Car Charging issues with TomTom Bluetooth GPS

[Wobbly]

I have the TomTom carkit with leads to connect my PDA to the cigarette lighter adapter and with an additional lead to power the TomTom Bluetooth GPS unit.

The TomTom GPS booklet states that if I connect the GPS to the car bracket and then plug it into the cigarette lighter, then the GPS unit will not charge / use power to drain the car battery when the ignition is switched off.

However, I have found this not to be the case. The same thing occurs when I connect the cigarette lighter adapter lead direct to the GPS unit.

ie If the GPS unit (directly or via car bracket) is connected and switched on, it will run using power from the car battery (I'm guessing that this is without affecting the charge in its internal battery). To check, I left the GPS unit connected to my cigarette lighter and switched on all day (well over 6 hours which is the standard battery life) and it was still working. Disconnecting it from the cigarette lighter lead didn't lead to the unit immediately dying (as it would if the default was to drain the internal battery and then run off the car battery).

I also think this is the case, because if I deliberately drain the GPS battery and then connect it up (with the ignition switched off), the red charge light comes on. If I then switch the GPS unit on, the bluetooth activation light flashes (to show bluetooth communication occurring) and the red charge light still shows.

I'm yet to leave the GPS battery charging to see if the light goes out - leading me to think that it is no longer draining the car battery - although of course there's no way of telling (is there?)?

Any thoughts / suggestions / solutions?

Of course, it would be nice if TomTom supplied more details on using the GPS unit and not false information...

I did see a car battery protector at maplins.co.uk, but would prefer not to introduce additional cabling to the car if I can help it!

Thanks,

W.

[MikeB]

Wobbly,

What kind of car do you have?

Most cars isolate the cigar lighter power when the ignition is off. I have a Ford Probe which doesnt , but this is an exception. I investigated having my Voyager converted as it says in the car's manual, but they wanted £60 to do it. Guess what? I didnt.

As far as the BTGPS/PDA is concerned it is the same as running them off the mains. Ie the batteries will charge up then they will continually top up the charge when full.

Wih my Probe, I leave the power on to my GPS permanantly, it doesnt really drain too much from the battery, and when I need to use the car the GPS already has a fix.
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Mike Barrett

[Wobbly]

Thanks Mike,

I have a Ford Puma - not so dissimilar to your probe...mmm interesting.

I suppose my main concern is draining the battery, so it is reassuring to know that this shouldn't happen. A secondary concern is security - leaving my PDA on full view is less than ideal (and I generally need it wherever I'm going), although happy to leave TT GPS connected which I suppose will still give a quicker fix when I return...

Related to this is another post I've made in the Palm section of the forum - if you've got a mo, could you check it and reply if you think it relevant...?
see:
http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=9900&sid=83f79c3e5a4e1f94871690022cf8b2e5

Thanks,

W.

[MrT]

My experience of cars is the opposite, every car I have had, has had a permanently on cigar lighter socket. I suppose it just comes down to manufacturers. The GPS unit itself uses minimal power.

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