D180 keep alive consumption

[echo_sierra]

Hello,

I am planning to get a D180 but a friend of mine told me that the "keep alive" electrical consumption is enormous and would empty the back up battery in a week or so!!!...
Do you have any informations about this?...

Thanks a lot

 

[dynonsupport]

First of all, the use of keep alive is completely optional. It does not need to be connected for the D180 to work. The only thing it does is keep the clock correct, but we now sync to GPS time, and if you have an internal battery, the battery will keep the time.

We did have a bug with the keep alive on the D180 a while ago, but it is now fixed. The keep alive can still draw a lot of power though- if you hook it up and put a totally dead internal battery, it draws about 1/2 amp for a full day, which can really drain a small aircraft battery. This is only when you have a dead internal battery though, which really shouldn't happen.

Basically, if you have an internal battery, we don't recommend hooking up keep alive, and the product will work fine.

 

[echo_sierra]

My friend told me he had to start the engine at least once in a week or the battery gets too low and he has to reinitialize his D180 completly... If i understand your message it is more a problem with his unit than a problem with the D180...
I thought the "keep alive" connection was used to keep all the parameters in memory so you have to plug it...

Thanks for your help

PS: sorry for my english but i am doing my best

 

[dynonsupport]

The only thing the keep alive circuit is for is the clock. No other settings are lost when the D180 looses power. You do not have to use keep alive if you do not want to.

Please make sure your friend has the latest firmware in his D180. It should not kill his battery in a week.