Posted: 10/24/2012 3:37:52 AM EDT
|
I have been having some issues with my car lately. I usually leave my ft2900 on all the time, but lately with the colder weather the drain on my battery has been killing it.
How can I wire this into the ignition? Or, what short of a second car battery can I throw in to mitigate the problem, like a farad capacitor maybe? I tried just turning it off, but I forget every once and a while and nothing sucks worse than needing to go to work and your car is dead. |
Willing to spend $70?
Powerwerx DC Automatic Power Switch/Timer
Never turn on or off your radio(s) again! The APS-12 is basically a voltage controlled switch. When the vehicles engine shuts off, the unit senses the drop in voltage and starts the APS-12 timer to automatically shut off after 2 min. to 12 hrs. |
|
WAIT!
I found this in the FT2900 Manual: The Yaesu-exclusive multi-function LCD display. Additional features include a transmit Time-Out-Timer (TOT), Automatic Power-Off (APO), Automatic Repeater Shift (ARS), plus provision for reduction of the Tx deviation in areas of high channel congestion. And an RF Squelch circuit allows the owner to set the squelch to open at a programmable setting of the S-Meter, thus reducing guesswork in setting the squelch threshold. Congratulations on your purchase of the FT-2900R! Automatic Power Off...I use it on my Kenwood Mobiles to save on voltage.... Manual Linked Here |
|
Quoted:
WAIT! I found this in the FT2900 Manual: The Yaesu-exclusive multi-function LCD display. Additional features include a transmit Time-Out-Timer (TOT), Automatic Power-Off (APO), Automatic Repeater Shift (ARS), plus provision for reduction of the Tx deviation in areas of high channel congestion. And an RF Squelch circuit allows the owner to set the squelch to open at a programmable setting of the S-Meter, thus reducing guesswork in setting the squelch threshold. Congratulations on your purchase of the FT-2900R! Automatic Power Off...I use it on my Kenwood Mobiles to save on voltage.... Manual Linked Here Awesome. I never looked at features for it because it sits on the local repeater and that's it. Ill have to try that. The powerwerx timer voltage thing looks like a good alternative for when I can afford a better solution. |
|
Quoted: A simple Bosch style 30A relay is all you need. About $5 at the parts house. This. All you need is a keyed source to tap into. The source is used as an electromagnet which attracts a spring-loaded contact that completes the main circuit. When the source is lost the magnetism is lost and the main circuit is disrupted. |
|
Autozone sells 30A, 12VDC interposing relays. Most likely your 12V sig lighter outlet comes on with the ignition, Wire relay's coil parallel to the sig outlet (observe correct polarity). Run radio's positive power lead through the relay's NO contact.
This will ensure that you don't drain the battery. But it's a good practice to turn the radio off before killing ignition and turn it on after the engine has stated. |
|
So thinking about this... What are the odds my battery is just toast?
300ma draw for 12 hours should be a drop in the bucket for my car battery. I guess im not up to par with amps, cold cranking amps, and how much my car needs to start and how much the cold affects it. |
|
How old is your battery? I have had to replace the battery in my patrol car every year. I can always tell when it's getting time when the battery goes down to the point of not cranking the engine after sitting idle for only 3 hours with all my equipment (radio and camera) on. Normally it should go for well over 8 hours on standby and still be good.
Cold shouldn't be much of an issue until it gets right around or below freezing. Chances are your battery may just be getting weak if it has any age on it to speak of. If the battery turns out to be good, my vote is for the Bosch relay as previously mentioned. Cheap and fairly easy to do. |
|
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030A10V0/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00
i have one of these on every car i own. they have paid for them selves 100 times over. auto disconnetcs battery at around 11.7v. step on brake and it reconnects automatically. |
|
This is what I use.
