Hello everyone,

I'm new in this forum as I've just bought a 2011 Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.4, I had it from just 3 days now but I'm really enjoying it :)

I am slowly slowly discovering the car but I've just noticed that leaving plugged in the phone charger in the cigarette socket the green light of the phone charger doesn't go off when I turn the engine off and lock the car. Does it means that if I leave it plugged in it actually stays on all the time? It's gonna drain all the battery, is that normal?

Thank You

Welcome to the family,

I believe that the 12v is permenantly on with the Fiesta, in which case yes it will remain lit up, however I dont see it draining the battery that much, unless your leaving it for 3 - 5 days without touching it, you should be fine otherwise.

Thanks! It's always good to know :)

no worries.

I wouldnt worry too much though, or just unplug the charger in the short term if you want to.

The alternative is that you could wire up a 12v purely for the phone charger and take an ignition live feed from the stereo. That way, the socket goes off after the car shuts down, and its discreet, and leaves your 12v socket for usable hardware.

Whether it drains your battery will also depend on the efficiency of the charger when not in use. Check if it gets warm when not in use. If it does get warm I'd recommend unplugging it while the engine's not running.

Either way, to be honest, I personally wouldn't leave it plugged in all the time (especially not during the winter months).

Well to be honest I like the idea of wire up a 12V and take the ignition live feed from the stereo just for the phone charger so I could also put it in a better place but this means to disassemble the stereo and play with cables, I don't know if I'm really able to do all that :)

Probably is better to just plug it off every time. At the moment I'm using this charger http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331261473769

to be honest you would be surprised how easy it is. Follow a wiring diagram to find the ignition live wire and the earth wire, buy PosiTaps, screw them onto the donor wire, then screw into the other side the wire for your 12v. No muss, no fuss, tidy installation, removable and does no more than a pinprick hole in the insulation of the wire. All of my electrical mods on my car use this method and they have so far held without issue.

Yes pre 2013 it is always live, 2013 on it's only live when the engine is running, which bugs me a bit!

Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC