Battery Problems

Ardennes1944

Since i put in the subs and amp into the car the battery hasnt been too happy at all it seems. Its died 3 times in the last week. I didnt use the radio at all yesterday as i drove and it was fine starting after work last night but this morning its gone again. All the screens and dash lights are working amd the clock and date are correct but when i go to start it theres a kinda clicking noise from the engine bay as if something is trying to turn but cant. Is this the starter motor starved of power from the battery?
The remote wire to the amp is working fine and ive taken out 3 bulbs that i thought might have been staying on but now its gotta be the audio system.
Any ideas?

biko

How old is battery? What's the upgraded speakers like on juice?
Did you upgrade the electrical system too? Was that required?

Plug

the battery is getting drained, you have the amps and sub wired in wrong.

eringobragh

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

Since i put in the subs and amp into the car the battery hasnt been too happy at all it seems. Its died 3 times in the last week. I didnt use the radio at all yesterday as i drove and it was fine starting after work last night but this morning its gone again. All the screens and dash lights are working amd the clock and date are correct but when i go to start it theres a kinda clicking noise from the engine bay as if something is trying to turn but cant. Is this the starter motor starved of power from the battery?
The remote wire to the amp is working fine and ive taken out 3 bulbs that i thought might have been staying on but now its gotta be the audio system.
Any ideas?

Parasitic battery drain for sure.

eringobragh

FYI - heres how I solved mine:

Yeah definately I think I got that multimeter about 5 years ago in maplin for 4 euro!

Anyway an FYI for anyone looking to do this - move the positive probe to 10ADC unfused link

Remove the earth from the battery - stick the multimeter to 10a (like below) and put the probes between the battery and the earth lead..remove fuses until it drops to a reasonable level 0.02 = 20ma...average consumption should be 20 - 50ma!

Ardennes1944

The battery is pretty old but was working fine before the install. Everything is wired fine im 99% sure. The amp turns on with the hu and off with hu. The ground and live feed from the battery is fine too. Cant see how it could be wired wrng from a power point of view. The clicking isnt fast either theres a good second in between each click. After i tried to start it second time there was only one click and no more. The dash lights and screen faded for the split second it clicked too

eringobragh

Ardennes1944 wrote: »

The battery is pretty old but was working fine before the install. Everything is wired fine im 99% sure. The amp turns on with the hu and off with hu. The ground and live feed from the battery is fine too. Cant see how it could be wired wrng from a power point of view. The clicking isnt fast either theres a good second in between each click. After i tried to start it second time there was only one click and no more. The dash lights and screen faded for the split second it clicked too

Clicking means theres not enough power to turn over the starter motor. Happened to me...was a faulty alarm siren, you need to identify the circuit and go from there.

Ardennes1944

My dad is gonna charge the battery overnight anyway to get me over the next 2days of college and then ill set at it. Thanks lads

corktina

youv'e killed it dude....the last straw on an old battery. New one needed and check out that wiring...

Nissan doctor

Unless your using the speakers/amp when the engine is not running then there must be something draining the battery.

You will get better performance from the speakers and amp if you fit a highera capacity battery and even a power capacitor.

Ardennes1944

no i only use it when the engine is on, maybe one or two songs the odd time but nothing more. ill just check if its being drained while the car is off when it comes back.
the subs are 150rms each and the amp is 100rms per channel, its not a huge set up so i cant see the trouble there

Owen

The power of the speakers/amp aren't the issue. A drain of even a bit of an amp can kill a battery in time.

You need to establish first of all if your alternator is charging properly, even if it's a separate symptom to your audio system. Then you need to check the current drain with your audio system plumbed in, and do the same with the audio system isolated. I'd be confident enough that the audio system must somehow be draining it, it's too coincidental that it's happened. Although, connecting/disconnecting that thick mains and earth cable you have could have spiked the alternator too. Check everything!

Ardennes1944

will do Owen, if you hear a guy crying on your doorstep you'll know who it is!

Owen

lol, if you need a hand chief, just ask.

Ardennes1944

just something ive noticed, my ipod doesnt turn off when the head unit does. the pioneer screensaver stays on the ipod and stays like that when the radio is off. even though the ipod would be fully charged from being connected all the time, could this drain the battery?

Yep

Ardennes1944

even though the ipod would be fully charged? didnt think it would drain it enough!

A battery is never fully charged conceptually speaking, they charge in an exponential fashion.

Ardennes1944

ive been plugging it out everytime i leave the car the last few days anyway, though i had the fuse for the amp pulled out too

Are you plugging out the ipod connection at the HU ?

Ardennes1944

no at the ipod. otherwise id have to take out the hu

WHen the HU is off that ipod yoke should be dead, if not its a drain I'd say.

Ardennes1944

nope the ipod is very much on even when i turn off the headunit.