I mounted my P3 today, quick and easy. I just made my own cable with the pigtales supplied with the truck and controller, took an extra 5 minutes. Put it all in the truck, and had a mild surprise....

It was on.

I don't know why, but I expected it to only come on when the truck was running. I took a quick look again at the wiring guides and see there's no wire to tell it when the truck is running, and clearly the factory ford harness is supplying battery power all the time.

Now, it goes to sleep after 15 minutes, and I can't imagine with nothing connected it draws that much power...but it still seems a little silly to me. Am I just fretting over small stuff?

 

I believe it powers up when power is first applied in the run stage. I then looks for a trailer. It will sleep to conserve powere but w/o any trailer hooked up or the ignitiion in run, it is only the LCD which would be minimal draw.

I changed my F250 controller to the P3 and also ordered one for my F150 since it was so nice. Got each for $110 shipped.

 

The regular prodigy does the same thing. If you let it go to sleep and then hit the brakes it will come on. If it is in sleep mode and you start the truck it will not come on unless you hit the brake.

 

What he said. It comes on when you hit the brakes...whether the truck is on or not.

 

you mind me asking where did you get it at the price?.....sorry for the hijack!!

 

It's normal. The P2.6 has the same behavior.

 

Yep, because in an emergency, you could lose power to the accessories in the car. This is the same reason why your brake lights always work, regardless of whether the car is on or not.

 

The the sudden it makes perfect sense!