Timed relay: anyone cutting battery power permanently on shutdown with an Opus?

azzurro · 04-22-2006, 07:32 PM

Hi all,

A couple of points / observations:

1. Opus will not cut PC power on occassion, after the turn-off period. For example, if Windows never loads, the power supply will not turn off unless you physically unplug it from the battery, or not realize that it doesn't shut down and find your battery dead.

2. USB standby power can be a problem if it stays on. It has been killing my battery.

My motherboard will not cut USB power, and short of the other mods, I had another idea... one that would deal with both problems listed above.

Is anyone using a timed relay to completely kill battery power to their Opus? (I am not talking about the remote line. This will go low when you turn the car off.) I know people do this with inverters, but it's a different application.

Basically what I am thinking is using a timed relay to disconnect battery power completely after the remote line has gone low for, say, one minute. This will give the Opus time to shut down normally, and, if it does not for whatever reason, I can walk away from my car without checking to see if the computer actually shut off in the event that Opus decided to not cut power.

This also serves the benefit of completely removing all USB power, as well as any of the (minimal) standby power that is drawn regardless.

Are there any issues with this approach? Will I experience any problems with removing all standby power on every shutdown?

I was thinking that it might take longer (how much longer?) to get a GPS lock, although I'm not sure. Any other problems?

Thanks all.

If this works as I think it would, it will make me very happy. I've been having battery problems lately, and haven't had time to do any of the USB standby power mods, but I think that this can kill two birds with one stone, plus I don't need to unmount my computer (VERY long process!) and can wire it up quickly and easily.

mushin · 04-23-2006, 11:53 AM

Search, search, search. Many people have discussed and done exactly what you're proposing.

azzurro · 04-23-2006, 12:10 PM

I have searched.

I see a lot of discussion of doing something similar (without the timer) as a reset switch. I did see one other post of someone mentioning that they were going to do this.

But in any case, no feedback about how this works or if it caused any problems.

The wiring is simple, I just want to know if there might be any problems or if anyone that is actually doing this (i.e. completely cutting all power every shutdown) could provide some feedback.

Legarcondemerde · 04-23-2006, 12:32 PM

I haven't done any research, but I've thought about doing that too. DEI actually makes a pulse timer relay (I think it's part number 728T) that has an adjustable 0-90 second delay that I believe would work well for this. There are other solutions, I'm sure, but for around $20 this is cheap and easy. Let me know if you end up doing this, and how it works for you.

azzurro · 04-23-2006, 12:48 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Legarcondemerde

I haven't done any research, but I've thought about doing that too. DEI actually makes a pulse timer relay (I think it's part number 728T) that has an adjustable 0-90 second delay that I believe would work well for this. There are other solutions, I'm sure, but for around $20 this is cheap and easy. Let me know if you end up doing this, and how it works for you.

Yeah, it's the DEI 528T. They are available for cheap and can handle up to 15A (not that we need that much!).

I've been unplugging the power cable to the Opus manually for the past little while because my battery is shot. No ill effects. I don't have my GPS up and running yet though, so I wasn't sure if I'd have issues locking in a timely manner or perhaps any other things to worry about.

checksum · 04-24-2006, 04:16 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by azzurro

Yeah, it's the DEI 528T. They are available for cheap and can handle up to 15A (not that we need that much!).

I've been unplugging the power cable to the Opus manually for the past little while because my battery is shot. No ill effects. I don't have my GPS up and running yet though, so I wasn't sure if I'd have issues locking in a timely manner or perhaps any other things to worry about.

So I guess you are going to place it inline with the battery power to kill the power to the PC after 0-90s, that means no more putting the computer on STAND BY mode, right?

This is how I understand it:
If you turn on the car, the relay closes and powers your PS, when you turn off your car, it will wait a max of 90s and then the relay opens killing the power. Is this how you plan on using it?
Because if it's the case, I am also planning of getting one to be used on my speaker set up.

Also if you do not mind, could you post the diagram

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