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I want to thank you all for the ideas and information. This is CF at it's finest. I wanted to share what happened because I wouldn't want it to happen to anyone else if this is still an issue on our C7s with the newest Range. In my case it was pretty easy because the car was left in our garage while we were gone. It's not quite so fun if we're somewhere more remote. (I will say that Cadillac roadside was great - I called and they had someone to our home - which is not so easy to reach and on the side of a mountain, and in a snow storm to boot - in 20 minutes - and followed up via cell and text to make sure we were well taken care of! I've never used Chev roadside, but I would hope they are that good.)
It's interesting to me that I know I have the latest version in all three of the vehicles that I'm using it (C7, CT6, and Yukon Denali). We've left all three for a couple of weeks at a time (we have to put our GS to sleep for the winter and I keep a tender on it) and the only one that has died is the CT6. It has tons of electronic stuff on it - driver assist stuff, night vision, etc. - I wonder if that has something to do with it?
I have a Range Technology V 8.6 on my 2015 C7. Using a clamp on current meter I read 18-21 mA current with the engine on or off.
Yes that will run down a well charged car battery, but it is going to take a while.
What do you read with engine off and Range unit removed?
The cord on the switch is long. Where do you tuck the range with the extra cord.?
I have the Range module mounted to the side of the "tunnel" with the lights facing down so that they aren't annoying at night. The cable is clipped to the lip under the bottom of the dash with the cable looped back on itself at one point to take up the slack.
I have the Range module mounted to the side of the "tunnel" with the lights facing down so that they aren't annoying at night. The cable is clipped to the lip under the bottom of the dash with the cable looped back on itself at one point to take up the slack.
Right now the Z06 is sleeping peacefully in its separate garage with a 4 foot snow drift in front of that garage. I will try to get a photo later this week IF mother nature quits throwing fits (and snow) at me. I have the tractor block heater plugged in again this morning so I can clear the snow that fell last night from the main driveway.
After 30 years in IL, I am starting to really miss the Mississippi gulf coast.
What do you read with engine off and Range unit removed?
I was only measuring the current provided by the OBD connector pin 16 to the Range Technology unit.
There was no current draw on any other OBD pin.
I have a OBD splitter cable from Amazon that has the individual pin wires easily accessible.
I also looked at the current draw from my battery tender. The initial charge is about 1 amp.
After a few hours it drops to 100 mA. After 6+ hours it is less than 20 mA.
I did not measure this with and without the Range unit attached
I was only measuring the current provided by the OBD connector pin 16 to the Range Technology unit.
There was no current draw on any other OBD pin.
I have a OBD splitter cable from Amazon that has the individual pin wires easily accessible.
I also looked at the current draw from my battery tender. The initial charge is about 1 amp.
After a few hours it drops to 100 mA. After 6+ hours it is less than 20 mA.
I did not measure this with and without the Range unit attached
If I understand you correctly then you cannot definitively say it is the Range unit pulling the approximately 20 mA draw. I have found several comments stating a normal resting current draw is around 15mA. It sure would help those who are unsure of going with the Range unit if a company spokesperson would chime in with what the actual current draw is when the vehicle is shut down.
Nobody wants to install a unit that is going to drain their battery. All of the current boxes that the newest Range device come in warn about possible drained batteries after as little as 1 to 2 weeks. That's what happened to me after I installed the newest Range device. I decided that it wasn't worth the trouble so I sold my unit. People here have said the reps from the company that make the Range say that the box warnings are for the original unit that most definitely drained the battery after a short time. I find it hard to believe that a company would not change the information on their product boxes if that information would indicate that it has a problem that would scare away potential customers.
I suspect the Corvette parasitic current draw is higher than many cars with its motion sensing alarm system and the keyless entry system. I haven't done an exhaustive search to see what current draw was measured but I wouldn't be surprised if the average parasitic draw of the Corvette is in the 50 mil (.050 amp) or slightly higher range. Around 20 mils for the Range device seems to be a reasonable measurement. Note when making these sorts of measurements the actual current draw may be pulsing at a fairly high rate because the keyless entry (and probably the alarm) uses a sampling system to reduce total power consumption and different measurement instruments will respond to this differently. Connect an oscilloscope to the DC current probe and you will likely see a train of square waves on top of a lower steady current draw.
Someone would need to data log the Corvette current drain over a 24 hour cycle to get an accurate picture of what it draws when off but assume 50 mils average is a reasonable guess and if you add 20 mils from the Range module then the acceptable sit time between starts drops to around 70% of what the car could do without the Range module.
Depending upon how your drive your Corvette, the battery may rarely get a full charge. Depending upon electrical system load, it can easily take 20-30 minutes of sustained operation after a start to fully recharge the battery and if you are running multiple errands in your Corvette with multiple stops and starts then your starting point for a few days hiatus isn't a fully charged battery. Add any additional current draw to this scenario and the chances of a dead battery are pretty high.
