Truck Battery Life

[Hawklore]

How long would it take, something that uses 12v of power constantly to drain a truck battery of a Ford Ranger.

[Wolfala]

Depends how many amp hours it is rated to.

[Golfer]

just unplug your radar detector when you get home and plug it back in when you leave.

I dangle the cord in the steering wheel so I don't forget it.

[nirvana]

Depends, do you drive long, fast drives, or stop n go?  As wolfala said, the amp hours matter too.

[eagl]

It depends on the device.  Plug in a portable heater, electric cooled icechest, or leave the headlights on, and it could drain in less than an hour.  Plug in your cellphone and it could last weeks.  A small,weak, old, or cheap battery will last a shorter amount of time.

Need more details or the question can't be answered.

[Maverick]

Murphy's answer. About as long as it takes you to really really need to use the vehicle.

[Hawklore]

Well what I did is purchased a fan that plugs in the 12v power plug.

It would be used over night in the bed of the truck as  I slept in it to keep me and my dog and my equipment dry from the rain at a reenactment.

No idea what it's rated as, guess I'll have to find out..

Thanks.

[Golfer]

Get a tent.  I picked one up at gander mountain last year for under $100.  It literally takes 30 seconds to set up and about 2 minutes to fold up and put back in the box.  I've had good luck with their Guide Series line of whatever it is I've bought.

A tent, air mattress and a sleeping bag turns camping into almost staying in a hotel.

[Masherbrum]

Originally posted by Hawklore
How long would it take, something that uses 12v of power constantly to drain a truck battery of a Ford Ranger.

Buy an Optima yellow top.  Even if you drain it, it recharges with no loss.

[eagl]

Hawk,

Just test it beforehand while at home or somwhere you can monitor the battery or recharge it (or get a jump start) if you kill the battery.  Just realize if you drain the battery too low, it may lose some overall capacity.

[JTs]

i run 3 batteries in the kw. group 31 1050 amps cold crank.and they last about 2-3 years with 106 led clearance lights.  just put a second battery in and the kit to change which battery the power is being drawn from.

[nirvana]

Golfer had a good idea Hawk, but they also have battery powered fans now, use like 2 AA batteries or something, just bring along a package and you should be set, if i recall they put out a pretty good stream of air and weren't all that expensive.  Somewhere like Wal Mart, Target, Or Linens n Things would have them.  

Otherwise you might be able to buy one of those big energizer batteries they use for flashlights and try that.

And you could go even more expensive, buy a portable jump starter, just in case.

[culero]

Hell, just carry a spare charged battery. If you can't borrow one, you can buy 'em for $40 or so.

culero (its what I do in the boat)