Cigarette lighter problem...

Ozzy45 · Post by **Ozzy45** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:00 pm

Hi all,

first post on BF, had my Bongo tin-top for about a week now (bought
from Budget Bongos in Southampton) and loving every minute so far!
Can anybody tell me if they have a similar problem:
I have a Garmin sat-nav plugged into the cigarette lighter which works
fine but every so often just powers off for no reason. What I have to
do is pull over, pull out the Cigarette adaptor and then plug it back in, the
sat-nav re-boots and every thing is fine until five minutes later - bang, it switches off again!
The adaptor itself has a little led light which glows red while the sat-nav
is working properly, but then goes amber as the sat-nav switches off (screen goes blank).
I'm thinking its the power through the cigarette lighter itself that's getting
interupted as the sat-nav stays working in my Renualt with no probs.
Anyone have any ideas?

Cheers,
Ozzy

francophile1947 · Post by **francophile1947** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:17 pm

Welcome to the forum.
I've never heard of that fault before - have you tried other things in the socket (Cool box, fan, phone charger etc.)? The sockets normally either have power or not

Ozzy45 · Post by **Ozzy45** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:25 pm

Hi John and thanks for the welcome - I don't actually have any other
electrical items to test it with believe it or not! (very new to all this!)
And yes, I would have thought there's either power flowing or there isn't,
unless its a faulty connection (I'm absolutely useless with autos...or anything for that matter

)

Cheers
Oz

francophile1947 · Post by **francophile1947** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 4:34 pm

Hi Oz
You'll soon have plenty of stuff to plug in, if you're like the rest of us

I can't see how unplugging, it and plugging it in again, fixes it, unless it's slowly working it's way out of the socket - wouldn't the satnav's own battery keep it going?

Ozzy45 · Post by **Ozzy45** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 5:04 pm

the sat-nav doesn't have any batteries installed - brand new duracells last
about a couple of hours in this Garmin model (Streetpilot i3) so I got a bit fed up with that idea, prefering to just use the cigarette adaptor. I'm just
mystified that it keeps losing power for no reason.

Cheers,
Oz

francophile1947 · Post by **francophile1947** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 5:44 pm

Well, I'm afraid I haven't got a clue - loose connections seem unlikely (how would unplugging it and plugging it back in remake the connection?)
Hopefully somebody else will respond to your question.
Good luck.

Ozzy45 · Post by **Ozzy45** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 5:52 pm

yep you're right there - thanks anyway John.

Anyone else have this problem?

Cheers
Oz

pippin · Post by **pippin** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 6:02 pm

I don't know about Garmins but the latest Tom Tom Go range was plagued with just that problem.

It was due to poor connections between the unit and the mounting cradle.

As the vehicle travelled over bumps the power connection would be lost momentarily, causing switch-off.

It was solved quite simply by a software change over the internet.

patmckenna · Post by **patmckenna** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 6:17 pm

Hi Oz

My Sat-Nav works fine when plugged into my Bongo or Aygo but when connected to my son's Vauxhall Vivaro van. it constantly drops the connection. I assume this means that the lighter-socket in the Vivaro is a little suspect - with dodgy connections perhaps?
Just a thought.

Pat Mc Kenna

Ozzy45 · Post by **Ozzy45** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 6:33 pm

Hi Pat & Pippin, thanks for the replies - I just spoke to Allan of
http://www.allansvehicleservices.co.uk
(as advertised on BF) and he also suggested it might be a dodgy connection - I hope to get down to his garage soon for him to give the
Bongo a thorough inspection, hopefully just to put my mind at rest over
my purchase.
Thanks again all.

Cheers,
Oz

Naughtydog · Post by **Naughtydog** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 7:19 pm

get your self some glasspaper, wrap a bit around a pencil and give your lighter socket a good rub out. dont waste time taking it back, try this first.

you will probably find that due the disimillar metal properties, everytime a current has been passed through, a little bit of corrosion happens between the contacts, add to this the amount of moisture that can build up in a bongo, you probably have a little rust in your hole. shove your pencil in it with some glasspaper wrapped around out and agitate it a little, blow or hover the dust out, i bet you dont have any more problems with it.
nothing worse than a rusty hole.

tomsk · Post by **tomsk** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 7:44 pm

Dear Ozzy

I have had the same problem with the Street Pilot 3. I think it is the connection itself. I just make sure it is home properly and it is usually ok. Now and then, it goes out and have to power it up again.
At least the route is still in the machine.
I had this problem on my A Class as well.
I think it is the plug on the Garmin, as other things I plug in, are ok.

Regards

Tomsk

mikeonb4c · Post by **mikeonb4c** » Sat Jul 21, 2007 10:38 pm

I borrowed an I3 from NeilT & Sandra (v kind of them) to try out SatNav. I loved it so much I bought myself one off ebay. Great bit of kit for the money. The one I borrowed was fine going up to Scotland, but started switching off coming back. NeilT suggested it was my ciggie socket and a bit of glasspapering should sort it. Strangely, the one I bought hasnt played up yet. No doubt it will

Bongovasbyt · Post by **Bongovasbyt** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:05 pm

I have the same problem with my Garmin Nuvi 350 (which I've had for about 18 months now). It works fine most of the time but now and again loses power ... I'm quite sure its a dodgy connection. I don't use anything else in the dashboard 12v supply so I can't confirm this. A bit of jiggling usually makes it come right.

Mark
..

pippin · Post by **pippin** » Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:17 pm

Bongovasbyt -

Location: Gawcott, North Bucks (but temporarily in Douala, Cameroon)

Blimey, you really must be scared of your creditors catching up with you!!!