With any additional load, if it sits more than 4 or 5 days at home I would have it on a battery maintainer and if you are leaving it at the airport then make sure the driving conditions there gave it the opportunity for a full charge and unplug the Range or any other OBD II device. You can reduce battery drain further by putting the car in transport mode (like when it was shipped) but you are losing your alarm protection which you probably wouldn't want to do at the airport.
Nobody wants to install a unit that is going to drain their battery. All of the current boxes that the newest Range device come in warn about possible drained batteries after as little as 1 to 2 weeks. That's what happened to me after I installed the newest Range device. I decided that it wasn't worth the trouble so I sold my unit. People here have said the reps from the company that make the Range say that the box warnings are for the original unit that most definitely drained the battery after a short time. I find it hard to believe that a company would not change the information on their product boxes if that information would indicate that it has a problem that would scare away potential customers.
"There may be a draw on some batteries in some vehicles!"
A great way to cover all the bases!
Last edited by DGA3; 01-28-2019 at 08:25 AM.
Reason: need to highlight/bold a word
"There may be a draw on some batteries in some vehicles!"
A great way to cover all the bases!
I agree..... the new software was meant to fix the draw that was killing batteries in only a few days which it has done , there is no need for a OBD switch .....if you let any other high end car sit for a month you might be surprised
And the only reason why you don't hear about it in other vehicles with or without the range is because it's rare that someone let's their Denali or other GM car sit for a few weeks at a time like we let our corvettes sit and then expect there to be no problems . All new cars have a parasitic drain and will eventually kill a battery , especially one that is a few years old .
the answer is a simple one , if you are going to let the car sit for more than a week , unplug the Range and throw it in the console , if you are leaving for only a few days .... dont worry about it . If your battery is dead after only a few days ..... the range is not your problem lol
Dave
I agree..... the new software was meant to fix the draw that was killing batteries in only a few days which it has done , there is no need for a OBD switch .....if you let any other high end car sit for a month you might be surprised
And the only reason why you don't hear about it in other vehicles with or without the range is because it's rare that someone let's their Denali or other GM car sit for a few weeks at a time like we let our corvettes sit and then expect there to be no problems . All new cars have a parasitic drain and will eventually kill a battery , especially one that is a few years old .
Dave
I agree Dave. Every modern vehicle has some parasitic drain.
In the summer I could probably let my 2018 GMC Sierra Denali sit for months at a time because it has two large batteries designed to support the high current draw of an air intake heater plus glow plugs along with cranking a high compression 6.6L diesel and in the summer it doesn't need all of that battery capability because the starting heaters don't engage. If I let my Cadillac ATS sit for a couple of months without putting it on a maintainer I would be surprised if it would start.
NSC5 because if the crappy weather my wife has not been driving our Mercedes , she has been taking our old Ford expedition . I was a little more than concerned so I put the battery maintainer on it
By the way my 04 Expedition will sit outside for weeks with a over 5 year old battery and start right up lol lol lol . In 15 years and 99,000 miles it has only had the original battery and one replacement .........I guess there is not much drawing power in an old 04 lol
Yea, even the owners manual says to use a battery maintainer or disconnect the battery, the cars battery will go down if left sitting.
That said, I haven't personally noticed a marketable difference in battery level with the car sitting and the range device plugged in or not. That would be something to check I suppose, as well as age and health of the battery. I don't know what the battery size is on the Caddy but on the Corvette it is not that big of a battery.
If my car is going to sit for more than 2 weeks, I plug it in. I have had it not unplugged for as long as a month though without issue.
Originally Posted by NSC5
I agree Dave. Every modern vehicle has some parasitic drain.
In the summer I could probably let my 2018 GMC Sierra Denali sit for months at a time because it has two large batteries designed to support the high current draw of an air intake heater plus glow plugs along with cranking a high compression 6.6L diesel and in the summer it doesn't need all of that battery capability because the starting heaters don't engage. If I let my Cadillac ATS sit for a couple of months without putting it on a maintainer I would be surprised if it would start.
I don't know what the battery size is on the Caddy but on the Corvette it is not that big of a battery.
I think this is the real problem, the battery is just to darn small
I had complained to the dealer of issues with slow cranking after the car sat for awhile , Battery was only 2 years old at the time and it's pretty warm down here
Charge voltage would be up in the 15 volt range all the time. . I even tried charging it with my heavy duty charger . I was carrying jumper cables as I was waiting to get stranded
Dealer and Auto Zone said that the battery and charging system checked out fine . After one night at the track having the car almost not start while in was in the staging lanes .....the next day I bought the biggest battery that would fit in the hole
The factory battery is only 550 CCA and my new battery is 760 CCA with 950 cranking amps available .
The car now starts like a jet .... and my charging voltage is back down in the normal range ... I do not have any problems starting it even when it sits ...
01-25-2019, 04:12 PM
