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Can one of these drain your car's battery?

A

AnyHuman

Guest
It appears someone around my house left a weak FM transmitter on in a vehicle. I believe it's something similar to one of these devices.
Bluetooth FM transmitter for vehicle from Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-FM..._1_4?keywords=IMDEN+C57&qid=1576833142&sr=8-4

Can it drain the battery of their vehicle if left on overnight? I've been hearing something on 87.9 these past couple days, with a blank FM signal and occasionally heard "Waiting to pair" coming on the air. I feel bad for whoever it is if their battery runs out because the transmitter's left on. A family member has one of these devices and the transmitter turns off when the car's off for her.
 
Related: It's kinda fun when you're parked next to someone at for example a grocery store, and they have the same situation with the un-paired transmitter left on. I was able to "borrow" more than 1 transmitter until one of us drove away, LOL.
 
I often hear transmitters in other cars coming in and wiping out SiriusXM (which I use 88.3 for with an FM modulator) in my car. Sometimes it's other SiriusXM radios, other times BlueTooth and similar devices. Back to the original topic: In my previous car, I would frequently leave the satellite radio on overnight -- it's a separate radio in a cradle, not part of in-dash radio -- with no noticeable effect on the battery. My current car won't let me do that; turning off the engine turns off the SXM receiver.
 
Depends on what vehicle you own. On some of them the power to the 12v. "cigarette lighter" connection cuts off
when you remove the key. In some others it remains on. If yours is one of the latter, then yes, I suppose this is possible.
 
FreddyE1977 said:
Depends on what vehicle you own. On some of them the power to the 12v. "cigarette lighter" connection cuts off
when you remove the key. In some others it remains on. If yours is one of the latter, then yes, I suppose this is possible.
Click to expand...

On the last 2 Fords I had the 12V socket stayed on at all times and keeping something plugged in can definitely cause drain on the battery. The more recent vehicles I've owned (Dodges and Hyundais) all had sockets that turned off when the key was out.

When I used an MP3 transmitter in my car I could pick up other satellite radios or MP3 transmitters that were on the same frequency passing on the road or in parking lots and I assume my transmitter probably overrode someone else's at times. In my home town of Dyersburg, TN I used to pull a joke at times on listeners (If there were any) to the BBN translator (an ultra-traditional Christian station that VChimp loves) on 88.3 where I would set my transmitter on the same frequency playing Christian rock. :rolleyes:
 
FreddyE1977 said:
Depends on what vehicle you own. On some of them the power to the 12v. "cigarette lighter" connection cuts off
when you remove the key. In some others it remains on. If yours is one of the latter, then yes, I suppose this is possible.
Click to expand...

The car on which it remained on was a Saturn. The current car is a VW. As I said, I left the radio on several times either overnight or for nine hours while at work with no battery drainage. I suppose if I were doing so day after day, night after night, at some point I'd be looking at a dead battery. Still, it's not the energy pig that the car's lights are. I left them on in the company parking lot one gray, drizzly afternoon and found myself calling AAA that night.
 
Here is my take on it: As a person who has driven old cars (more specifically, old police cars with low-end radios that need a FM transmitter), if you have the type of car where the power point/ciggie lighter stays on all the time (most American brands), if your battery is in decent health, it shouldn't cause your battery to discharge overnight. I used to drive Volvos, where the 12v ports shut off when the key is removed. Clearly, that is not a problem.

As a general rule, I'd shut off the FM transmitter or unplug it if your car has "always on" 12v power. That being said, unless the battery is old or the transmitter is left on for days, 8-10 hours of being left on should not be a problem for the battery. I'd put the discharge of 8-10 hours at less than if you left your headlights on for 30-60 minutes or so.
 
I suppose it could, but not if the car was started every day. It's a pretty low drain device. Leaving it on in a car w/o starting it for several days might drain enough to prevent it from cranking the starter.
 
My car has a red light on the dashboard that comes on when I shut the engine off. I was told it was some form of "theft deterrent." I imagine it's a drain, but it hasn't caused a problem yet.
 
Whatever the case may be, the signal hasn't been around in a few days so perhaps it just was someone visiting a relative before Christmas near me.
 
TheBigA said:
My car has a red light on the dashboard that comes on when I shut the engine off. I was told it was some form of "theft deterrent." I imagine it's a drain, but it hasn't caused a problem yet.
Click to expand...

Probably no more of a drain than the red LED on my driver-side door that blinks constantly when the car is locked and the engine off. Never been sure exactly what service or deterrent that's supposed to provide.
 
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