ETpilot

I have one of these tachometer and it has a parasitic drain on the battery in the off position. On Saturday I installed a new battery. Yesterday I went to use it and the battery was dead. It had less than a volt in it. That didn't seem right so I installed a new battery and started taking periodic readings. Sure enough the battery voltage slowly went down. In the morning new battery voltage was 9.19. By 4 PM it had gone down to 6.29V with unit off. Today I tried a rechargeable battery. At 10:30AM it was 9.57V. By 12 noon it was down to 8.65V unit off. Anyone who has one of these have you encountered a similar thing? Or noticed you are using lots of batteries?

My tach is still in warranty but not sure if it is worth returning for service. I have to call Tower and see what they say. I am considering putting in a micro on/off switch to take the battery out of the circuit when not in use.

Any thoughts on this? Thanks.

acerc

Mine is the same way, noticed it on the first battery so started removing them when not in use.

ETpilot

Acerc thanks for the reply. I haven't used this tach much until Saturday. Giving it more thought last night I remembered the 3 memory holds. It may have something to do with the memory. I will do as you n take the battery out. I could add a switch later if I see the need.

Thanks again.

jetmech05

Is there a reason you don't install the tach after the switch in other words batt switch tach?

ETpilot

If I understand your question correctly, I think we may be talking the same thing. For now I will just remove the battery. Not sure how much use I will get from the tach. I can add a switch later. Thanks.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

I,ve never felt the need to remove the battery but rather make darn sure the thing is off. Yes its a pain and it would have been more to my liking without those memories.

The procedure assuming you have select your prop blades is: single push of the left button and it is on you can now use it like any other tach and to shut off as you lay it down is make four button pushes of the left button to shut off. not three but four button pushs for complete shut off. Its just too easy to just push it once and move on but that puts you in the one of the three memories and still on.

John

ETpilot

John good to know you are not having a battery problem. I am familiar how the unit works. All my testing was done with unit off and a blank screen. Plus the unit is supposed to automatically turn off after 5 minutes of non use. Compared to yours I believe mine has a problem. My thinking is the memory feature may be using lots of battery power when not in use. The unit calibrates perfectly.

I may call Tower next week and see what they say. Not sure if I should send it in or keep it as is. Thanks.

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

It very well may have some additional problem I dunno. I think I have had mine since they originally came out and what I do like about it is the pop up screen and have often used that feature when using this tach. Mostly for just the sport flying I do not use a tach but instead use the pinch method. I do use this tach when testing my pylon engines or testing propeller combinations but more often than not my go to tach when using one is an old Tower cheapie used as a promo in the past (I think ten bucks) just about fool proof.

John

JPMacG

My Feedback: (2)

My battery has been in for more than a year and still works. Something is wrong with yours. Take advantage of the warranty. The first one I got from tower was bad and they replaced it very promptly.

ETpilot

I am in agreement with you that something is wrong with this unit. I plan to call Tower this week. Thanks for the info.