OBD-II devices and battery drain
01-17-2017, 06:22 PM
#1
Chassis Freak
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Location: Portland, Ore.
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OBD-II devices and battery drain
Hi all,
It's been ages since I've posted on the Org but I thought I'd check to see if anyone was using a pay-per-mile insurance (e.g. Metromile) with the OBD-II dongle that is supposed to plugged in at all times. There are plenty of reports of serious battery drain with these although they do seem to have an option that plugs into the cigarette lighter for power rather than OBD port. I drive my car less than once a week so I'd like to avoid worrying about my battery getting drained. Anyone have experience with this kind of device in a Maxima?
On that note, I just realized that I have had an Optima Red Top in my car since 2004 or 2005 (at least 12 years!) during which time I've driven almost 60,000 miles. Still running strong and cranking enough to start the car even in cold weather! The car is almost never used for short trips and has spent most of its life in northern climates.
It's been ages since I've posted on the Org but I thought I'd check to see if anyone was using a pay-per-mile insurance (e.g. Metromile) with the OBD-II dongle that is supposed to plugged in at all times. There are plenty of reports of serious battery drain with these although they do seem to have an option that plugs into the cigarette lighter for power rather than OBD port. I drive my car less than once a week so I'd like to avoid worrying about my battery getting drained. Anyone have experience with this kind of device in a Maxima?
On that note, I just realized that I have had an Optima Red Top in my car since 2004 or 2005 (at least 12 years!) during which time I've driven almost 60,000 miles. Still running strong and cranking enough to start the car even in cold weather! The car is almost never used for short trips and has spent most of its life in northern climates.
01-18-2017, 06:40 PM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: NM
Posts: 2,144
I think it doesn't draw power from OBD port if the car is keyed off. since most cars, the OBDII port is tied to the cigarette lighter power, when the car is turned on, that's when the port is ready to be power up for computer to give reading whenever you plug your OBD port. As for pay per mile insurance, I never heard of this, that must be a new thing, however, it wouldn't make sense since "what if" the car got stolen or a tree fell on the car. I don't see how pay per a mile would be insurance, if the car is being parked and unused and bam the worse could come and you're out of luck on coverage.
01-18-2017, 08:21 PM
#3
Chassis Freak
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Portland, Ore.
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I think it doesn't draw power from OBD port if the car is keyed off. since most cars, the OBDII port is tied to the cigarette lighter power, when the car is turned on, that's when the port is ready to be power up for computer to give reading whenever you plug your OBD port. As for pay per mile insurance, I never heard of this, that must be a new thing, however, it wouldn't make sense since "what if" the car got stolen or a tree fell on the car. I don't see how pay per a mile would be insurance, if the car is being parked and unused and bam the worse could come and you're out of luck on coverage.
Pay per mile works by charging you a monthly rate (e.g. $35) and also a per mile rate (e.g. 4.1 cents for up to 150 miles per day; after that no additional charge). You can still get collision and comprehensive coverage. In fact, I believe the mileage is only used to adjust your rate since the more miles you drive the more risk you have of collisions. The device has to be kept plugged in at all times to track mileage. It gets power from the port and uses its own GPS and to transmit the data to a server via cell towers. I'm not sure why they can't also use the ECU odometer data to avoid powering it on while the car is off.