Design for Convenience: A Car Battery That Does Not Drain

I'd also settle for something like this:

S.M.

Then see if there are any Citroen GSA's out there still, but my guess would be that the handle is the only part that won't have rusted to a pile of red flakes.

Most newer (2010+) do have a low battery cut-off.

What year is your van?

I know it's a royal pain in the arse, I have done the same thing many times prior to getting my 2010 Ford

Now if/when I leave any lights on (I still do on occasion) inside or out they turn off after 90 seconds.

Whatya got a model T?? most vehicles have automatic controls on the lights, or at least warning buzzers or bells...There are a bunch of these devices you can add on, but I don't know how well they work...

http://www.prioritystart.com/

Battery savers

The van is 2000 honda odyssey.. ok so its kinda older.. but a battery power level sensor should have been part of a automobile since 60's.. no high tech there.

The lack of this obvious device spawned a whole industry (AAA) of jump-starters..

I will look at the aftermarket add-ons. :-)

Yup, it did create or at least obesely blossom an industry.

Come back after you find something.

Let us know how this worked out for you.

Good Luck!

Gee, my 2001 Nissan Sentra came with a built in timer to shut down all lights but the emergency flashers if the alternator wasn't working. It would probably be cheaper and easier to just buy one of these than to retrofit any kind of timer circuit.

Those things suck....18ah is a motorcycle battery, and ya gotta keep it charged all the time...Which means it's no good for carrying around in the trunk...and if it's only good for around the house, then you might just as well have a battery charger for the same price...and they don't last very long, I guess because sooner or later you let them run down, and any body that knows anything about batteries knows if it sits uncharged at 0 for any length of time it won't accept a charge anymore...I had a buddy get two of these some years back, he kept saying what a great idea it was, and tried to give me one, but it was heavy, and I had a battery charger, so I didn't see the need...Those things are just a distant memory now, thrown to the dump long ago, and my charger still works as good as ever...So don't waste your money imo on some portable charger gizmo...

There is the more practical solution that most of us have used fore as long as vehicles have came with battery's and things you could leave turned on with the key off.

PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU LEFT ON BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE VEHICLE.

The second option is to run a larger battery that can support a much monger run time. Around here in the colder regions oversizing batteries to as large as what can be possibly fit tends to alleviate a lot of problems. The third thing is to carry a jumper cable set or self jump unit as mentioned earlier and have an adequately sized battery charger/booster unit at home such as a 200+ amp boost unit which can boost a low battery to typical starting levels in a minute or two.

Otherwise get used to suffering the self inflicted consequences of being cheap and not paying attention!

Yep.. we have to live with it and PAY ATTENTION because somebody forgot to design a simple solution to address a universal problem.. while designing a keyless entry, powered windows, mirrors etc.

That all quit when your undersized battery dies.

Second battery in parallel with disconnect switch or relay. At least you will be able to start and charge your other battery up with you engine alternator.

This is what is done in boats.

Boats have a switch for battery one, battery two, both. It's nice to have all that room for two batteries, and boaters know to switch to both after the motor starts so both get charged. Too much trouble for a car.

A low voltage device would also require a solenoid switch to disconnect the battery as it reaches the low threshold, and the electronics to control the switch. Upon return to the car, a bypass button would have to be pushed to reconnect the battery to the system. This would be a good project for a college engineering student, and an idea for an aftermarket car accessory.

But less than not starting anymore. The boats have indeed a switchable house and starter battery bank. Not turning the switch in the right position might get you in trouble too, but at least you can blame it on yourself.

Problem with the camper is that the lights start glowing dim. So how dim can it be?

I am also in my not complete answers giving period. I leave room for more eminent participants. Thanks

get one of these.www.prioritystart.com

Ah, ya beat me to it

And while all you folks are beating OP silly, I personally leave for work in the dark, get to work in the light, and have disabled most of the things that go bong in my truck.

So when I occasionally leave the lights on, getting a jump for a diesel is a challenge. Last time it took three ganged Toyotas to finally roll it over fast enough to start

I am neither an Automobile Tech nor a driver but have once experinced this problem in my nephew's car.

Being an electronic Techno I detected it and the problem resolved.

Switched off car

1. Disconnected the live cable of battery.

2. made a test lamp from 12V bulb [Car battery 12V]

3. Connected the test-lamp between the removed cable and the battery terminal.

4. Lamp was glowing.

It is a clear indication that some circuit is still connected.

From the diagram I noticed that the Alternator is the only item remain connected.

Embedded Diode(s) found the culprit, Shorted.

It is a clear indication that some circuit is still connected.
The computer needs to be powered.Ron

Make yourself a timer that turns lights off after two minutes when the turnkey is switched to off.

I don't recomend an automatic disconnect device based only on a low battery voltage, since when you have an alternator failure during a trip (which I agree doesn't happen very often, but still), you're running only on your battery and the vehicle will keep running as long as there is enough power for the ignition system, you don't want to kill the battery right there or you'll be stuck in the middle of nowhere, waiting for some good Samaritan that has wires, tools and TRUSTS you enough to give you a hand.

Regards