Porsche has the vehicle 12V power points turn off after 30 minutes if the car doesn't move. If you forget to turn off a radar detector, would it being on for 30 minutes run down the car battery to any appreciable extent?

I wouldn't think so, but wanted to check. I am using the power point for my Escort 9500ix right now, and deciding whether to hardwire it to the fuse panel or go with an installed unit. Thanks.

 

I had mine mirror mounted with the power coming from the cigarette lighter. Never had an issue coming back to a dead battery. When I got my laser jammers, my installer hard wired it so it turns off when the engine turns off.

 

Same thing for me & over 11 months of mostly forgetting turn my V-1 off, it wakes up when I open the door and I go WTF? I have mine plugged into the power point - passenger's foot well.

Never had a problem starting regardless. Not sure if the cig lighter point in the smoker's package goes dead in 30 min though.

 

The cigarette ligher powerpoint always on so that could cause battery drain if something plugged in there. I'm not so sure the others are always on (just the 30 minutes) but not absolutely sure.

 

I think HH is right, it may not go dead in 30 min, but Escort will automatically turn itself off after 4 hours (I think). That cutoff may be adjustable though, so look at the Escort instructions. Four hours may seem long, but it does not use that much juice.

 

My Escort is plugged into the same power point, and it turns off after 30 minutes.


My best guess is that for a normal battery, the 30 minute drain from the Escort is not a big deal. Maybe if the battery is critical already, but otherwise probably not an issue.