12v power in car

[evetsmd]

2011 4.6.........section 4-106 would indicate that the power outlet in the center console should be live with the ignition off......as it turns out mine is not live unless the ignition is on.....

am I missing something? is there another live outlet in the car?

My wife only uses here cell in the car, I'd like to keep it charged from a live outlet.

is the manual wrong? do others have power when the ignition is off?

Thanks

 

[homeofstone]

My 2011 has power all the time and we killed our battery when the car was not moved for three days by leaving the phone charger plugged in all the time.

 

[evetsmd]

My 2011 has power all the time and we killed our battery when the car was not moved for three days by leaving the phone charger plugged in all the time.

Thanks for the info on the outlet, I'll have to ask the dealer why my outlet is not live when the ignition is off.......

regarding your problem, I find it impossible to believe that a properly working charger plugged into a properly working cell phone would drain a fully charged battery in 3 days......some other factor must have been involved that caused the battery to go dead. I'd look for something like an engine compartment, or trunk light that stayed on but not just a cell phone charger as the culprit.

 

[homeofstone]

Thanks for the info on the outlet, I'll have to ask the dealer why my outlet is not live when the ignition is off.......

regarding your problem, I find it impossible to believe that a properly working charger plugged into a properly working cell phone would drain a fully charged battery in 3 days......some other factor must have been involved that caused the battery to go dead. I'd look for something like an engine compartment, or trunk light that stayed on but not just a cell phone charger as the culprit.

I know for sure its the charge because with the same scenario it killed the battery in my GMC suburban too. That is how I discovered the cause.

 

[Mark_888]

I know for sure its the charge because with the same scenario it killed the battery in my GMC suburban too. That is how I discovered the cause.

Cheap chargers don't have sophisticated enough electronics in them to stop pulling current when it no longer needed by the device being charged. That may be why your same charger caused the same problem in two different cars.

 

[Nabber]

I know for sure its the charge because with the same scenario it killed the battery in my GMC suburban too. That is how I discovered the cause.

You have a faulty charger issue.

I wired all of my 12v plugs to be hot at all times (I have pics in my album). My cell phone is plugged into the center console plug 24/7/365 as I do not remove my phone from the car. I have taken trips for weeks and my battery is always fine. Do the math and the mA's used would take a very long time to drain a car battery.

 

[homeofstone]

You have a faulty charger issue.

I wired all of my 12v plugs to be hot at all times (I have pics in my album). My cell phone is plugged into the center console plug 24/7/365 as I do not remove my phone from the car. I have taken trips for weeks and my battery is always fine. Do the math and the mA's used would take a very long time to drain a car battery.

I will have my charger checked, it may be faulty, however it is not a cheap charger, it is a verizon brand charger for my phone and came directly from verizon. It does make sence that it should not draw power if nothing is being charged.

 

[Mark_888]

I will have my charger checked, it may be faulty, however it is not a cheap charger, it is a verizon brand charger for my phone and came directly from verizon. It does make sence that it should not draw power if nothing is being charged.

Verizon does not make chargers, they buy them from China. Sometimes they are decent, and sometimes not. Or like you said, maybe just defective.

 

[evetsmd]

You have a faulty charger issue.

Do the math and the mA's used would take a very long time to drain a car battery.

I agree as well....as I stated earlier, no way a properly working charger and cell phone could drain a fully charged car battery in 3 days.

The kind of current that would needed to be drawn for this to happen would have the phone or charger or both hot to the touch......you'd know something wasn't right.......

good luck in tracking down your problem!

 

[evetsmd]

I wired all of my 12v plugs to be hot at all times (I have pics in my album).

I looked at ur album and I saw the one picture of the fuse block......can you share with me the details on what it took to make the power outlet hot all of the time......was the fuse block where you had to make the chnage?

Thanks

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[evetsmd]

can you share with me the details on what it took to make the power outlet hot all of the time......
Thanks

Sorry Nabber......I did a search and found your post on how to make the change...great info.

