Battery problem

[Scooter911]

Hello. I've been following this forum for quite a while now as a guest, but I have a question that I could not find an answer for when I searched so here goes:

I have a 2003 H2. My 2 year old daughter loves to play in the truck and watch movies on her DVD player! Cheap babysitter!

Anyways, after she watches movies for around an hour the battery is dead and I need a boost to start.

I took the truck to a garage and the mechanic connected a battery tester to the battery and it checked out good (however, I always thought you had to remove the battery and the entire test took hours not minutes).

He also checked the alternator with the same tool and it read a charging voltage of just over 14 volts.

So my question is... is it possible the battery is dead or dying even though the battery tester gave it a thumbs up? Surely 60 minutes of watching movies can't be enough to kill a truck battery!

Once I get a boost the battery gets charged and I'm good to go - unless of course I allow my daughter to once again watch movies with the engine off.

Can anyone shed some light on this? I'm strongly thinking about going to the GM dealer on Tuesday and buy a new battery. I tried to price one at Canadian Tire (Yes, I'm Canadian and live in Kingston Ontario) - but they didn't have anything even close that would fit.

Thanks.

Scooter 911

[KingVinnie]

Are you watching DVDs without the truck running?

If so then yes, it is enough to drain the battery quickly. If its like normal systems you have to cut the key to ACC. Which powers up all the trucks ACC powered equipment. Then you have the TV going along with the stereo and Bose amps. I’d say an hour is about right to drain to the point of not being able to start.

[Dug]

Scooter, my 03 also has this problem. I have replaced the battery last year , but it still does it. It only needs the radio on for 30 minutes and my wife is calling for a jump start. I think i will buy a better battery ? doug

[blockrockin]

yeah i agree that it would drain the battery watching movies for an hour. i have amps and other electronics and i cant leave my audio video stuff on with out the truck running.. for even ten minutes or the battery would be dead, so i think that is pretty normal to be dead after an hour.

[Scooter911]

Thanks for the replies guys!

Yes, she was watching movies while the truck was not running, but the key was not in either. The DVD player runs off the acc plug in the rear - so the only thing powered up was the DVD player.

I just sold my 25' boat which had two marine deep cycle batteries and I was able to watch movies and run the fridge all night... I hate to think that just watching movies for an hour will kill my truck battery!

My wife and I sometimes go downtown and one of us stays in the truck with our two girls while the other runs into a store (saves us from dragging the kids around the mall) - so now I'm a bit worried to leave them in the truck watching movies because I'll come out to a dead battery.

I think I'm going to put an ammeter on the DVD player tomorrow to see what its drawing - I'll post my results tomorrow.

Scooter

[Mr_Pat]

My H3 has some sort of power drain going on. If I leave any thing pluged in for more then an hour or two it kills the bat. Or just when I go out and start it up in the morning it may not start some times. There is only supose to be a 70 mili-amp draw when the truck is turned off, mine is drawing 350 mili amps. I am taking it in on tuesday.

[KingVinnie]

My H3 has some sort of power drain going on. If I leave any thing pluged in for more then an hour or two it kills the bat. Or just when I go out and start it up in the morning it may not start some times. There is only supose to be a 70 mili-amp draw when the truck is turned off, mine is drawing 350 mili amps. I am taking it in on tuesday.

yea 350ma is way to much

[Scooter911]

Update:

I went out this morning and the truck BARELY started... so there is definitely something fishy going on.

I think rather than measuring the DVD player I'll pull a battery terminal off and measure the engine off current drain like Mr.Pat.

Scooter

[Tex_h2]

pick up a yellow -top battery, well worth the cost.

[KingVinnie]

pick up a yellow -top battery, well worth the cost.

second that... if your gonna replace it, Optima yellow top is the way to go

[Scooter911]

I think I may be limited in my choices of battery. Most stores here don't carry the type of battery the Hummer takes. The AC Delco battery has 880 Cold Cranking Amps - most after market batteries here are less then 700 CCA.

Canadian Tire has a 1000 CCA battery - but it's the wrong size.

I'm going to check with the dealer on Tuesday, as well as NAPA Auto Parts.

Scooter

[dna]

I've had my 03 H2 for about 2.5 years, and I've had battery problems almost from the start. I didn't even have to leave any accessories running - I would just find it dead about every 2-3 months on average - after a jump it would be fine again until another 2-3 months. I too had the battery and alt checked by GM (while still under warranty), and they said nothing was wrong - though they still put in a new battery for free (nice guys I guess). The new battery had the same problem after about 6 months.

