Battery drain from radio

[JaneHibbert]

i bought a new old stock classic 80s radio casette for a little music, it's all fitted but was a little concerned about the fact one wire is constantly live, this is for the radio memory, but I only have a dynamo and so am i right to worry and think that this is quickly going to drain the battery?

[JaneHibbert]

oh and nowhere in the radio book does it say what amps or stuff that actual wire takes.

[lambrettalad]

dont worry about the radio memory ,but do worry if you leave it switched on via a permanently live feed ,if you have an ignition main feed your ok ,just like mine is wired

Maplins are still selling trickle chargers for £9'99 powered by the sun (i know it's on holiday at the moment ) they come with a recommendation from BMC

[les]

The memory does tend to drain the battery!

[lambrettalad]

I've had mine for over 2 years ,during which time the car was not started from oct to dec ,battery still good radio memory perfect ,the drain is tiny

[les]

Interesting, I only had to leave mine a couple of weeks and battery was flat. I first thought it was on it's last legs but thought I'd disconnect before leaving it for the next couple of weeks. Low and behold when using the car next ,connected back up and it spun over nicely.

[JaneHibbert]

i suppose it depends exactly on what type of radio and also condition of battery and stuff?

[MarkyB]

My experience is the same as Les,
I think the memory on older radios draws a lot more power than newer ones.
Memory technology has come a long way in the past few decades.

[lambrettalad]

if your going to use your car on a regular basis ,why not fit an alternator for those cold dark winters days and evenings
this might be useful

Alarms
Aftermarket alarms are notorious for sucking even healthy, fully charged batteries dry within a few days. If you have any non-factory alarms, it’s the first thing you should check. Be aware that there may be more than one connection to the car’s electrical system, and some aftermarket installers may use, ahem, non-industry standard splicing techniques. So you may have to simply follow the alarm wires to see where they go. More expensive alarms tend to be less problematic, but maybe that’s because more expensive alarms are installed by better, higher-paid technicians.

Stereos
OEM stereos are usually not problematic. Aftermarket stereos, the kind with giant, finned boxes and their own finger-thick wires directly wired to the battery, can be. With a power lead bypassing the car’s electrical system, they go into standby mode, waiting for the main radio head unit to tell them to wake up. In standby, they’ll draw only a milliamp or three. If they fail to go into standby, or if the DIP switches on the amp are set incorrectly, they can draw as much as several hundred milliamps, even though they’re not producing any actual noise. Or music.


mine is a 5 to six year old kenwood cd/radio with iPod connection

[GeordieDave]

JaneHibbert are you able to upload a picture of the front of the radio on here?

[JaneHibbert]

not at the moment, but it is a Goodmans Model GCE-343 it has two seperate wires, a live power wire and a thin memory wire.

[JaneHibbert]

I dont really want an alternator as i have got three or four dynamos that all work fine, and normally having a dynamo hasnt been a problem.

[MarkyB]

classic 80s radio cassette

This is the sort of thing I have fitted and it will drain the battery over time.

Something with an ipod connector is likely to play CDs and MP3 Cds, all much newer tech.

[GeordieDave]

Have you tried disconnecting the memory wire to see if it is essential? It isn't just for the clock?

I've bought something along the lines of this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Remote-DC-12V ... 416d7dc039

It has a radio, aux input and takes a memory stick instead of CDs - I can get a few hundred tracks on a memory stick. It comes with a remote control so it can be hidden away under the dash and doesn't need a live memory wire. Mine doesn't have a display screen (which I couldn't see anyway) so finding a particular radio station is hit or miss, but there are too many adverts on the radio anyway, so I just skip to the next station what ever it might be! So far I've had no trouble with it and it can be fitted to positive or negative earthed cars without modification.

[lambrettalad]

looks great for the money

[GeordieDave]

looks great for the money

You're not wrong and I paid less for mine - so I bought two. One is in my workshop running on a 12v battery. Here's a picture of the one I bought, it's tiny but works really well

[MarkyB]

Did you use the built in aerial or can you plug the car one in?

[GeordieDave]

Did you use the built in aerial or can you plug the car one in?

There's a thin but long aerial wire at the back, which does the job. However, I haven't been out of the Manchester area with it yet to check the reception. 90% of the time I listen to my own music and not the radio so it wouldn't bother me. I have been able to get BBC Sheffield in Manchester but next time I'm in the sticks I'll check the reception and report back.

Ignore the 500 watts, that's the Chinese being very, very very optimistic

[JaneHibbert]

I decided to buy a new cd mp3 player, this one in fact:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zero-Ice-Player ... 623&sr=8-1

I am hoping this will work without draining too much power, but the car is a daily runner so it should keep the battery charged anyway. we will see.

That chinese thing looks good though, i might get one of those to try! x

[wickermonkey]

as a idialy runner you will have no problem. saying that though i have got an uprated battery. I think the one you might have is a 300!!!, not sure on the rating but the one i have is a 360!!!. starts like a trojan and seems to run alot better. going to use the old battery along with another charger( usually used for second battery in a camper) for the radio plus charging anything when camping