Running the car stereo with engine off? MY15 TDV6

[simplydisco]

Hi,

Whilst at the beach the other day I was trying to run the car stereo whilst we were parked up. There seems to be an annoying auto shut off after 10 minutes or so. It can't be by passed with the ignition on either.

Does anyone know of a way to override this so you can play the stereo for extended periods?

[Tombie]

It's to protect the battery...
There's a lot of draw from a modern car stereo...

[Tombie]

You'll have to just keep turning it back on...

[digger]

Just out of interest I should like to point out that the Defender stereo
as fitted to Bear is automatically set to run for 1 hr at the push of the
button. :) :P Maybe you should upgrade to a Defender stereo?

(PS:- remember that the first 2 minutes with a defender radio is very average radio reception as the valves in the radio warm up :) )

[drivesafe]

:welcome:

Hi simplydisco and welcome to the forum.

Honestly, you are far better off not running the entertainment system with the motor off.

As Tombie posted, your disco's sound system draws heaps of power and it will very quickly discharge your battery to a low state.

If the Battery gets too low, you will find the volume will be reduced as a means of trying to conserve battery capacity.

[Melbourne Park]

I ran the radio in my wife's RX350 Lexus while I prepared to see a client ... for about 5 minutes. The battery went flat ... I couldn't start her car. I ended up getting a yellow top for her car ... Toyota (errhh Lexus) then informed me that you must not run the accessory switch for more than a couple of minutes, because the drain from the computers is huge.

At least with the D4, you can run just the sound system, without all the computers draining. But only for 10 minutes ... it may not be very good for the battery too...

And the D4 will also switch off if the battery is getting low, and it provides a battery warning in its display. I have a Traxide system, but although the Traxide setup protects the 2nd (auxiliary) battery so that it can restart the motor, the D4 is not aware of the 2nd battery which is controlled by the Traxide setup.

MY advice is to buy a battery powered bluetooth device that runs sound from your phone. Bose make a beauty, but they cost $400 odd dollars. They last for 10 hours though ... there's a smaller Bose unit that's around $200 I think ... they sound great and with something close behind them, their base is fantastic IMO.

[NTB]

Hello simplydisco,

Unsure if things are different in the newer models but this is what I have found.
When we have been to a DriveIn Movie I let the Disco go to sleep first. I then just press the ON/OFF Button for the Stereo only and it stays ON for about 60 minutes. Nothing else appears to powerup. After the 60 minutes the Stereo turns OFF and we just quickly press the ON/OFF Button again.

We have a MY11 SDV6 SE with the Standard Stereo incase that makes a difference.

[BMKal]

Just out of interest I should like to point out that the Defender stereo
as fitted to Bear is automatically set to run for 1 hr at the push of the
button. :) :P Maybe you should upgrade to a Defender stereo?

(PS:- remember that the first 2 minutes with a defender radio is very average radio reception as the valves in the radio warm up :) )

And that's AFTER you have run the dipole aerial out between a couple of nearby trees and plugged it in. :p:p:p

[cjc_td5]

Hello simplydisco,

Unsure if things are different in the newer models but this is what I have found.
When we have been to a DriveIn Movie I let the Disco go to sleep first. I then just press the ON/OFF Button for the Stereo only and it stays ON for about 60 minutes. Nothing else appears to powerup. After the 60 minutes the Stereo turns OFF and we just quickly press the ON/OFF Button again.

We have a MY11 SDV6 SE with the Standard Stereo incase that makes a difference.

Do you have the std stereo with the small screen?
I am pretty sure that the MY15 only comes with the mid-level stereo now with the larger touch screen. My MY14 with mid-level stereo certainly operates as described above, with only about 10 minutes of operation before it will try to turn itself off, irrespective of where the vehicle is "asleep" or not.

To simplydisco, if you are using the stereo when parked to play MP3s or similar from your phone, maybe an option is go and get a bluetooth speaker for $30-50 and use it directly from the phone when parked up.

Cheers,
Chris

[manic]

Good job drive in movies are no longer popular.

If you have a dual battery system it might be all right to run the stereo for more than 10 minutes? Shame they didn't opt for a low voltage cut out instead of a 10 min timer.

What is huge, how many amps does the stereo actually draw at a modest listening volume. Has any one put the multimeter on it?

[NTB]

Hello Chris (cjc_td5),

Yes I do have the Standard Stereo with the small screen.

[Eevo]

What is huge, how many amps does the stereo actually draw at a modest listening volume. Has any one put the multimeter on it?
on my silvia, 3/4 volume draws about 50 amps

[Tombie]

Good job drive in movies are no longer popular.

If you have a dual battery system it might be all right to run the stereo for more than 10 minutes? Shame they didn't opt for a low voltage cut out instead of a 10 min timer.

What is huge, how many amps does the stereo actually draw at a modest listening volume. Has any one put the multimeter on it?


You could roughly work it out.... Just dont forget its...

Amplifier + Screen + bluetooth + Antenna Amplifier + Head Unit (receiver) consumption...

[Tombie]

Also, keep in mind vehicles are designed within the parameters of the laws/ADRs..

Its an offence under the RTA to have a vehicle unlocked and unmanned.
Windows down and unmanned is also an offence.

So really, if you are with the vehicle, you can quickly press the power button. ;)

[manic]

on my silvia, 3/4 volume draws about 50 amps

50 AMPS :o <- surprised. I hope your multimeter was faulty or your amplifiers are beast.

I have a homemade boombox that runs off a car battery via Anderson or crocodile clips. 350W two chan amp driving two 6x9s and a 750W 15" active subwoofer. At a good outdoor listening volume and amongst all the musical peaks and troughs it averages around 5 amps.

I have a 4 channel sound system, 400w amp, bluetooth headunit and can run that for hours with the engine off. At my last camp site (no neighbours around :cool: ), I had it running loud enough to reach the camp fire from 5pm to 11pm and the fridge was on all night and still running cold in the morning. I'm interested to get the multimeter on it now.

If you have a D4 with 11 speakers driven by a 340watt amplifier, how much does it actually draw when parked up listening to talk radio. I'm betting no where near 50 amps! Unless the onboard computer gets up to all sorts and the screen is backlit by a halogen bulb.

There must be a hack to get rid of or extend that timeout... who's the D4 tech genius?

[drivesafe]

There must be a hack to get rid of or extend that timeout... who's the D4 tech genius?

Unfortunately, not a good idea because your entertainment system will flatten your battery in a very short time.

[manic]

Unfortunately, not a good idea because your entertainment system will flatten your battery in a very short time.

Even with a dual battery set up? Must be sucking huge amps

[Eevo]

50 AMPS :o <- surprised. I hope your multimeter was faulty or your amplifiers are beast.



cant listen to 3/4 while in the car. need to be about 10m back.

[LandyAndy]

The entertainment system runs the vehicles secondary can bus system,perhaps thats why there is a cut-off.If the battery is low,it wont let you use the entertainment system or interior lighting without the engine running.
Andrew

[Tombie]

cant listen to 3/4 while in the car. need to be about 10m back.


I'm guessing you don't have an amp under 1000w rms [emoji41]

My last street/track car was of similar ilk.