When I check for parasitic drain I use an old 90 degree bent screwdriver to close the bonnet catch with bonnet up and drivers door lock and door open to get to the fuses.

Mines also had this drain but I put a newer firmware on Columbus and it sorted it.

Then 3 months later changed the battery to a E44 Varta and recoded car with vcds to tell it it had a higher amp battery fitted.

All has been well over the very cold spell even with my dual camera dash cam fitted and running constantly over 5  days with no use.

Edited 27 February, 20188 yr by DEL80Y

6 minutes ago, DEL80Y said:

When I check for parasitic drain I use an old 90 degree bent screwdriver to close the bonnet catch with bonnet up and drivers door lock and door open to get to the fuses.

Mines also had this drain but I put a newer firmware on Columbus and it sorted it.

Then 3 months later changed the battery to a E44 Varta and recoded car with vcds to tell it it had a higher amp battery fitted.

All has been well over the very cold spell even with my dual camera dash cam fitted and running constantly over 5  days with no use.

 

How do you update the Columbus firmware? Any way to do it without a trip to the dealership? Got to be worth a go, as you say it seems a common problem.

 

 

I shall look tomorrow for what firmware it was When I get to my computer.

9 hours ago, snowathlete said:

 

Could do but if I do that and it turns out not to be the battery then the new battery'll have the same problem plus I'll be down the cost of the battery.

Although it's dark, I just checked and there's a similar draw on the battery to earlier today when I first tested. So it does seem likely there is something draining it, just can't figure out what. Didn't check the fuses again this time but they looked ok earlier. Don't think there is anything after market on the car not going through the fuse box, perhaps the towbar?

That's what happened to me, however I kept the old battery on a solar charger and as the new battery was four years old I have now refitted the original.

A point of note... It is possible that disconnecting the battery this time to swap it has reset something and the extra grounding cable has done nothing. Similarly updating the firmware on the Columbus may also have done this, as I said I thought the firmware fixed the problem but it started again weeks later.

There is one other thing that keeps coming to my mind, I have not set the clock to show when the Columbus is off this time, also I didn't after updating the firmware for a while but enabling the clock did not exactly co incide with the drain resuming.

May be worth trying that? 

I've taken out F8 fuse Radio to see if that stops the drain or not.

So I went to start the car with the Radio fuse (f8) out and the maxidot instrument panel wouldn't light up, and the engine wouldn't start. Put the fuse back in and all is fine. Makes me suspect that the fuse diagram in the manual is wrong. Can that be right?

Fuse 8 in the e-box?

Interior voltage supply (without start/stop system). Or...

Voltage stabiliser for start/stop system.

 

According to 2013 current flow diagrams.

35 minutes ago, Wino said:

Fuse 8 in the e-box?

Interior voltage supply (without start/stop system). Or...

Voltage stabiliser for start/stop system.

 

According to 2013 current flow diagrams.

 

Not sure what you mean by e-box? I'm talking about the fuse box in the engine bay, not the one at the end of the dashboard. Page 246/7 of the owner's manual. 

 

Is that the same fuse you're talking about? If it is then the diagram in the manual is obviously very wrong! In which does the flow diagram indicate which fuse is the radio? 

Edited 1 March, 20188 yr by snowathlete

That is the one I meant. At the gym now, will have a look later.

Just now, Wino said:

That is the one I meant. At the gym now, will have a look later.

 

Thanks Wino. I have a copy of the flow diagrams and can see what you mean now - though I don't fully understand the flow diagrams yet and how the fuses on there correspond. Does look like the owner manual is completely wrong though, which is really good to know!

Lines that finish in a rectangular box with a number in it continue at the current track corresponding to the number in the rectangle.  Current track numbers are the ones along the bottom of each diagram.  Once you get the hang of following those, it gets much easier.

 

Ctrl-F is useful for finding things within big pdfs if you know what they are called.

The voltage stabiliser powered by fuse SB8 is in the cabin, I seem to remember; and ensures a steady voltage to various things when the engine is off due to start/stop action. So it probably supplies not just the Radio, but a whole bunch of other stuff in the cabin, including - it seems - stuff necessary to start the engine.

21 minutes ago, Wino said:

Lines that finish in a rectangular box with a number in it continue at the current track corresponding to the number in the rectangle.  Current track numbers are the ones along the bottom of each diagram.  Once you get the hang of following those, it gets much easier.

 

Ctrl-F is useful for finding things within big pdfs if you know what they are called.

 

Ok, that makes some sense, thanks for explaining that.

