Did My Pip Kill My Ipod?

[IanIanIanIan]

I have used an old iPod Touch in my PiP to source music and podcasts for the last year or so, it stays plugged into the USB port all the time. The port is, of course only energised whilst the car is 'ready' and my records indicate I drove for just under 300 hours in the last twelve months i.e. well under an hour a day average.

The weekend I took it out to update it from my computer and noticed the screen had been pushed off because the Battery has expanded to some three times its normal thickness. It is a write off.

Bumbling around on the internet sources some comments from people that this is the charger's fault. I thought the state of charge was controlled by the iPod not the charger but I suppose if the voltage supplied was very high this could be a problem. I have seen no evidence of over voltage from the port when I measure it, just the expected 5Vish.

Any similar experiences or thoughts?

[Sooty]

i would imagine that the fault is not caused by your car.

if the ipod is quite old it will proably be that the Battery is goosed due to old age.

[PeteB]

did you store it somewhere that the air could circulate around it? If not,over time maybe it got too hot?

[MEP's Yaris GS]

I've not had any issues with my iPod in my PiP, and I'm doing about 20k miles a year, so sits charging for hours at a time sometimes.

[IanIanIanIan]

It looks as though I am just unlucky and the iPod Battery came to the end of its life unrelated to the charging.

So it goes.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

It looks as though I am just unlucky and the iPod battery came to the end of its life unrelated to the charging.

So it goes.

It might be worth slinging it on eBay as spares / repair, they hold their value well do iPods even when broken.

[Ethanedwards]

My Ipod classic is stored in the glove box in a fluffy case.

It's a delicate little thing. Too cold and it's a brick until it warms up. Too hot and it freezes and has to be re-booted. Flip through the songs too much and it freezes and needs a re-boot. I'm on my third one. Now I have to worry about the Battery pack blowing up?

Sheesh if only Toyota made iPods they'd be reliable instead of the hideously overpriced rubbish produced by crApple.

BTW I do aeromodelling...your lucky they don't have LiPo (Lithium Polymer) batteries (which we use for some applications) in them...your talking impressive Fires / explosions with those. That's why even when using a dedicated LiPo balance charger we charge them in Fire Safe bags and never whilst unattended. People have lost garages etc due to these puppies.

[PeteB]

Why not just use a USB stick?

I've been using the same one for 4 years, firstly in my previous Yaris and for nearly 3 years in my Prius.

It works fine, and I also backup my contacts & destinations onto it every so often.

It is backed up at home so if anything happened to the stick it's a few minutes' work restoring onto a fresh one.

Creating playlists was a bit fiddly, using the Touch & Go+ screen to control it is fine, and the voice search always impresses passengers.

That said, most of the time I enjoy the tranquility of the Prius and leave the audio firmly off (seems the 2012 facelift revisions to the chassis plus 15" wheels fixed the rattles so many seem to complain about).

[MEP's Yaris GS]

I'm greedy, I like all of my music with me at once, you never know when I fancy changing from Enya to Steps or Nightwish. So I've a 160GB iPod, I've found you don't get sticks that that work as well as I find my iPod does.

[IanIanIanIan]

With the USB it is very slow in response and I have not found out how to setup a playlist. Any advice welcomed.

The iPod is ideal and I am in process of replacing it ASAP.

[kithmo]

With the USB it is very slow in response and I have not found out how to setup a playlist. Any advice welcomed.

me too with the how do you set up a playlist with the USB, is it done on the system or do you have to organise the files on the pc ?

[PeteB]

I haven't found a way of doing it on the system.

I used Windows Media Player on my PC. It was a while ago and I remember it was fiddly getting them to work on the USB stick.

Often, in the car I could select the playlist, but it would appear empty.

When I finally got a couple working, I think I edited the .WPL file with Notepad, but can't remember exactly what I did.

I'll have a look tomorrow and report back.

[PeteB]

I know it took some trial and error, but as best I can work out:

1. I created the playlist in Windows Media Player
2. Edited with Notepad so that <media src="..\ excluded the directory names on the PC and just had the folder names on the USB stick
3. Placed it in a Folder called Playlists on the USB stick

I'm afraid it involved a lot of trips to the car before I got it working!

[YarisHybrid2016]

I don't suggest leaving anything plugged in the car as it is a fire risk. Your £200 iPod taking out your £25000 car is not funny! Would the insurance even pay out for that???

Lucky you caught it when you did - sounds like it was not far from catching fire/exploding.

Regarding the voltage - you need to check it whilst the iPod is plugged in - if it is trying to draw too much current, the voltage will drop. iPod needs a port capable of supplying 2 AH. Apparently it is capable of detecting max current, but I don't know how it does that.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

I don't suggest leaving anything plugged in the car as it is a fire risk. Your £200 iPod taking out your £25000 car is not funny!

Do you unplug everything in your house when you go out? Your £500 TV destroying your £200k+ house would be serious!!

On a serious note though leaving an iPod plugged in when its power feed from the car is shut down is no more dangerous than just leaving it in the car unplugged.

Would the insurance even pay out for that???

Yes, fire is a standard peril on most motor insurance policies.

iPod needs a port capable of supplying 2 AH. Apparently it is capable of detecting max current, but I don't know how it does that.

Can you confirm where you've seen this? When I last checked iPhones (the latest ones are capable of accepting a 2 amp charge, but will happily charge slower on a 1 amp, and if this is all that's supplied ultimately its all it'll get.

iPods to the best of my knowledge are not 2 amp though, as they simply don't need the power.

[barrycoll]

https://ipoddoctor-batteries.co.uk/index.php?p=checkout_login

why not get it repaired with a new Battery????

[YarisHybrid2016]

Do you unplug everything in your house when you go out? Your £500 TV destroying your £200k+ house would be serious!!

That's true, but Battery powered devices on charge are when they are most vulnerable. If they are not on charge, but they get hot, then they are also a risk (and a car is a really bad place - it can easily exceed 50 deg. C in summer). I always ensure I remove any portable electronics from the car during the day.