Cigarette lighter power cord

The drain is so minimal that it would have to be drawing power for weeks or months to run down a battery with the capacity that a automobile battery has.

You do not have to worry-- it draws very little power-- no it will not run the battery down-- the computers on the vehicle do draw some power all the time and they do not run the batteries down-- unless you have weak batteries.

Unless you already have battery problems.
The drain on the battery to illuminate the power LED is insignificant.

You don't even have to unplug the Nuvi, either. The current drain even when charging is negligible. I leave mine plugged in - Nuvi and all - and only take it in the house when I want to download something to it.

Security is another matter, though. The illuminated LED would indicate that you have SOMETHING portable in the car somewhere, probably in the console or glove box. A thief might be tempted to smash your window just to see if you had an iPod, GPS or other portable electronic device in there somewhere.

If you want to be lazy, pull the charger out 1/2 inch to break the circuit and there will be no current drain or LED to attract attention. You're still safter putting it away, though.

If its a traffic receiver and it gets stolen, you have to cough up another $200 bucks to replace. Better safe than sorry.

i'd unplug. my 60csx got stolen and the damage was $1500 with $300 insurance deductible.
not worth keeping stuff in cars.

You still have power after you turn your car off? If that's the case, i would unplug it. If you leave it plugged in when your car is running, then it doesn't really matter too much.

If all you have plugged in is the 12-volt adapter, the LED only draws approximately 30MA (.030 Amps). Compared to the current draw of the computer and other 'always on' electronics of new cars, not to mention current drain due to the battery's own internal resistance, it won't make diddley-squat!

Check these threads:
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/3217
and
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/2376

RT

-------------

Thank you for all of your comments! OK, I will leave the cigarette lighter type power cord plugged in, but I will make sure to turn the connector so the lighted LED faces the car's floor and thereby not noticeable to potential thieves.

LEDs glow in dark places, better to apply electrical tape over the led. You could cover led with black marker but than you wouldn't have the option of viewing the led if needed / wanted.

I measured the current of my Nuvi 200 car adapter at 13.4 mA without the Nuvi connected.

With 13.4 ma current draw, a 200 AH (which is rated at a discharge point of 10.5 volts) automotive lead-acid battery will take almost 15,000 hours, or 621 days, to discharge to 10.5 volts.

The LED current drain is dependent on, among other things, the value of the resistor in series with the LED. If this value is such that your LED draws 30 ma, it would take approximately 6,666 hours, or 278 days, to reach 10.5 volts.

In Mike abcd's case, considering that many automotive batteries will self-discharge to 10.5 volts in less than a year, the battery will be discharged from its own internal resistance before the LED can discharge it?

RT