Power drain
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 1,426
Likes: 0
From: Canton Michigan
Power drain
My battery kept going dead so I took the C5 into the local auto electric shop. They say that the power amp is pulling .3 amps while everything is shut off. The battery goes dead in a week.
Does this sound right?
I've got an aftermarket system consisting of Alpine head unit with Alpine power amp.
How can it draw with everything including the radio shut off?
Does this sound right?
I've got an aftermarket system consisting of Alpine head unit with Alpine power amp.
How can it draw with everything including the radio shut off?
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 40,156
Likes: 45
From: San Pedro CA
Re: Power drain (c5freak)
perhaps the amp is faulty? meaning that it is not shutting off?
check the amp when the system is off and make sure the little power light is off.
on a more generic point, their must be a dead short somewhere.
after that... I don't know enuf about the C5 electrics to help.
check the amp when the system is off and make sure the little power light is off.
on a more generic point, their must be a dead short somewhere.
after that... I don't know enuf about the C5 electrics to help.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 29,017
Likes: 0
From: Clemson University SC
Cruise-In II Veteran
Cruise-In III Veteran
Re: Power drain (c5freak)
Sounds like the amp is faulty or not turning off...maybe you can put in a huge manual switch on the power or ground line? That would completely shut off the current flow.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 29,017
Likes: 0
From: Clemson University SC
Cruise-In II Veteran
Cruise-In III Veteran
Re: Power drain (c5freak)
I like the switch idea. :yesnod:
Of course, this might look stupid in a vette...maybe I will do it. :D
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 54,124
Likes: 30
From: Cincinnati, Oh USA
Re: Power drain (c5freak)
Your battery has about a 100 minute reserve time. That means it will supply 20 amps for 100 minutes. So 0.3 amps can be supplied for about 5 days. You need to remove 12v from the amplifier so .3 amp is not being drawn from the battery continuosly.
I'm jfb and youre not.
I'm jfb and youre not.
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Racer
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 452
Likes: 158
From: Newark, DE
Re: Power drain (jfb)
Before you go putting switches on the power line, take your amp to a shop and see if they can fix it. Most likely, its a $5 relay in the power supply that went bad and a shop will charge you $20 to put a new one in. You'll pay more than that for a switch that can handle the kind of current you need. Remember, any switch you put on the power line has to have contacts rated at the amperage that your amp can pull. Its not gonna be a little switch, and it won't be cheap.
