Ultragauge battery drain?
#1
Ultragauge battery drain?
I ran across this UG thread in the Gen II section while looking for where the OBDII plug is hidden. I found pics of the plug location elsewhere and it appears that the cover should be pried down by the end closest to your knee, right? And it looks like there are pins in the cover - any problem if an Ultragauge is plugged in semi-permanently and the cover left open?
And...are there any battery drain issues with a UG on Gen 1 models? Should I use the settings listed below on my 2004?
Originally Posted by Mini Clementine Reviving a dead thread? Well if anyone is still wondering if UG can drain your battery, yes it can. But I think I have a fix.
Here's my story (in short). Bought UG ex Ver 1.20. Plugged it in and set gauges. Turned car off and noticed UG screen stayed on... and on... so read manual and changed settings. Next morning, clock and date were zeroed and I got a pending P15E8 error code - likely due to draining battery.
Emailed UG, asked for settings for Mini Cooper. They replied it's impossible to drain battery. Reset it to factory settings - but then the screen stays on. So I think I have the settings right now.
Starting at p.45 of the manual so you can find your way around the UG.
Power ON detect - set to Mode 2
Power OFF detect - set to mode 5
Batt High threshold - set (or leave) at 13.2V - essentially tells UG to turn on when voltage is at 13.2V
Batt Low Threshold - set to 12.85 - tells UG to turn off if voltage is under 12.85V after you tried 4 times**
Power Off Retries - I set to 4 - tells UG if you find voltage is under 12.85V and you tried 4 times and it is still under 12.85V, turn off.
I put these settings and started the car with no clock/date issues after 8 hours sitting and again after another 24 hours sitting. Hopefully this does the trick and the code goes away after some time. I like the larger screen display and I've already made a nice mount so I'd like to keep the UG if I can.
And...are there any battery drain issues with a UG on Gen 1 models? Should I use the settings listed below on my 2004?
Originally Posted by Mini Clementine Reviving a dead thread? Well if anyone is still wondering if UG can drain your battery, yes it can. But I think I have a fix.
Here's my story (in short). Bought UG ex Ver 1.20. Plugged it in and set gauges. Turned car off and noticed UG screen stayed on... and on... so read manual and changed settings. Next morning, clock and date were zeroed and I got a pending P15E8 error code - likely due to draining battery.
Emailed UG, asked for settings for Mini Cooper. They replied it's impossible to drain battery. Reset it to factory settings - but then the screen stays on. So I think I have the settings right now.
Starting at p.45 of the manual so you can find your way around the UG.
Power ON detect - set to Mode 2
Power OFF detect - set to mode 5
Batt High threshold - set (or leave) at 13.2V - essentially tells UG to turn on when voltage is at 13.2V
Batt Low Threshold - set to 12.85 - tells UG to turn off if voltage is under 12.85V after you tried 4 times**
Power Off Retries - I set to 4 - tells UG if you find voltage is under 12.85V and you tried 4 times and it is still under 12.85V, turn off.
I put these settings and started the car with no clock/date issues after 8 hours sitting and again after another 24 hours sitting. Hopefully this does the trick and the code goes away after some time. I like the larger screen display and I've already made a nice mount so I'd like to keep the UG if I can.
#2
#3
Interesting! I didn't notice that. I wonder what it is for? None of our other vehicles have a cover over the OBDII port; maybe it is a German thing?
Last edited by philwarner; 02-21-2018 at 07:24 AM.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
DaRKsMCs
R56 :: Hatch Talk (2007+)
3
03-29-2020 07:03 PM