Thanks a lot from me as well. There is already a 2014 Polo at our house, don't even need to wait for my Leon to arrive to justify buying this..... this is what I bought the same price ....
Thanks a lot from me as well. There is already a 2014 Polo at our house, don't even need to wait for my Leon to arrive to justify buying this..... this is what I bought the same price ....
My guess (and it's only a guess) is that by plugging the accessory socket fuse in at the "alternate" position you are bypassing the clever control features as well.
By the way, the charger that I leave plugged into my Passat if I'm working overseas during the winter months is ASIN: B004ZWV1JI on Amazon UK (sorry, I'm not allowed to post links yet, use the ASIN code in an Amazon search), it's clever enough to wind itself down to a trickle rather than make the battery "gas" like an old charger would. And it plugs into the accessory socket using the adapter ASIN: B0016LA5O8. There are no warnings about the possibility of damage when charging through the accessory socket, so I guess I'll just try it !
Postscript: having thought about it some more !
Even if the accessory socket is controlled by electronics, the actual switch will be either relay contacts or a P-channel MOSFET.
If it's a relay it won't mind passing current in the reverse direction. If it's a Power MOSFET there will be a reverse-protection schottky diode built into it, which will pass the reverse current. These protection diodes are typically rated higher than the FET itself, though there will be a greater volt drop which means there will be more power dissipation. But the charger won't try to push 20A, it's rated at 5A and in fact under the type of regular use to which I will put it, it'll deliver 5A only for a few seconds, if at all.
So I have stopped worrying about plugging-in the charger at the accessory socket as a winter precaution.
But if I ever find myself with a really flat battery, then I'll lift the bonnet and connect the charger in a more conventional way !
It does have a door lock, it's hidden by a plastic cover with a little hole in it (on the underside) for you to use your key to prise off.
My guess (and it's only a guess) is that by plugging the accessory socket fuse in at the "alternate" position you are bypassing the clever control features as well.
By the way, the charger that I leave plugged into my Passat if I'm working overseas during the winter months is ASIN: B004ZWV1JI on Amazon UK (sorry, I'm not allowed to post links yet, use the ASIN code in an Amazon search), it's clever enough to wind itself down to a trickle rather than make the battery "gas" like an old charger would. And it plugs into the accessory socket using the adapter ASIN: B0016LA5O8. There are no warnings about the possibility of damage when charging through the accessory socket, so I guess I'll just try it !
I have a couple of things plugged into the 12 volt socket in front off the armrest
Now I've found it a bit of an inconvenience that it's only live with the ignition on
So I thought I'd see if I could make it permanently live and not controlled by the ignition, but I didn't really want to chop the wiring about
This is how I did in case anyone else wants to do the same
You need to pull down the glovebox (it's explained in the manual) to reveal the fuse box, in the middle of the fuse box you will see a yellow 20 amp blade fuse (location f40)
You will notice it sits a slight bit lower than the green 30 amp fuse to its left.
Remove the yellow 20 amp fuse,now move it up slightly until it is parallel with the green fuse next to it, push the fuse back in.
Your 12 volt accessories socket is now permanently live
Best of all its easily reversed if you change your mind
Now I was concerned that I may accidentally leave something plugged in and flatten the battery
But that can't happen as the battery monitoring system on the car will still shut it off if the battery starts to get low to leave enough power in the battery to still start the car
Anyway it may be of use to some of you
Cheers
Basically you just need to drop the door.
(....)
We're talking the small glovebox (sunglassbox or whatever) on the *right* side of the car, or the big one on the *left*? (UK car.)
I got into the area behind the small glovebox on the right but it's pretty much empty, definitely no fuses in there.
Sorry for the really old bump, thought better than a new thread as my old Ibiza was perminantly live and my new Leon not! I can't get it right haha. This is a Pic of my fuse box below if I remove one of the yellow fuses my 12v stops working so do I touch that one or is it another? Also I have a 2007 mk2
Sorry for ignorance haha
It's switched with the ignitionI noticed there is a socket in the boot of my ST. Is that one always live? Would seem a bit strange if that one was killed with the ignition as you may want to have something like a powered drink/food cooler back there. I know with my old 2007 Audi A4 it was live all the time but that car also had the power socket in the driver's area live all the time too so ...