battery issues with iPod

I'm using a 3rd-gen iPod Touch as a dedicated (lives in the car all the time) music server. I have it connected via a cable that goes to the Apple connector and to a 3.5mm stereo jack (which is connected to the aux-in on my HU) and a USB connector (for power, via a cigarette-lighter USB power point).

 

When I first get in the car, the iPod will not play. Evidently the battery is so dead that even though it's connected to an energized power source (the USB cigarette-lighter thingy), it won't operate until a few minutes have gone by and the battery has taken some charge. It's kind of aggravating.

 

I guess maybe if I explicitly powered-down the iPod when I park the car, so the battery does not draw down as it's sitting there, I wouldn't have this problem. But that would be a PITA. I've looked in the various Setup menus on the iPod, and can't find anything that would tell it to power-down soon enough that the battery isn't dead the next time I get in the car. Too, part of the problem may be that I'll go a few days at a time without driving this car.

 

Any help appreciated ...

My old iPod(4g nano) had a similar problem, battery drained pretty fast too. It got stolen but the iPod I replaced it with had much longer battery life(same model). I think you can buy new batteries for them, but you'll have to take apart the device.

I'm sorry but an aftermarket deck and a handful of USB sticks (or generic MP3 player) is a much better answer than what you're doing.

is it really cold out when you have this problem? my ipod classic wont work if i leave it in the car when its cold, it will say the battery is dead and I have to let it warm up on the seat warmer for a bit until it goes back to normal. If that's not the case just unplug it from the cigarette lighter. i know if you have an ipod charging on an xbox and turn off the xbox the ipod's battery will drain.

Donny, USB sticks have become so insanely affordable in the larger sizes that ALL my MP3s could fit on one; however, I'm stuck with the factory HU to which I've wired an aux-in. So, why would a generic MP3 player not be subject to the same issues ?

 

Well, it has been winter, we'll see if the situation improves.

 

I've wired an always-on cig-lighter outlet. I could leave it attached to that, depending on how much juice it draws after it goes to sleep.

I'm still trying to address this problem ...

 

I have two choices now, when I park the car. Manually power-down the ipod, which is kind of a pain. Or just let it be, it which case it stays powered-on and the battery drains; especially since I now will go several days at a time without driving this car, I think even a strong battery would die, so when I get back in the car, it takes awhile for the thing to be able to play (so instead of selecting music before I pull out of the driveway, I'm selecting it while I'm driving :-( and I also imagine this is very hard on the battery and it will be completely kaput before too long.

 

I do have an always-on cig-lighter outlet that I wired into the car, but I checked and the iPod draws 200ma or so. So I imagine this would drain my car battery if I don't drive for a few days.

 

An aftermarket deck is not an answer, because my car has the proprietary HU.

 

I wonder how this problem is handled with cars that have USB jacks and an iPod interface in the radio ? Seems like they'd have the same issue, unless the USB interface somehow detects that the car/radio is turned off and powers down the iPod.

On cars with usb ports, it coincides with the radio. If the key is out/off, power is cut. Usually the radio has a constant power supply only for the clock/memory. A simple fix if you've already wired the cig 12v port is to simply use a relay and use an accessory as a trigger(usually non-constant radio power). I haven't checked on Subarus but on older Honda fuseboxes they actually have a terminal just for "ACC" trigger.

On cars with usb ports, it coincides with the radio. If the key is out/off, power is cut. Usually the radio has a constant power supply only for the clock/memory. A simple fix if you've already wired the cig 12v port is to simply use a relay and use an accessory as a trigger(usually non-constant radio power). I haven't checked on Subarus but on older Honda fuseboxes they actually have a terminal just for "ACC" trigger.

 

Thanks Kevin, but unless I misunderstand you, this doesn't help. The problem is not that power is cut to the iPod. The problem is that the iPod then drains its own battery.

It may be the iPod itself(bad battery). I had a 4g nano that did that. Replaced it with a used 4g nano that lasts at least a week without use. The other one would be dead in about 2 days.

It may be the iPod itself(bad battery)Replaced it with a used 4g nano that lasts at least a week without use.

Ok, didn't realize I could expect that kind of life. Maybe my battery is weak; I'll check to see what kind of standby battery life is typical and see how hard it is to replace.