Passenger side fuse block - 3rd column.....slot 5 and 7.. quote "takes power from the downstream side (always hot) of an unused source and routes it to the up stream side of the lighter" quote

Also again just to confirm, u needed two fuse taps
and the two red wires got connected together and stuffed behind the dash. Is that correct?

can you confirm, are you talking about the lighter or is this mod for the power outlet in the center console? I think you mean the power outlet, just want to be sure.

Also would think if the power outlet is used to just charge a cell phone or iPod, maybe changing the fuse size to say 2 or 3 amps would be a better choice rather than a 10 amp fuse......any thoughts on this, what did u do?

Thanks again for your help and patience....I'd like to make sure I'm doing this correctly.

 

[jdposhkus]

So is there an always hot outlet in the 2011 4.6?
I cant check as I take delivery tomorrow.
Can anybody confirm this?

 

[kayroe]

I printed a picture of your fuse hookup but I'm a little confused about how this is connected to the outlets. I drive the 4.6 and a few months ago I had a cheap phone charger head break while inserted into the outlet. It shorted and blew the fuse. I searched for some time before finding the power outlet fuse to be located in the fuse box under the hood. One 30 amp fuse serves both outlets. In your picture, what are the unseen ends of the red wires hooked up to. I read in your post that the wires are connected to each other, if so, how would it have any affect on the power outlets?

 

[evetsmd]

So is there an always hot outlet in the 2011 4.6?

in my new 4.6, the power outlet is not hotwhen the car is turned off.

 

[evetsmd]

I searched for some time before finding the power outlet fuse to be located in the fuse box under the hood. One 30 amp fuse serves both outlets.

I,m really curious, section 7 page 50 of the owners manual indicates a 10 amp fuse for the power outlet is located in the passenger side fuse panel.....the manual doesn't show any fuse under the hood that is for the cigarette lighter and power outlet......can you be more specific about this 30 amp fuse location that u are talking about. Where is it? Are we talking about the same car? Mine is the 4.6!

Thank you

 

[kayroe]

I suspect that we both may be right. There could be a redundant fuse system installed. I have included a picture of the location of the fuse that I found. I said that it was a 30 amp fuse but it's a white 25 amp fuse located in between two red fuses.

 

[evetsmd]

I suspect that we both may be right. There could be a redundant fuse system installed. I have included a picture of the location of the fuse that I found. I said that it was a 30 amp fuse but it's a white 25 amp fuse located in between two red fuses.

thank you very much for taking the time to take and upload the pictures.....if I've correctly identified it in the manual, the 25A fuse you located in the sub engine compartment panel, protects the "ACC (Accessory) Socket Relay"

ur right, looks like 25A to protect the cigaret lighter and power outlet but then a separate but inline 10A fuse to limit power to the "Power Outlet"

Good Find do u agree!

Thank you for the info....

 

[Stormgrey]

I know the battery is in the trunk and that there is a positive and negative terminal location under the hood. My question is this: I want to hook up my HID lights via the relay (harness) that requires a 12V source versus using the OEM headlight connection for power. This is supposed to eliminate the RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) that directly interferes with the TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System). The power cable attached to the relay is a standard red power cable with a round (loop) connector meant to be screwed down to a positive feed. Without having to strip the shielding on an existing 12v power cable, is there any other place in the engine compartment I can connect to this relay to?

Thanks.
Scott

 

[Ted Kihm]

I suspect that we both may be right. There could be a redundant fuse system installed. I have included a picture of the location of the fuse that I found. I said that it was a 30 amp fuse but it's a white 25 amp fuse located in between two red fuses.

The white 25 Amp fuse was blown - that did the trick for me! Thank You!

 

[Southern Boy]

The fuse that supplies power to both these fuses (in the passanger side fuse box) is in the fuse box on the right side of the engine compartment towards the front on my 2011 Sedan 3.8

It is a 25 amp ATM (white) fuse. This fuse provides power to the 15 and 10 amp fuses in the passanger side fuse box.

The 15 amp fuse is for the cigarette lighter next to the ash tray and the 10 amp is for the power plug in the storage compartment next to the USB plug.

There is a thread on this site called "cigarette lighter" that addresses this fuse issue also.