Hi,

I've read so many posts in different forums of people saying the 12V sockets are always on. I did the tests last night and both sockets actually turned off after about 10-15 minutes. I don't know exactly after how long but I had two spare 12V to USB adapters with power LEDS and I put them in both the main 12V socket and the rear one, and checked them after 30 minutes first and after 15 minutes. The car was locked and alarm was connected. When I walked back to my car, both adapters were off (i.e. power LED was off).

As soon as I unlocked the car, lights turned on, doors unlocked, and both adapters turned on.

I'm going to do another experiment today with something that draws power.. but I suspect that if the power leds in the devices are off, all power must be off.

 

Y.

The mk3 onwards went from permanent live sockets to a timed ignition supply.

They come on when you unlock the car and time out when the car goes to stand-by.

22 minutes ago, Stoney871 said:

The mk3 onwards went from permanent live sockets to a timed ignition supply.

They come on when you unlock the car and time out when the car goes to stand-by.

that makes it installing the dashcam so much easier :) cheers.

I'm going to route a long USB cable around the A-pillar then under the door frame, coming out under the passenger seat and finally will plut it in the rear 12V socket.

You may find that having dashcams plugged in can cause problems with keyless entry / central locking signal range.

I found that on my current and previous cars that this was a (minor) niggle.

Since I fitted a piggyback socket via an ignition only live fuse that this is no longer a problem.