--- In dmcnews@xxxx, "Hank Eskin" <henry@xxxx> wrote: > > With the prodding of Rick G, I've been able to locate the current drain in > my car (Don't worry, I'm still going to install the battery isolator). It > turns out to be Lockzilla pulling about 30Ma with the "remote" unit plugged > in, and 20ma without. The total current draw from the battery when the car > is off was 30Ma until I totally disconnected Lockzilla - then I get a zero > Ma reading on my meter. > > Apparently, this drains the battery down about one volt per week - enough to > cause the auto-shut off to kick in, which was my original problem. > > Has anyone else noticed a slight current drain with Lockzilla (with or > without Remote), or could I have a defective unit? > > -Hank Eskin #1619 Hi Hank, and All. I've been taking a active behind the scene interest in Hank's project here. He's been wanting to design a battery backup for his car radio, which was losing presets due to a current drain. I've been helping him design the battery backup circuit, cause I can't help myself, all the while pestering him incessantly to find the leak instead, because that sort of thing makes me nervous. Now that he's found the leak, determined it's only 30 milliamperes, and more importantly determined that the leak is not the result of some fault in the wiring somewhere, the next step is clearer. I don't know whether the 30 milliampere drain from the Lockzilla module is from some kind of problem, because I don't have one, so you'll have to take someone elses word on that. It may be fine, or not. But 30 milliamperes is a very small current, compared to the reserve capacity of a car battery. It should not drain the battery in a week, it should take several months. This immediately suggests a weak battery. I hopped on Sears website to find out the reserve capacity of the Security Diehard battery in your car. It wasn't there. I called our local Sears automotive and was told that this battery has been discontinued, because of problems (maybe this exact problem, he didn't say), and that you could take it back to the Sears you got it from for an exchange. Hopefully replacing the battery will fix everything. Hank's car radio will keep its presets, he can sleep better knowing there's no mysterious failure in his car, and the doubt about Lockzilla can be removed by someone without a stake in it. (Unless I'm wrong, of course :-) Rick Gendreau 11472