34 minutes ago, Wino said:

The voltage stabiliser powered by fuse SB8 is in the cabin, I seem to remember; and ensures a steady voltage to various things when the engine is off due to start/stop action. So it probably supplies not just the Radio, but a whole bunch of other stuff in the cabin, including - it seems - stuff necessary to start the engine.

 

Looks like you're right except you mean the engine box, right? That's what the fuse list in the flow diagram document says on page 2547. Voltage Stabilizer for the start stop system. So that's what removed thinking it was the radio (as that's what the user manual said, but it's not the radio - I'm guessing the diagram in the user manual corresponds to an older version of the Skoda Superb, maybe pre-facelift?). Looks like the radio is fuse 48 in the dash: "Radio pre-installation - Aftermarket"

 

But incidentally, looking at the flow diagram - assuming I am reading it correctly - the radio (along with a bunch of other stuff) routes through the Voltage Stabilizer fuse circuit F8 as well as it's obviously protected by it under start stop conditions.  

 

Anyway, good news is I know which fuse is really the radio so I can properly test if the radio/Columbus/TV tuner is causing the drain on my battery. It doesn't look like the tv tuner has it's own fuse from what I can see.

Edited 1 March, 20188 yr by snowathlete

I meant the voltage stabiliser is in the cabin, not fuse SB8, see pdf page 2645.

Sounds like you're figuring things out nicely.

& the one thing that NO ONE has mentioned....

 

recoding using VCDS to tell the BCM what type & capacity of battery you have fitted as the current battery is not the same as the OEM one....

 

& as the car has stop start you must fit either AGM of EFB...NOTHING else...& I don't care if you turn off the S/s...the rest of the elect system inc the alternator is geared for s/s...

 

I did a big write up on this 3yrs ago on the mk7 golf forum here:-

 

http://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7926

 

Same applies to all VAG cars...just the newer ones (the past several years) don't require a BEM code as the BCM module has separate lines of code for type/size etc..

 

50 minutes ago, fabdavrav said:

 

& as the car has stop start you must fit either AGM of EFB...NOTHING else...& I don't care if you turn off the S/s...the rest of the elect system inc the alternator is geared for s/s...

 

I did a big write up on this 3yrs ago on the mk7 golf forum here:-

 

http://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7926

 

Same applies to all VAG cars...just the newer ones (the past several years) don't require a BEM code as the BCM module has separate lines of code for type/size etc..

 

 

I have tried to mention this a couple of times but I'm not sure the Original Poster wants to invest in another battery. 

 

On the facelift& Stop/Start the charging system is very different. In addition it's cold out there which isn't great for any battery but much worse for an unhappy one!

 

[EDIT] PS - Great Blog, actually I think your original battery is the same as mine!

Edited 1 March, 20188 yr by bigjohn

54 minutes ago, fabdavrav said:

& the one thing that NO ONE has mentioned....

 

recoding using VCDS to tell the BCM what type & capacity of battery you have fitted as the current battery is not the same as the OEM one....

 

& as the car has stop start you must fit either AGM of EFB...NOTHING else...& I don't care if you turn off the S/s...the rest of the elect system inc the alternator is geared for s/s...

 

I did a big write up on this 3yrs ago on the mk7 golf forum here:-

 

http://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7926

 

Same applies to all VAG cars...just the newer ones (the past several years) don't require a BEM code as the BCM module has separate lines of code for type/size etc..

 

 

I do agree with using an AGM or EFB battery, I'm sure I wouldn't have fitted a LA battery myself if I was changing it, it's just that the car came with it recently installed when we bought the car, and seems to have been running fine with it until now, which may be down to the battery, but then again it may not. Incidentally, we updated the BCM with the new data for the battery about a month ago as the previous owner failed to do so. It has crossed my mind that this may be the cause of my troubles as it is now getting charged differently to how it was previously (in hindsight we should probably have left it alone).

 

Regardless, I think we're pretty close now to diagnosing whether the battery is at fault or if there is a parasitic drain. we've just been hampered a bit by the snow. Depending on the outcome we'll either sort the drain or buy a new AGM or EFB.

Edited 1 March, 20188 yr by snowathlete

12 minutes ago, snowathlete said:

Depending on the outcome we'll either sort the drain or buy a new AGM or EFB.

 

Change the battery anyway whether you have a drain or not - it's the wrong one!

10 hours ago, snowathlete said:

 

I do agree with using an AGM or EFB battery, I'm sure I wouldn't have fitted a LA battery myself if I was changing it, it's just that the car came with it recently installed when we bought the car, and seems to have been running fine with it until now, which may be down to the battery, but then again it may not. Incidentally, we updated the BCM with the new data for the battery about a month ago as the previous owner failed to do so. It has crossed my mind that this may be the cause of my troubles as it is now getting charged differently to how it was previously (in hindsight we should probably have left it alone).

