Battery Drain Test - Suspect

[XTiguanX]

Hi,

My Tig's battery finally died after 6.5 years. Unfortunately, it happened in my local shopping mall car park, so I ended up getting the battery from RACV. The RACV technician did a test on my Tig and said that the battery was draining at 0.86A with the alarm on. He said it is supposed to be less than 0.45A, hence I need to get my car checked by car electrician. Would apprecaited if the experts in this forum can advise if his diagnostic is correct. IF yes, where is the best place I can get my Tig checked out.

The RACV technician also don't seem to know about the "airbag fault" issue after changing the battery. He said that it another thing I need to get it look at by someone else, not him. So I will get it reset when I get my Tig into the next service.

Thanks in advance,
XTiguanX

[Umai Naa!!]

Factory alarm, or aftermarket?

Airbag light would have been caused by the battery being disconnected. He could've at least scanned to confirm this.

[XTiguanX]

Factory alarm, or aftermarket?

Airbag light would have been caused by the battery being disconnected. He could've at least scanned to confirm this.

Thanks Umai. It is factory alarm.

[The_Hawk]

Piecing together all the things I've been told/heard/read over the years I'll add this.

Was the car locked when he did his test or just off? I'm sure I've read somewhere that NOT locking the car makes the drain worse because locking it puts it into a sort of low power mode.... so maybe that it. Although I'd like to think the TACV guy has *some* clue about what he's testing.

6.5 Years is pretty good, unless the "problem" of drain is new, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I don't know that I would be going to an auto electrician just yet, especially when it's to chase an unknown problem.

My Multivan Battery is still the original one from 2010 and it doesn't appear to be slowing down. I do have a Ctek charger that runs a cycle over it every now and again, it's also a massive battery compared to what I'd guess is in the TSI Tig. (I was just thinking over the weekend that I should run a full condition cycle over the Van too... maybe this weekend )

[XTiguanX]

Piecing together all the things I've been told/heard/read over the years I'll add this.

Was the car locked when he did his test or just off? I'm sure I've read somewhere that NOT locking the car makes the drain worse because locking it puts it into a sort of low power mode.... so maybe that it. Although I'd like to think the TACV guy has *some* clue about what he's testing.

6.5 Years is pretty good, unless the "problem" of drain is new, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I don't know that I would be going to an auto electrician just yet, especially when it's to chase an unknown problem.

My Multivan Battery is still the original one from 2010 and it doesn't appear to be slowing down. I do have a Ctek charger that runs a cycle over it every now and again, it's also a massive battery compared to what I'd guess is in the TSI Tig. (I was just thinking over the weekend that I should run a full condition cycle over the Van too... maybe this weekend )

Hi Hawk,

RACV guy tested with the alarm on (i.e. car locked).

Your post makes me wonder if I should get a more intelligent charger than my 10 year-old ARLEC.

Cheers,
XTX

[Umai Naa!!]

I did have one come to me around 2009, that was virtually brand new. Had a faulty Convenience module in it, that kept 'waking up' once the CAN network went to sleep.

If you watched the current draw, it'd gradually drop down to 0.2A after 20mins, once the CAN network went to sleep. Then BAM, the CCM would wake up, and start drawing huge current.

[XTiguanX]

I did have one come to me around 2009, that was virtually brand new. Had a faulty Convenience module in it, that kept 'waking up' once the CAN network went to sleep.

If you watched the current draw, it'd gradually drop down to 0.2A after 20mins, once the CAN network went to sleep. Then BAM, the CCM would wake up, and start drawing huge current.

Hi Umai,

My reading is consistently 0.86A, no drop. Is this normal?

Cheers,
XTX

[Transporter]

I did have one come to me around 2009, that was virtually brand new. Had a faulty Convenience module in it, that kept 'waking up' once the CAN network went to sleep.

If you watched the current draw, it'd gradually drop down to 0.2A after 20mins, once the CAN network went to sleep. Then BAM, the CCM would wake up, and start drawing huge current.

Don't you mean 0.02A or better still 20mA? Anything over 0.1A (100mA) will flatten the battery especially the aged ones.
The 0.2A will flatten your battery over the weekend if you don't use your car.

[The_Hawk]

The Ctek is a great little unit, I bought it because these days I'm driving my Golf less that I used to so never give the battery a chance to charge properly which does lead to a low battery (it's also just gone five years old). I use the Ctek every other month or so to give it the good charge it needs and it all seems to work well enough.

I'm not sure how excatly I will know when the battery is dieing in the Golf given my usage... maybe when it feels like it's not holding the charge anymore... or maybe it just won't start one day?? Theoretically the Ctek unit will tell me if it can't hold charge anymore, but I don't know how far gone it needs to be before hitting that error?

In anycase, this is the charger I have which covers me up to 95Ah unit in the Multivan (it will do up to 110Ah)

MXS 5.0

[jets]

I'm driving my Golf less that I used to so never give the battery a chance to charge properly which does lead to a low battery (it's also just gone five years old).
I'm not sure how excatly I will know when the battery is dieing in the Golf given my usage... maybe when it feels like it's not holding the charge anymore... or maybe it just won't start one day??

I have just replaced the battery in our '09 Tiguan. This was replacing the second battery & someone had an undersize fitted, probably NRMA.
It showed signs of being weak & I knew it would need replacing before winter. As I was heading off for a few days before Christmas,
I didn't want any problems away from home. I have a battery tester & after fully charging with a smart charger it would only just make it into the green zone. I used to keep the old battery until it wouldn't start, but not anymore. Modern cars can have enough going wrong without adding to it with a weak battery.