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      07-08-2013, 09:06 PM   #1
rdubmd
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Vehicle Power While Coding?

I was just wondering what people use to keep the car powered so their battery doesn't get too drained while coding? Are there techniques to limit the amount of time the car need to be powered?

I was looking at http://www.ntxtools.com/network-tool...-SE-1555A.html or http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-INC.../dp/B002Z2Z7ZY and didn't know if I needed something like this while coding?

Thanks in advance.
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      07-08-2013, 10:10 PM   #2
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could you use a 12v car battery charger hooked up while coding?

Last edited by amf; 07-08-2013 at 10:11 PM.. Reason: pic added
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      07-08-2013, 11:16 PM   #3
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I just code with the car running.

With the engine running, there are no worries about draining the battery or having the car shut itself off after 15 minutes.

They only ECU you can't code with the engine running is the DME and I don't touch that.
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      07-09-2013, 10:10 PM   #4
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I coded many cars while on battery power and never had any issues. Most of these batteries will last more than an hour on battery life as long you don't turn on the headlights. If you're in a garage with no sunlight, just make sure you turn the headlight knob to the 0 position so that the headlights are off and don't drain the battery. If the car is low on battery, you'll get a warning on the instrument cluster anyways and that's when you should stop or turn on the engine.

What I recommend though, if you're going to code multiple ECUs on battery power, turn off the car and turn it back on after you're finished coding before going to the next one. That will prevent the car from going to sleep if you're making a lot of changes to multiple ECUs.
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      07-10-2013, 07:22 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aritaurus View Post
I coded many cars while on battery power and never had any issues. Most of these batteries will last more than an hour on battery life as long you don't turn on the headlights. If you're in a garage with no sunlight, just make sure you turn the headlight knob to the 0 position so that the headlights are off and don't drain the battery. If the car is low on battery, you'll get a warning on the instrument cluster anyways and that's when you should stop or turn on the engine.

What I recommend though, if you're going to code multiple ECUs on battery power, turn off the car and turn it back on after you're finished coding before going to the next one. That will prevent the car from going to sleep if you're making a lot of changes to multiple ECUs.
And I end up remotely helping several people every week fix there cars due to power loss while coding, and their ensuing corrupted CAFD's.

There is no reason to not have the engine running unless you are coding DME, which is a rarity anyway. Run the engine, and you have nothing to worry about. If not, put the car on a charger. Anything else, and you are taking a risk, and for no benefit whatsoever.
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      07-11-2013, 01:27 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shawnsheridan View Post
And I end up remotely helping several people every week fix there cars due to power loss while coding, and their ensuing corrupted CAFD's.

There is no reason to not have the engine running unless you are coding DME, which is a rarity anyway. Run the engine, and you have nothing to worry about. If not, put the car on a charger. Anything else, and you are taking a risk, and for no benefit whatsoever.
Good advice from the expert
I'll run the engine from now on.
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      07-11-2013, 03:37 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aritaurus View Post
Good advice from the expert
I'll run the engine from now on.
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      07-14-2013, 01:35 AM   #8
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Thank you!

Thank you to everyone for their input, especially the expert, shawnsheridan, for the final word!
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