[GeoffB]

This has stopped happening for me. I also have a dashcam installed now with a parking option that I leave on for days and no battery alarm. Very strange.

It is possible, I guess, that you have a dash cam with a rechargeable battery specifically for use with the parking option. I think (but haven't checked for sure) that is what I have when the dealer fitted a dash cam for me before I took delivery. having a battery means of course that the dash cam doesn't have to be wired into an always live circuit to use the parking option. That being so I assume that it would have little or no effect on the irritating low battery alarm issue. Just a thought. If you have it wired to an always live circuit then I agree that it is very odd that it doesn't set off the over sensitive alarm.

 

[GeoffB]

By way of update with my CX-30, I have not experienced the low battery alarm for some time now which may be because I keep my fobs in a faraday pouch and have yet to give the car an extensive clean inside and out which will involve opening doors and tailgate whilst engine is not running. If the alarm reappears when I do that I will report back.

 

[GeoffB]

G'day again,

Now 9 days since software patch done.
Used cruise control yesterday and had low batt alarm again this morning; I didn't turn cruise control off when I parked up the car yesterday.

Went to dealer to report above and was told that there may be other circuitry involved with cruise control that stays awake and thus draws current so, it seems that the cruise control should be turned off when not using the car.
The dealer also informed me that they believe this problem is still being investigated because it is evident worldwide.

If a dealer is telling you that you need to turn the cruise control off when not using the car then that is rather worrying. It’s also something of a farce. It would be the first (and last) car I’ve had where I have to consciously follow some turning off routine when I leave my car. I hope this isn’t a case of too much technology being a bad thing! Personally, apart from erratic front parking sensors that may need some dealer attention at some point, so far so good with my GT Sport.

 

[GeoffB]

G'day GeoffB,

To clarify, the dealer didn't tell me to turn the cruise control off, they only said that "there may be other circuitry involved with cruise control that stays awake and thus draws current". From this comment I deduced that the wise thing to do would be to turn the cruise control off when parking the vehicle up for a period of time (for example overnight or in excess of 8 hours - my suggestion, not the dealers). I think it also significant that the dealer indicated that it seems to be a problem that is still being investigated which leads me to believe there may be another software patch/update coming.

I connected a DC clamp meter around all the leads running from the negative terminal of the battery and turned the engine off without turning off the cruise control and again with the cruise control turned off.

In both instances the current dropped to about 400mA for less than a minute then to zero with a pulse of about 50mA every 3 to 5 seconds. This would be an insignificant current draw for a battery charged to 80% of full charge.

I was half expecting that the transmitter of the radar portion of the MRCC would still be drawing current as is the practice with most other solid state transmitting devices to maximise transmitter efficiency, this appears to not be the case.

HOWEVER, I was told that the sense level to trigger the alarm is 12.5v.

A wet lead acid battery will be at 80% state of charge (SOC) if the terminal voltage of a battery at rest (no load) is 12.5v. If there is some load on the battery the terminal voltage at 80% SOC will be 12.31v.

I don't know what SOC Mazda aims for the battery under normal circumstances but most manufacturers aim for 80% because to get more than this requires a much longer charging time due to the tangential charging algorithm.

In summary, I believe that the sense level for the battery alarm should be set to a resting voltage of 12.24v (12.03v under some load). This equates to a SOC of 60% which also equates to the compromise discharge point for battery longetivity.

I hope the technical team at Mazda are reading this and are working to fix it or divulge another possible cause of the problem.

I think this saga continues.

PS: I also note that if you open a door (driver's) before turning off the ignition, a message is displayed.ayed that says the ignition is not turned off - so, have to ensure that I turn ignition (motor) off before opening door.

I hope all above isn't boring everyone to ....

Cheers, .. Dino

Dino, thanks for the comprehensive reply. I obviously misunderstood you to some extent

 

[GeoffB]

This warning popped up on my car with alarming (excuse pun) regularity when I first got the car three months ago then, after a week or so, it disappeared. It returned again yesterday when I had been doing something in the car (with the engine off) for a few minutes with the door open but has since gone again after a drive. I assume that the interior lights coming on plus maybe some other circuitry being woken up caused this. In principle I have no problem with a warning that tells me my battery may go flat if I continue doing something but I do think it is way too sensitive at the moment and needs a reprogram through a software change.

 

[GeoffB]

What puzzles me is that it's the first time I get this warning after a month of ownership and about 1100 km. Why didn't it went off before? It's not like I did anything unusual that day, I only unlocked the driver door and opened it. Lights go off automatically when I turn off engine and get out of the vehicule, doors were locked, windows were closed. I don't get it. I'll see if it gets triggered again today.

As I understand it (and others may correct me on this), the warning system counts around 30 cumulative minutes before triggering. These minutes can cover any number of occasions that you connect with the car (so if your fob is nearby for example it would count). This means that, in practice, it could set the warning off if you did no more than connect with the car via the fob and/or say opened doors or the tailgate a few times enough to add up to the 30 minutes before it would be reset via you running the engine for a minimum of 5 minutes or so when it would start its count again. As I say, the principle is sound but the implementation leaves something to be desired and it needs tweaking If you keep your fob nearby that may be contributing to the problem. I now keep both my fobs in faraday pouches when not in use so there is no chance they can communicate with the car. Doing that has the added advantage of being good for security given the methods around for stealing keyless entry vehicles

 

[GeoffB]

Hopefully, Mazda is aware of the existence of this forum, and of this thread?

I would be surprised if Mazda doesn't monitor owner forums to some degree but I imagine their level of keenness and priority with this issue will depend on the wider picture and whether there are sufficient complaints beyond and including those here. We can only hope that they take steps relatively soon to sort this out. They might be encouraged to do so as something to include in the next facelift that is planned and then open it up as a dealer driven software update at service times for pre-existing owners. We can but live in hope

 

[GeoffB]

Where does it say you must drive 100km? I've never had that alert yet but I don't see anything in there about a certain distance to drive. And if you are driving with enough rpm for the alternator to put max charge into the battery I suspect 15-20km is more than enough.

Mazda really does need to fix this. I have no problem with a warning that my battery charge is low but the current setting is way too sensitive in my view and needs adjustment, hopefully via a software update. Mind you, my dealership is so useless I am surprised that they can recognise one end of a car from the other!

 

[GeoffB]

No matter its purpose it is a "nanny" alarm and damned annoying and mazda needs to get rid of it....in 99% of cases it serves no purpose other than to annoy the owner.

Personally, I don't mind it in principle but I do think it needs to be less sensitive and/or included in the customised settings so it can be enabled/disabled by the owner. If the latter then it would no longer be viewed by many as an irritating 'nanny' alarm because the ultimate decision to use or not would rest with the owner of the car.