Scanner draining battery from cigarette lighter

So I put a radio scanner on my dash and to avoid cutting Any wires I figured I’d keep it simple and use the cigarette plug on the dash. Well long story short I found the culprit of what was draining my battery, and it was my scanner that was plugged into it. I would leave the scanner on and when I shut the truck off the scanner would turn off. But I guess it pulls a draw to keep power for memory of frequencies (I assume). So my question is where is everyone powering there in cab accessories off of?

 

I thought cigarette lighter type outlets were off when the vehicle was off. Hmmm. Learned something new today.

 

hate these ghost power consumption goblins but also thought the cig lighters power outlets turned off when vehicle was off

 

Piggy backed my wireless car charger off the cig lighter and it definitely does NOT draw power when truck is off.
Do you have any other accessories that could be the culprit?

 

Depends on how they are wired. Some cig lighters are constantly "hot"; some are switched (turn off when vehicle is turned off). The one on our dash is switched. I have an Amazon Echo Auto plugged into mine and have not had any effects of parasitic draw.

 

Yes but every new vehicle I've bought for many years had these outlets switched. Are there any in the Gen 3 that are not switched?

 

Not that I know of. The dash and ones in the armrest are switched. I haven't kept anything plugged in the rear ones to check if they are as well.

 

Yes I thought they were off when the ignition was off as well. And no the scanner is 100% the culprit. The only 2 mods I’ve done to this truck is the scanner and a Scanguage. I unplugged both and drove it for 2 weeks. No problem, plugged in scanguage and drove it for 2 more weeks, no problem at all. So I decided to plug the scanner back in and boom the next morning, dead battery. Yet the display of the scanner is off when the truck is off.

 

Any chance the dealer installed a tracking device or aftermarket alarm? I don't see how an outlet that isn't powered when the truck is off can be draining your battery.

 

What scanner is it?

 

Uniden beartracker BCT15X

 

The Gen 3 power outlets are fed by an ACC fuse.
There is no power connected when the truck isn't on.



Even the 120v plug needs the ignition on.

 

That is the weirdest thing. How is it able to drain the power then?

 

I think your answer is in post #3.

 

That unit doesn't pull much power. Those sockets aren't powered when the vehicle is off so your drain is coming from something else. Just curious, is mobile scanning legal in your state? You have to have a Ham license for it here.