenly jump to 1.4 amps and then a few seconds later jump to 2.6 amps.... it would then drop back to 0.022-0.035 amps after a few minutes and then start this cycle all over again.
The first thing I did after seeing this was to unhook ALL of my own equipment from the jeep. This is my aftermarket radio, CB (Cobra 18WXSTII), Aeroforce Interceptor gauge, and switches for on-board air and lockers. When I did this, the jeep went to 'sleep' and settled to 0.022-0.035 amps and remained that way for an hour. This told me it's one of my items causing the problem.
I sequentially hooked items back up until I saw the drain again. The first item to do this was my Aeroforce Interceptor gauge. Doing a bit of research, I found that many folks (not just in the Jeep crowd) complained that the gauge would drain their battery in a matter of as little as 14 hours (which is what was happening to me). The fix for this (based on researching online) is to add the key-on power line to the gauge and disable the gauge from drawing power from your OBD-II port.
I thought I had it all fixed so I reattached everything minus the gauge and then checked draw again. To my dismay, I had the SAME symptoms when measuring amperage draw. SO... I unhooked items one at a time and this time found that once my CB was unhooked, the jeep remained in sleep mode (0.022-0.035 amps).
So, in my case it was two items. The Aeroforce gauge and my CB. I have the CB wired correctly (according to the instructions for the CB), so I can only hypothesize that perhaps the CB is monitoring for weather alerts when the jeep is turned off. I don't see anything in my documentation that states that it will do this when the jeep is off and the power knob on the CB is still on. The CB looks off when the jeep is off. Regardless, removing the gauge and the CB from my system solved my battery drain.
I hope this helps someone and thanks to ronjenx for the reference I used.
Last edited by jedg; 02-22-2019 at 06:08 AM.
02-22-2019, 05:59 AM
#2
JK Jedi Master
Nice work.
I have not had any drain from my AeroForce gauge. It's about 6 years old. Is yours a newer version?
The link in your post doesn't work for me. I get "The requested page was not found".
I have not had any drain from my AeroForce gauge. It's about 6 years old. Is yours a newer version?
The link in your post doesn't work for me. I get "The requested page was not found".
02-22-2019, 06:09 AM
#3
Super Moderator
Thread Starter
@ronjenx - oops... the link included that parenthesis.. fixed and thanks.
I purchased my gauge in 2016 or so. I should look at what firmware version it's running. In researching this part, I did find that to be the case.. people with supposedly the same vehicle make, model, year would end up with one having no problems and one experiencing battery drain.
I purchased my gauge in 2016 or so. I should look at what firmware version it's running. In researching this part, I did find that to be the case.. people with supposedly the same vehicle make, model, year would end up with one having no problems and one experiencing battery drain.
