How Long Does it Take for the Tekonsha Prodigy P3 Trailer Brake Controller to Drain a Battery

Published 08/23/2018

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NOCO Genius Smart Battery Charger - AC to DC - 6V/12V - 5 Amp

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Question:

If you completely disconnected power to the Tekonsha Prodigy P3 Trailer Brake Controller part # 90195 then you would indeed lose all of your settings. The controller does go into a sleep mode after around 15 minutes of inactivity but there will still be a few milliamps of power being draw from the vehicle's battery. This could then potentially drain the vehicle's battery after a few months but since the charging system on your 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 features a two battery bank, it might last the whole 6 months but the only other option you have is to use a battery charger like the NOCO Genius Battery Charger and Maintainer part # 329-GENM1 which may not be a bad idea anyway if you will be leaving the truck sit for 6 months. I have attached a review video for you as well.

asked by: Terry

Helpful Expert Reply:

If you completely disconnected power to the Tekonsha Prodigy P3 Trailer Brake Controller part # 90195 then you would indeed lose all of your settings. The controller does go into a sleep mode after around 15 minutes of inactivity but there will still be a few milliamps of power being draw from the vehicle's battery. This could then potentially drain the vehicle's battery after a few months but since the charging system on your 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 features a two battery bank, it might last the whole 6 months but the only other option you have is to use a battery charger like the NOCO Genius Battery Charger and Maintainer part # 329-GENIUS5 which may not be a bad idea anyway if you will be leaving the truck sit for 6 months.

I have attached a review video for you as well.

expert reply by: Conner L

Terry

8/23/2018

Conner L.

8/23/2018

The Tekonsha Prodigy P3 Trailer Brake Controller should power back up if the key fob is activated or the door is opened. Therefore, if you let the controller sit for more than 15 minutes without the trailer connected and come up to the window and peak in to see that the controller is still powered on then this would indeed indicate a fault in the controller. Most of the time people will hit the unlock button on the key fob or open the doors which powers the controller on so when they go to check they just think it has been on the whole time which is not the case.