Sponsored

So is there a real issue with the Tazer Mini?

Jondrew

Well-Known Member
First Name
Bob
Joined
Dec 3, 2018
Threads
33
Messages
873
Reaction score
951
Location
Central Fl
Vehicle(s)
2018 Rubicon
Watching the threads about battery issues with the Tazer Mini. While I appreciate all the reports the posters are putting out, is there in fact a widespread issue where Tazer owners are seeing dead batteries at an unusual rate? Does this just apply to the minis or are there problems with the old 2-piece units?

A Tazer mini was definitely on my list, but now I’m in a holding pattern.
Sponsored

 

WranglerMan

Well-Known Member
First Name
Will
Joined
May 8, 2018
Threads
100
Messages
3,384
Reaction score
2,693
Location
Katy Texas
Vehicle(s)
2018 Wrangler JLU Sahara
Occupation
Gas Pipeliner
Vehicle Showcase
1
We all can guess and say yes Tazer causes issues or no it does not and we can also say the two piece one does or the mini does and the other does not but it’s all a guess.

Yes there are several here that have had battery issues including me while running the Tazer but I can tell that no one here including me has done enough scientific testing that points to the Tazer,, it quite possibly could just be bad batteries, a conflict between the Tazer and the 8.4 Uconnect system, a possible combination of settings, live settings versus vehicle settings where the Tazer does not have to stay plugged in..

These are all guesses and no one honestly knows but if a problem is out there I’m sure @joe@zauto when found will address these, currently I’m running my original Tazer with 11.06 but have only changed 3 vehicle settings and then removed it so I seriously doubt it will pull down my battery, with 11.06 there’s really not that many live settings that I can use, heck even looking at 11.07 I don’t see much I could take advantage of except disable ESS, winch mode and autopark, things like light shows and dark mode might have appealed to me when I was younger but not so much now, I could and would like to have had turncam but I had issues with it and the Uconnect system playing nice together and now apparently with 11.07 you have to have the 8.4

So with all my rambling and even me posting my unscientific battery testing results for the last several weeks I am not even close to being an expert but I do know in the short time of doing my tests my daily voltage checks did not vary a huge amount and my JL performed just as designed as far as ESS working correctly when I allowed it to and my daily EVIC displayed voltages stayed in the 13 range and never went to 14+ and stayed there
 
OP
OP
Jondrew

Jondrew

Well-Known Member
First Name
Bob
Joined
Dec 3, 2018
Threads
33
Messages
873
Reaction score
951
Location
Central Fl
Vehicle(s)
2018 Rubicon
I know what you mean. It’s hard to tell if the system is running corrrectly even without additional things like the Tazer plugged in. Right now I could see ESS, winch, anti skid, and auto park being of some use. Maybe I’ll do a front camera one of these days. Aside from that I’m not sure it’s worth it.
 

Rhinebeck01

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 9, 2018
Threads
155
Messages
11,875
Reaction score
17,122
Location
Multiple places..
Vehicle(s)
'18 JL Rubi, '22 Prevost M H3-45,'01 Harley FatBoy
Well, I do not need to test with a voltage meter or read forum posts of guys voltage testing and yada yada...

Can tell you when my Tazer JL Mini is installed, it is pretty much, always awake and talking back and forth with Uconnect. You can watch the red lite on the Tazer JL Mini blink continuously for for a couple of minutes and then it stops for a minute or so and then starts blinking again. This goes on 24 hrs a day, non-stop.

The Mini blinking led light uses little power but the Mini talking back and forth with Uconnect depletes the battery. It's Uconnect, that supposedly wakes up the Mini and then the Mini goes back to sleep (or vice versa) and this scenario repeats over and over, 24 hrs. a day.

IF I do not hook up a battery tender to trickle charge the JL, the JL's batteries deplete. For the record, I have the battery and alternator upgrade on my JL.

I ask other Mini user's to watch their Mini's at night through the JL window and see if your Mini does what mine does. Please do so and report back here. Just let the installed Mini, dangle, down so you can see the blinking light in the dark.

In closing, I have no battery depletion with the Mini unmarried and uninstalled. I never run above 13.5. I just did over 3 weeks with no battery tender usage and no above 13.5....

SO, my deduction is there is an issue in the pairing of the Tazer JL Mini and Tazer JL with the Uconnect. Again, no voltage testing daily, etc. are needed for me to know my battery depletes when theTazer JL is in place.

I'm a fanboy of the Tazer JL and Tazer JL Mini but...............

.


.
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
Jondrew

Jondrew

Well-Known Member
First Name
Bob
Joined
Dec 3, 2018
Threads
33
Messages
873
Reaction score
951
Location
Central Fl
Vehicle(s)
2018 Rubicon
Thanks. Think I’ll sit on the sidelines for a while. Got plenty of other things to spend money on. Winch, bumper, security box, LED lights.

Well, I do not need to test with a voltage meter or read forum posts of guys voltage testing and yada yada...