 

Regardless, I think we're pretty close now to diagnosing whether the battery is at fault or if there is a parasitic drain. we've just been hampered a bit by the snow. Depending on the outcome we'll either sort the drain or buy a new AGM or EFB.

 

Fit the correct type of battery first...then recode the BCM correctly....otherwise you are wasting time & sodding up the electrical system on a big expensive £27K+ (when new) car.....£300 for the correct battery is nothing...

 

WORD of WARNING:-

When recoding the BCM for the new battery alter the type & size, & make...BUT also change the serial number (by one digit) as it is suggested that the serial number coding line is the one that the BCM looks at to wipe the old learned charging values...as in most cases the factory battery will just be swapped for a new like for like..therefore the size & type etc stays the same....but the serial number changes...

 

These s/s systems & the cars with loads of BCMs have sensitive electronics & do not like the wrong batteries...or even the small size "minimum spec" batteries that VAG fit for cost cutting. The regen charging etc of the s/s system is still active even if you disable the s/s engine shut down, so you still need the correct type of battery eg EFB or AGM...AGM being the safest in a crash & the most durable...

It's not the battery. I disconnected it yesterday and left it in the cold for 24 hours and it's hardly lost any voltage. When connected it's losing loads. The real problem here is what is causing a parasitic drain and there's no point changing for an AGM unless I first stop that parasitic drain.

 

Now that I know which is the correct radio fuse (according to the flow diagram) I went to remove it to test if it is the Columbus unit/Tv tuner causing the drain as has been suggested as a frequent cause, but the fuse is not there is in spot SC48. As it's functioning I guess it must be running of a different fuse. Does anyone know for sure which fuse the Columbus unit is running of on a facelift model?

There are a whole bunch of diagrams near the middle of the pdf you're looking at, all of whose titles start with the words "radio-navigation system". There are about 8 different ones, not really sure how to tell which yours is, but probably one of the ones starting on pdf page numbers 1401, 1418, 1435 or 1452.

They all seem to show a fuse within (or maybe just close to?) the units themselves; designated S258, and either 10A or 20A 'depending on equipment'.

Maybe that's the one you need to locate?

Edit: Also, could J525 "Digital sound package control unit" and its associated fuse SB18 be relevant? e.g. on page 1456?

 

Edited 2 March, 20188 yr by Wino

1 hour ago, snowathlete said:

It's not the battery. I disconnected it yesterday and left it in the cold for 24 hours and it's hardly lost any voltage. When connected it's losing loads. The real problem here is what is causing a parasitic drain and there's no point changing for an AGM unless I first stop that parasitic drain.

 

Now that I know which is the correct radio fuse (according to the flow diagram) I went to remove it to test if it is the Columbus unit/Tv tuner causing the drain as has been suggested as a frequent cause, but the fuse is not there is in spot SC48. As it's functioning I guess it must be running of a different fuse. Does anyone know for sure which fuse the Columbus unit is running of on a facelift model?

 

Off the car, the battery can perform as it's designed to. In the car, it's being beaten up by an electrical system that's set up in a very different way to the systems it's designed to work with. As I always say in these situations, fix the problem you know you have first. Your car has the wrong type of battery installed and until you rectify that, all bets are off. The electrical systems in the Superb are fiendishly complicated and intertwined: a fault in one place can result in unexpected behaviour in a completely different part of the car.

4 hours ago, Wino said:

There are a whole bunch of diagrams near the middle of the pdf you're looking at, all of whose titles start with the words "radio-navigation system". There are about 8 different ones, not really sure how to tell which yours is, but probably one of the ones starting on pdf page numbers 1401, 1418, 1435 or 1452.

They all seem to show a fuse within (or maybe just close to?) the units themselves; designated S258, and either 10A or 20A 'depending on equipment'.

Maybe that's the one you need to locate?

Edit: Also, could J525 "Digital sound package control unit" and its associated fuse SB18 be relevant? e.g. on page 1456?

 

 

Thanks for that, big help.

 

My one isn't covered, strangely. My unit is the 7T6 model. But I imagine it's similar in having a inbuilt fuse, or a fuse where it plugs in. Either way I'm going to try disconnecting the whole unit probably seen as though that isn't hard to do.

 

My car has the "sound package" but not the "digital sound package" according to the cars specific info I downloaded, though I do have the ten speaker system so maybe I do have it after all, not sure about that.

23 hours ago, Wino said:

According to 2013 current flow diagrams.

where can I get a copy of this diagram and does it cover the 2102 models?