I want to listen to my iPod but...

[Simonwpb]

I am afraid to drain my battery with the engine off!

Anyone else scared to drain the battery when sitting in your car?

In the good old days you rolled down your window and had no problem running your stereo off a 12V battery. Now with bluetooth, handsfree phone, 8" nav screen capable of playing a DVD movie, satellite radio, 17 speakers, and gosh knows what else going on electronically who knows how long your battery will last?

I for one would pay $100 for a lithium rechargeable battery accessory for just such occasions... why don't car makers offer a slot for a secondary battery for electronics when the engine is off?

 

[BigElm]

Not to sound like a jerk but you have to seriously do some research. Batteries have come a long way and even then, if you're soooooo concerned, then by all means get a higher powered battery.

 

[Poopsicle]

I think an Ipod can run on a car battery for a month of continous play. But this is impossible because when the Ipod is done with the song list, it goes into standby mode.

 

[Simonwpb]

Not to sound like a jerk but you have to seriously do some research. Batteries have come a long way and even then, if you're soooooo concerned, then by all means get a higher powered battery.

Besides the fact this is the first car I own that pops up with a warning message "do not run the multimedia system without the engine running" my lack of confidence with car batteries is founded in the fact that I have had to replace 5 batteries on 5 different vehicles in the last 2 years. Three were warranty, and the Infiniti would have been too but it was less hassle for me to drive to the stinking dealer and get the part than have the car towed from my garage. So use your standard battery with caution.

/EDIT/ I totally forgot I also had to replace my 2-year old battery in my back-up house generator last month. It has a 3.9L V6 engine and self-tests 15 minutes once a week. Today's 12V batteries are POS that don't hold up is my point.

 

[Sal Collaziano]

It's not just the iPod itself he's worried about.. As mentioned, there's a powerful amplifier running along with other things that run simultaneously...

 

[enjoyingsilence]

Also not to mention that there is a built in time limit in the vehicle, that shuts the car off to prevent this.. when the time limit is reached

e.g. when the alternator is not running... AKA accessory mode... the car's computer is aware. and will monitor the charge level, and turn off the car completely, when power is low. That way you can have enough power to restart and let the alternator run. Most push button start cars do this... even some non push button start cars, for example, all ford focus' have done this; Mini Coopers have done this, etc etc.

 

[musher51]

Yo, ES, thanks for the encouraging words. I'm inclined to be optimistic, and it's a relief to hear that it's likely that Genesis firmware will shut 'er down before one can take a battery charge beyond "startability"...

 

[enjoyingsilence]

Yes... it's very likely..

I could be wrong.. but I think it's smart enough to know.

 

[jcs]

It appears the power to the iPod is shut off when the car power is off. The problem is that it does not shut off the iPod itself and the iPod keeps on playing with no external power - to the point of the battery on the iPod running out. This is no problem as long as you keep the iPod in the car as the external power is restored as soon as you turn the car on. The only issue is that when you take the iPod out of the car and attempt to use it elsewhere, the battery is dead.

Is this how it works for others?