Leaving ODBII Dongle in All the Time?

[DaveinOlyWA]

I'm considering leaving the ODBII dongle plugged in all the time. My two concerns:

1. I will bump it with my leg and damage the port.
2. It will draw a tiny bit of power (I know, unlikely to be a problem)

Thoughts?

its not big enough for you to bump it and if your legs are that long, you have plenty other things to worry about.

2. simply exit the LEAF Spy (or whatever you are using) program. this reduces power usage to essentially nothing. this is CRITICAL. I have always left my dongle in but generally only run LEAF Spy in very low SOC situations (when trying to stretch my range) or first thing in the morning to record battery stats which I have done daily for nearly 5 years.

FYI; in my 3 LEAFs, I have had zero 12 volt battery issues.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I also leave mine plugged in all the time and use a extension cable to put it up above the trim panel. Mine is not powered when the ignition is not on.

how did you test this? Mine is powered on and off by LEAF Spy. Your statement implies that you cannot monitor the car if powered off. This is possible I guess but I can do it on mine

 

[Firetruck41]

I also leave mine plugged in all the time and use a extension cable to put it up above the trim panel. Mine is not powered when the ignition is not on.

how did you test this? Mine is powered on and off by LEAF Spy. Your statement implies that you cannot monitor the car if powered off. This is possible I guess but I can do it on mine

It does not work if the car ignition is off. It stayed on all the time, originally, but I followed some info in a previous thread and resoldered a connection (can't remember exactly, it was over a year ago) on the OBDII adapter to make it only power on with the ignition.

 

[PianoAl]

It's now been bumped twice, by persons other than me, so I'm going to buy and extension.

I leave it on if the car isn't going to sit for long, and I've found the following benefit: My phone charges in the garage, and I can use it to check that status of the charge (without having to get in the car).

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I also leave mine plugged in all the time and use a extension cable to put it up above the trim panel. Mine is not powered when the ignition is not on.

how did you test this? Mine is powered on and off by LEAF Spy. Your statement implies that you cannot monitor the car if powered off. This is possible I guess but I can do it on mine

It does not work if the car ignition is off. It stayed on all the time, originally, but I followed some info in a previous thread and resoldered a connection (can't remember exactly, it was over a year ago) on the OBDII adapter to make it only power on with the ignition.

ah ok, I kinda remember that. Now mine is a bit weird. It won't connect unless the car is on but will stay connected after the car is turned off which is the reason I turn off LEAF Spy when not using it. If using this method, make sure you select "turn off BT" when exiting LEAF Spy and you should not have any 12 volt battery issues.

 

[JimSouCal]

It's now been bumped twice, by persons other than me, so I'm going to buy and extension.

I leave it on if the car isn't going to sit for long, and I've found the following benefit: My phone charges in the garage, and I can use it to check that status of the charge (without having to get in the car).

Nice catch... Now that 2G is going away and Nissan wants $200 for the dealer to put in an updated cell data unit...

 

[PianoAl]

The extension cable arrived, and here's my new arrangement. It's tucked in above the plastic, and I used wire-tie to hold things in place.

I'll see if it's too inconvenient to turn it on/off or see whether the light is on, but it sure is out of the way. I hope there are no moving parts where I've put it.