Phantom / Vampire Drain Solution Works! Using 12v Battery Tender

[mudito]

What I'd love to see is a "energy sipper mode"

The only thing similar to that is shipping mode. It really reduces the drain, I forgot my numbers but (they are posted on a thread about VD here) but I think it was like 2 or 3% in 10 days when I left home for a trip.

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[MacO512]

The only thing similar to that is shipping mode. It really reduces the drain, I forgot my numbers but (they are posted on a thread about VD here) but I think it was like 2 or 3% in 10 days when I left home for a trip.

Yeah thanks I remember reading someone having shipping mode work well. I think there was something done to leave hood proped open to access 12v so I'm not sure what needs to be done if parked in an area you want the vehicle locked.

 

[mudito]

Yeah thanks I remember reading someone having shipping mode work well. I think there was something done to leave hood proped open to access 12v so I'm not sure what needs to be done if parked in an area you want the vehicle locked.

I just left my car in my garage, enable shipping mode and left home. No other settings or anything set/done.

 

[HyperionMark]

Battery tender running at around 10 kWh's per month where vampire drain would have cost me 40-80 during the same time period.

 

[Aag12]

Does charging by obd work for any ice car? Wanted to use this for my ice vehicle when traveling...

 

[SSteveEV]

Does charging by obd work for any ice car? Wanted to use this for my ice vehicle when traveling...

Yes, you should be fine

 

[SSteveEV]

Yeah I just don't know it's possible for a mode that disables some items, I suspect the computer needs to be on or off and that causes the drain. To turn it off I believe they already have shipping mode. If anything they should just improve that mode so it uses as few watts as possible and advanced users could just use that.

Possibly a part of the issue is there is no physical key. So they can't ever shut off the sensors for locking or it somewhat "bricks" the vehicle. Maybe they don't have any low powered computer to run those sensors.

You're right that the computer has to turn on to charge the 12v, what I'm looking for is mode that says "hey, my bad I forgot to turn my HVAC off when I parked. Please don't heat the cabin while topping up the 12v" etc, with selectable energy draining options. So the computer would still boot everything, but you'd have as much disabled as possible until next time in drive.

 

[Aardvark]

Excellent result...thank you for the update. I am getting very good results with my 2 amp Noco Genius 2, but haven't had a chance to test it over a long, multi-day period. I'm happy with my short term results so far.

By the way, thank you for spelling out "vampire drain." When I see folks complaining about their "VD" problem, I keep thinking they should be on WebMD.com, not the Rivian forum.

So I finally had a chance for a long term test. Here are the parameters and results:
1. Vehicle: Gen 1, large batt R1S. Car in garage with gear guard off, HVAC off, and NOT in shipping mode. Temps were between 70 and 80 deg F. Did not wake up car via the app during the test.
2. NOCO Genius 2, 2 amp battery charger + desulfator. Connected to the battery through the OBDII port through a NOCO OBD adapter.
3. Results: Time period was 8 days + 21 hrs (213 hrs total). HV battery SOC went from 65 % to 63%. That works out to an average of 0.0094% loss per hour, or average of 0.23% loss every 24 hours.

I'm quite happy with these results.

 

[MacO512]

So I finally had a chance for a long term test. Here are the parameters and results:
1. Vehicle: Gen 1, large batt R1S. Car in garage with gear guard off, HVAC off, and NOT in shipping mode. Temps were between 70 and 80 deg F. Did not wake up car via the app during the test.
2. NOCO Genius 2, 2 amp battery charger + desulfator. Connected to the battery through the OBDII port through a NOCO OBD adapter.
3. Results: Time period was 8 days + 21 hrs (213 hrs total). HV battery SOC went from 65 % to 63%. That works out to an average of 0.0094% loss per hour, or average of 0.23% loss every 24 hours.

I'm quite happy with these results.

I see you had sep2023 delivery - so do you have single 12v battery?

 

[MacO512]

Does charging by obd work for any ice car? Wanted to use this for my ice vehicle when traveling...

I'd suspect it would - can't think of any reason it won't. Also ICE cars have almost no vampire drain so even a 1amp tender should work.

 

[Aardvark]

I see you had sep2023 delivery - so do you have single 12v battery?

Yes. This is a single-battery vehicle.

 

[chops]

anyone notice a crazy amount of drain ever since the latest update 2025.46? mine seems to wakeup every 1-2hrs again, even with the tender going all the time

 

[mudito]

anyone notice a crazy amount of drain ever since the latest update 2025.46? mine seems to wakeup every 1-2hrs again, even with the tender going all the time

Definitely OK around here

 

[chops]

argh, i wonder if my 12V is nearing death again. had it replaced via warranty about 14mo ago and had a 12V warning message a few times over the last few months, but service said it was just a random blip

 

[Budman]

anyone notice a crazy amount of drain ever since the latest update 2025.46? mine seems to wakeup every 1-2hrs again, even with the tender going all the time

I did have issues with the truck not sleeping and loosing large amounts of energy while parked (5 kWh in 1 hour). Only happened after .46 update. Turns out some bluetooth sensors were never functioning properly and with .46 it started causing issues. The service center reprogrammed the sensors and all is well now. They also gave me a new 12V!

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