I think our new Prius damaged toasted my wife's iPod

noise while powered and maybe your cable is at fault

FWIW, I've been using my iPods (4th gen 20 gig iPod from 5/05 and recently switched to a 6th gen 80 gig iPod Classic) w/my 06 Prius since I bought it in January 06. I've never had such problems w/respect to damage.

I'm unaware of a "filter kit" nor a TSB. When I ran into the noises when the iPod was being powered via power outlet, the solution turned out to be the need for a ground loop isolator. See http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-m...6-prius-owner-bunch-questions.html#post205090. It's totally solved my problem. This needs to be a FAQ somewhere.

As for damage, what makes you think it might not caused by the cigarette lighter to dock connector cable you have? There are hundreds of different ones out there (some with and w/o FM transmitter). Some of them are likely of questionable quality and construction.

As far as I know, neither Toyota nor Apple have any official cigarette lighter to dock connector cables either.

The iPods are powered in my Prius (and in other cars prior to my Prius) via a very old (older than my 4th gen iPod) Monster Cable iCarPlay that won in a drawing. They're powered in my Z via a Scosche IPTRNSX (Walmart.com : Scosche IPTRNSX Wireless FM Transmitter : Auto).

Also, FWIW, you can buy refurbed 6th (most current) gen 80 gig iPod Classics for $209 from store.apple.com (lower left). They sometimes have refurb 5th gen or 5.5 gen 30 gig iPods (w/video) for $159.

 

the static in the audio is caused by a "ground loop".

Easily fixed with a ground loop isolator.

Not sure about the ipod, but im pretty sure its not caused by the prius. It may be a problematic power adapter... that or you dropped/bumped it a bit too hard.

 

Electrical noise in a car is very common, and even more so with a Prius because of the inverters and other high power electronics. The noise, however, does not put an undue load on any attached devices, it just makes irritating noise.

The power receptacles on the Prius are switched. They turn on and off with the car. When you powered up the Prius you also applied power to the iPod. If an electronic device is going to fail, it is very common for it to do so when power conditions change, such as at start up. Your iPod picked that power transition to crap out. The problem is with your wife's iPod, not the Prius. Your complaints should be directed at Apple. Either your wife's iPod was defective, or Apple has a fragile design.

Tom

 

I think it is most likely the power adapter. I'd like to know what brand power adapter it was. This is why it is very important to only buy official adapters that have the "made for iPod" logo on the box at least when it comes to Power Supply, Dock Connectors, or USB / Firewire Cables. The battery may have also already been shot especially if it is allowed to be fully drained routinely, or if the charger you had wasn't smart enough to stop it from overcharging.

 

I agree. Some third party power adapters are real junk, and not just for iPods.

Tom

 

Btw: It's come to my attention that there IS a TSB out for the static ground loop problem that adds noise to the audio jack:

http://priuschat.com/forums/toyota-prius-service-bulletins-tsbs/46700-noise-aux-port-06-08-a.html

 

Sorry, but this story sounds really strange!

I have an 04 & an 05 Prius, both installed with the Ultimate Lockpick & an ipod adaptor installed from the Toyota Dealership's audio department. I have had no problems with any of the iPods I have used in both cars. I have used iPod Nano, 5th Generation 60 GB iPod, 160GB iPod Classic, iPod Touch, & iPhone. All have produced the same audio quality, the only real difference is the lack of volume coming from different models.

With all due respect, there is no such thing as an Mp-3 cable. Mp3 refers to the type of audio compression which is actually one of the worst possible formats for listening to audio on an iPod. I recommend using apples AAC format encoded @ 256 for the best sound! However if you are trying to conserve space, you can lower it to 128 but that's just as bad as buying music off iTunes unless you purchase a 256 encoded "Plus" song from their store.

That aside, I'm assuming you are using the regular headphone jack that comes pre-installed in the Toyota Prius models 06 and up. This is still not the best source of audio for an iPod since the volume control is variable. The bass & treble are also not transmitted at their peek levels and this often results in the driver/passenger constantly changing the audio settings on the prius in-dash screen.

I only use the factory installed, iPod 32pin dock adaptor cable which plugs directly into the bottom of any apple dock compatible product. The only problem I have faced so far is that the new iPod touch, iPhone & iPod classic do not output the same volume of audio as the older iPod products. I switched from my 60 gig to my 160 gig because of course, it holds more music. I have installed a ground loop isolator and still no effect. I am in the process right now of having a specialist look at my connects & determine which amplifier would best fix this problem.

If you continue to use the headphone jack to connect the audio to your Prius, you may want to purchase an 32 pin power adaptor from the apple store. They sell them for $19 and you can connect it to any apple dock compatible product.

If you have any questions about your Prius audio, feel free to e-mail me: [email protected]. We have three Prius's in the family, and 12 friends who own them as well. I have personally upgraded and assisted them all on this same audio topic, so needless to say I know a bit about getting the best out of your iPod for the Prius. Good Luck!

 

Troll?

Commence to whinin'!

 

....probably because it disagreed with the music that the IPod contained. :bowl:

 

Hey,, I think my Prius Package 2 also damaged my MP3 player!!!!!!!

I have a fairly new Creative Zen Photo 20gb MP3 player that is less than 2yrs old and hardly ever used, and I mean HARDLY ever used. Used so little that there is NO way that the battery should be completely dead on this player.

I have been keeping the MP3 player plugged into the AUX jack since I bought the car a month ago and have really only played it in the car 2 or 3 times.

I went to turn it on 2 days ago and nothing,, the MP3 player would not come on at all, like the battery was completely dead. I knew this was impossible because 2 weeks ago when I last played it, it was fully charged and I only played it for 20 minutes the length of my car ride.

No biggie, I thought the batter just died out and I left it on after shutting down the car. So last night after I got home from work, around 5pm, I brought it into the house and plugged it in to charge up. The little lightening flash across the battery cell showed it was working and it was charging. So I just left it alone until this morning. I checked it at 6am and it still showed that it was charging yet the battery cell pic was completely white and not charged at all to the green color it should be.

I disconnected it from the charger and tried powering it on,, nothing,, would not power on at all.... Then I plugged it back into the charger and tried powering it on with it being plugged in. It powered on and started playing, so I then disconnected it from the charger and the battery cell picture showed it was NOT charged at all. Completely white, after a few seconds it gave me the huge triangle on the screen saying "low battery" and then starting shutting down..

This is impossible. the player charges up fully in just 4 hours, it had been plugged in from 5pm till 6am the next morning and all that charging did nothing to the battery.

I seriously think the AUX jack somehow killed my MP3 players battery, there was nothing wrong with this player before, I barely used it, and always kept it fully charged and it is less than 2 years old.

Maybe by keeping it plugged into the AUX jack all the time, somehow is putting some kind of surge charge through the cable when the car powers on and off???

I am going to call the dealer today and see if they have had any other complaints about this.

I am going online today to find where to get a replacement battery for my Creative Zen as I already have 3,000 some songs on this thing and I am not just going to toss it in the garbage. I heard of some online company that replaces IPOD and MP3 player batteries much cheaper than the original companies.. so now i have to try and find their website. I saw them on the news one day a few months ago about their business they had going.

 

I would like to add that I have never heard any static or noise coming from the AUX jack either like some others have complained of..

It just toasted my battery as the MP3 player still will work when it is plugged into the charger, but the battery will not charge. It is dead, and I mean DEAD!!!