What make/model of portable battery booster?
Dead Kona EV!
The 12 V,180 W accessory socket is powered up after the car is in run mode (switched )so checking voltage with this unit won't work when the car is "off".
What you will see on the display is an instantaneous measurement of the 12 V battery voltage after putting in run mode (less than 13 V), then the 14.4 applied voltage from the cars converter.
R P
Well-Known Member
Instead of "start" I should have said "Acc Mode", ie, push the start button without stepping on the brake. That's how my ICE vehicle works, draws much less power in that mode.
Haven't tried it yet, but I will. Will also do a multi meter check of the battery itself to see how it acts in different "on" modes. That will be my benchmark for monitoring with the plug device.
As RP mentioned push the start button without foot on the brake pedal. That should not engage the on board converter.
Devhead
Member
Nice tip @Jamas, this is much easier than getting out a multi-meter and popping the hood.
With the car completely off for several hours, I then checked its status with Blue Link and the car's dashboard woke up and I heard several relays going off under the hood. This can be done via smart phone or a browser on your computer. I suppose it is entirely possible that one or both kept the car awake while re-trying a failed command, ultimately draining the battery.
Jamas
Active Member
Got it. 12.4 after one press and 12.1 after the second press. I assume all is good.
R P
Well-Known Member
OK, just checked mine, in the morning when the car has been sitting for about 12 hours. 12.3V initially (at the battery), then 12.2 after turning it on (start button with no brake pressed), and 14+ after turning it on with brake pressed. I am a little surprised it gets that low (60%) after just overnight, but still fine. I am not sure when the aux charging feature kicks in, but obviously not at this level. Seems there is probably a pretty good parasitic load on the battery, and if that aux charger is not working properly, I can see it going dead pretty quickly.
On my ICE car parasitic load is pretty low and often shows 12.8V after being driven on a longer run. If driven infrequently it will also drop to about 12.2. On start up, it will charge at 14.3 and sometimes drop to 13.2 (maintenance charge) after a while.
One thing to bear in mind, too, is that after charging, a battery will have a higher surface charge (usually around 13V), but that will drop to a true level after a few hours.
If my car (past ICE vehicles) is driven infrequently and only short trips, my voltage would drop to a 12.1 or lower. Then I would give it a top-up external charge. Nothing worse for a battery than letting it run down (acid sulfation and stratification), and not charging it back up to full with an external charger. If you keep your battery charged up, it will last a long time (5+ years), even a cheaper OEM one.
On my ICE car parasitic load is pretty low and often shows 12.8V after being driven on a longer run. If driven infrequently it will also drop to about 12.2. On start up, it will charge at 14.3 and sometimes drop to 13.2 (maintenance charge) after a while.
One thing to bear in mind, too, is that after charging, a battery will have a higher surface charge (usually around 13V), but that will drop to a true level after a few hours.
If my car (past ICE vehicles) is driven infrequently and only short trips, my voltage would drop to a 12.1 or lower. Then I would give it a top-up external charge. Nothing worse for a battery than letting it run down (acid sulfation and stratification), and not charging it back up to full with an external charger. If you keep your battery charged up, it will last a long time (5+ years), even a cheaper OEM one.
eastpole
Active Member
Devhead, I am sure this is possible. There was a famous instance where a problematic firmware update pulled a lot of CPU power and drained batteries unexpectedly in NEST thermostats, leading to situations where people's heat was off when they were not at home. However, that was a small lithium battery. Do we really think the modem + onboard computers could drain the 12V accessory battery that quickly? Are these not mostly microcontrollers or wee ARM units, which should pull a watt or two tops?
Even though it seems wrong, this is one of the better explanations I've heard of why 12V batteries sometimes go unexpectedly dead in Konas.
Fastnf
Well-Known Member
I ke
I keep my spare key locked in my tool box in the garage which is about 3 feet from the back end of the car and have never had any problem. I usually drive the car about 3 days a week as I work form home. So the car typical is not driven Sunday through Wednesday. Haven't had any low voltage problems. Last time I checked the voltage about a week ago it was 12.7 not running and 14.7 running
Nothing wrong with those readings
Devhead
Member
so...i took the car to the dealer and they tested the battery. it checks out fine. The test machine prints a receipt and they gave me the receipt. They also washed my car, which they always do on request, for free. Nice that.
The draw on the car isn't just from the one component but as noted in a prior post, just waking the car up causes a continuous 3amp draw for a while. Read Post #88 by the hobbit.
I doubt it was a key fob thing, they are always kept in the same place. if it was, I would have likely seen this problem when I returned from a 9 day vacation I took back in August, BTW, the traction battery only lost 1% during that time.
R P
Well-Known Member
Like I said, a long shot...
hobbit
Well-Known Member
Unlike the infamously problematic Prius smart-key, I believe the
Kona doesn't actively scan for it all the time. It needs you to do
something to go active -- hit the door button, send RKE, whatever.
Thus, no need for a "smartkey disable" switch like in the 2G Prius.
Obviously the RKE receiver has to be listening to its airwaves all
the time, but that can evidently be done with a tiny trickle of
battery current as opposed to *sending* RF out to a fob.
_H*
Kona doesn't actively scan for it all the time. It needs you to do
something to go active -- hit the door button, send RKE, whatever.
Thus, no need for a "smartkey disable" switch like in the 2G Prius.
Obviously the RKE receiver has to be listening to its airwaves all
the time, but that can evidently be done with a tiny trickle of
battery current as opposed to *sending* RF out to a fob.
_H*
mikeselectricstuff
Active Member
If "welcome mirrors" is enabled, it scans continuously for the key. From memory this increases the 12V drain from about 10mA to about 20mA.
Not sure if Welcome mirrors is an option in all areas - all it does is flip the mirrors open whn you get near the car. Enabled via the in-dash menu.
hobbit
Well-Known Member
Aha: didn't think of that, as mine is a SEL with a limited set of newfangled
gew-gaws. Meh. I'd expect that from the ears of a pet, but not a car...
Here, by the way, is my page on disabling the cellular data link entirely,
thus making the car forever invisible to Bluelink and probably sparing
it a good bit of parasitic drain:
http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/ev/offnet.html
The "EV index" is largely a lie at this point, but the rest of the pages
are on the way.
_H*
gew-gaws. Meh. I'd expect that from the ears of a pet, but not a car...
Here, by the way, is my page on disabling the cellular data link entirely,
thus making the car forever invisible to Bluelink and probably sparing
it a good bit of parasitic drain:
http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/ev/offnet.html
The "EV index" is largely a lie at this point, but the rest of the pages
are on the way.
_H*
SkookumPete
Well-Known Member
I wonder if the glance down could be interpreted as "distracted driving" with the recent rash of tickets lately, under the MVA rules the "prescribed class or type of electronic device" is pretty general, might be worth asking local RCMP what their perception would be.Got mine today. It looks very cool glowing down in the bin.
http://www.bclaws.ca/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/96318_06
Probably this alone has stopped me from getting a cell with Torque pro or EV Notify as that would definitely qualify even if the phone is off apparently (just charging).