Hello Forum,

Looking for some advice. I have a 98 C5 , I just replaced the aftermarket Sony single din head unit with a Kenwood DDx9904s double din. I did not change much to the system beside hardwiring (wired directly to amp) door speakers to the amp. I have a Kenwood kac7005ps (5 channel amp), lightning audio 5-1/4" component speaker system for the doors and I believe 3-way full range of the same brand for the rear (also wired to the amp). I also have a 10inch Pioneer sub.

With that in mind, I seem to believe the Kenwood head unit is consuming battery current while the car is not running. I tested my theory by taking off the negative and positive cables on the battery. I proceeded to hook up the battery tender to the battery, after a few hours the light turned green. I could not drive the car for a few days and thought I should put the tender on the battery while the car sat, with the positive and negative cables hooked up to the battery as well. It has been 3 days and the battery tender still has a red light.

I have also tested the battery (battery 1 year old)with a voltage multi meter seeing a video for the C5 on youtube.

Now I am no car audio tech by any means, but it seems to me this head unit is indeed consuming current while the car is just sitting.

Can anyone clarify truth in what I think is going on. Do these touch screen head units do this? I have read that the android based head units will do this. However being a Kenwood unit I am not certain.

Any thoughts would be welcomed.

Thank you

 

Seems you hot wired the unit so t does not shut off.

 

I will check that out. I know I used the harness that came with the head unit and wired it to the car harness per the directions. I will see if the stereo turns on without the key in accessory position.

Thank you

 

It's going to draw a little current to maintain radio station presets, settings, clock, etc. There's probably a slight draw on the battery for all the other electronics in the car. Is the amp staying on all the time?

 

No the amp is not staying on. The only thing I replaced in this system is the Sony single din to the Kenwood double din. I did not have the issue before this.

 

Just and update here. I have checked to see if the head unit turns on with no key in the ignition, and it does not. After 4.5 days the green light on the battery tender is solid green. I am very confused over this. Even know the battery is a year old, maybe, it is defective?

I just do not know.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

Check your amp. If it stays warm after shutting off the car, that's what's drawing the energy. I had a faulty amp after installing my double din.

 

Ill check it out and reply back.

Thank you

 

i haven't used the battery tender on the Vette yet but it usually takes 36-48 hours to fully charge my boat battery, and that's with it disconnected. The car is going to slowly use battery power for the computers and radio so maybe that's why it's taking a longer time to charge than normal. Or you have a defective battery.