My amp is draining my car battery!!

[Lee1234]

Tell us where you live Eva.

[DragonMaster]

Gotta find what the flag is...

[jdgonko]

This is a shot in the dark.

IF your head unit is turning off the amp(s) correctly, using the remote 12volt lead from the HU to the amp(s), you may just have a weak worn-out battery.

I was having slow-turnover of the starter each morning and was frustrated as all hell about where an audio short-circuit could possibly be with all the wiring in the Jeep. I was certain I screwed-up somewhere and caused a short-circuit (no grommet where it should have been used, a seat crimped a wire while packing for a roadtrip, etc). I even went to a battery store and had them "test" my battery just to eliminate it from the cause. They used this very technical-looking device (haha...read on).

Well, since I could hear both amplifiers "click off" each time I turned-off the HU, I still thought either a short, the alternator, or the battery. Since the battery was from 1999 and relatively cheap to replace, I replaced that first. Living in a very cold winter weather location, it was smart to do anyway with it being that old.

The Jeep starts up like a champ even after two nights at negative degrees fahrenheit. It was the battery as far as I'm concerned. It couldn't hold a good charge. The alternator alone will keep the vehicle running but, if the battery cannot store a full charge from the alternator, it will fail you the next morning...

Also, I got the biggest most cold-cranking amp battery I could install just to make sure the Jeep starts for work!

[drongo_from_vic]

cheap easy and simple solution.

You could always go buy a cheap switch, and put it between the headunits remot wire and the amp. When not using the amp, swith the switch to off. cuts the 12 volt reading the amp gets from the head unit, so then it wont turn one until you switch the switch to on ..

[IowaDave]

Is this a completely stock system? any thing after market?

This does not sound like an alt or battery problem as the issues resolve them selfs when you disconnect the amp. I would also say the amp is OK as the second one gave the same results.

I would pin this on a faulty remote wire. buy a volt meter if you dont have one. test the connections with the car on and off on both remote leads going into the amp and out of the HU. The remote wire could be pinched/frayed into a 12v source so testing the HU separate would test your wiring.


the switch idea would work, but you will forget to turn the amp off everytime and you will come back to a dead battery. Use a relay triggered on the IGN wire. if the car is switched on, the amp will be too. You could add a switch to that wiring if you wanted extra control.

[junglejuice]

Originally posted by bangin out
try a different aternator your cars battery my not be recharging and thats causeing it to die.


or you could try a capacitor.

But it could drain your battery faster than the amp does now.

A real capacitor cannot drain the battery....