I understand that electronics hooked to cars via the cigarette lighter outlet can drain their batteries. However, considering I have a 2011 Honda Accord Sedan, there are 4 ignition levels on my car right? Very first when key is turned to the far left is off obviously, then I believe the next level barely lights up the car and enables the radio to be turned on, and I believe there's a third that REALLY lights up the car (you hear a repetetive beeping sound for a few seconds and you see a lot of indicators on the dashboard light up), and then, finally, the fourth turns the engine on.

Someone correct me if I got the number of levels wrong, they are either three or four and I just want to be sure.

Now, by real question is...if my car is on the complete left mode, that is, OFF, nothing will happen to the battery even if I have my GPS and phone connected via the cigarette lighter outlets correct? If my car's completey shut off, they won't keep sapping the battery? I will mention that when I DO turn my car off, my phone + GPS indicate (via making a certain sound) that they have stopped recieving any power, but, for all I know it may be little different when it comes to charging via car outlets.

Thanks for the help...and by the way, say my car is turned on (at least enough to give power to my electronics) and the charging cables are in the cigarette outlets, but my devices aren't actually hooked on the other end of the cables. Is power still being sapped from my car battery? Everyone I ask this says yeah it is, but, if there's no device hooked on the other end to recieve the power, then where does the energy go? I suppose it just dissipates in the air but I wanted to be sure of this too.

 

The steps are:
Off
accessory
Run/ignition
Start

And if the outlet isn't a constant feed (yours isn't from how you said the GPS etc turn off) then you're fine

 

You are correct, ign. positions are...

All the way "left" O - off, key can be removed, the only things powered are memory circuits.

Next is I - acc. on, radio and lighter will work.
Next is II - ign. on, everything is on, except starter circuit.
Next is III - starter on, ign. circuit stays on, but acc, circuit turns off.

If the ign. is off, "complete left mode" there is no power to lighter circuit so no draw, even if something is plugged into the lighter, there is also no draw if nothing is connected, "devices" to any leads plugged into the lighter, even if ign. switch is on, unless the charge cables have LED indicator lights on them, and that is a very little draw.
If there is no load, "devices" connected, current will not pass, there is nothing to "dissipate". 94

 

I had another question here, if you guys don't mind.

I was wondering if listening to the radio with my engine off puts more reliance on the battery (meaning when the engine's on, the battery is used less).

Or, will the life of my battery be the same either way (like if in both scenarios, 5 years from now for instance, my battery at "full" charge will last one month without being powered by the engine).

Thanks a bunch. Reason I like listening to the radio/CD player with the engine off, is it mutes the noise of the engine...and it also saves gas. But, then I was wondering about the life of the battery...so that's the reason for my question.

 

Even with no load it would dissapate as heat. Those phone cigarette chargers are usually very small buck convertors. You can look that term up if your really interested. They are usually 90-95% efficient. So the other 5-10% is wasted as heat. So ya it uses power just sitting there but not really enough to be concerned about. Plus most newer cars shut the cigarette lighter off when the car isn't on.

I find it rather humerous that all cars have cigarette lighters. Yet a lot of newer cars don't come with ash trays!!! Probably time to let this dinosaur die and come up with a better connector. I vote for a usb plug.

 

If you listen to the radio with the car off ALL the power comes from the battery.

If you listen to the radio with the car on then ALL the power comes from the alternator. During this time the alternator also charges the battery.

Life of you battery depends on how you use it. If you drain a battery below 12V its life goes down quickly. The further you drain it the further its life diminishes. How fast that drains depends on how much current you use. So that's not a simple question. But listening to a stock radio for a couple hours with the car off should be no problem.

And no your battery reserve will not be the same 5 years from now. As a battery ages its reserves go down. 5 years is usually the typical life of a battery. So at 5 years your reserve will be significantly decreased if not completely gone.

 

As for the "lighter" replacement: The Anderson Powerpole is rapidly gaining traction in the 12V accessory world, mostly driven by 2-Way/HAM radio markets.

USB, IIRC, is limited to 5V at 1A. The PP can go up to 12V/160A (ie. - you can run your own electric chair off this connector).

Check it out (not affiliated w/vendor, etc, etc): Powerwerx.com and Westmountainradio.com <<- Powerpole distribution strips.

 

I use those on my boat to make the amp removable. I just don't see those geting used on the inside of a car. The move is to make electronics use less power and as technology advances and electronics move to smaller die sizes they will require less current to operate.

There is a spec that states the maximum current a device can pull from a USB port (500mA). I believe the maximum current it can supply is around 2 amps. I just don't see to many needs for a high current port in your car anymore. If you need high current for like a air compressor you could always pop your hood and connect to the battery. No company is going to spend millions putting a 160amp connector in thousands of car so the one geek who operates his ham radio can do so easily.

 

No doubt, and I've never even messed with the high amperage (>30A) PP's - *BUT*, these connectors are not strictly confined to geekdom: There are inexpensive Cobra inverters and 4WD lighting kits sold at Pepboys which come stock with PPs, and I know Exeltech also uses PP connectors on their low-wattage inverters.

If you own an APC computer UPS, you are a PowerPole user. Pull your battery and compare the connector to those in Powerwerx URL above.

 

how much of a difference does it make when the radio/head unit is aftermarket? or even with aftermarket speakers? hope this isn't off topic..

 

That's not really an easy question to answer it really depends on how much current that equipment is using at any given time. I'd say that if you have a aftermarket deck that is soley powering a set of aftermarket door speakers you should be fine for a few hours.

 

I've used all sorts of those PowerPole connectors.

IMO if your using that much current you sould be running a wire to power it. I just don't think the average user needs a 30 amp socket either.

As many things as I have put in my car and the number of actual uses I have gotten out of the cigarrette plug just dont equate to much. Radar detector, cell phone charger, and some diagnostic equipment. All could be easily powered by a USB port.

 

But, of course, the reserve or "maximum capacity" as I would call it (say, 2 years from now) will be higher if I always used my alternator to power up my car speakers, versus if I've been listening to the radio with the engine off in those 2 years?

 

No not really. There are to many variables to say that with any certainty. Weather effects the life of your battery. If you live in an extremely cold or hot climate that can impact the life. I would say expect your battery to last 5 years and don't put that much thought into it. Just dont run the battery dead, that kills batteries fast.

 

We're supposing all other variables are the same. :/