iPad charging drains truck battery?

[Blind Dog]

OK, so a while back I left my iPad plugged in to the 'always on' 12v socket when my truck was parked overnight. My understanding was that the current draw was so negligible that this would not be an issue. But it drained my battery sufficiently that I could not start the truck in the morning.

After I charged the truck battery fully overnight and re-installed it, I did not have a problem starting the truck for a couple of months.

Thought I'd try this experiment again yesterday. Once again, the iPad drained the battery in just a few hours.

How is this possible?

 

[mikeru]

How old is your battery? How much is the truck driven and how far? This will not happen with a fully charged battery in good condition, so my guess is that either your battery is on its last leg or you don't drive your truck enough to keep the battery fully charged.

 

[diymirage]

How is this possible?
Look at who made your iPad and there's your awnser

 

[mikeru]

How is this possible?
Look at who made your iPad and there's your awnser

Android lover huh?

 

[diymirage]

Android lover huh?

yes, but not blindly
i had an apple product once, one of the first ipod i imagine and it exposed me to apples monopoly building practices

the two things that stood out were first of all, it would not play podcasts oldest to newest
so if im listening to a 14 chapter book, it would start on chapter 14, then 13 and so on...that is just, how do i put this nicely? lets just say its like a spark that happens past TDC

the second, and worst thing is, i couldnt plug it into my computer, then drag and drop my music folders unto the ipod, i would have to download their program to transfer my files, giving them full access to my library

it was then i realized they are not trying to sell me, the user, the best product, they were trying to mine me for data and enslave me


i think i had that ipod for less then 24 hours before i got rid of it and replaced it with a sandisk

now, that was 10,20 years ago, but you're not gonna be telling me apple cleaned up their act and is now a reputable supplier of consumer electronics...they had hidden agendas then, and they have them now


i would love to see the OP plug his ipad into the lighter of a cybertruck and leave it overnight
dollars to donuts, it would have no averse effect to the truck because of the aforementioned monopoly practices

 

[mikeru]

yes, but not blindly
i had an apple product once, one of the first ipod i imagine and it exposed me to apples monopoly building practices

the two things that stood out were first of all, it would not play podcasts oldest to newest
so if im listening to a 14 chapter book, it would start on chapter 14, then 13 and so on...that is just, how do i put this nicely? lets just say its like a spark that happens past TDC

the second, and worst thing is, i couldnt plug it into my computer, then drag and drop my music folders unto the ipod, i would have to download their program to transfer my files, giving them full access to my library

it was then i realized they are not trying to sell me, the user, the best product, they were trying to mine me for data and enslave me


i think i had that ipod for less then 24 hours before i got rid of it and replaced it with a sandisk

now, that was 10,20 years ago, but you're not gonna be telling me apple cleaned up their act and is now a reputable supplier of consumer electronics...they had hidden agendas then, and they have them now


i would love to see the OP plug his ipad into the lighter of a cybertruck and leave it overnight
dollars to donuts, it would have no averse effect to the truck because of the aforementioned monopoly practices

Live by the mantra that just because I’m paranoid doesn’t meant they aren’t out to get me.

It doesn’t matter which device you are using anymore. They’re all wanting to get your information. If you truly want to stop all of that you’d need to drive a car made before the turn of the century, not own a smart tv, use only a land line with old school rotary or push button phones, deal only in cash, etc…. Since that isn’t practical, all we can really do is try to limit our exposure if we’re concerned about our data. Most people figure the juice isn’t worth the squeeze on that one.

 

[Toon12]

Does your iPad look like this?

 

[Blind Dog]

OK , now we've established that there's no privacy left in this world and that we're all pawns of the rich and powerful, maybe we can get back to the subject in hand...

Not sure about the age of the battery. AC Delco number is 053P which I think means May 2023 (can't imagine its 2013).

I'm a little fuzzy on battery degradation rates, but as I understand it they start with around 60-80Ah and can be expected to lose around 1-2% capacity per year. If this is a 2023 battery then it should still have plenty left. The iPad only uses 2A, so I can't understand how it would destroy the truck's battery in just 4-5 hours.

Unless it is indeed a 2013 battery, but then how in the hell does it keep starting my truck? Perhap I just have the mightiest iPad in the world!

