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Parasitic Current Draw

rondofj

By rondofj,
in Car Audio & Electrical

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rondofj Veteran

rondofj

Posted
Posted

Hey guys, did a parasitic current draw on my R34GTT- mounted multimeter in series to battery by removing -ve terminal and connecting to the terminal on battery and removed -ve terminal on wire.

Pulling fuses one by one revealed that the audio circuit is eating 0.15ish Amps or 150mA with everything off/doors closed etc for few mins. Current draw should not be more than 50mA. Without fuse it is 50mA, still a bit high. All fuses on, current draw is 0.2-0.18A. (180-200mA)

All it has is a basic Sony MOSFET cd player, standard speakers n tweeters, twin 6X9s in rear shelf, no amps or subs. Basic system. Removing/cutting audio power wire brings the current draw back to 50mA so thats the culprit.

What to do from here? Is it likely a short in audio power wire or a malfunction in unit? Thanks.

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89CAL Grand Master

89CAL

Posted
Posted

When you say the current draw is 150ma for a few minutes, does that mean the current draw disappears?

It is probably just some sort of storage function of the head unit if that is the case and I wouldn't worry too much about it. I've never been a huge fan of the Sony car audio products, and I don't think they are the best out there. So i suppose if you really want to fix the problem you will probably need a new head unit. That is unless their is something else tee-ed into the audio circuit. Really the head unit controls all the power going to speakers etc, so if there is a current draw there it can only really be the head unit (unless, as I said there is another system on the circuit)

rondofj Veteran

rondofj

Posted
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Posted

You got me wrong, I meant that the current draw is always 180-200mA even AFTER a few mins with everything off/doors shut etc. I stated the 'few minutes' because some car systems like alarms etc take a few minutes to fully shut down.

I dont think theres anything else tee'ed onto the audio circuit though, the factory loom with green power cable goes right up to the radio. I was thinkin its either the head unit or the power supply cables shorted somewhere in the loom.

Whats the best way to check, I've already wired direct power from battery to fuel pump via a 30A fuse and extra wire to battery. Can I tee a wire off this to the head unit?

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