I have an Alpine stereo system that came with my 90 Westy automatic when I
got it this past April.  I went through a month of battery problems until I
finally got to speak to the previous owner.  (His mechanic's adult son
handled the sale.)  The previous owner immediately  called my attention to
the stereo kill-switch under the dashboard just to the right of my knee.
I've been using it instead of the stereo's power knob, and have had no
problems since.

The stereo is connected to the main battery, not the aux.  It works when the
ignition is turned off, but when the stereo is turned off there are no
bright lights.  With the kill switch turned off, the stereo still retains
the time and the stations in its memory.  I'm very pleased with the unit,
but there's a gigantic woofer under the rear seat, and I'd like to look into
removing it and getting that space back, hopefully with minimal loss of
sound quality.  I'm not car stereo savvy, so I'll probably take it to a
shop.

Patti
**************************************

On Nov 9, 2007 12:17 PM, mike <mwmiller@cwnet.com> wrote:

> My Sony drains my battery as well. I disconnect the head unit and that
> stops
> the drain but it's a crummy design all around. Bad buttons, too much
> current
> drain when off, and the radio's not very good either.
>
> Mike
>
>
> On 11/9/07 11:19 AM, "Don Hanson" <dhanson@GORGE.NET> wrote:
>
> > A few days ago, I was looking for help diagnosing the reason my Aux
> battery
> > was going down in a few days.  Well, I never actually 'diagnosed ' the
> > reason by testing with my multi-meter, but I did fix the problem in my
> own
> > dummy-way.
> >   By trial and error, I isolated the current drain to the Sony stereo.
>  It's
> > bugged me anyhow, since I installed it a few months back, that the head
> unit
> > always stays lit up quite brightly (since I have it wire into the Aux.
> > battery without any connection to the ignition or the vehicle battery
> for
> > camping reasons..)  Others responded to my query saying they, too, had
> > encountered battery power drain from this type of install.
> >
> >   So I stuck a toggle switch into the power supply wires, put it next to
> the
> > steering column under the dash, and no more low coach battery..No bright
> > light from the dash when we are trying to sleep, either...
> >
> >   Thanks, everyone who offered advice.
> >   Don Hanson
>