 

[PolarisCobra]

Try unplugging the iPad into a different car. The iPad battery is much smaller than the truck battery, I can't imagine it would kill a good battery.

If you have a gallon jug of milk, and use it to fill a shot glass, the jug should be still nearly full, right?

 

[Blind Dog]

As you say, hard to believe. Just can't understand why a truck battery that is perfectly capable of taking/holding a charge and starting a truck every day is being overwhelmed by an iPad.

My understanding of draw rates over time vs cranking amps is, however, not all it could be...

 

[SitKneelBend]

As you say, hard to believe. Just can't understand why a truck battery that is perfectly capable of taking/holding a charge and starting a truck every day is being overwhelmed by an iPad.

My understanding of draw rates over time vs cranking amps is, however, not all it could be...

It may be that the battery has juice left BUT the truck programming disables it at a certain threshold. It's not a mechanical off and on like ignitions of old but a whole lot of logic that treats your demands like requests. A good example is the delay when blowing your horn now. I've noticed a similar behavior when performing radio updates and now only perform them with the vehicle running.

 

[mikeru]

You didn't answer my question about how often or far you drive the truck. If you only use it for short drives the battery never gets a chance to fully charge. It could just be a case where the battery wasn't fully charged before you plugged in the ipad. Try fully charging the battery then plug in the ipad overnight to see if it's still draining the battery to the point where it won't start the truck.

 

[Blind Dog]

Just brought the truck home from a 500km round trip. The alternator is good and the battery was fully charged when I plugged in the iPad.

Since I 've had no trouble starting the truck since I got it, I guess this must be something to do with the battery being incapable of maintaining a low draw. Battery is less than three years old, but maybe AC Delco don't make 'em too good these days...

 

[Toon12]

Check the reserve capacity rating on your battery, reduce the value by your 1-2% loss for years in age and you should come up with a value of how long the battery should last.
The reserve capacity for my truck battery is 140 minutes at 25 amps, so a 2 amp draw should last 10 times as long or better.
One other possibility is that the software in the truck which monitors the usage on your charging port is malfunctioning and not allowing the truck to start.
A point I should make here as well is that your truck will not very likely start at less than 12.2 volts so maybe a 2A draw for a day will actually drain a battery?

Reserve Capacity - The Reserve Capacity (RC) rating specifies the time (in minutes) it takes for battery terminal voltage to fall below 10.5 volts, at a discharge rate of 25 amperes. RC is determined with the battery fully-charged at 26.7° C (80° F). This rating estimates how long the battery might last after a charging system failure, under minimum electrical load.

 

[Blind Dog]

Yes, I understand that the truck needs 12.2v or more to crank. Can't get my head around the maths of a 2A draw reducing a 13v fully charged battery to 12v after just a few hours though. A fault in the battery, or a software issue as you say perhaps.

Fix for now. Don't plug in the iPad

I'll think about a new battery once the CCA start slowing down.

 

[Toon12]

As stated above:
A point I should make here as well is that your truck will not very likely start at less than 12.2 volts so maybe a 2A draw for a day will actually drain a battery?

Reserve capacity of 140 minutes (2.3 Hrs.) at 25 amps is the same as 2.5 A at 23 hrs. and that drains the battery to 10.5 volts which is way to low to start an engine.
I would say, don't leave the iPad plugged in overnight even with a new battery.

 

[diymirage]

How bout this, my android (don't worry, this won't be rant, I promise) have charging setting, one of which will allow it to charge to 100%, and then stop charging

I'm essence, this means it may draw a charge for 90 minutes or so, and then stop charging and therefore, stop drawing

Any chance the iPad has similar options?

If it does, that might solve the issue

 

[crash68]

Any chance the iPad has similar options?

Depending on which generation iPad there maybe a setting for stopping the charge at 80%

 

[RamDiver]

Depending on which generation iPad there maybe a setting for stopping the charge at 80%

Android finally jumped on that bandwagon a few years ago.

IIRC, I've had my last 2 samsung stupid phones set to charge to 85% since that OS upgrade came out.



.

 

[Blind Dog]

Thanks for all the tips. Think I'll just stop being so damn lazy and plug the thing in/out when I get in/out of the truck