Do you leave an OBD dongle on?

[Chrisd]

I fitted an OBD Bluetooth dongle to use with ABRP. The video I watched suggested that it should be taken off when not in use,as it makes the cars vulnerable to hacking.
Any thoughts?

 

[AK OK]

I fitted an OBD Bluetooth dongle to use with ABRP. The video I watched suggested that it should be taken off when not in use,as it makes the cars vulnerable to hacking.
Any thoughts?

If it's powered up when the car's locked, then I'd be thinking about the 12v battery usage... Dunno about hacking probabilities

 

[Alb]

Power drain would be my main concern.

 

[Coulomb]

I do (leave a dongle plugged in all the time). ZS Mk1. I watch the auxiliary battery voltage and occasionally charge it with an external battery charger, especially if I notice it under 12.0V. It's an LE (Low Energy) type, which probably helps.

 

[AK OK]

I do (leave a dongle plugged in all the time). ZS Mk1. I watch the auxiliary battery voltage and occasionally charge it with an external battery charger, especially if I notice it under 12.0V.

Careful! -
"12.0 volts or below - At 12.0 volts your battery is considered to be fully discharged or 'flat' "

 

[Coulomb]

At 12.0 volts your battery is considered to be fully discharged or 'flat'

I usually only take note of the auxiliary battery when under load*, e.g. pumping the tyres via my 4A pump. So that's not quite so dire.

Edit: *because the 12V outlet is so hard to see from the RHS driver's seat.

 

[sgt4hed]

it makes the cars vulnerable to hacking.

While technically true, its not easy and requires a level of sophistication that your average car thief doesn't have. As others have pointed out power draw "could" be an issue, as they have to be unswitched and they can actually take a 4A draw would you know. Depending on the current draw from the device I would probably leave it in, I used to use an OBD bluetooth dongle on an old ICE car and never had any battery problems on that.

 

[bmacrow]

I do (leave a dongle plugged in all the time). ZS Mk1. I watch the auxiliary battery voltage and occasionally charge it with an external battery charger, especially if I notice it under 12.0V. It's an LE (Low Energy) type, which probably helps.

Absolutley, remember Bluetooth LE devices (like Tile for example) can last up to 12 months on a single watch battery, so power drain shouldnt be an issue at all!

 

[Sloucher]

This one:
OBDII
advertises "User configurable auto on/off ZERO power standby mode and Passcode Protection."

 

[Alan]

The problem I found with leaving the dongle in when I had my Mk1 ZS EV, was if you plugged the car in to charge with the dongle in the alarm would go off! I haven't tried it with the MK2 yet so not sure if it will do the same thing or not!