I have a solution that works for me. I too live in Canada (Vancouver), and bought a battery guard from Canadain Tire (about $50) - it connects to your battery and monitoirs the batteries voltage - if/once it goes to a dangerous low level, it automatically disconnects the battery to prevent any further drain. Then when you return to the truck, you use a cordless remote to re-establish the connection, and you have enough power to start the truck - then as you drive the battery gets charged. This device is great too as a security measure not only does it always monitor the battery and disconnect when needed, it also has 2 settings on the remote which you can use if wanted - one is to purposely disconnect full power which prevents someone from stealing the vehicle or is great is you plan to park the truck for a week or so (like when at the airport; though all your clocks need to be reset once you reconnect) - or the 2nd setting on the remote provides only a very low voltage to the truck which keeps clocks, lights, auto locks, etc going but is not enough to crank the motor/starter - this feature too will prevent someone from stealing the truck while it keeps enough power for accessories.

I also find that even if shops tell you the battery is OK, a new battery every year is needed in my truck. I too tried to find a replacement at Canadian Tire, Lordco and other major outlets, but none had them (they all said I needed GM for $200). I bought one from Costco for $80 - it is 800 amps vs the 880 amps, but I have had no problems with it in the last 12 months (it also has a full 48 month 100% replacement warranty, so if it dies just go get a new one again). This battery is a little smaller length, but same height and width and fits perfect and tight with the stock clamp.

Go get the Costco battery and Canadian Tire battery guard - you will never need to jump your truck again, but can still let the kids watch the movies - the guard will kill the power once the battery gets low.

[Hucky]

http://www.thelapd.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=OPTIMA8014-021&Category_Code=lhting&Store_Code=H2

[blockrockin]

the battery gaurd sounds like a great product what model number do you have ? i would like to get one. thanks alote !

[Scooter911]

I just got in from doing some current measurements and the results point to the battery.

Current measured at the battery was 35mA with the DVD player plugged in but not playing a movie.

The DVD only draws 1A when playing a movie.

Also, just being outside fooling with the battery and DVD player for 10 mins was enough to kill the battery to the point where I needed a boost... so it MUST be the battery.

I'm putting money on the fact that there must be a short between the cells causing the 'working range' of the battery to be very very small.

I never did try costco, but I'll go there today and see if they stock a battery that will fit. I want to get this fixed before next week because I'm back in school and don't have time to buy and install batteries!!

Thanks again to everyone for all the help!! Priceless!

Scooter

[ParchedMosquito]

Car batteries are not designed to be cycled (deep discharged) like that. When the voltage in the battery falls to <10V that is considered a deep discharge. The electrodes inside will begin to deteriorate badly.

After a while, the battery performance (its ability to return back to its original voltage after being charged, and its ability to deliver its rated current) will deteriorate.

How many times has your daughter done this?


Maybe find a marine battery (those are designed to be cycled, deep discharged) and put it in your truck?

[Scooter911]

I just got back from Costco and purchased a 900 Cold Cranking Amp battery for $84 Cdn. ParchedMosquito, I was actually looking at a marine battery just like you suggested, but none of the marine batteries had the ability to be side mounted, and I just don't want to be bothered right now to replace the cables on the truck - so I went with just a normal automotive battery.

My daughter doesn't go in the truck to watch DVD's too much - and when she does I'll make sure from now on that its only for a short period of time.

I'll post again in a few days to let everyone know if my problems have been fixed!!

Ps - I've attached a picture of the culprit!!

Scooter

[tower]

How does she reach the pedals? :dancingbanana:

(Adorable kid!)

[Scooter911]

Her 4 month old sister is on the floor operating the pedals! lol

Oh yeah - I forgot to mention that the only issue I ran into was that the new Costco battery was around 2" shorter in length, and now the battery is able to slide side to side. I'm going to have to rig something up to hold it in place. It certainly can't go anywhere - but I don't like the idea that it can slide even a little bit to either side.

Scooter

[dna]

My Costco battery was also about 2" shorter in length and thus had the ability to slide. Though the stock battery has a clamp that tightens the battery to the battery holder - I just made sure it was tight and that prevents it from sliding.