the power socket (cigarette lighter socket) I see when you take the key out, it continues to be powered.

Is this like other cars that after a time limit it powers down, or is it permanently powered?

Cheers

I've left a phone charging cable plugged in to the socket overnight and the red light on the plug is still lit 10 hours later.

I have noticed the same, but I haven't left anything connected for any length of time.

Can't be more conclusive! Sorry

According to the manual the sockets are powered permanently.

According to the manual the sockets are powered permanently.

 

That'll explain it! RTFM! Hehe. Thanks

My USB phone charger is never unplugged. I presume it only draws power when the phone is attached though?

 

Either way I've never had battery issues.

I'm sure its perminantly powered because there was someone that had a cooler box connected to the 12v socket which had drained the battery completely overnight.

 

Modern 5v electronic devices & chargers shouldnt drain the vehicle battery much if left overnight or a few days.

But if you are running a heater, cooler, fan etc you might have more problems.

 From my dashcam manual -

 

If your car’s lighter socket continues to provide power after the engine is switched off, unplug the

DrivePro when the engine is off or idling to reduce unnecessary power consumption and prevent

any unexpected problems.

 

Rather vague on why not  to have it permanently on. OK, it won't be using much juice, but these things tend to be auto on/off when powered up/down, so would constantly be recording if plugged in to a permanently live outlet.

 

The power consumption of a small red LED in the phone charger is almost too small to measure, so that's irrelevant.

 

Thinking about it, if my dashcam was always recording, it might've filmed the scrote who bricked the window of my wife's car a few evenings back. B@stard.

Yes it's always on.

 

If you're wiring a dashcam, suggest route the cable to the left and wire directly into a fuse behind the glovebox that is only live when the ignition is on.

I'm sure its permanently powered because there was someone that had a cooler box connected to the 12v socket which had drained the battery completely overnight.

Given the fancy battery monitoring the car is supposed to have, I'm surprised it doesn't automatically disable the lighter socket when it detects that the battery is getting too low.

As others have already confirmed its permanent live.

I've got my dash cam wired into the fusebox with 2 feeds from the power magic pro, a switched live and a permanent live (I used rear wiper fuse for the switched and the 12v socket for the permanent)

My dash cam records 24/7 but the power magic box monitors the battery. If it drops below a set voltage (user configurable) it cuts the permanent live so the camera doesn't flatten my battery.

Edited 23 July, 201510 yr by flyingpigvrs

Given the fancy battery monitoring the car is supposed to have, I'm surprised it doesn't automatically disable the lighter socket when it detects that the battery is getting too low.

Yeah, it's a bit funny. Again, according to the manual, it gradually switches off everything when the battery is getting low. Everything except the power sockets... Why this exception, I don't know.