4 ms·

We're paranoid about not running your car's battery down. When the ignition is off, we consume less than 1 mA. By itself, the Automatic Link would take 3-4 year

by thejo 14y ago

We're paranoid about not running your car's battery down. When the ignition is off, we consume less than 1 mA. By itself, the Automatic Link would take 3-4 years to drain even a cheap battery.

JPKab 14y ago
I'm glad you replied to this criticism. I'm very excited about your product, and I'm hoping that you are planning on a third party API so folks can build apps for your customers..... maybe that was written somewhere and I missed it??
- thejo 14y ago
  We'd love to build an API. It's on a long list of things we want to build. The Automatic Link supports OTA updates (through the phone). So, our users can expect improvements. In fact, we think of ourselves as a software company. We built a hardware device because that was the only way we could achieve the user experience we wanted to deliver.
Dwolb 14y ago
That's a good number for IOD (ignition off draw). Radios, excluding screen aim to be sub-mA range. Most other electronic components are sub-100uA
raverbashing 14y ago
I think it's better to break this down, because this myth of 'running out of battery' is really exaggerated Let's say your average battery has 40AH. That means it can provide 1A for 40h (or better, the product time(h) x current(A) = 40 for a charged battery) @ 12v If your lamps consume 24W (I'm guessing), that's 2A, it means it would go from fully charget to nothing in 20h. But of course, your battery is usually not 100% and you need a certain battery capacity to start the engine. Even if the consumption of this device is 1W while idle (which is really an exaggerated value), the device uses around 0.084A and the battery would take 480h to go from 100% to 0% (or about 20 days) My guess is that an unpowered car uses more than that by itself, so this dongle is not an issue, unless you're leaving it unattended, you can unplug it but will probably run out of battery nonetheless.
- jamesaguilar 14y ago
  > My guess is that an unpowered car uses more than that by itself I don't think most car batteries are dead after twenty days of not driving, and, as you said, most batteries aren't always fully topped up.
- UnoriginalGuy 14y ago
  I wouldn't call it a myth people have reported issues with similar port adapters, particularly bluetooth ones. If the issue doesn't apply here then great but in general people should pay attention.
  - mavhc 14y ago
    My cheap chinese bluetooth obd2 device caused my battery to drain when I was ill for a week and didn't use my car over the christmas holidays. On the plus side now I know how to jump start it.
    - ibrahima 14y ago
      Thanks, this is good to know since I have one too. I'll have to start unplugging mine (also cheap and probably Chinese, though I got it on Amazon). But I've left it in for several months without issue, I guess maybe I just drive regularly enough that it's not an issue.
  - raverbashing 14y ago
    I'm not saying a cheap chinese adaptor won't drain your battery, but from what's shown I hope they thought of an energy saving system It's possible to build it to not use excess energy. Personal anecdote: Last year I would not use my car for long stretches (between 2 and 3 weeks), as I was traveling. 2 weeks is doable, 3 weeks I'll be certain to have a dead battery on arrival.
- mikeash 14y ago
  Car batteries don't die after sitting idle for three weeks, not in a normal car with a working battery. At 1mA of current draw, this device is definitely not a problem. But the idea that an unpowered car uses enough power to drain the battery in less than a month is clearly ridiculous.
tocomment 14y ago
Could you detect a drop in voltgage when the engine turns off and automatically turn off your device?
- klinquist 14y ago
  The ScangaugeII (similar use case) works is that it shuts off if engine RPM = 0 for >30sec.
Jabbles 14y ago
At what voltage?
kokey 14y ago
That's very good to hear, the reason why I didn't make talking to the obd port a regular hobby is because my wifi connector would eat the battery up in a few days.

by thejo 14y ago

We're paranoid about not running your car's battery down. When the ignition is off, we consume less than 1 mA. By itself, the Automatic Link would take 3-4 years to drain even a cheap battery.

JPKab 14y ago

I'm glad you replied to this criticism. I'm very excited about your product, and I'm hoping that you are planning on a third party API so folks can build apps for your customers..... maybe that was written somewhere and I missed it??

thejo 14y ago
We'd love to build an API. It's on a long list of things we want to build. The Automatic Link supports OTA updates (through the phone). So, our users can expect improvements. In fact, we think of ourselves as a software company. We built a hardware device because that was the only way we could achieve the user experience we wanted to deliver.

Dwolb 14y ago

That's a good number for IOD (ignition off draw). Radios, excluding screen aim to be sub-mA range. Most other electronic components are sub-100uA

raverbashing 14y ago

I think it's better to break this down, because this myth of 'running out of battery' is really exaggerated Let's say your average battery has 40AH. That means it can provide 1A for 40h (or better, the product time(h) x current(A) = 40 for a charged battery) @ 12v If your lamps consume 24W (I'm guessing), that's 2A, it means it would go from fully charget to nothing in 20h. But of course, your battery is usually not 100% and you need a certain battery capacity to start the engine. Even if the consumption of this device is 1W while idle (which is really an exaggerated value), the device uses around 0.084A and the battery would take 480h to go from 100% to 0% (or about 20 days) My guess is that an unpowered car uses more than that by itself, so this dongle is not an issue, unless you're leaving it unattended, you can unplug it but will probably run out of battery nonetheless.

jamesaguilar 14y ago
> My guess is that an unpowered car uses more than that by itself I don't think most car batteries are dead after twenty days of not driving, and, as you said, most batteries aren't always fully topped up.
UnoriginalGuy 14y ago
I wouldn't call it a myth people have reported issues with similar port adapters, particularly bluetooth ones. If the issue doesn't apply here then great but in general people should pay attention.
- mavhc 14y ago
  My cheap chinese bluetooth obd2 device caused my battery to drain when I was ill for a week and didn't use my car over the christmas holidays. On the plus side now I know how to jump start it.
  - ibrahima 14y ago
    Thanks, this is good to know since I have one too. I'll have to start unplugging mine (also cheap and probably Chinese, though I got it on Amazon). But I've left it in for several months without issue, I guess maybe I just drive regularly enough that it's not an issue.
- raverbashing 14y ago
  I'm not saying a cheap chinese adaptor won't drain your battery, but from what's shown I hope they thought of an energy saving system It's possible to build it to not use excess energy. Personal anecdote: Last year I would not use my car for long stretches (between 2 and 3 weeks), as I was traveling. 2 weeks is doable, 3 weeks I'll be certain to have a dead battery on arrival.
mikeash 14y ago
Car batteries don't die after sitting idle for three weeks, not in a normal car with a working battery. At 1mA of current draw, this device is definitely not a problem. But the idea that an unpowered car uses enough power to drain the battery in less than a month is clearly ridiculous.

tocomment 14y ago

Could you detect a drop in voltgage when the engine turns off and automatically turn off your device?

klinquist 14y ago
The ScangaugeII (similar use case) works is that it shuts off if engine RPM = 0 for >30sec.

Jabbles 14y ago

At what voltage?

kokey 14y ago

That's very good to hear, the reason why I didn't make talking to the obd port a regular hobby is because my wifi connector would eat the battery up in a few days.