Battery Drain

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Oct 23, 2013 | 05:11 PM

Reagansd350

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Battery Drain

Has anyone else had problems with their after market stereo or amp draining their batteries? I have a 2011 F350 and started having a dead battery all the sudden about a month ago. I brought it to ford, they did a diagnostic and found a small draw which we assumed was from the amp. After new batteries and a trip to Car Toys

to get the amp swapped (what a pain in the *** ) it is still going dead on me. Any thoughts?

Oct 23, 2013 | 05:43 PM

redford

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From: Stephensville WI

Define "a small draw." Key off, how much current is flowing?

Oct 23, 2013 | 05:45 PM

RV_Tech

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From: Bristol, TN.

My first step would be verifying it was the amp, before swapping parts. How fast is the battery going dead? Has the battery been checked and tested good? There are multiple things that can cause this symptom.

Steve

Oct 23, 2013 | 07:15 PM

Shake-N-Bake

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From: Mesa AZ

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reagansd350

to get the amp swapped (what a pain in the *** ) it is still going dead on me. Any thoughts?

I find some of the videos on this page to be useful
BBB Industries - Technical Video Center

Check out the one that says "Troubleshooting parasitic battery drain"

Oct 24, 2013 | 04:32 PM

Reagansd350

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What they found at the dealership was a 90 mili amp draw after doing a draw test. They replaced both batteries and about and week later it died. That was before swapping the amp. I came to the decision to swap out the amp after I disconnected the amp from the battery and the problem disappeared. When they pulled out the amp the claimed that there in fact was a draw and put in a new amp. (or so I hope, they did it for free).

Oct 24, 2013 | 05:13 PM

Torklift Sheryl

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Battery Power

Something you might consider if you are looking for extra battery power is the HiddenPower. It is essentially a no-drill battery mount that attaches to your truck frame allowing you to keep a spare battery constantly charged. So if you are like me and you like to go to a meet or two and blast your stereo through the day without killing your battery, you might like this.

You can learn more here: HiddenPower - Under Vehicle Battery Mount

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