Quote:
Originally Posted by driver11324
52MM Electric Greddy Gauges were pulling a full 12v when the car is off
The wiring is a constant 12v, ignition 12v, ground and light. Has anybody experienced anything like this with Greddy gauges or any other type of electric gauges?
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Everyone has experienced this. I don't know exactly how the GReddy gauges are designed, but in general, you provide a very very small amount of current to keep the memory cells from losing their data. And I mean a very small amount. It's smaller than what it takes to power an LED/LCD display.
Your ECU, clock, and radio (for station presets and settings) all draw power even if the ignition is off. Same thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by driver11324
Also, if the gauge has a constant 12v and an ignition 12v does that mean it has some sort of a relay built in? If so, can I wire up a relay before the gauges?
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Everything is supposed to be internal. You can wire in a relay, but what are you trying to do? Do you want to cut off power altogether when the ignition switch is off? What if the gauges lose all their settings?
The only constant power I have in my car is the radio, but I don't care if I lose my presets because I only listen to 2 stations (NPR and traffic).
One of the nice thing about my Racepak is that it uses non-volatile memory = don't need to supply constant 12V to keep its memory. I have no clock and no ECU so no need for constant 12V draw.
For your problem, I would check current draw from the gauges. They should not even be noticeable. Otherwise you need to get rid of them or you'll keep draining your battery, or just wire them to switched power and risk losing all your settings.