Telematics Testing Procedure for Battery Drain

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Although it may be possible for a device’s power draw to exacerbate existing battery conditions (an old battery or other after-market products causing draw), the device alone should not be the root cause of battery draw issues.

IMPORTANT NOTE

After a maximum of 10 minutes Ignition Off and vehicle locked, fully updated devices typically see a quiescent current range of 5-7mA draw, known as sleep/standby current.

If you’re unsure if the device is drawing abnormally high amounts of power, the following steps will assist testing for any current drain. Please ensure the device has been reporting properly prior to draw test. Is there a battery drain on the vehicle? Is yes, follow the sequence of steps outlined below:

Recommended Product Triage Steps:

1. Confirm if the vehicle has a Telematics Device installed and connected correctly. With Ignition ‘OFF’ ensuring all connectors are firmly together and as outlined in installation instructions.

2. Start Vehicle and observe the LED ‘Flash Sequence’: Red, Yellow, Orange, Green. All LED’s should go solid, the GSM and GPS may take 1 minute (if the vehicle is under cover or no line of site, LEDs’ may not go solid).

All testing should be completed when the vehicle is in the ignition off state.
Note, the vehicle battery voltage should be below 12.7 before proceeding.

3. With initial test complete, the Device should now be in Low Power mode which can take up to 10 minutes indicated by the RED LED blinking every 5 seconds, confirming power is available (all other LEDs remain off).

Test Preparation:

4. Remove the negative battery cable from its post, set your Digital Multi-Meter (DMM) to ‘10A’ DC Amperage, and connect the DMM to complete the circuit (in series).

Connecting the DMM in series will complete the circuit giving the vehicle power.
Note: The DMM should be in a suitable location where visible. (WARNING: Do not attempt to start the vehicle while the battery earth is disconnected)

5. Close all doors, lock the vehicle and wait 20 minutes for the vehicle’s electrical system to shut down and stabilize.

6. Confirm the Device is still in Low Power mode and asleep, indicated by the RED LED blinking every 5 seconds confirming power is available (all other LEDs remain off).

IMPORTANT NOTE

Note. Failure to wait the full 20 minutes may result in a false reading, as various modules within the vehicle (DMC, ECM, ECU, ABS, etc.) will be “awake” and offset the test results.

The Test Procedure:

7. Record the amperage on your DMM (Reading #1).

8. Unlock vehicle and disconnect the device from power by either removing the EOBD Red Connector, or unplugging the 10-pin Molex harness connector at the Device.

9. Repeat steps 5 outlined above.

10. Record the amperage on your DMM (Reading #2)

a) Subtract Reading #2 from Reading #1 to obtain the number of milliamps the Device is drawing. Is the drain present in Reading #1 and/or Reading #2?

If the drain is not present in reading #1 when the device is connected, telematics is not the cause.
If the drain is present in both readings, telematics is not the cause.
We expect the difference between both reading to ~10mA subject to DMM resolution.

Test complete, 1. Reconnect the Device, 2. Remove DMM and 3. Reconnect battery earth.

If you have any questions, please contact Airmax Helpdesk for Engineering Support.

Conversions SI Guide (Amps to Milliamps)

0.1A = 100mA
0.01A = 10mA
0.001A = 1mA