Re: [DMCForum] Relays & current draw

[Chris Almy <chris.almy@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Ryan,
You didn't say which type of battery you have. Assuming it's an Optima red 
top (small model with a 44 Ah capacity) and you don't want to drain it more 
then 50%, you then have only 22Ah to drain. So 22/.16 equals 137.5 hours or 
approximately 5.7 days. This of course assumes that there is no other load 
on the battery.

If it wasn't for the alarm, I would say just ground the receiver and lock 
module directly to the brake switch. The rest of the accessories won't work 
without them.

Why would you want to do this? I've never heard of anybody having the door 
launchers and trunk popper accidentally activate while driving.

Chris

At 10:42 AM 2/26/2006 -0800, you wrote:
>Short question: How long until the average relay, energized, drains my
>battery? Looks like most Bosch 12v relays draw ~160ma. How long would
>that draw take to drain a battery down too low to start, on average?
>Days? Weeks? Months?
>
>Long version: I have several features on my car (door launchers, trunk
>popper) that I want to tie in to my parking brake's ground, such that
>they will only operate when the brake is set. However, the ground wire
>& switch on the brake are rather small, and the actuators draw enough
>current that I thought it a good idea to use a relay to give me a
>better ground path. Problem is I don't want to create a current draw
>that will be hard on the battery. Quite frankly I'd like to be able to
>leave the car for months without draining the battery. Even though
>I'll never do that, I just don't think it's a good idea to build a
>system that will draw the battery down within a 3-6 month time frame.
>
>Is there a better way to do this, other than a basic relay? Something
>that will draw much less (or no?) power when set?
>
>Thank you!
>
>-Ryan


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