Any Possible damage to the Battery?

[vpalhories]

Hi,

I have a Bluetooth speaker/mic device that I always keep plugged in the cigarette lighter adapter. I also have my phone charger that I keep plugged into the extra power port in the armrest. Obviously the devices are always on even when I turn the car off and take the keys out.

My question is very simple: Can I cause any damage to the battery or anything else in the car given that I keep these things plugged in all the time? Granted, they aren't heavy power draining devices, but I was simply wondering if I shouldn't un-plug them when I pull into the garage at night.

Thanks.

[martyo]

Hi,

I have a Bluetooth speaker/mic device that I always keep plugged in the cigarette lighter adapter. I also have my phone charger that I keep plugged into the extra power port in the armrest. Obviously the devices are always on even when I turn the car off and take the keys out.

My question is very simple: Can I cause any damage to the battery or anything else in the car given that I keep these things plugged in all the time? Granted, they aren't heavy power draining devices, but I was simply wondering if I shouldn't un-plug them when I pull into the garage at night.

Thanks.

How long do you plan on keeping them plugged in? Eventually they will wear your battery down, but if you use your car with any level of frequency, you really have nothing to worry about.

One word of caution: the stock batteries in many of the MMs suck and have had to be replaced, so if your battery craps out, don't assume that it was the phone/accessories that did it.

[metroplex]

How often is the vehicle used?
If it is a daily driver, then you have nothing to worry about however I would try not to put such a large parasitic drain (large in relation to the max recommended current draw for IGN off) overnight.

Even if you're using a deep cycle battery, it is advisable to disconnect/shut off as many devices as possible to prevent draining the battery. Sealed Lead Acid Batteries (SLAB) like the Motorcraft batteries do not like to be deep cycled. Even the VRLA AGM batteries like the Optimas do not last a full 3 years if you frequently deep cycle them.

What you could possibly do:
Splice into an ignition switched fuse tap to power your devices. So as soon as you shut off the engine, the power is cut to those devices.
Anyone here that has hardwired their radar detector should have done that.

[vpalhories]

How long do you plan on keeping them plugged in? Eventually they will wear your battery down, but if you use your car with any level of frequency, you really have nothing to worry about.

One word of caution: the stock batteries in many of the MMs suck and have had to be replaced, so if your battery craps out, don't assume that it was the phone/accessories that did it.
Thanks for the reply. Basically, I drive the car about 4 days a week to and from work, so about 1.5 hours for every day or 6 hours per week.

I guess just to be safe, I should probably un-plug the devices.

[vpalhories]

How often is the vehicle used?
If it is a daily driver, then you have nothing to worry about however I would try not to put such a large parasitic drain (large in relation to the max recommended current draw for IGN off) overnight.

Even if you're using a deep cycle battery, it is advisable to disconnect/shut off as many devices as possible to prevent draining the battery. Sealed Lead Acid Batteries (SLAB) like the Motorcraft batteries do not like to be deep cycled. Even the VRLA AGM batteries like the Optimas do not last a full 3 years if you frequently deep cycle them.

What you could possibly do:
Splice into an ignition switched fuse tap to power your devices. So as soon as you shut off the engine, the power is cut to those devices.
Anyone here that has hardwired their radar detector should have done that.
I hadn't thought about splicing. I might look into it some more. I drive the car roughly 4 days a week to and from work. Not a whole lot of driving, only amounts to about 1.5 hours per day I drive it. I don't charge my phone every day, so I could simply leave that device unplugged, and realistically, it's just as easy to unplug and plug these devices. I was just curious to see if this could be a problem.

Thanks for the reply.

[martyo]

Thanks for the reply. Basically, I drive the car about 4 days a week to and from work, so about 1.5 hours for every day or 6 hours per week.

I guess just to be safe, I should probably un-plug the devices.

I doubt that your use of these devices will cause a problem given the frequency with which you use your vehicle.

[RF Overlord]

^^^what Marty said^^^

I was on vaca last week and my work van sat for 7 days without being used...when I got into it on Tuesday morning, I discovered I'd left my cell phone attached to the cigar-lighter charger all week...truck started right up. I can't imagine so small a draw would bother the battery just sitting overnight...or all weekend.

[fastblackmerc]

^^^what Marty said^^^

I was on vaca last week and my work van sat for 7 days without being used...when I got into it on Tuesday morning, I discovered I'd left my cell phone attached to the cigar-lighter charger all week...truck started right up. I can't imagine so small a draw would bother the battery just sitting overnight...or all weekend.
I thought our MM's had a feature that wouldn't let the battery get so discharged that it wouldn't start??

[Rider90]

I thought our MM's had a feature that wouldn't let the battery get so discharged that it wouldn't start??

