Car charger (AutoPilot): does it drain the car battery 24/7?

[nagromme]

I'm ordering a Griffin AutoPilot (the iTrip AutoPilot with iPhone 3G, to be precise). The docs say it has a red power light/ring. Does that stay lit 24/7 when the phone is not connected?

I want to figure out if I need to manually unplug it to spare my car battery. I'd rather leave it plugged in and forget it.

(My car's cigaratte lighter DOES power accessories even when the key is not in.)

TIA!

[tonepod]

I'm ordering a Griffin AutoPilot (the iTrip AutoPilot with iPhone 3G, to be precise). The docs say it has a red power light/ring. Does that stay lit 24/7 when the phone is not connected?

I want to figure out if I need to manually unplug it to spare my car battery. I'd rather leave it plugged in and forget it.

(My car's cigaratte lighter DOES power accessories even when the key is not in.)

TIA!
Given what you stated about your car's cigarette lighter socket--yes the ring will remain lit if the adapter is not removed from the lighter socket; essentially, the red light is telling you that the adapter is receiving power...

Now, as to whether leaving it in will drain your car battery--I don't know what the AutoPilot's current draw is when not connected to the iPhone; hopefully it's in the neighborhood of <50mA. IMHO, assuming your car's electrical system is in proper order (i.e., no parasitic current draw) and your car battery is in good operating condition--you should be okay as long as you don't let your car sit there doing nothing for weeks at a time.

[nagromme]

Cool, thanks. I was hoping the red ring would time out, but I'm hearing from other people that car batteries won't die from a little old LED, so I'm too worried.

Maybe thieves will think the red ring is an anti-theft thing :)

Actually I'll probably SEE the ring and obsessively pull it out to save energy.

[monowar]

Maybe thieves will think the red ring is an anti-theft thing :)

Actually, in my area the thieves are getting hipper to that kind of stuff. there have been a string of car break-ins linked to ipod cords/power supplies and police are telling everyone not to leave that stuff in their car.

But i suppose it could go either way.

[newbieNY]

I have 2ndgen touch and a car charger that uses cig lighter. When camping for a week, can I use it daily without running the engine (and not running down the car battery)?

[nagromme]

Actually, in my area the thieves are getting hipper to that kind of stuff. there have been a string of car break-ins linked to ipod cords/power supplies and police are telling everyone not to leave that stuff in their car.

But i suppose it could go either way.

I'd remove the whole rig in the worst areas.

But otherwise, I'm thinking that when people see an empty mount on the dash with a bare cable dead-end hanging off it, they may know you own an iPhone/iPod... but they also know you took it with you. They could break in to steal the charger alone--or for all they know just an audio cable--but that's not such a hot item. They'd probably get more money for my shovel, lug wrench and gloves :)

I have 2ndgen touch and a car charger that uses cig lighter. When camping for a week, can I use it daily without running the engine (and not running down the car battery)?

Yeah, I forget to unplug my charger sometimes, and it's never done any harm. I've been using the iTrip AutoPilot happily for some time. (And the hidden international mode is a MUST--it doesn't just add frequencies, it boosts the signal power for ALL frequencies. By a LOT. Combined with removal of my exterior antenna I have crystal clear sound with zero channel fiddling, even while driving around an area with crowded airwaves.)

[bobb-mini]

Portable electronics use so little power compared to what a 12v acid-led can provide that unless you never leave the garage for a month....

Now if u have a "weak" 3-5 years old battery..... U find out soon enuff.