Can tell you when my Tazer JL Mini is installed, it is pretty much, always awake and talking back and forth with Uconnect. You can watch the red lite on the Tazer JL Mini blink continuously for for a couple of minutes and then it stops for a minute or so and then starts blinking again. This goes on 24 hrs a day, non-stop.

The Mini blinking led light uses little power but the Mini talking back and forth with Uconnect depletes the battery. It's Uconnect supposedly that wakes up the Mini and then the Mini goes back to sleep and this scenario repeats over and over, 24 hrs. a day.

IF I do not hook up a battery tender to trickle charge the JL, the JL's batteries deplete. For the record, I have the battery and alternator upgrade on my JL.

I ask other Mini user's to watch their Mini's at night through the JL window and see if your Mini does what mine does. Please do so and report back here. Just let the installed Mini, dangle, down so you can see the blinking light in the dark.

In closing, I have no battery depletion with the Mini unmarried and uninstalled. I never run about 13.5. I just did over 3 weeks with no battery tender usage and no above 13.5....

SO, my deduction is there is an issue in the pairing of the Tazer JL Mini and Tazer JL with the Uconnect. Again, no voltage testing daily, etc. are needed for me to know my battery depletes when theTazer JL is in place.

I'm a fanboy of the Tazer JL and Tazer JL Mini but...............

.


.
 

Sponsored

butcho

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 2, 2018
Threads
10
Messages
227
Reaction score
216
Location
Charlotte, NC
Vehicle(s)
2018 Jeep Wrangler JLU
Thanks. Think I’ll sit on the sidelines for a while. Got plenty of other things to spend money on. Winch, bumper, security box, LED lights.
I don't think you need to remain on the sidelines.

I had the Tazer Lite which was upgradeable to the mini and I never had a problem with it on the original 11.06 firmware. I knew I needed additional features that the 11.07 beta provides so I purchased an unlock key to upgrade it to the mini and then flashed to the new beta firmware of which after I experienced issues.

So TL;DR, if you just want to use it as a programmer and don't want to use any of the "live" features, go ahead and buy it, install it, marry it, make your programming changes, then remove it (without unmarrying), and you'll have no issues.

I'm pretty pleased with my Tazer purchase, bugs and all.
 

WranglerMan

Well-Known Member
First Name
Will
Joined
May 8, 2018
Threads
100
Messages
3,384
Reaction score
2,693
Location
Katy Texas
Vehicle(s)
2018 Wrangler JLU Sahara
Occupation
Gas Pipeliner
Vehicle Showcase
1
@Rhinebeck01 i am one who’s been recording daily voltages and can tell you after 14 days there’s no issues that I can see but I don’t have the mini I have the original taser with bypass module which is just a connector so it has no affect as it does nothing but connect two cables together.

I to was curious on the blinking light so to satisfy my OCD I put my phone on video record and layed it on the floorboard of my JL and let it record for over an hour and then revived the vid and I can tell you that my Tazer went to sleep after approx 45 secs and never blinked again until I opened the door over a hour later

So maybe it’s an issue with the mini, who knows but since I had my battery replaced as it was defective and not dead I have not had any issues and every instance of me testing ESS has worked, I’m not on the 8.4 Uconnect like a lot of you are and I don’t use a lot of the features the Tazer offers but what features I am currently using have so far not caused and issue

Also note in the past two weeks my starting and running down the road EVIC displayed,voltages stayed under 14.0, the highest was 13.9 and the average was 13.1 with a hi/low read of 13.9-12.6 and this was with the Tazer not plugged in and the highest it reached with the Tazer plugged in was still under 14 with it plugged in with a high of 13.9 and low of 12.6 and average of 13.1
 
Last edited:

WranglerMan

Well-Known Member
First Name
Will
Joined
May 8, 2018
Threads
100
Messages
3,384
Reaction score
2,693
Location
Katy Texas
Vehicle(s)
2018 Wrangler JLU Sahara
Occupation
Gas Pipeliner
Vehicle Showcase
1
I know what you mean. It’s hard to tell if the system is running corrrectly even without additional things like the Tazer plugged in. Right now I could see ESS, winch, anti skid, and auto park being of some use. Maybe I’ll do a front camera one of these days. Aside from that I’m not sure it’s worth it.
If you go to larger tires your speedo will be off so you will have a couple choices, like going to the dealer and have them flash your system for bigger tires or add a programmer and change it yourself or do nothing as lots did before there were programmers, the last choice is not going to hurt a thing just realize you will be running faster than your speedo says
 
OP
OP
Jondrew

Jondrew

Well-Known Member
First Name
Bob
Joined
Dec 3, 2018
Threads
33
Messages
873
Reaction score
951
Location
Central Fl
Vehicle(s)
2018 Rubicon
If you go to larger tires your speedo will be off so you will have a couple choices, like going to the dealer and have them flash your system for bigger tires or add a programmer and change it yourself or do nothing as lots did before there were programmers, the last choice is not going to hurt a thing just realize you will be running faster than your speedo says
And your odometer will read less miles than you’ve actually driven
 

Rhinebeck01

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 9, 2018
Threads
155
Messages
11,875
Reaction score
17,122
Location
Multiple places..
Vehicle(s)
'18 JL Rubi, '22 Prevost M H3-45,'01 Harley FatBoy
@Jondrew

And very unfortunately, if you have an automatic transmission, your shifting points will be a muck.....
 

