12v socket question....
- Thread starter Voodoo
- Start date
I think it closes down with the remainder of the car electrics, 15 minutes after the door is locked. That would make it consistent with the central electric system shutdown
Obviously live the rest of the time regardless of key position.
Obviously live the rest of the time regardless of key position.
Kaide said:
I'm not disputing your suggestion and you may well be right, but note you say 'don't think it goes off'
How do you know it stayed on? It would reactivate as you as you 'blip' the key to unlock or open the door?
Voodoo said:
That's the way
cj10jeeper said:
Not arguing, just validating how I've tested this (unintentionally) I have parked it with the top down in my garage one of the times and the detector makes a series of beeps when powered on. Loud enough to hear just outside the car with the top up.
From my experience, cars shouldn't have this as a hot jack for just this reason.
66engineer
New member
Think of how a battery tender works on these cars... You plug it into the cigarette lighter... Doh! 
Means it's hard connected to the battery all the time.
And I LIKE having them on all the time. Sometimes I need to power up a cell phone overnight, and it's nice to be able to simply leave it plugged into the car. Hate it when it shuts off when I turn the key off! (as it does in our little Chevy) Personally, I like my F150, it has both switched and unswitched power outlets, so you can choose the right one for the job.
Means it's hard connected to the battery all the time.
And I LIKE having them on all the time. Sometimes I need to power up a cell phone overnight, and it's nice to be able to simply leave it plugged into the car. Hate it when it shuts off when I turn the key off! (as it does in our little Chevy) Personally, I like my F150, it has both switched and unswitched power outlets, so you can choose the right one for the job.
Engineer, if you mean a battery tender as one of those little chargers that stay plugged to your car and the house mains supply to keep the battery topped up, they work in cars whether they have a permanently "hot" or not, so that doesn't really answer the question. :wink:
I have however conducted the Christmas tree test as I mentioned above. :lol: The results tell me that the cig lighter socket in a Nov 06 Z4M Coupe will remain on for well over an hour once the keys have been removed and the doors have been locked. The experiment was terminated after one hour and ten minutes due to the possibility of damage to my highly sought after 12v Christmas tree or a flat battery.
I think it's now safe to conclude that as Sceptre pointed out, this socket is permanently live. Which, IMO is a bit stupid.
I have however conducted the Christmas tree test as I mentioned above. :lol: The results tell me that the cig lighter socket in a Nov 06 Z4M Coupe will remain on for well over an hour once the keys have been removed and the doors have been locked. The experiment was terminated after one hour and ten minutes due to the possibility of damage to my highly sought after 12v Christmas tree or a flat battery.
I think it's now safe to conclude that as Sceptre pointed out, this socket is permanently live. Which, IMO is a bit stupid.