It does according to the sales brochure. I have not seen this in action on the MM yet, but atleast 10 times on my 99 CV.

[Merc-O-matic]

Hi,

I have a Bluetooth speaker/mic device that I always keep plugged in the cigarette lighter adapter. I also have my phone charger that I keep plugged into the extra power port in the armrest. Obviously the devices are always on even when I turn the car off and take the keys out.

My question is very simple: Can I cause any damage to the battery or anything else in the car given that I keep these things plugged in all the time? Granted, they aren't heavy power draining devices, but I was simply wondering if I shouldn't un-plug them when I pull into the garage at night.

Thanks.
I use a BATTERY TENDER Plus.....maintains the battery at full power
all the time.
Use all the mics you want! :cool4:

Gotta Love It!

[MERCMAN]

That feature does not work on the powerpoint in the console. I found out the hard way, I left my radar detector on and it drained the battery. I don't think the lighter is on that circut either.

[dwasson]

If your cell phone kills the battery in one week you need a new battery. A big cell battery is 1500 MAH and any half decent car battery has a 55 amp hour capacity. This means when the battery is new, the cell charger would have to be connected for a couple thousand hours to drain the car battery.

[mrjones]

I once had my XM Roady run my battery down when I left it on, but the car sat for a week or two.

[metroplex]

If your cell phone kills the battery in one week you need a new battery. A big cell battery is 1500 MAH and any half decent car battery has a 55 amp hour capacity. This means when the battery is new, the cell charger would have to be connected for a couple thousand hours to drain the car battery.

1500 MAH = 1500 Mega Ampere Hours... you meant 1500 mAH right? :D :D

Actually that's not how you check to see how long you can charge the battery w/o discharging the main battery.

The battery charger should have a total current draw (look on the adapter OUTPUT specs).

So let's say your cell phone charger draws a total of about 0.5A at 12V.

A car battery should be about 72 AH, means it can supply 72A for 1 hour.
If you slap a 0.5A constant draw from a charger, it will discharge the battery in 144 hours or 6 days.

That is bad juju because your car battery may not be rated at 72AH and your charger might be drawing more than that.

I know the 1 hour rapid/fast chargers are going to draw much more current than 0.5A!

[RF Overlord]

I thought our MM's had a feature that wouldn't let the battery get so discharged that it wouldn't start??It does...I know it works when I leave the hood or a door open for more than 20 minutes (something like that)...but as mercman said, it doesn't work on everything...

[metroplex]

Hi RF Overlord!
My Vic wasn't blessed with an underhood light :(
BTW
Are you describing your Marauder as the SR-71 Blackbird? Is it more because of the high speed dart-like handling or the gas guzzling aspect? :D :)

[jfclancy]

remember the cell phone charger is only going to charge until the cell phone battery is fully charged. I assume if you are not in the car you Ain't talking
SO.. as has been said before no worries. I think that autodischarge thing is in the wiring for the lights....

:beer: :beer: :beer:
Joe Clancy

[RF Overlord]

Are you describing your Marauder as the SR-71 Blackbird? Is it more because of the high speed dart-like handling or the gas guzzling aspect?

Neither...it's because it leaks, requires custom fuel to start, was horrendously expensive, is hard to get parts for, requires 40 hours of maintenance for every 10 hours of operation, and was cancelled. ;) :P

[Captain Steve]

You might want to consider wiring your charger into the fuse box.

Pages 133 and 134 of your owners manual lists what each of the fuses supplies. You would pick one that is only powered when the car is on, that way when you turn the ignition off, the phone etc would stop charging.

Personally, I'd use fuse #10 which is the heated mirrors and rear defrost. It's a 10 amp fuse which is WAAAAAAAAAY more than a cell phone etc will draw, and it probably won't even notice the added drain even with the defrost on.

If you were running something like a VHF/UHF radio or a CB, you would want to wire a seperate fuse for the amount of power used to transmit. (25w for a VHF marine radio for example). Fuse spots 5, 29,30,31,and 32 are available.

[vpalhories]

Thank you for the replies. I think that the easiest is for me to remove the charger and Bluetooth speaker/mic when the car is not in use.

[MENINBLK]

How long do you plan on keeping them plugged in? Eventually they will wear your battery down, but if you use your car with any level of frequency, you really have nothing to worry about.

One word of caution: the stock batteries in many of the MMs suck and have had to be replaced, so if your battery craps out, don't assume that it was the phone/accessories that did it.

I agree with Marty.
I've never gotten more than 2 years or 50,000 miles on a stock battery.
The replacement battery was always a top-of-the-line Sears Diehard for me,
but you can install whatever your favorite battery is.