iPhone 4 aux issue in VE

[dredrum]

I've now owned two VE's, a 2007 omega and a 2007 Calais V and I've had the same problem in both. When the phone is plugged into the rear centre console 12v plug charging and trying to play through the aux port, there is a very noticeable electrical interference/whine that changes pitch with engine revs. I've now tried 3 different charger setups and still can't get rid of it.

Anybody had the same issue and managed to fix it?

[TinSnips]

Had the same issue - only fix I've found is don't charge it while you're playing music from it. I've tried fancy noise cancelling things, grounding things, nothing seems to work (the noise cancelling thing I had just cut the left channel from the ipod and left the interference!)

[D3CID3R]

Tin did u try running the ground on the console socket straight the the battery?

[dredrum]

Gay!!

Perhaps some resistors need to be put on the positive or negative before the power hits the socket?? I've never had this problem on any other car.

[TinSnips]

Tin did u try running the ground on the console socket straight the the battery?

No I didn't get that creative. Me and electrical work mostly ends in tears, so I make do with the battery life or cds.

But I think you're definitely on the right track - From what I understand, it is the grounding that's the issue.

[SHEENY05]

Exact same issue in my 08 SS ute and it really s@&ts me !!!

[astroham]

there wouldn't even be a problem if the i phone had better battery life ... GRR

[dredrum]

there wouldn't even be a problem if the i phone had better battery life ... GRR

Hahaha ding ding ding...we have a weiner!
Or If I didn't constantly rely on car trips to charge it.

[turmoil117]

The same thing happens in my vs and my gf's magna the only way I found to stop it is I bought a headunit with a USB slot in the front of it. But I don't think it would be worth it for a ve



Rory

[astroham]

although i dont use my iphone for music so i have never had this problem, it sounds like the 14.4V from altenator is interfering with the audio out cable from the i phone as they are right next to each other ... has anybody tried (as gay as this sounds) wrapping either the audio cable or the charge cable or even both seperately in aluminium foil to stop the cross over of signals ... cause i had a similar thing at home with a light interfeering with a radio and this stopped it ... i would try it but i dont have my car here at the moment ... can somebody try it and let me know?

[dredrum]

iPhone 4 has plugs at top and bottom of phone....buuut, could it possibly be the metal band that surrounds the iPhone transferring signal?

[TinSnips]

It's definitely interference from the alternator as the interference rises and falls in relation to the motor. Also, it's not iphone specific. Will happen to anything that is charging and playing at the same time.

[SV6.07]

the winning noise your hearing is from the alternator . i got resistors put into my alternator and fixed the wining sound. and interference . this is why your hearing it with the engine revs. each time u rev your speeding up the alternator and giving you the wine sound and interference as well. had the same problem on 3 other cars. and resistors onto the alternator fixed it totally. so pop to a auto elec and tell him to put resistors onto the alternator and its fixed. common problem with some cars. but it can be fixed. i got it done on my 3 other cars. and my current car.

[TinSnips]

hmmmm.. good tip! I'll look into it!

[dredrum]

Hell yes, thank you sir! I'll give the sparkys a call today

[dredrum]

Well first bloke (one closest to the pub) said that he couldnt do anything cause new cars apparently already come resistored for interference and I should go to a car sound place. Rang them, they suggested a suppression thing, which is what im assuming tinny has tried.

[bdc74]

I would be curious to see if anyone has tried one of those cables that plugs into the bottom of the dock connector on an iphone 4 that has a 3.5mm plug on the end so it takes Line levl out of the phone rather than speaker output level and whether this fixes the problem. I have the same issue even when its plugged into the TomTom carkit!

[TinSnips]

I have. Doesn't work.

[SV666]

Easy solution would be is don't charge it. I don't own a iphone (android all the way) but I use my ipod instead and just to play music only time when it enters the house would be to update songs and charge and its good on one charge for over a week! (Depends on how you use it) for me 40min up and 40min back to and from work I get about a weeks use on a single charge. I used to charge and play music via aux when I had my meteor at the time but using that method killed my battery and in one go my alternator ignition module let go not to mention that the ipods battery life suffered only being charged by the batteries current charge.. So refuse to charge an electronic device in a car.

[Hym1e]

I've had the same problem aswell. What I done is changed the clips that attach the facia to the stereo itself, Bought a cheap belking rectractable headphone port and it works perfect! Haven't tried charging it at the same time though but this wokrs for me

Hope it helps

[Jjfur87]

Had the same issue. It's a grounding issue when the charger is plugged in, as it creates a ground loop. What you need is a ground loop isolator. There's a few of them out there if you whack it into google. It'll get rid of the whirring noise without any negative effects on the sound quality.

[calais06]

Had the same issue. It's a grounding issue when the charger is plugged in, as it creates a ground loop. What you need is a ground loop isolator. There's a few of them out there if you whack it into google. It'll get rid of the whirring noise without any negative effects on the sound quality.

I got a group loop isolator from jaycar, biggest one they have. Fixed the whirring noise, but cut the volume in half.
I just dont have mine on charge anymore because when I use an adapter to use 2 plugs at once (one to charge phone, and one that is only used intermittently) it blows the fuse in the adapter.. Not sure why though.

[Shamous69]

I use my iPhone for music (via headphones) up to 12 hours a day while truck driving. Just a suggestion for those with iPhones with poor battery life, have you tried closing off all the applications from running in the background before opening Music? I've found that I can listen to music up to 12 hrs in a day and usually have 50-60% battery left and that includes driving in country areas in and out of service all day (and if I use aeroplane mode up to 70%).

For anyone who doesn't know how to, To close background apps, double press the main home button, then all the open apps will show up at the bottom, press and hold on one of them, they will start moving and come up with a red circular dash thing that you can press to close the app, do that with all apps. Note: Closing off phone, messages or clock will not hinder its operation either, calls and messages will still come through and alarms will still activate. This procedure saves me a lot of frustration.

[Jjfur87]

That sucks man. I didn't actually purchase my one, I contacted kensington and they sent one out to me. It didn't come in a packet and has no marks to indicate kensington even made it, but I haven't noticed any change in sound quality or volume with it yet.

That said, I try not to use it because its a bulky bloody thing, although its come in handy when driving interstate.

[stevenroar]

Also had the same issue, not with my phone though with the DVD players .. My niece and nephew were watching a DVD while it was charging and I was driving.. Had that same noise!
Thanks for the useful info!