Board logo

Maplins immobiliser
Johneturbo - 26/2/09 at 06:49 PM

I fitted one of these during my build and it works just fine.
only thing i;m worried about is the draw from the flashing light when armed. as now the battery is permaintly wired up i'm ending up with a flat batt over night

i've either got a duff new batt or its the l.e.d

just reading the tech stuff it says it draws 9mA when armed

now i think my bike batt is 12v 8mA

so is that the answer i need more mA?

it charges all ok with the optimizer

blakep82 - 26/2/09 at 06:54 PM

the battery won't be 8mA surely.
that flashing led should last for months (maybe years) on a car battery.

eg, my dad has a pink floyd cd, the box had a flashing LED, lasted about 18months or so on a AA battery, soo....

matt_claydon - 26/2/09 at 06:58 PM

Your battery is 8Ah (Amp-hours). At 9ma (0.009 Amps) it should last 8/0.009 = 889 hours.

Johneturbo - 26/2/09 at 07:33 PM

Soz you're right guys, i'm getting my amps and mA's mixed up

so the battery must be 8amps

some more investigating needed then on why it's draining over nite

mr_pr - 26/2/09 at 07:39 PM

Yes have a good investigation. Sounds like something isn't right. I have the very same immobilser and it doesn't even begin to flatten the battery.

If you are worried about the LED though, you could just disconnect it, I haven't got mine installed.

On a side note does your Optimate not indicate that something is drawing current? I thought they did this on the test function?

Johneturbo - 26/2/09 at 07:55 PM

I just get the amber charge/test light then it goes to the green light once charged up.

i'll unplug the led and try that for starters.

mr_pr - 26/2/09 at 08:37 PM

Oh ok, I haven't fully read through the instructions for my Optimate to be honest I just thought i remembered reading something about that.

With regards tracing the fault. I find that connecting the neg lead up and then the positive lead. If something is drawing current a small spark usually occurs as you connect the pos lead. I just remove fuses one by one until the spark stops!

Failing that use a multi-meter, just a bit more fiddly and be careful you don't short the battery when using the ammeter function!

Danozeman - 26/2/09 at 10:07 PM

What loom have you got? Mine kept going flat with a vicki green loom overnight. the alternater wiring is wrong in the loom so the alternater waslive all the time turning it into a motor. Now ive changed to to ignition fed like it should be its perfect.

02GF74 - 27/2/09 at 08:11 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Johneturbo
Soz you're right guys, i'm getting my amps and mA's mixed up

so the battery must be 8amps

some more investigating needed then on why it's draining over nite


battery is 8 Ah. ampere-hour.

this means that is can supply 8 amps for 1 hour or 80 amps for 0.1 hour and so on; the amps multiplied by hours must result in the number 8.

The LED itself will draw typically 20 mA but since it is flashing, it will draw less as the times it is off, it draws no current.


BUT that is not the whole story.

There is some electronics that has to switch the lamp itself, without looking at the circuit diagram - I'm pretty sure maplin kits show them, it is a guess as to how mcuh that will draw.

I'd be much surprised if it is more than 100 mA.

If your battery is being drained, do the sum to find current drawn in 24 hours; this will give 333 mA.

So you do not have a lot in reserve.

You should mearue the current drawn and then decide what to do; 8 Ah must be a 125 cc motorcycle battery. Uncahin the wallet and get a PC 680.

Johneturbo - 5/3/09 at 03:52 PM

well i think i've found the cause, looks like the engine kill switch i have on a toggle had a bad connection.

how jump starting it worked i don't know

another one of lifes mysterys