Mag Charger draining car battery?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Hello everybody.

I recently installed a Mag charger in my car. Unfortunately I today discovered that the car battery was (almost) drained and I had to charge it to start the car. I would imagine that the flashlight was the culprit and thought I´d check if someone has any experience with this. What is the best configuration for installing these lights, should you wire it for constant charge or just for charging with the ignition turned on, does it draw enough current to discharge the car battery even when the flashlight is fully charged, does ignition-only charge suffice for keeping it charged?
I guess it comes down to how much/little I use the car/flashlight in the end, however any ideas on installation/wiring are welcome.

 

[dano]

Hello,
The Magcharger draws about 500-600MAH while the battery in te light is charging. This would not drain a car battery in short amount of time.

Some things that may have happened:
--Your car battery may be old, or the terminal ends are really corroded.
--How did you wire the charger into the car? I used to have the positive of the charger wired to the fuse box.
--Maybe it's just a coincidence?

--dan

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Well the light is in the trunk, so I took the power from the only constant source I could find, the electric antenna.
5-600 mAh should drain a car battery in what, 25-30 hours, right? Does the consumption decrease as the light gets fully charged or is it constant? Looks like I´ll have to buy a voltmeter or something. Thank s for your input.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

A normal car battery=60Ah. If it draws half an Amp it should last 120 hours, not 20-30...
Ah well, nevermind.

 

[BKO]

It depends on your requirement.
I've got one wired-up in a motorhome..tied in with the ignition/battery-on circuit..If you require constant charge(I.e.500-600Ma) And use the light regularly(and the vehicle!)
You shouldn't have any probs,As the vehicles charging circuit- Should handle it.
From your post, I see youve got It hooked up to a "Hot bus'(always on)..could cause
problems on a weak battery/charging circuit.
Bill.