Infill G4 Battery Drainage

Tengoku · 05-28-2007, 07:58 PM

Id like to get a feel of how everyone powers off and on their G4 when they are daily using it.

Is it safe to keep the unit in "Stand By" mode overnight? will that drain the battery a signficant amount?

What about "Hibernation" mode? when should we be using these power saving modes?

What routine is a safe routine in terms of power management?

How long can I be running the G4 in the car without the alternator powering the battery before it starts to drain the battery enough to affect starting the car up?

I know most of these questions are subjective to the type of car and the type of battery, but Id like to get a feel of what people are doing

Deadeye · 05-29-2007, 07:25 AM

The G4 will come out of standby and shutdown if the car has been off for 48 hours OR the battery voltage gets too low.

That said, I had some issues with my car. I use hibernate now without any problems. I don’t get the 4 second start-up by it only takes about 25 secs

johnk · 05-29-2007, 08:09 AM

I use Standby and haven't had a battery problem in the last 2 weeks I've been using it, even letting the car be unused for more than 24 hours.

What issues did you have Deadeye?

Deadeye · 06-02-2007, 02:08 AM

second day i had it, I drove to work. and parked
when i came back to car the remote would not unlock the car. (new car)
I had to unlock the doors manualy. The car did still start however.

I think it was the car warning me that the battrey is low.

Hockeynut · 06-06-2007, 12:44 PM

I just received mine and a quick test showed 100ma current draw in stand by mode. This can take a battery down over the weekend and a small battery in a day. I will let you know the rest of the measurements when I test all operating conditions.

StreetDeckAce · 06-07-2007, 10:28 AM

If you look in the manual for the G4 on page 14 there are specific measurements of G4 power usage. We have tested the G4 using standby for 10 days on the smallest automotive battery wal-mart sells. There was no significant drainage.

god_of_cpu · 06-07-2007, 11:38 AM

The only way the G4 should drain your battery to the point where you couldn't start your car, assuming its hooked up correctly, is if there is something wrong with your battery.

If your battery is old or worn out, the G4 could drain it to a low, but startable level, but the battery could fail to retain its charge for much longer and then go dead. It shouldn't be possible to the G4 to completly "kill" your battery as it will stop drawing power as soon as low voltage is detected. Unlike what leaving the lights on in your car does which is it continues to draw power until the voltage is too low to power anything which is a much lower level then what the G4 will always stop drawing power at and not good for the life of your battery.

There are a number of things you can do to make sure that your battery can support standby without issue.

Get your battery tested. Pepboys or other auto parts stores will usually test your battery for free and let you know if it needs to be replaced.
Monitor the G4 closely for its abaility to remain on standby. If the G4 won't make it overnight on standby, its generally a bad sign that your battery needs replacing and if you wait too long before starting it again, you may need a jump.
Switch the default shutdown method to use hibernate which shouldn't draw any power.
Use the soft power switch in StreetDeck to shutdown and choose hibernate instead of standby when you are not at home, until you are sure of your battery