battery drain?
 

Could the programmer be drawing current while the truck is turned off? I had a dead battery the other day and cant figure out what could be causing the draw.

thx

Correct me if I am wrong, but once you turn the vehicle off or remove the key, the gryphon is not pulling anypower, unless you turn to the on position.

Yes it does pull current with the truck off. I can't find the thread around here right now that talks about it but I remember "Jack" had measured the current it draws and its in a thread around here somewhere.

http://dygytalworld.ehost-services13...read.php?t=327

This thread talks about it pretty good. Post #6

And, that thread is accurate for my truck. I have not had a single problem since using the battery tender whenever the truck is sitting in my garage.

Interestingly, I always find I have to run the battery tender (max charging current 1.25 A) about 8-10 hours after driving the truck to bring the battery to a full charge. And, my alternator supplies around 13.9-14.1 Volts when I'm driving. So, even after a full day of driving, the battery seems to be (according to the way the "tender" works, at about an 80% charge level.

I cannot explain this, and it doesn't make any sense to me. It's just the way things are.

- Jack

Jack, I bet that the numbers your getting have something to do with the Voltage=Amps/Resistance formula. If the battery tender uses clamps to connect to the battery then it will read more resistance than the vehicle(because the vehicle has been bolted in since day 1). More resistance is going to make the voltage look lower without any higher amps. Could be wrong but it sounded good when it ran through my head. :thumbs up yellow:

ahh ok, thats good to know. Would it matter if the PCM was programmed or stock mode? can someone explain why it draws current while the truck is off?

Im not sure having the PCM progarammed would make a difference on the electrical draw. As far as I know the small amount of draw is what lets the computer remember what the latest amounts of data there are. You know when you unplug the battery that you usually lose the radio presets and stuff?(my truck doesn't do it but my dad's does) I think one of the things it remembers is the last driving conditions, I've noticed that some vehicles will throw P1000(?) codes after being reprogrammed or having the battery unplugged. I also think its the same on the gryphon, that small amount of draw lets the programmer remember stuff like your averge MPG and top speeds, that kind of stuff. This part Im not so sure about :shrug:

Oh let's see here?
Some examples of current draw while vehicle is off.

KAM. Keep Alive Memory
Security. PATS system.
Remote Start.
Radio memory including clock.
Shut down sequencing procedures when vehicle is turned off.

A battery tender directly bolted to the post clamps may be the best way to combat losses while the truck is sitting. Especially like my garage queen. But if your truck is a daily driver I wouldn't worry about it.

Lars

Longshot - we MAY be talking about two different things. The voltage and amperage numbers I quoted in the other post are with a good digital multimeter. The parasitic draw in my truck is definitely 0.05 amps (50 ma) after the truck has been sitting in a "quiet" state - doors closed, everything shutdown for at least one hour. To this list of what Lars posted for current draw, I also have memory for the pedals and seats and memory for the climate control temperature. The King Ranch also has the door open keypad that has to be alive to accept key input and all our trucks probably have a powered receiver to accept signals from the key fob for remote door unlock.

In this post, the 13.9-14.1 volts are being displayed on the Gryphon with the engine running and this seems a pretty normal regulated charging voltage from the alternator.

What I found puzzling, is the state of the battery after driving. I expected it to be at or near a full charge state. But, I think I just figured out why that may not be so. My headlights have the "auto-on" feature, so when I drive into the garage, they come on. They stay on for about 20 seconds after I shutdown too, as do the interior lights after I get out an close the doors. There seems to be some other, less obvious circuits that are alive too, for about 5 minutes, until the battery saver relay opens. This puts a fairly heavy draw on the battery.

By the time I get my battery tender hooked up, it takes about 6-8 hours to reach the fully charged state (since it uses a very low charging current to keep from "boiling" the battery - about 0.2 Amps) when the battery is above an 80% charge state. If I simply unplug the battery tender and then plug it back in again, its operation indicates a full charge within a very short time, since there was no big drain while it was disconnected.

The 0.05 Amp draw from the Gryphon (when it's plugged in) was confirmed with Bill. I know I have a total parasitic draw of 0.1 amps when the Gryphon is installed.

Finally, as Lars said, the Battery Tender comes with a "permanent" plug in connection you can attach to the screw terminals of the battery posts. This makes it simple to use.

- Jack