First Show - Battery drain?

[blueshark66]

Newbie question (recent owner and totally new to the whole car thing)...

I'm taking my D to my first car show Saturday morning - just a local cars and coffee gathering. I looking forward to going to many others throughout the summer. It seems that most people display their D's with the doors open for obvious reasons. So here's the question: Is there any danger of draining the battery from the doors being open for an extended period of time (a couple of hours)? I imagine the door lights don't draw a lot of power but it would be embarrassing to go to start it and not be able to. I have a Wings-A-Loft system with the battery cut-off switch, but I have not had time to install it yet.

Any recommendations, or am I overthinking things?

Chris

[RamblinDMC]

You can un-plug the door light switches to disable them. Or if you have LEDs you don't have to worry too much about drawing excess power.

[DaraSue]

Are your lights original or LED? IIRC the original incandescent bulbs could cause drains when left on all day but the new LEDs are lower-draw and don't normally cause issues. If you can buy or borrow a portable jump-starter it probably wouldn't hurt just to have a little extra insurance.

[Rich]

So here's the question: Is there any danger of draining the battery from the doors being open for an extended period of time (a couple of hours)? I imagine the door lights don't draw a lot of power....

It's a good question.

No, you are not running much of a risk unless the battery is questionable. If you have LEDs in the doors then it's almost no risk.

As a new owner you should get the battery load-tested soon in any case so you know you can count on it. It's cheap peace of mind, along with a few other unrelated checks around the car. Ideally the previous owner's records tell you the battery is a young one.

[blueshark66]

Thanks, everyone. I just put in a new battery and the door lights are LEDs so I should be in good shape. I appreciate the help!