Not to derail too much, but can someone maybe explain a little bit more about how to use just a relay from an auto parts store? I've looked at them, but I don't really understand how they get hooked up. ETA: Guess I should google before I post. This site has a simple explanation. |
|
Quoted:
How old is your battery? I have had to replace the battery in my patrol car every year. I can always tell when it's getting time when the battery goes down to the point of not cranking the engine after sitting idle for only 3 hours with all my equipment (radio and camera) on. Normally it should go for well over 8 hours on standby and still be good. Cold shouldn't be much of an issue until it gets right around or below freezing. Chances are your battery may just be getting weak if it has any age on it to speak of. If the battery turns out to be good, my vote is for the Bosch relay as previously mentioned. Cheap and fairly easy to do. A few years at least. It has been below freezing overnight lately. If it is going dead ill be a little pissed, my dad foot the bill on a new one and I told him it needed to be good since it was cold here. I ended up with a pretty cheap battery. I really wish it had just been done right the first time so I wouldn't have to deal with it again. The battery disconnect is a neat idea, unfortunately if my car stereo is disconnected from power for too long it will lock up into anti theft mode. And the nearest dealer is 90 miles away. 
|
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
How old is your battery? I have had to replace the battery in my patrol car every year. I can always tell when it's getting time when the battery goes down to the point of not cranking the engine after sitting idle for only 3 hours with all my equipment (radio and camera) on. Normally it should go for well over 8 hours on standby and still be good. Cold shouldn't be much of an issue until it gets right around or below freezing. Chances are your battery may just be getting weak if it has any age on it to speak of. If the battery turns out to be good, my vote is for the Bosch relay as previously mentioned. Cheap and fairly easy to do. A few years at least. It has been below freezing overnight lately. If it is going dead ill be a little pissed, my dad foot the bill on a new one and I told him it needed to be good since it was cold here. I ended up with a pretty cheap battery. I really wish it had just been done right the first time so I wouldn't have to deal with it again. The battery disconnect is a neat idea, unfortunately if my car stereo is disconnected from power for too long it will lock up into anti theft mode. And the nearest dealer is 90 miles away. the unlock procedure and code can be gotten from your dealership in most cases |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
How old is your battery? I have had to replace the battery in my patrol car every year. I can always tell when it's getting time when the battery goes down to the point of not cranking the engine after sitting idle for only 3 hours with all my equipment (radio and camera) on. Normally it should go for well over 8 hours on standby and still be good. Cold shouldn't be much of an issue until it gets right around or below freezing. Chances are your battery may just be getting weak if it has any age on it to speak of. If the battery turns out to be good, my vote is for the Bosch relay as previously mentioned. Cheap and fairly easy to do. A few years at least. It has been below freezing overnight lately. If it is going dead ill be a little pissed, my dad foot the bill on a new one and I told him it needed to be good since it was cold here. I ended up with a pretty cheap battery. I really wish it had just been done right the first time so I wouldn't have to deal with it again. The battery disconnect is a neat idea, unfortunately if my car stereo is disconnected from power for too long it will lock up into anti theft mode. And the nearest dealer is 90 miles away. the unlock procedure and code can be gotten from your dealership in most cases I tried getting it just to have on file at home. I need the serial of my stereo which is on the back side. Im not that keen on tearing my car apart. Or entering a code every time I start my car and want to listen to music |
|
Quoted:
A few years at least. It has been below freezing overnight lately.
It's probably due for replacement then. Where was the battery purchased? A garage back by my parents house. If i can warranty it I will if not im going to swap it myself. Those bastards broke my battery box and threw away the VW insulation when they replaced it. I dont care if they think its useless, it was part of my car 
anyway, ya might save up and get one of those badass optima batteries. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
A few years at least. It has been below freezing overnight lately.
It's probably due for replacement then. Where was the battery purchased? A garage back by my parents house. If i can warranty it I will if not im going to swap it myself. Those bastards broke my battery box and threw away the VW insulation when they replaced it. I dont care if they think its useless, it was part of my car
anyway, ya might save up and get one of those badass optima batteries. that battery insulation isn't useless. it's a thermal shield to protect the battery from heat. heat kills batteries. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
A few years at least. It has been below freezing overnight lately.
It's probably due for replacement then. Where was the battery purchased? A garage back by my parents house. If i can warranty it I will if not im going to swap it myself. Those bastards broke my battery box and threw away the VW insulation when they replaced it. I dont care if they think its useless, it was part of my car
anyway, ya might save up and get one of those badass optima batteries. +1. Had one of those Optima batteries in my Jeep. It lasted almost 10 years. Never had any problems. Great batteries. |