Does Phone Charger Drain Battery?

[jnaut]

ThunderbirdJunkie forgot to unplug his electric cooler the other day.

Jeep be dead

12v coolers, on the other hand, will drain your battery faster than a divorce will drain your bank account.

My last battery got straight up pimped by my 12v cooler for about 8 hours. Needless to say, I had a new battery in my truck the next morning.

 

[Paul M]

The dealer said the LED was causing the PCM to stay "on" even though no was in the ignition, thus drawing more power and draining the battery. So far this seems correct...no problems after yanking power to the multi-socket unit and the XM receiver (Every night just to be sure). Still seems odd to me.

 

[jnaut]

Never heard of that. Your clock draws power continuously from the battery, why doesn't that cause the PCM to stay "on".

Most modern cars have 'keep alive memory' that needs to have some current draw such as learned settings in the PCM etc.

You can check your key-off battery drain using a meter. Some modern vehicles will 'step down' their key off drain after certain increments of time.

I'm really skeptical that having an LED glowing would cause the PCM to stay 'on'. This would suggest that no one could install one of those aftermarket alarm systems with the flashing LED light.

Plus, this flies in the face of almost everyone elses experience with leaving ipods, cell phones and the like in the car 24/7.

In fact, I left a Wagan inverter in my car for three years, turned on with the cooling fan running 24/7 (which I guarantee drew more power than an LED) and it wasn't until I accidentally left my 12v cooler on that my battery finally died.

Somewhere there are probably some key-off power drain specifications for the KJ.

 

[LibertyFever]

12v coolers, on the other hand, will drain your battery faster than a divorce will drain your bank account.

My last battery got straight up pimped by my 12v cooler for about 8 hours. Needless to say, I had a new battery in my truck the next morning.

I've known of a couple of people who have drained their batteries with 12v coolers while parked on the trail (weak battery). Myself the only time I've killed the battery overnight was when I left a spot lamp plugged in on charge.

A cell phone charger shouldn't kill your battery unless it's a long weekend and a weak battery on its way out.

 

[jnaut]

I've known of a couple of people who have drained their batteries with 12v coolers while parked on the trail (weak battery). Myself the only time I've killed the battery overnight was when I left a spot lamp plugged in on charge.

A cell phone charger shouldn't kill your battery unless it's a long weekend and a weak battery on its way out.

And that's the key. If your battery is already weak, then running the stereo while parked for 20 minutes can kill your battery.

 

[LibertyFever]

And that's the key. If your battery is already weak, then running the stereo while parked for 20 minutes can kill your battery.

Gee what could you be doing in your Libby that you're running the stereo while parked for 20 minutes?
watching the submarine races?