Schumacher Electric Automotive Memory Saver, OBD-L, for Cars, Trucks, SUVs and More, Saves Your Vehicle’s Settings During Battery Maintenance or Removal, OBDII Compatible

Very simple to use, plug and play to OBB port. Saves all configuration settings

Good: It works! Hook it up to a plug-in 12V power supply, plug it into the OBD2 port under the dash, and you can replace the car battery without losing the myriad of powertrain and infotainment settings upon which a modern automobile relies. Status lights on the box assure you that everything is hooked up correctly and ready to go.Bad: That long-obsolete cigar-lighter 12V power plug. The only lighter jack that is likely to be in reach of that cord is the one in your own car, which won't do you any good when you pull the car battery. Assuming your car has one in the first place. I found a wall-outlet power supply with an appropriate jack, but I shouldn't have had to. This unit should have a power supply like that included. Or, what's wrong with USB?Bottom line: For the life of me, I don't know why auto companies can't invest the extra twenty-five cents in a flash-memory chip to keep settings that have to survive a battery swap. But, they don't, and if you have a car newer than about a 2010 model that you work on yourself, you need one of these to avoid a lot of pain when replacing the battery. This unit does the job. Five stars.

Worked seamlessly, I saved all settings in the car computer so there was no need to do resets on radio, seats, mirrors, etc. after installing a new battery. Comes with a cigarette-lighter-style 12v power connector on a relatively short cord. Since the cord needs to be plugged into an external power source like a closeby running vehicle, a separate extension cord is needed so be prepared to spend an extra $8-10.

I bought this approximately two years ago. It works as intended but you have to be really careful with newer vehicles or any vehicle with electronics that consume power while the vehicle is "off". Vehicles aren't really turned off anymore; DRLs stay on, convenience lights, automatic mirrors, gauge cluster screen and all the background electronics are what you'll be powering with this if you're not careful.Inside the cigarette/12V connector there's a fuse and a spring which protects from overloading the vehicle but in my experience so far, if I don't turn off all the convenience features (at least), the fuse burns out or even the spring burns/melts. When I used this tool today, the spring completely melt and began to melt the inside of the plastic connector; the fuse (I replaced fuses a couple times before) remained good. I'm lucky that I had the sense to monitor the tool for a minute when I plugged it in, before going ahead changing out the battery, since it could have caused a fire! All of this even though the only thing I left on was an auto interior light; this car was still consuming power elsewhere.The cords are thick and sturdy, and the box is big and solid even though there apparently aren't many electricals inside it. The 12V connector really needs to be better although it's better keeping it simple which makes it easier to fix.

The battery on my 2011 Honda Odyssey was failing so I had the option of taking the car to the dealer and get it replaced for likely at least $300 or do it myself.However, last time I replaced a battery in my second car and because I simply unplugged the old battery and replaced it with a new battery I lost all my settings (that car does not have much in terms of computers so it wasn't a terrible deal, but the car run rough for about a week until the engine computers recalibrated).So I did not want to repeat the experience with this car as this one has many more frills so had to make sure my settings would be preserved. First I was tempted to go with one of the cheapo connectors out there which might have been as good as this but where this device is worth its price is in the indicators.You first plug it to your power source (in my case the other car, I had the car running) and you'll see the amber light #1 lit up if a good connection is present. Then you unplug that and plug the OBD connector side to the car you need to replace the battery on (this car should NOT be running - in fact I did not even had the key on the ignition) and the amber light #2 will lit up if a good connection is present. Then you plug the power source again and both amber lights will lit up plus the center light will either lit green which means you can proceed or red in which case you're out of luck (some cars don't allow ODB power apparently). Once I had the green, I unplugged the old battery (negative first - the black terminal, which I then covered with a plastic bag to avoid any shorts and then the positive - red terminal which I also covered with a plastic bag as those terminals are live since the other car is providing power). Replaced with the new battery and reversed the process (connect the red terminal first and then the black). Once I had the new battery secured, I simply unplugged the memory saver and all was good.The only thing is that the power terminal is not very long, so if you are using another car for a power source, you should get something like this https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E5VBJ90/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which you can plug into the cigarette lighter connector. I put both cars facing in opposite directions and parked in a way that both passenger doors were aligned and passed the cable through the windows. Writing this review took almost as much as replacing the battery.On a separate note, I was going to buy the battery at O'Reilly for about $120 but then I saw that Wal*mart had basically the same thing for $48! So instead of paying $300 at the dealer, I ended up spending $90 and added a couple tools to my toolbox!

The memory saver our shop before had only lit up to confirm the vehicle side had power, but this one confirms both sides are powered so you can be sure it is OK to disconnect the 12V battery. I'm having a little trouble with the power port end connection now (after thousands of uses) so I have decided to buy a new one, I will fix the old one and retire it to my garage at home.