Sponsored

WranglerMan

Well-Known Member
First Name
Will
Joined
May 8, 2018
Threads
100
Messages
3,384
Reaction score
2,693
Location
Katy Texas
Vehicle(s)
2018 Wrangler JLU Sahara
Occupation
Gas Pipeliner
Vehicle Showcase
1
And your odometer will read less miles than you’ve actually driven
Increases resale value with less miles :like: JK...

@Jondrew

And very unfortunately, if you have an automatic transmission, your shifting points will be a muck.....
I ran without a Tazer on a 2500 mile trip and it shifted fine, it did not hunt for gears but I did notice that it stayed in 7th gear a lot on hills and inclines but with the added rolling mass weight of the 315 KO2’s I was trying to push with stock gears I was told to expect that and when asking about regearing I was told by Chis of Tankcustoms to save my $$$ for another mod
 

wibornz

Well-Known Member
First Name
Ted
Joined
Aug 3, 2018
Threads
157
Messages
9,796
Reaction score
49,913
Location
lansing, Mi.
Vehicle(s)
JL Unlimited Rubicon
Occupation
Retired from Corrections....I have stories.
I have Ave the JL mini and have not had any problems.
 

EZMFE

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 31, 2018
Threads
25
Messages
303
Reaction score
235
Location
UT
Vehicle(s)
2018 JLUR
Vehicle Showcase
1
I have the Tazer JL lite and when I first set it up a couple of weeks ago all I changed was the tire size to 37.055 and turned on the ESS setting. After I was done I shut off the Jeep to watch how long it took before everything shut off and like WranglerMan said above it was about 45 seconds until the red Tazer light was no longer blinking. Up until today it has been flawless and a great addition to the Jeep...

I run my tires at 30 PSI and haven't change the TMPS limit so today I figured it was time to change it. After the change I did the same thing as before, shut the Jeep off and waiting to see how long the Tazer would blink. Well the dash and the lights next to the gearshift stayed on and would not shut off. They would cycle where the main dash light would go off, then the gearshift lights would blink, then the dash would come back on, and then Tazer would start blinking. The entire cycle would take maybe 15 seconds and start over. Also, there was a noise from the engine compartment or under the Jeep that sounded like a solenoid or a relay was activating on each cycle. It was very faint but could hear it on each cycle. I haven't investigated that noise further but plan to.

I was worried that the Tazer had just screwed something up and kinda still am at this point but after letting it sit for 10+ minutes everything ended up shutting off. I checked it at around the 5min mark and the light/dash/Tazer were still going. I can't say exactly how long it took to shutoff but I have been out to look at it a couple of times and everything is still off. Something has definitely changed and not knowing what/why is kinda frustrating.

The one other issue that came up was it not saying the tire pressure was set even though it did set it. I did see it say it once but not any of the other times I tried it. I tried it multiple times and it was a no go. I even seen a "try again" message a few times while trying it. Not the biggest deal because it did actually set it but anything that doesn't work like you expect it to is cause for a wtf moment.

When this all went down I ended up un-marrying and removing the Tazer to see if anything was different. The Jeep actually did the same thing. I don't know what to say at this point because I know what happened when I first programmed it and that was reinforced by WranglerMan's comments above so maybe this is normal, maybe not, but with the issues that some Tazer owners have been having there are growing concerns that something is up with this thing.
 

WranglerMan

Well-Known Member
First Name
Will
Joined
May 8, 2018
Threads
100
Messages
3,384
Reaction score
2,693
Location
Katy Texas
Vehicle(s)
2018 Wrangler JLU Sahara
Occupation
Gas Pipeliner
Vehicle Showcase
1
@EZMFE there are a few articles about Uconnect and they state the Uconnect can go into a cycle loop and not shut down and I have had this happen a few times but it was long ago and I had it happen just yesterday and I can tell you and be honest about it that it happened with and with a Tazer installed, currently my Tazer is married and I just have a few vehicle settings changed but am utilizing no live settings so thentazer is unplugged so now I will see what happens long term and go from there.
 

DanW

Well-Known Member
First Name
Dan
Joined
Mar 2, 2017
Threads
159
Messages
8,404
Reaction score
11,073
Location
Indiana
Vehicle(s)
21 JLUR, 18JLUR, 08JKUR, 15 Renegade, 04 WJ
Vehicle Showcase
2
I had no known battery issues with my original firmware setting, which I think was 11.03. I've updated to 11.06, but haven't re-married it because I'm having the dealer update my Uconnect with off road pages next week. I'm thinking about going back to 11.03. The only hiccup with that version was the ESS occassionally (rarely) kicking on. I can live with that. Everything else was great.
Sponsored

 
 



Top