Leaving ODBII Dongle in All the Time?

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PianoAl

Well-known member
Joined
May 16, 2016
Messages
239
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?
 
PianoAl said:
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?

I've done this (on and off) for years. As for the power draw, I do unplug it if the car is going to sit for more than a weekend.

I've never bumped into it.
 
Some like mine have quite a low profile, maybe extends down an inch?? I've never bumped it. AFA current draw, it's in the MAs so no big deal, but like WetEV I also unplug mine if it will be sitting for more than a weekend. I do it more because I know electronic components eventually fail when powered on and it's easy to do. If I had to order another one I just may get one that had a simple push power button, I would NOT get in the habit of unplugging the adapter every day, connectors also have a cycle lifetime and replacing the OBDII connector will cost quite a bit more than a cheap OBDII adapter.
 
I've left mine plugged in all the time for over 2 years. No problem for me, even recently when I was out of town for 3 weeks and the car sat untouched. (Maybe the solar panel on the SL helped? probably not since it was in a garage with just a window for light).

I used this Y-adpater to tuck the dongle out of the way: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJAMBI8/
 
PianoAl said:
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?
I've had my iCAR2 WiFi dongle plugged in continuously since I got both it and LeafSpyPro. I've had to remove it twice in that time, once for each of the state annual vehicle inspections.

I'm 6'2" and have not once bumped the device with my knee; I've forgotten it is even there. I think this would be an issue with a larger dongle, but by choosing one of the shorter ones there is no concern, at least for me.

As to power consumption, this device comes on with the car and shuts down automatically 30 minutes after the car shuts down. This has worked well for me, always connecting to my iPhone6 after the car is started.
 
I forgot, and left mine plugged in for about 3 weeks and it drained the 12V battery, so instead of booting up and running, needed a jump; and I felt lucky knowing to do that instead of towing to the dealer. With a fresh 12V battery, okay, you get away with it... I've always run with an ODBII extension cord routed to the console area. Easy to unplug...

"You can takes your chances..." as you see fit...
 
There is a battery thread that seems to go back to one repeated scenario that those that don't use there Leafs very much and leave the OBDII dongle plugged in have more 12 volt battery issues than those that don't. Yes anecdotal but an interesting commonality.
 
RockyNv said:
There is a battery thread that seems to go back to one repeated scenario that those that don't use there Leafs very much and leave the OBDII dongle plugged in have more 12 volt battery issues than those that don't. Yes anecdotal but an interesting commonality.

I rarely plug in my BT OBDII dongle, and when I did have battery issues - since masked by a battery maintainer - I didn't yet have the dongle.
 
LeftieBiker said:
RockyNv said:
There is a battery thread that seems to go back to one repeated scenario that those that don't use there Leafs very much and leave the OBDII dongle plugged in have more 12 volt battery issues than those that don't. Yes anecdotal but an interesting commonality.

I rarely plug in my BT OBDII dongle, and when I did have battery issues - since masked by a battery maintainer - I didn't yet have the dongle.

While others did note battery issues especially with certain brands/types of dongles. I ordered an extension cable and the LeafSpy recommended Konnwei KW902 mini ELM327 dongle and will see. My 2014 S is a daily driver and still has the original battery having lived the first 2 years/16,000 miles in Georgia and is now is new to me here in Sunny Tampa Bay Florida where car batteries regardless of type are only expected to last a few years.
 
There is a definite subset of Leaf drivers with 12 volt battery issues who leave their BTDs plugged in, but they are just that - a subset. This isn't the cause of the 12 volt charging problem.
 
I have an angle plug extension cable and a wye adapter so I can keep my GID meter and the Bluetooth adapter both plugged in. I unplug the Bluetooth adapter if the car will be parked for more than a couple of days. The angle plug has minimal height and routes the cable back under the dash. The GID meter is powered from the switched source in the port so it and the cables stay plugged in unless the car goes to the dealer. I unplug the ELM Bluetooth adapter from the cable so any connector wear is on the easily-replaced cable.

I had a completely dead 12-volt battery after 6 days the one time I forgot to unplug the adapter when I parked the 2011 for an out of town trip. The adapter just draws milliamps, but it keeps control modules in the car from sleeping and may interfere with the periodic 12-volt battery charging while parked (DC-DC converter automatically charges the battery every 5 days on 2011/2012 and periodically on later models).

Gerry
 
Good info.

I have this one:
https://www.amazon.com/CHEERLINK%C2%AE-KONNWEI-Bluetooth-Wireless-Diagnostic/dp/B00Q5YRC4C

Which has an on/off button but, apparently, no auto-sleep.
 
PianoAl said:
Good info.

I have this one:
https://www.amazon.com/CHEERLINK%C2%AE-KONNWEI-Bluetooth-Wireless-Diagnostic/dp/B00Q5YRC4C

Which has an on/off button but, apparently, no auto-sleep.

My choice has been this: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Mini-Vgate-ELM327-Bluetooth-ODB2-II-Car-Auto-Diagnostics-Scanner-w-Power-Switch-/111329509215?tfrom=111324079170&tpos=top&ttype=price&talgo=undefined
but have known to forget to turn it off :oops:
 
Since posting this, I had some work done on the car, and apparently one of the workmen knocked the dongle loose. It broke the plastic on the side of the dongle, and bent some of the pins.

It still seems to work, but I'm going to look for a lower profile version.
 
The issues related to 12v batteries are more to do with the year of Leaf. I have a 2012 and the charging system does not keep the battery fully charged. I've had issues with it and I never had the Dongle installed during that time and I had a host of other issues that are now resolved by me keeping the battery fully charged with a battery tender I use weekly. Anyone with a 2013 or newer should be ok for a few more years.
 
I had some trouble with my 2013 when I first got it in March of 2015. After topping off the battery cells with distilled water, there have been no more issues. I also have a timer set so it gets a charge cycle early every morning (100% weekdays, 80% weekends) which seems to help keep the 12v battery charged.
 
Could someone post some pictures showing where you route the cable? Is duct tape involved?
 
PianoAl said:
Since posting this, I had some work done on the car, and apparently one of the workmen knocked the dongle loose. It broke the plastic on the side of the dongle, and bent some of the pins.

It still seems to work, but I'm going to look for a lower profile version.
This is exactly why you should be using an extension cable anyway.
 
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