[FlyPenFly]

Just for my own curiosity, I had the battery checked recently and its in good condition but if I wanted to play some music without the car wasting gas, how long would it be safe to leave the radio/cd player on?

 

[kaltorak]

Battery

If I am not mistaken, I believe the vehicle will shut the stero down after a certain amount of time to conserve the battery.

 

[JMarkert]

Yes, I agree with Kaltorak. Mine shuts down after 1 hour. I've had it on for hours at a time while doing repairs etc. I would say with a decent battery and warm weather you're unlikely to run the battery down. My dad would always insist that I was gonna wreck the battery this way, but so far I never have.

Here's one hint though. The black panel button works even without the car running. Since the bulbs that light up the SID are kind of big, you can hit the button to turn them off and save even more electrons.

 

[PMI]

Make sure the engine and lights are off, key out of the ignition... the radio will run for hours, but the headlights can drain the battery in less than one... (most people know this, but since I have proven it beyond the shadow of a doubt, I just thought I would throw it in...:cheesy: )

 

[JMarkert]

I somehow killed my battery with the dome light one cold winter day when I was working on mine. I think I had the door open on and off for a few hours though.

 

[earthworm]

One hour

p 37

This will not hurt the battery unless it is o'er 3 years old in the winter and due for replacement anyway.
A musical load-test of a sorts..

 

[hughm]

here is one for you. My battery went so dead while my vert was in having the soft top mechanism repaired that when i got the car back i couldn't even operate the central locking. I opened the car by remote tried to start it twice to no avail. After that it wouldn't even lock the doors. I had to manually close the driver's lock from the inside and turn the key in the passenger door to lock it. When i returned with a new battery as jump starting only lasted a day, i couldn't open the car at all. The key wouldn't even open the doors. I guess the door mechanism althought mechanical does require some electrical input. I had to break into my own car to change the battery.

the worrying thing is that i am not in the slightest way mechanical or auto DIY in nature but i got my vert open with coat hanger in less than 2 minutes with no damage what so ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Marquis de Saab]

I have another amp (apart from stock one in front) in the trunk and my stereo still works through tape adapter (tape soaks battery), but I never had problems with battery when leaving audio ON for an hour or so. No auto turn off in my case, sometimes it was hour and half of constant playing... you know - open air, barbicue, music BTW, battery is 3 years old VARTA with 55A.