Quick USB Stick Question :)

[Muldy29]

Will leaving a USB Stick plugged in all the time drain the battery much? if at all, or would I be better unplugging it?

[cyclone]

Just stick it in and leave it there!

[BeefMasta]

I've left mine in since I picked up the car in June 2014 and had no issues. I doubt very much that the USB port is powered when the car is off.

[BeefMasta]

Just stick it in and leave it there!

Also, Waheeey!

[cameron20020]

I think the head unit turns off the output power to the usb when the head unit has been off for a while.
The car will also put it's self into economy mode when the battery gets low, to make sure you still have enough power to start the engine.

Even if it doesn't switch off the power, worst case scenario...

Typical flash based usb power usage is 5v @ 0.1A/h average. 0.5w/h
DIN66 battery will have at least 60ah capacity. that's around 720w/h.

1440 hrs to fully discharge the battery.

[lfcrule1972]

My usb stick has a tiny light on it when it's being used/powered. That light goes off when I turn off the car and remove the keys.... To me, that suggests the power is off.

Even if it isn't, like Beefy I've not had any issues with it

[Bigfeet]

Interesting question (makes a change ).

You will be fine, as pointed out when the car is switched off the onboard systems will be powered down to avoid drain on the battery. Now this may change if you replaced the stereo will an aftermarket unit which hasn't been fitted correctly to deal with the Eco Mode (thinks back to C2 MOS versions) where a battery drain could happen but with the USB draining less then a volt of power it would take a long time to discharge a fully charged car battery.