Question for the workshop experts: Troubleshooting leakage currents

Hello forum,
I have a professional question.
Today, as a sales company for workshop supplies, we were shown a handheld device for finding leakage currents. It is used to find errors in modern cars that have a large number of control units installed, which sporadically drain the battery too quickly.
The advantage here is that the recording of current flows for individual circuits can be stored for up to 3 days. The analysis can then be performed later using a PC.

Are there many cases where purchasing such a device would be worthwhile?
Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the price yet.
As a technician who isn't heavily involved in sales, I can easily imagine that this could be a very effective tool. However, I lack the connection to the workshops themselves.
Given that this is one of the most knowledgeable forums I know regarding vehicle technology, I'm hoping to get some insightful answers here.

Sure, no problem. Here's the translation:

"Thank you very much in advance."

Best regards, Jörg.

Hello Jörg,

I hope I am allowed to answer, even though I don't belong to the group of people you were hoping would respond.

I think that problems with quiescent current are already relatively common. As connected vehicles age, this is likely to become even more prevalent.

The measuring device you described could certainly be helpful, but I still have many uncertainties regarding a potential distribution through your company.
- How is the current measured?
If the cable needs to be disconnected and your measuring device connected, this is quite cumbersome in practice. If a DC clamp meter is used, I fear a significant offset drift due to the long measurement time.
- What is the dynamic range of the measuring device (i.e., what is the smallest and largest measurement range)?
- Evaluating the measurement results requires a certain level of electronics and IT knowledge, which is unfortunately often lacking in many workshops.
- The conclusions drawn from such measurements are often quite complex and not typically known to the average workshop. (What is an acceptable average current level? What are typical current peaks for each control unit? What could be the causes of current peaks in specific control units?)

Generally speaking, it is difficult to determine which specific gas turbine (GT) in a combined cycle power plant is faulty based solely on the electrical current flow.

Here's the translation:

"A simple example: a single control unit with relatively low power consumption can completely prevent the bus from entering a sleep state. In some cases, all control units on that bus may remain active and draw an excessively high amount of current. Importantly, the control unit with the highest power consumption is not necessarily the one preventing the bus from going into sleep mode."

Overall, it's more of a supporting measurement device, not suitable for the average workshop but rather for an electronics-focused workshop where qualified professionals with the necessary evaluation skills are available.

As far as I'm concerned, that's just my personal opinion.

Regards,
Sure.

Here is the translation of the text from German to English:

"Guste" means "gust" in English. It refers to a sudden and strong gust of wind.

Furthermore, the excessive power consumption is often caused by software bugs.
One or more ECUs are not going into sleep mode because they are "constantly communicating."

Even though I have now clearly identified one thing, I only know that this is drawing power. Why remains unclear.
If two or more people are pulling, it becomes completely unclear why.

My gut feeling is that leakage currents in the traditional sense are no longer as prevalent because plugs are now much better sealed (or even exist at all).

Okay, please provide the German text you would like me to translate into English. I will only provide the translation.

Hi,
@guste100
Sure, you can answer. I appreciate any feedback. My title wasn't intended to exclude qualitative answers, but rather to understand the number of error cases and the need for such a device in workshops.

Quote:

- How is the current measured? If the cable needs to be disconnected and your measuring device connected, this is quite cumbersome in practice. If a DC clamp meter is used, I fear a significant offset drift due to the long measurement time. - What dynamic range does the measuring device offer (i.e., smallest measurement range / largest measurement range)?

The measurement is performed by interrupting the current path through the fuse. The measuring head is therefore inserted like a fuse, and the actual measurement process takes place via the voltage drop across the fuse wire. An A/D converter and associated electronics convert the signal in the measuring head into a CAN bus signal.
The amount of current that can be measured depends on the type of sensor head used, as this head is theoretically also responsible for protecting the circuit from overcurrent.
Down into the microampere range. I think that's more than enough.

Quote:

- The evaluation of the measurement results requires a certain level of electronics/IT knowledge, which is unfortunately often limited in many workshops.

I fear that too.

Quote:

In principle, it is difficult to determine which specific gas turbine (STG) in the combined cycle power plant is defective based solely on the electrical power output.

The developer assumes that the workshops will then have enough experience to accomplish this. Unfortunately, I doubt that.

Quote:

Overall, it's more of a supporting measurement device, which isn't suitable for the average workshop, but rather for an electronics-focused workshop where qualified professionals with corresponding analysis skills are available.

That would significantly limit the number of units that could be sold. I had also considered working with factory representatives, but I'm not sure to what extent they have experts in electronics.

@dieselmartin

Quote:

Furthermore, the excessive power consumption is often caused by software bugs. One or more ECUs are not going to sleep because they are "constantly talking."

According to the developers, this is supposedly happening with cars that are newly released on the market.

Quote:

because they "constantly chatter".

Quote:

Even now that I have clearly identified one thing, I only know that this is drawing power. Why remains unclear. If two or more people pull, it becomes completely unclear why.

A similar process is already used in the development of vehicle electronics.
The developer of the measuring device created it in collaboration with an automotive manufacturer. The system we are being offered is the improved successor to the original. Therefore, there seems to be a demand for it, especially since customers are increasingly becoming test drivers.

Conclusion:
The main problem is how to process the data streams in a way that produces a meaningful and understandable result. There is definitely still room for clarification on this point.

Thank you very much for your efforts.

Best regards,
Jörg