well, the engine still runs and the thing still charges. but, we have other things that run off the ignition switch. this stuff was all wired previously and worked great, the unit also has a 6 volt to 12 volt booster(somewhere) to run old motorola radios, im going to try running the vehicle without the radios on, as this may be the problem. as far as the key being left on accidentally, i doubt it, and the battery is in correctly. i will do some more troubleshooting and get back.