Car Cigarette Lighter USB MP3 Player

[BLIXEMPIE]

Those MP3 player adapter thingies that you plug into your car's cigarette lighter, then stick a USB drive into it with MP3 files loaded onto it, then the adapter plays the music to your radio via FM. I bought one at the flea market. Now when I plug this in, it goes on, and there's no off button. So even when my ignition is off this thing will run unless you plug it out, and when you plug it out the whole thing resets and starts playing from the 1st song on the default FM frequency, and I find this extremely annoying. When I pause a song, the device ceases to communicate with the USB drive plugged into it, seeing that the USB drive's light stops flashing. So basically, when it's paused, only the LED display (like a calculator's display), the backlight, and the FM transmitter operates. So what I'd like to know is whether leaving this thing plugged in when the ignition is off will kill the car battery. My car radio also has a small light on the power button that stays on when the ignition is off, and of coarse the radio's settings are all preserved thanks to the fact that the radio is always powered.

[superdiy]

The backlight is most probably a few LEDs (4 or 6) running at a maximum of 10mA each. The processor and transmitter might also draw a few milliamps. It might kill the car's battery if you leave it for a month, but overnight or over a weekend it should not cause any problems. Best is to get a multimeter and measure the current. If you don't have a multimeter, buy a cheap digital one for around R50 bucks at Midas or you local car spares shop. If the current consumption is in the region of 50mA or less you can happily leave it running for a few days without any issues.

[Freshy-ZN]

When your ignition is off does the cig lighter still work?

[BLIXEMPIE]

Yes. It's an Uno.

[Garyvdh]

Try it for one night, but have some jumper cables ready the next morning.

[TirNaNog]

Those MP3 player adapter thingies that you plug into your car's cigarette lighter, then stick a USB drive into it with MP3 files loaded onto it, then the adapter plays the music to your radio via FM. I bought one at the flea market. Now when I plug this in, it goes on, and there's no off button. So even when my ignition is off this thing will run unless you plug it out, and when you plug it out the whole thing resets and starts playing from the 1st song on the default FM frequency, and I find this extremely annoying. When I pause a song, the device ceases to communicate with the USB drive plugged into it, seeing that the USB drive's light stops flashing. So basically, when it's paused, only the LED display (like a calculator's display), the backlight, and the FM transmitter operates. So what I'd like to know is whether leaving this thing plugged in when the ignition is off will kill the car battery. My car radio also has a small light on the power button that stays on when the ignition is off, and of coarse the radio's settings are all preserved thanks to the fact that the radio is always powered.

Get someone (if you don't have the skill to DIY) to put a switch in on the cigarette lighter line so you can switch it off as you please... either that or wire it to the second stage of your ignition so that it goes off when your ignition does. It really shouldn't stay on. That said, it won't chew power, but it could cause fire if it's an UNO. They have a way of spontaneously combusting. First hand experience

[BLIXEMPIE]

Get someone (if you don't have the skill to DIY) to put a switch in on the cigarette lighter line so you can switch it off as you please... either that or wire it to the second stage of your ignition so that it goes off when your ignition does. It really shouldn't stay on. That said, it won't chew power, but it could cause fire if it's an UNO. They have a way of spontaneously combusting. First hand experience

Lol. I can imagine. But if I put a switch on I'm still sitting with the same issue. It will reset every time.

[TirNaNog]

Lol. I can imagine. But if I put a switch on I'm still sitting with the same issue. It will reset every time.

Aah, right, I get what you are saying. Funny, mine doesn't reset. I suspect there is a battery / NVRAM that keeps settings. Why not open it up and see if that little battery is flat. If it's still under warranty, take it back (unless you got it from a street vendor cos that means unnecessarily stopping at a traffic light which is not recommended in SA). It really shouldn't lose it's settings.

I think you should ba OK to leave it on the main battery - seriously, test it for a night and see the next morning. If it's not playing, it wont use much at all... even if it is, it doesn't drive a speaker, so it wont be heavy on the juice.