Battery drain

[Justwatching]

#1867 just killed its battery (as in, completely) which was only two years old. I've changed the cable connectors and robbed a battery off another car as the Really Retro show is only a week away. I'm getting a 24 milliamp draw (doors closed and unlocked) which reduces to 11 milliamp when I pull fuse 17 (cigar lighter and clock). 

I gather DeLoreans were factory fitted with parasitic draw, but how much is normal?

[Chris P]

Yes...fit a battery isolator switch and use it every time you turn the car off.

[Rich Hanlon]

There is some component somwhere whereby swapping two small electronic subcomponents reduces the drain to a fraction... I can't remember what it is!! One of the relays I think?

[Rissy]

(03 Jul 2023, 17:19)Rich Hanlon Wrote: There is some component somwhere whereby swapping two small electronic subcomponents reduces the drain to a fraction... I can't remember what it is!!  One of the relays I think?

Door lock module.  The transistors allow mA of drain.

Stereo memory and clock (and alarm if you have one) are also big contributors to parasitic drain.

[Chris Williams]

As Chris said, Door lock module was always the biggest culprit. Personally I would (and have) as t'other Chris says fit a battery isolator.

[Rich Hanlon]

That's it, yes, good grief it was so long ago I'd forgotten what it was!

[acmetowers]

If you can plug one in to the mains, I'd recommend a ctek battery maintainer. I have a 3.8a version plugged in when I'm not using the car.

[Guinney1971]

we have all our cars hooked up to trickle chargers in the garage, we got them from Aldi, Lidl do
them too, but its whenever they have them in the infamous Middle Aisle. I know Lidl had some the
other week, about £12.99 from memory, so you might be lucky and find your local store still has some
in stock. Failing that, Amazon/Halfords/Ebay are your best bet.