Battry Constantly Dying Because of Wiring?

*forgive me for spelling "Battery" incorrectly in the title."

Hey guys,

I have an issue I can't seem to find a resolution for. Tried Google, spoke to other Tacoma/Truck owners, mechanics, etc.

I've got a 2018 Tacoma with 2x Cali Raised LED 30" light bars, a pair of Baja Design Squadron Sport ditch lights, and the Anytime Backup Camera w/front-facing camera. I have all of this hooked up to a fuse block that's ran to a circuit breaker that's ran to my battery (positive on positive terminal and negative to the body inside the engine bay). I saw this design and idea on Tacoma World. I followed the users' instructions step by step. It was working perfectly for me for an entire year.

December of 2020, my battery started to die. Started with jumping my car once a week, to later dying immediately every time I turn the car off. At first, I didn't think anything of it. I thought it was because it was winter time and the fact that I don't drive around as much due to COVID and that my car hasn't been used to just sitting there not being driven. After the batter started to die immediately after turning the car off, I got annoyed and took it to the dealership.

It was under warranty still, so I got a new battery in December of 2020. I thought I was good. Until February 2021 - my car started to die on me again. Only this time I was actually using it a lot more often than before. So I took it back to the dealership and told them this battery died. I thought it was a defective battery... Until I got it replaced again and in March of 2021 my car again continued to die.

This 3rd time when I took it to the dealership again. They told me that when the car was off, there was a major draw of power coming from all my lights and camera. I forgot the number, but they told me the parts were still pulling major amounts of power; draining my battery. What's weird is in the year I've had this setup, it has NEVER given me an issue. But all of a sudden, I've received 2 new batteries from the dealership within the span of 3 months.

I currently have my set up in my car, but I cut the power to my lights and camera through the circuit breaker. I've got a friend that runs the same setup on this Tacoma and hasn't experienced this issue. I also have other friends that run the same setups on their trucks (non Toyotas) and they have no issues. I've never even heard of this when I was doing all my research when first buying these lights and looking into this setup - this is all new to me. Does anyone know what it could be? Fuses, relays, anything? I'm by no means an expert with electrical components so I could really use the help.

Below are my parts:

30in Single Light Bar - https://caliraisedled.com/collections/slim-single-row-bars/products/32-slim-single-row-bar
30in Dual Light Bar - https://caliraisedled.com/collections/dual-rows-bars/products/32-dual-row-5d-optic-osram-led-bar
Ditch Lights - https://www.bajadesigns.com/products/squadron-sport-pair-driving-combo-led.asp
Anytime Backup Camera- https://www.anytimebackupcamera.com...-front-camera-full-kit?variant=32653634175054

Fuse Block -

$24 Blue Sea Systems 5025 ST Blade Fuse Block 6 Circuit with Ground and Cover

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000THQ0CQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8
Circuit Breaker -

$39 Blue Sea Systems 7187 285-Series Circuit Breaker, Surface Mount, 100A

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051P01BW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8

 

Either do a parasitic draw test. Or unplug one at a time and see which it is. I'd start w the anytime backup camera.

 

Parasitic draw. Lots of good youtube videos.

Find an amp meter (lots of mid grade multimeters have this function) and remove the wiring between the battery and your fuse block. Place leads between points. read amp reading and remove fuses until you see a significant drop. Investigate further.

 

I had a similar issue and it turned out to be my any time camera. It’s plugged into a fuse that should not have power unless the truck is on but for whatever reason it was still drawing power when off. After letting the truck sit for awhile touch the camera to see if it’s warm. If it’s warm you have the same issue as I did.

 

Disconnect all of your added accessory wiring. Check current draw. Should be less than 50 mA. Allow about 5 minutes for all modules to go into sleep mode. Start reinstalling each circuit, one at a time, until you find the offending wire. Once you've isolated the circuit you can much more easily troubleshoot it.
Good luck.

 

Put a relay between battery and that fuse box so the fuse box you installed only gets power when key is on.

 

This sounds like parasitic draw, but your statement about the battery dying immediately after turning the vehicle off is interesting to me. If it is parasitic draw, it would take some time until the battery is dead. The only way the battery will die immediately is a bad battery, or bad alternator.

Did the dealership do a a current, and rectifier test on the alternator?

 

I'm thinking the same thing. This sounds like a dead or dying alternator to me. If it was a massive draw all the time, you'd be killing batteries faster.