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Discharge query???

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N

nomad

Yoda
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Well my Midget sat since the "Midget 50" while I drove other cars.

Went to start it the other day and nothing--batt completly flat and didn't even want to take a charge at first. the car is fitted with a alternator and it sounds like it could be a bad diode but I have been watching it and it discharges slowly if at all now.

I have a Garmin hooked up in the car and though it was turned off I'm wondering if it could be the cause of the discharge. Has anyone else experienced a discharge with a gps setup in there vehicles???

I've disconnected the Garmin now but haven't let the car set for 2 monthes to further test.

Kurt.
 
Absolutely, Kurt. Had it happen to me, also. Even with it off, it tries to keep its battery at full charge. This is not to say that you don't also have a bad diode in the alternator, just that for two months the Garmin was sucking juice from your battery
 
Well, I was wondering. A bad diode in an alternator usaully discharges a battery a lot quicker than this one went down. I was thinking that the gps was inside a steel building where it would be working hard to keep track of satellites.

Thanks'

Kurt.
 
Aftermarket radios, CD players are a big culprit too. The keep alive circuit on these will run the battery down over a few weeks. I put a hole through the firewall and installed one of these from harbor freight. After I turn the ignition key off and I am done driving it for the day, I reach under the dash and turn off the red key. That makes the battery keep.
Looks like they don't stock the key type any more, but here is one for $8 that will work. That knob comes off and you can drill a 5/8 hole and put the switch through so the knob is under the dash and the connection is under the hood and run your + from the battery to it and then you old +connection that went to the battery to this switch. Its mostly unseen.
link to HF switch
 
Boy yepers that would do it.
 
Thanks much folks but the Garmin is rigged thru an accessorys outlet like the cig lighter outlet. Wired it in under the dash just didn't unplug the gps.


Kurt.
 
You could also wire a continous duty solenoid and active that w/ a toggle to kill bastery power w/o cutting any sheet metal.
 
I too left a Garmin plugged into my car for a month and my battery became weak. They appear to have a constant power drain even when turned off. Since unplugging it the battery has been just fine....

As a side note, I left it plugged in when I started the car and smoked the FM-traffic receiver in the cord of the Garmin. Luckily it was still under warranty, but it's a $70 replacement if I had had to buy one. The Garmin itself still worked, but traffic reports were toast. .. That was with a generator equipped car... Since then, I unplug the cord from the car before I hit the starter.
 
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