Will 436/536 drain car battery if left on for a few hours?

[wise871]

I'm on vacation in Orlando and I'm running trunk discovery. I want to leave my scanner running for about 10 hours so I can record audio and new ID's while at the parks. Will doing this kill my battery? I wanted to keep the 436 running from the hotel but that's not a good option.

 

[UPMan]

Car battery should be just fine. If you want to minimize current draw, kill the backlight and turn down the volume.

 

[wise871]

Thanks UPMan. This will allow me to log more TG during operation hours.

 

[SCPD]

solar charger

Thanks UPMan. This will allow me to log more TG during operation hours.

Another nice thing would be to get a Solar powered charger for your car battery,I have one from an ex car dealer that plugs into my diagnostic port of my car.This way the battery doesnt go dead.

 

[UPMan]

Just another point of reference: The AA batteries in the 436 last 6 hours or more. So, the incremental drain on a car battery would be pretty slight.

 

[JamesO]

I recall measuring the current draw on the 536HP and I do not have my notes handy, but I recall the units current draw was less than 200 mA, somewhere in the 160-180 mA range as I recall?

 

[scottyhetzel]

You can always buy a jump box and stuff it in the trunk, that way you don't have to bite your nails off. I like the solar idea. Buy a nice one and you can use it at airports too.