Leadtek 9532 Power Supply Problems?

[grahamwalker]

My trusty (and excellent) Leadtek 9532 failed recently - It blew the fuse on the power lead and then, when I replaced the standard 1 amp fuse with a 2 amp one (cos that was all I could get), it worked for a while again but then failed completely (leaving the power lead too hot to touch...).

I remember that initial deliveries of the 9532, when it was new, were delayed due to "power supply" problems, but know no more.

Has anyone else experienced problems with the 9532?
I have to say that apart from the above failure the unit is absolutely excellent.
For in-car navigation, I can't see the benefit of a bluetooth device, as you need to run a power lead to keep the battery charged anyway.
I get a fix within a few seconds of starting the car and, for the first time, saw a solid lock on all twelve channels last week!

I just wondered if my failure was a one-off or whether there is a general problem?

[Dave]

Graham, I don't recall any delivery delays due to power supply problems. In-fact I've never heard of a 9531/9532 stop working or blow it's fuse. You have to remember that the 9532 is running the same cable setups as 9531's so if there was a problem, then a lot of people would be experiencing the same problem as the 9531's are extensively in use.

It sounds to me that if the fuse blew, that you may be getting spikes from your alternator, it might be an idea to get a multimeter from Maplins and test the voltage/ampage from your accessory socket, or perhaps take it into a garage.

It could be that you've had a bad cable, but if the fuse has already blown, it smacks to be more of a power supply issue from the battery/alternator. Putting a 2 amp fuse in will make the lead get hot, because it's not the right amp fuse to use, in effect you're letting too much current through.

You can purchase replacement cables from http://www.widget.com for £20 (that's if the GPS is still okay).

[grahamwalker]

Dave,
Thanks for your helpful comments, but using a higher fuse won't in itself force more current through and make the cable hot.

It will only let more current through if the device is trying to draw more current than it should.

If nothing was faulty, it wouldn't matter what fuse you used, the current drawn would be the same.

I've got a new 9532, have put a 1 amp fuse back into the power supply and all's well again, which suggests that it was the 9532 unit that was drawing too much current for some reason or another, before it packed in altogether...

Cheers,
Graham

We see you’re using an ad-blocker. We’re fine with that and won’t stop you visiting the site.
Have you considered making a donation towards website running costs?.
Or you could disable your ad-blocker for this site. We think you’ll find our adverts are not overbearing!