Practically dead battery in the Accord this morning :(

[tbaleno]

Yup. I'm in total agreement. However, I think the battery could handle more than we can. Most of the electronics I know of can handle 100F. I suspect It should be able to handle a little more because the inside of a car parked in the summer can get to 115 in chicago, and I won't even try to guess in Phoenix. Manufacturers must have taken that into account.

I do think keeping it cooler will extend its life though.

In my case temps >100 are rare (maybe 4 or 5 times a year) so I'm not too worried.

[Kermit]

I searched for scan gauge and dead battery, and this is the closest I got to what I needed. So I figure I would pose the question. Has anyone had dead batteries because of the scan gauge?

I got a scan gauge for christmas, and before christmas I swore of driving my car all together and now I ride my bike. I put it in my wifes car and a few days later her car wouldn't start, we jumped it off, and got the volts back up, and it worked fine, we unplugged all 12V accessories including the Scan Gauge and didn't have a problem for 2 weeks. I figured maybe it was the satellite radio, so I plugged the Scan Gauge back in, and now 2 days later the car won't start.

Is this unit using power when the car is off?

This is a 1999 Chevy Blazer.

[xcel]

Hi Kermit:

___You will see the SG-II go to sleep in any car with the Ice-Off and key removed after a minute or so. It draws very little so a dead battery would be caused by something else …

___In the case of the wife’s vehicle, she usually leaves a light on overnight about once a month and then complains that the battery is dead. Doh

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[brick]

I wouldn't be too quick to rule out the SG as a possible cause. Part of the reason I don't leave mine active is that I don't trust it to turn off. Something about the way the Prius CAN turns on the SG at odd times, and I have gone outside on occasion to find the thing turned on and waiting for who knows what in the middle of the night. I don't know how much current it draws, but it might well be enough to kill a battery over the course of a couple of days. Especially if the battery is already on its way out.

My suggestion would be to take the battery somewhere (Autozon, NAPA, etc.) to have it load tested. If it's good, keep an eye on that ScanGauge. It's not like we have much experience with Blazers (or Chevy products at all, really) so it's possible that the car and ScanGauge may be doing something similar to what mine does with the Prius.

[Blaster94]

My scan gauge in the tundra causes my air bag light to illuminate when when the key is removed. Never caused a dead battery though.

[xcel]

Hi Tim:

___The next time I speak with Ron, I will mention this discussion but I can bet an SG-II has probably less then a 10W draw active let alone asleep or off?

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[Bruce]

Originally Posted by xcel

___The next time I speak with Ron, I will mention this discussion but I can bet an SG-II has probably less then a 10W draw active let alone asleep or off?

Electronics packaging is my biz...that little plastic package would be a pile of melted goo with 10 Watts going into it. I doubt it's more than 2 Watts.

In any case, I've been back to commuting by bike a lot lately myself and have been charging the battery prior to use (along with inflating the tires) since I might use it once a week. The PCM has a pretty high current draw when asleep, and the manual recommends disconnecting the battery if it's not to be used for a couple of weeks. I will probably start doing this instead of charging it after its next use, since it uses less mains power than charging.

If it's been sitting for a few days and I don't charge it, the ICE will light off okay, but the voltage will drop quickly in the first few FAS' and trip MPG will usually suffer from the extra alternator load.

[-mr. bill]

There's been a couple of times where I've come back from a walk after dark when I've noticed the ScanGauge II backlight on.

Seems like some obscure combination of remote lock / remote trunk unlock / remote lock wakes the ScanGauge II up and it never sleeps. Or it could just as likely have something to do with me stepping on a crack in the sidewalk.

But anyhow, I have caught the ScanGauge II awake a few times.

-mr. bill

[rationull]

I've seen that symptom in my 8th gen Civic (not an SI, though) as well. After the car has been locked for a time, unlocking it with the remote would turn the SG back on. It would stay in its "Connecting" mode (can't connect because the ECM isn't powered up) and not turn back off or go to sleep, presumably forever (I only left it for a couple hours to test).

You might want to e-mail linear logic about it. I did, and Ron sent back a message saying:

"Unlocking the car is causing a transient in the electrical system that causes the voltage to drop below 3V at the OBDII connector. This may be a problem with the wiring of the vehicle routing the lock solenoid current through a common wire with the OBDII power. We have a fix that will turn the ScanGaugeII off even if it is in the "Connecting..." mode after 75 seconds."

They applied that fix to my SG when I sent it in for the 3.15 upgrade and I've seen it happen multiple times since, always turning off after 75 second. I'd recommend contacting LL about it -- the fix is worth the peace of mind IMO.

[PTDixieGal]

Dead batteries stink Sorry that happened.