Parasitic battery drain related to Alpine Audio unit?

[Neal & Mary Priestley]

We have an Alpine Mobile Multimedia Station (IVA-W203) installed in our 2009 BFT. Aside from the fact that the Alpine unit has been an absolute nightmare from the very beginning, I now suspect that it is responsible for a severe current draw from the chassis battery when the BF is in storage. And yes, the audio unit is always verified as "off" each time we park.

Earlier this year we discoved the original 10 month old chassis battery was essentially flat when we checked it prior to starting the BF. Not ruined, but close. I then took to disconnecting the neg battery lead each time we went into storage.

But when you do that, Sirius radio disippears from the source screen, and cannot be restored using the reset button ------ the dashboard must be opened up, the Alpine unit removed, the sat radio module unplugged, then everything reassembled again.

I recently replaced the bad chassis battery with an Optima Yellow Top and left the battery connected for a 3 day test of current drop. sure enough, the 12.77 V at battery install had dropped to 12.22V 3 days later.

Has anyone else had a similiar problem, whether or not you have the Alpine audio unit? If so, have you located the cause?

After more than $700 additional expense trying to get the Alpine thing to operate as advertised I'm about to pull it out and reinstall the OEM radio. Any reason I shouldn't do that?

[John S.]

What would happen if you disconnected the battery. WHen I used to store my unit offsite I did that to prevent drains on the battery banks.

[Hawkeye111]

Neal and Mary,

I read with interest your post on the Alpine unit. I am sorry you are having difficulty, and wish not to profit from it, but I would like to engage in a discussion with you via email about your experience. We have been thinking about having such a unit installed in our BFT and now wonder about the wisdom of doing so. Would you be kind enough to email me if you wish to share with us?

Would deeply appreciate your doing so. Jay and Shirley Clark

ClarkJay@mns.com

[jobrien]

Related to this topic, but maybe unrelated.....

The chassis battery in my '06 would go dead after sitting for a few days. I had it to a Ford dealer, and they blamed it on the rear speakers Born Free installed. Not believable, so I disconnected the speakers. Also spoke to Kim and he said it is a known Ford problem and they had brand new chassis on the lot that had a draw from the radio.

Back to Ford I went, and this time they replaced the radio and said that should fix the problem. That didn't quite work either. So I decided to call Ford road service every time the battery went dead, even in my own driveway. I could easily jump start it, but maybe when Ford got all the road service bills, something would be done. On my third trip back to the dealer, I gave them a copy of a "lemon law" claim letter I had already written, and all I had to do was add my third experience to it. This time, they found a short in the instrument cluster, replaced it and replaced the battery. It has worked fine ever since, even when sitting for a month.

So, I guess my motto is if you are still under warranty I would not replace the factory radio. I'm sure Ford could deny all radio/dash warranty work after that.

John

[Hawkeye111]

Neil and Mary,
In my previous post asking for email contact if you wish, I erred in posting my email address. It is:

ClarkJay@msn.com

[John S.]

I had the same issue on my BFT but this 24 foot 06 chassis 07 model year has been ok. I think that it is a Ford issue and my service guy fixed it and indicated it was a short too.

[Neal & Mary Priestley]

Thanks for chiming in, folks. I think y'all may be right. At Kim Olson's suggestion I pulled the radio fuses this morning and reconnected the battery ----- and could almost watch battery voltage decline in the meter.

'Course I've still got the radio problem, but I suspect the two are not related.

Thanks for your interest and help! Much appreciated.

[Hawkeye111]

Neal and Mary,

It was very kind of you to respond in detail about your experience with Alpine. Based on your response and other inputs I have recieived (plus talking to a very non-responsive customer person at Alpine), I have decided to forego a backup camera (I almost never pull anything), install the Ford XM radio solution in my satellite ready Ford supplied dash unit, and buy a Garmin portable GPS unit to set on the dashbaord.

Again you were very kind to share with all of us---this is what this forum is about--sharing experiences.

Thanks from both of us,

Jay and Shirley Clark