JL Audio amp killing battery with engine off?

[82DMC12]

Hey all,

New to the forum... I have a 1982 DeLorean that I've owned for about 12 years and I've had a decent system in it for at least 9 years.

I have an Alpine head unit (upgraded once in those 9 years), JL Audio 250/1 amp, Kicker S8L7 sub, Boston speakers, Ample Audio speakers, Monitor 1 four-way amp, Monitor one EQ.... Well anyway a DeLorean is a small car and the stereo sounds awesome.

Problem is, my battery is dead if I don't drive the car for more than about 8 days. I did some tests with my meter and found that my JL Audio amp is drawing 5 mA even with the key out. The amp is using a remote turn-on but the LED is NOT on when the key is out. So the amp isn't running but still drawing some power. There are another 2 mA which I haven't accounted for but suspect to be the power door lock module which I can't do much about.

Is this normal for an amp? In consulting with other DeLorean owners I'm considering wiring the amp's +12 lead to a relay so that it can't get power unless the engine is running.

I'm posting here to see if others have seen this kind of thing and if it might mean the amp is defective.

Thanks,

Andy

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[E-Rock 10+ year member]

Ask Doc Brown to check the Flux Capacitor.

A circuit breaker may help? I'm honestly not too sure. But how about some pics of said time machine?

 

[West]

Ask Doc Brown to check the Flux Capacitor.
A circuit breaker may help? I'm honestly not too sure. But how about some pics of said time machine?

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif Bad *** car

 

[E-Rock 10+ year member]

Or maybe switch amps. I'm out of ideas. I know most if not all aftermarket stuff sits in standby mode, but I left my car for 1 month and I didn't have problem turning it on.

Maybe it's your battery?

 

[82DMC12]

Well I replaced the battery 2 years ago and it's honestly been doing this for longer than that. I'll gladly buy a new battery once I know the 5 mA draw is normal or can be fixed. I might just get a 250/1mk2 since it's the exact same size and hopefully updated.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

toggle switch

 

[82DMC12]

toggle switch

Well it's not the remote lead that's the problem if that's why you say toggle switch. The amp isn't turned on because the headunit is off and the key is out, but the amp is still drawing more power than I believe it should be if it's "OFF". A toggle switch that can handle 40 amps on the mains would be quite the big switch.

Andy

 

[West]

It sounds to me like you do not drive the car often. Pull the negative terminal from the battery, both power loss problems solved. Only takes 45 seconds to put back. Or do the relay if its that big an issue.

I can't imagine anyone driving a DeLorean everyday. Although it does sound like fun.

 

[West]

And the 2 mA is probably from the car's clock.

 

[West]

Just looked no clock in the interior... >.

 

[Team Maxxsonics 10+ year member]

Are you saying that the TOTAL current drain from your car is 7 milliamps?

If so, how did you measure this?

Did you use a shunt?

Your vehicle electronics and radio memory should draw more then this by them selves.

7ma. is not a lot of draw...most cars draw more then this.

A little more info will help us track down the problem assuming there is actually a problem.

 

[Below20hzonly 10+ year member]

welcome to the forums, i was just in fargo yesterday mayne.

Hey all,
New to the forum... I have a 1982 DeLorean that I've owned for about 12 years and I've had a decent system in it for at least 9 years.

I have an Alpine head unit (upgraded once in those 9 years), JL Audio 250/1 amp, Kicker S8L7 sub, Boston speakers, Ample Audio speakers, Monitor 1 four-way amp, Monitor one EQ.... Well anyway a DeLorean is a small car and the stereo sounds awesome.

Problem is, my battery is dead if I don't drive the car for more than about 8 days. I did some tests with my meter and found that my JL Audio amp is drawing 5 mA even with the key out. The amp is using a remote turn-on but the LED is NOT on when the key is out. So the amp isn't running but still drawing some power. There are another 2 mA which I haven't accounted for but suspect to be the power door lock module which I can't do much about.

Is this normal for an amp? In consulting with other DeLorean owners I'm considering wiring the amp's +12 lead to a relay so that it can't get power unless the engine is running.

I'm posting here to see if others have seen this kind of thing and if it might mean the amp is defective.

Thanks,

Andy

 

[82DMC12]

Hi, I measured the draw by removing the +12 cable from the battery and inserting my multimeter between the post and the cable. The meter is in 10A fused mode checking DC Amps. it reads about 0.07 on the 10A scale with the car NOT running and no interior lights on. When I disconnect the +12 from the side of the amp the meter drops to about 0.01/0.02 which is likely the door lock control module and maybe a little of something else I haven't tracked down. I made sure to do this test with both the remote lead connected AND disconnected. No change, still 5mA to the amplifier.

I would assume that 5mA is about 5mA too much draw from something that is supposedly off.

The reason I am looking closely at this is because if the car sits longer than say 10 days, the battery will be too dead to turn the car over.

The DeLorean is not my daily driver - I basically only drive it on nice weekends, to car shows, etc. Sometimes it is 2 weeks between drives. I would prefer to not put in a battery switch because that will reset my head unit every time I turn the battery off.

I'm definitely not an electrical expert - I'm better at mechanical repairs! I am open to doing other tests if someone recommends something good.

Thanks,

Andy

Are you saying that the TOTAL current drain from your car is 7 milliamps?If so, how did you measure this?

Did you use a shunt?

Your vehicle electronics and radio memory should draw more then this by them selves.

7ma. is not a lot of draw...most cars draw more then this.

A little more info will help us track down the problem assuming there is actually a problem.

 

[vaiboy 10+ year member]

I think your real problem is that the car isn't driven enough to keep the battery in a healthy state of charge. A 7mA draw is not enough to kill a healthy battery in two weeks, a lot of newer cars draw 200-500mA. If your battery is sulfated and not able to charge adequately you will have problems though. I would suggest getting a new battery and battery tender to keep the battery charged between drives. Battery Tender - Home of the Battery Tender Jr. - Batterytender.com