EOC at night.

[tbone]

I was just wondering if you guys EOC at night. I just wonder if it will wear out my battery faster having the lights on and EOC. I can still see just fine but the lights do get dim while I EOC. Thoughts?
Thanks

[taco]

i have xenon projectors from a boxter s.
so they will stay at the same brightness down till about 9 volts.
i have never seen my battery go under 11.5 volts, even with the radio wide open, m 250watt amp, 10 sub, and all lights.

longest eoc is about 3miles.

[MetroMPG]

Any time you draw energy from a lead acid battery and then recharge it, you shorten its life compared to a battery that is always supported by an alternator. This is especially true for conventional starting batteries which aren't really designed for anything other than shallow discharge/recharge cycles (eg. starting the car).

How much you shorten its life with the engine off depends on how long you drain it down, and under what size of load.

[wagonman76]

The lights dim because they are running off battery voltage instead of alternator voltage (which has to be higher than battery voltage to keep the battery charged). I would think that sub-freezing start every morning for 5 months out of the year would be much worse on your battery than leaving your lights on for the short EOC period. My batteries still last 4 years in this climate.

[Ryland]

just make sure your voltage doesn't drop below 80% charge, do a search on this web site and you should be able to find the charge for % of charge.

[trikkonceptz]

I EOC at night with no ill effect other than my dash lights blinking on restart. I notice my headlights flicker, but they do not dim ...

[whokilledthejams]

Originally Posted by trikkonceptz

I EOC at night with no ill effect other than my dash lights blinking on restart. I notice my headlights flicker, but they do not dim ...

I get the same effect in my xB. I never get to EOC for more than about 3/4 of a mile a stretch, though, so I haven't run into any problems.

[Ryland]

If I remember correctly head lights are 55 to 65 watts each, ecu is around 60 watts, another 60 watts of misc bulbs comes to 250 watts or 20.8 amps drawing of what in the case of my civic is a 45amp hour battery that is designed to power the starter that is nearly 120 amps for up to 10 seconds (large draws are harder on the battery then smaller loads) and my longest engine off coast was exactly 2 miles lasting nearly 3 minutes, 3 minutes with a 20 amp load on my battery is not something I would worry about unless I was to stop and park my car at the end, every single time.

[dcb]

In my case, I use deep cycle batteries ($50 marine style), and my stick shift cars are small enough to bump start with one hand should it get too low, so no real concerns here.

I used to worry about it when I had an automatic though.