[BasicElement]

Leaving the tailgate open for an extended amount of
time will drain the battery.

I don't understand??? If the tailgate light is off, how in the world does the battery drain from the tent?

 

[Lorrie420]

Camped for 2 days with the tent on and tailgate open . Manually turned rear cargo light off and had no problem with my battery . Guess it's probably a CYA on their part .

 

[BasicElement]

I just talked with American Honda's Customer Relations and they agree it is a CYA for those that leave the light on.

Kinda what I figured. I've camped multiple times with the tailgate open and the light off with no problems.

One reason that I have the back power socket always on is because I plug in a small solar panel while camping to keep a trickle charge on the battery. They are available on eBay.

 

[chiefsilverback]

One reason that I have the back power socket always on

Is it always on as standard, or is it something you have to set?

 

[BasicElement]

It is factory wired to be on only when the key is ON. Search around the forum. There is a post that shows you how to rewire the solenoid.

 

[BasicElement]

Here are the directions.

 

[chiefsilverback]

Here are the directions.

Many thanks, I think I'll definitely be doing that...

 

[JEllis]

Doors open - sides too - battery drain

I just talked with American Honda's Customer Relations and they agree it is a CYA for those that leave the light on.

Kinda what I figured. I've camped multiple times with the tailgate open and the light off with no problems.

One reason that I have the back power socket always on is because I plug in a small solar panel while camping to keep a trickle charge on the battery. They are available on eBay.

BasicElement - can you tell me more about the Solar powered trickle charger? That keeps the battery topped off while doing this?

My daughter just got a new 2010 Element Ex.
Not 24 hours later while packing a Storage pod for her cross country move, we had a dead battery. We had side doors as well as the rear hatch open for over 3 hours. Turned off all dome lights, but part of the time may have had the "accessory" key position on.

According to Honda service at the dealer there are onboard computers that won't go into sleep mode with doors open - telling you that you have an open door (duh!) and then draining the battery. I asked him to look into it and what he got from Honda was that "Leaving the doors open for an "Extended amount of time" will drain the battery." Not very specific. No mention of the rear being any different from the sides.

As she also got the tent we are now concerned that she can't have the rear hatch & gate open with the tent or for just tailgating. The service guy was not sure, but thought that it was the same for the rear hatch & gate as for the side doors?

Do any of you know for sure? Any way to get around this? Seems pretty short sighted or poor design to have a tent that hooks to the back, but not be able to leave the hatch open. I can understand it on the sides.

 

[ramblerdan]

Both front and rear dome lights have an off switch.

 

[JEllis]

Both front and rear dome lights have an off switch.

Yup. Did that.

Honda says that just the fact that the door is open is enough to run down the battery. If this is so, it sucks.

 

[hiker chick]

Yup. Did that.

Honda says that just the fact that the door is open is enough to run down the battery. If this is so, it sucks.

I must have one heckuva a battery -- my hatch & tailgate are open all day long when we camp, which we do a lot.

 

[Ridgeback Mobile]

I must have a magic battery too. Tailgate is almost always open when I'm camped and I've never run down the battery. Ecamper has wonderful reading lights - which I used for hours every night without affecting the battery. Key is not in the ignition and interior lights in the E are switched to the Off position.

 

[MiloBramble]

Yup. Did that.

Honda says that just the fact that the door is open is enough to run down the battery. If this is so, it sucks.

The last time I camped I kept my rear hatch open for 3 1/2 days with the dome lights switched off and my battery was fine. Just FYI.:taz:

 

[dizzyjuice]

I gotta say it sucks to have an asterix honda E--my batttery--new--has drained more than once when the back tailgate is slightly open--what is the deal , Honda? why do some of us suffer the gremlins while others gloat in glory? I'm thinking about a toyota, just
sayin...

 

[desinia]

Agree with you on the Toyota. Honda likes to toot their horn on engineering but Toyota makes fifty of anything Honda does one of. They get a LOT of field testing to work out the kinks. Honda also likes to have one purpose-built system controlling everything while Toyota uses modular designs with separate functions for each part. It sure makes life easier when you have a problem or want to do a mod.

Don't forget that the computer doesn't go to sleep until the doors are all shut. It's not a LOT of power usage but it's enough to run the Element's teeny tiny battery down in a few days.