Electrical fault draining 12 V battery

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Michael Eaton

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Feb 21, 2016, 1:32:11 PM2/21/16
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Michael Eaton here.  2011 blue think with 20,000 miles.owned almost 4 years.

It takes about 10 minutes for the 12 V battery to drain down below 11 Volts after being charged.  Over at Hawthorne they have pursued a number of potential problems but have not zeroed in on the culprit yet.  In-car charging system still works fine when the car is running, but it is still too risky to drive away from the house.

Have: changed the 12 V battery   and    installed a countdown timer in front of the 220V charger since the drain was thought to occur in the charger after the traction batteries were full.

Potential workaround:  install a switch between the battery and and it's connection to the CPU, thereby isolating the battery after it has been charged, so that it cannot leak charge.  Or replacing the CPU (expensive).

Has anyone experienced of dealt with this issue?

Michael

Steve Bigelow

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Feb 21, 2016, 1:44:51 PM2/21/16
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Any chance it's the radio?

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Jim Houser

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Feb 21, 2016, 3:24:55 PM2/21/16
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Does the drain go away when the paddle is disconnected? Jim

On Feb 21, 2016 10:32 AM, "Michael Eaton" <usea...@gmail.com> wrote:
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Aaron

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Feb 21, 2016, 8:30:29 PM2/21/16
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So what happens at other times with the 12 volt battery?  When the car is plugged in the 12 volt battery is being charged, barely. Just enough to keep the battery excited. To drain the battery in 10 minutes something very big would have to be draining it, like almost every 12 volt item in the car. Another big possibility is the 12 volt battery is not taking a charge or is not being charged fully while driving. The age of the battery points to the battery first. Not sure what has been done so far, but the list of possibilities is very short with that complaint. 

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Michael Eaton

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Feb 26, 2016, 4:20:07 PM2/26/16
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I doubt it.  I am thinking now that the battery has aged out early due to a leak in the PCU.  
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Michael Eaton

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Feb 26, 2016, 4:22:17 PM2/26/16
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Yes, the battery quickly loses it's charge when I turn it off at my destination.  I currently have to charge it thru the cigarette lighter for an hour and then drive off.  If I want to come home, I have to leave it running while I am at my destination.
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Michael Eaton

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Feb 26, 2016, 4:25:49 PM2/26/16
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While driving, I am reading 14.5 V or better at the cigarette lighter.  As soon as I turn off the vehicle, the voltage drops to 13.5 V and then fades at a rate of 0.01 V every 2 seconds.  Very quickly it drops below the voltage required to start.  I think there is a fault leaking the battery that has led to early failure of the 12 V battery.  I am thinking of installing a new battery along with a battery interrupter switch so there won't be any parasitic leakage at all when I am parked and the car is off.


On Sunday, February 21, 2016 at 5:30:29 PM UTC-8, Aaron wrote:
So what happens at other times with the 12 volt battery?  When the car is plugged in the 12 volt battery is being charged, barely. Just enough to keep the battery excited. To drain the battery in 10 minutes something very big would have to be draining it, like almost every 12 volt item in the car. Another big possibility is the 12 volt battery is not taking a charge or is not being charged fully while driving. The age of the battery points to the battery first. Not sure what has been done so far, but the list of possibilities is very short with that complaint. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 21, 2016, at 12:24 PM, Jim Houser <j...@hawthorneauto.com> wrote:

Does the drain go away when the paddle is disconnected? Jim

On Feb 21, 2016 10:32 AM, "Michael Eaton" <usea...@gmail.com> wrote:
Michael Eaton here.  2011 blue think with 20,000 miles.owned almost 4 years.

It takes about 10 minutes for the 12 V battery to drain down below 11 Volts after being charged.  Over at Hawthorne they have pursued a number of potential problems but have not zeroed in on the culprit yet.  In-car charging system still works fine when the car is running, but it is still too risky to drive away from the house.

Have: changed the 12 V battery   and    installed a countdown timer in front of the 220V charger since the drain was thought to occur in the charger after the traction batteries were full.

Potential workaround:  install a switch between the battery and and it's connection to the CPU, thereby isolating the battery after it has been charged, so that it cannot leak charge.  Or replacing the CPU (expensive).

Has anyone experienced of dealt with this issue?

Michael

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Aaron Williams

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Feb 26, 2016, 8:29:59 PM2/26/16
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Your complaint points directly at the battery, not at something draining the battery.  You can see that the onboard charger is functioning (evidenced by the 14.5 volts while driving).  The battery should be tested, or replaced and a draw west would quickly tell what or how much of a drain is happening while the car is off.  Also, a battery that is drained can be easily damaged.  Car batteries are designed to be kept charged and will often never recover from a dead battery situation.


On Friday, February 26, 2016, Michael Eaton <usea...@gmail.com> wrote:
While driving, I am reading 14.5 V or better at the cigarette lighter.  As soon as I turn off the vehicle, the voltage drops to 13.5 V and then fades at a rate of 0.01 V every 2 seconds.  Very quickly it drops below the voltage required to start.  I think there is a fault leaking the battery that has led to early failure of the 12 V battery.  I am thinking of installing a new battery along with a battery interrupter switch so there won't be any parasitic leakage at all when I am parked and the car is off.

On Sunday, February 21, 2016 at 5:30:29 PM UTC-8, Aaron wrote:
So what happens at other times with the 12 volt battery?  When the car is plugged in the 12 volt battery is being charged, barely. Just enough to keep the battery excited. To drain the battery in 10 minutes something very big would have to be draining it, like almost every 12 volt item in the car. Another big possibility is the 12 volt battery is not taking a charge or is not being charged fully while driving. The age of the battery points to the battery first. Not sure what has been done so far, but the list of possibilities is very short with that complaint. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 21, 2016, at 12:24 PM, Jim Houser <j...@hawthorneauto.com> wrote:

Does the drain go away when the paddle is disconnected? Jim

On Feb 21, 2016 10:32 AM, "Michael Eaton" <usea...@gmail.com> wrote:
Michael Eaton here.  2011 blue think with 20,000 miles.owned almost 4 years.

It takes about 10 minutes for the 12 V battery to drain down below 11 Volts after being charged.  Over at Hawthorne they have pursued a number of potential problems but have not zeroed in on the culprit yet.  In-car charging system still works fine when the car is running, but it is still too risky to drive away from the house.

Have: changed the 12 V battery   and    installed a countdown timer in front of the 220V charger since the drain was thought to occur in the charger after the traction batteries were full.

Potential workaround:  install a switch between the battery and and it's connection to the CPU, thereby isolating the battery after it has been charged, so that it cannot leak charge.  Or replacing the CPU (expensive).

Has anyone experienced of dealt with this issue?

Michael

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Paul Steele

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Feb 27, 2016, 3:22:22 PM2/27/16
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Keep in mind we have had our vehicles for going on 4 years now and many of them sat in storage for quite a while before that. I think we may be bumping up against the expected service life of a typical 12 volt battery rather than some obscure fault in the electrics of the vehicle. I might take mine into Hawthorne and have them swap out the 12 volt battery preemptively rather than having it fail six months from now on a rainy night far from home.
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