Tevion stereo killing car battery with it's flashing red L.E.D light?

cpu-dude

Ok guys, coming from this thread - new... strange problem regarding my new radio and battery.

I'm not insured yet because I'm waiting for my birthday. The car has been sitting outside and works every time I turn it on without a hitch. My brother took it to Cavan recently and it was a nice little goer. Anyway, I got a new radio from it (Tevion from ALDI, has everything with it) and fit it last week in replace of an old Sony CD. Other than the fact that it protrudes a little bit because of some plastic in the dash, it's grand.

Anyway, I fit the radio and keep the fascia in the glove box and all that's left is the small flashing red LED light on the headunit to tell me... well I assume that there is power coming to it. But after a few days (I think, I was away), my battery completely died, not even the inside light turned on let alone the little LED on the radio.

Now, my mate came over, we jumped the car, started no problem and drove it for 30 minutes down a dual carraigeway and came back - all was well. So we parked it up and left it be for the night. Checked the LED the next day, still flashing no problem. Checked it today and it's off again - the battery is dead again??? There's no way that one little LED could kill the battery.

Anyone ever seen anything like this before? My only idea is that it may be the Bluetooth in it still on, I never searched for other devices on my phone yet because I only thought of it today but I will do it later. I'm hoping it's not something worse like a short etc. because the connector blocks all fit perfectly. Is it the battery maybe?

Cheers!

EDIT: Just stumbled along this post about a custom LED to tell you your alarm is active and battery issues - http://www.nifty-stuff.com/car-alarm.php

I don't have an alarm in my car...

EDIT

Rovi

If your new stereo has Bluetooth, that's the first thing I'd be looking at.

I've seen plenty of installations where the Bluetooth is wired permanently 'on', giving rise to exactly the symptoms you describe, especially if the vehicle battery isn't in the best of health.

cpu-dude

Rovi wrote: »

If your new stereo has Bluetooth, that's the first thing I'd be looking at.

I've seen plenty of installations where the Bluetooth is wired permanently 'on', giving rise to exactly the symptoms you describe, especially if the vehicle battery isn't in the best of health.

Thanks for the post. Yeah I hope it's that simple because it would definately take a chunk out of the battery life - it's just a shame if that is the case because I will be using the Bluetooth for streaming music and I only assumed it would turn off when the fascia is remove.

Come to think of it, I don't believe the ignition cable is wired up (to turn off the stereo when the car is off) - I just remove the fascia, you reckon that could be the cause of it?

JHMEG

Put the old stereo back in and see if you have the same problem. Leave it for 4-5 days and if the battery is flat you need a new one.

I had a similar problem recently, which, as long as the stereo is working fine, indicates a bad battery. The stereo and a few other bits will consume some standby power anyway. A new battery solved the problem.

cpu-dude

JHMEG wrote: »

Put the old stereo back in and see if you have the same problem. Leave it for 4-5 days and if the battery is flat you need a new one.

I had a similar problem recently, which, as long as the stereo is working fine, indicates a bad battery. The stereo and a few other bits will consume some standby power anyway. A new battery solved the problem.

Well that's the thing, the old stereo was a basic Sony (didn't even have RDS) and the battery was never a problem and it was idle for a good while without a problem - didn't have a red LED and definately didn't have Bluetooth.

Alanstrainor

JHMEG wrote: »

Put the old stereo back in and see if you have the same problem. Leave it for 4-5 days and if the battery is flat you need a new one.

I had a similar problem recently, which, as long as the stereo is working fine, indicates a bad battery. The stereo and a few other bits will consume some standby power anyway. A new battery solved the problem.

+1, that's what i'd do. I have one of those aldi stereos in my Polo and never had any issues with it. It could just be that your battery is dying

nialler

You did check for dry cells in the battery? I've a huge lump of one in the back of my car which is only a couple of years old, car wouldn't start, completely dead, checked cells, both sides dry, filled her up, called AA, started me, gave a good drive for about 45 minutes and jobs oxo, she's running like a dream now. My car takes about 50-60 minutes before turning most things off (according to mechanic) and is never completely off.

nogoodnamesleft

How is the radio wired? Was the new radio a simple plug and play job? did you use iso converters or was the wiring spliced?

Might be the case if the wiring was spliced that the ignition and the constant 12v feed got mixed up.

cpu-dude

nogoodnamesleft wrote: »

How is the radio wired? Was the new radio a simple plug and play job? did you use iso converters or was the wiring spliced?

Might be the case if the wiring was spliced that the ignition and the constant 12v feed got mixed up.

Well it was slightly different with the Sony. Include with the Tevion was something like one of these converters but I don't think it's possible to put in the connector blocks in the wrong sections because of their shapes. Getting my mate to have a look with me later.

stevenmu

Is you car a VAG (VW, Audi, Seat, Skoda etc). They have the ignition and constand feed reversed from normal. Normally what you need to do putting a new radio in one is to swap the connectors (usually red and yellow)

cpu-dude

stevenmu wrote: »

Is you car a VAG (VW, Audi, Seat, Skoda etc). They have the ignition and constand feed reversed from normal. Normally what you need to do putting a new radio in one is to swap the connectors (usually red and yellow)

Excellent information guys, thanks very much. I'll get back to this tomorrow.

Alanstrainor

stevenmu wrote: »

Is you car a VAG (VW, Audi, Seat, Skoda etc). They have the ignition and constand feed reversed from normal. Normally what you need to do putting a new radio in one is to swap the connectors (usually red and yellow)

If the ignition and the constant feed were reversed, the radio would lose all power when the key is removed.