I do have a power pac. I was actually using it when I tried scanning my car a couple nights ago. I was powering it through my cig. lighter and I know it was getting power since the light was on.
From other sources, so far I've learned that the button only gives the scanner juice for putting in the vin info before hooking the car up. This can also be done after hooked into the car power.
There was a rattling sound coming from in the case the other night so I took it apart and found a loose screw for the display. I went ahead and cleaned the case while I had it apart so the scanner isn't covered in a layer of black crud anymore.
Anyway, can I use the scanner without the power pac and just power the scanner through the port on the OBD I adapter? I don't have an alligator clip cable to clip onto the battery to use to power the scanner so I'm stuck with the (sometimes unreliable) cig lighter which is going against the recommendations of another source. Any thoughts on how much of an issue this would be?