Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

I'm not exactly sure which 'replacement fuse' you are replacing?
Fuse inside the charger or one inside car? If a car fuse is blowing,
then the charger plug (into Honda power outlet) may be shorting. This
because a charger's plug is not properly designed to not shift.

Fuses blow typically because hardware has failed. Fuses do not
protect hardware. Fuses are for human safety; so that failed hardware
does not kill humans.

If "the manager guy there told me in general it's not a good idea to
have any charger plugged in until the car has been started because it
may not handle the power surge", then that charger is defective by
design. SAE and ISO standards are explicit. Charger can experience up
to (if I remember) 230 volts on 12 volt supply. A charger should
withstand at least 60 volts due to a rare condition that all vehicle
electronics must withstand without damage: load dump.

IOW start a car every time and have no electronics damaged. How
often is the car computer destroyed by a startup surge? This was
standard probably longer than you have existed. The Radio Shack
manager would be hyping a myth.

But again, not entirely clear which fuse is blown. Therefore I am
not sure a charger failure occurred. Charger plug into Honda's power
outlet may be defective by design. Shifting the plug may cause a short
circuit that blows Honda's fuse. Honda's fuse blows to protect you
from a short circuit created by a defective (by design) charger power
plug.

jeffy3@hotmail.com wrote:
> Thanks much. Went to Radio Shack to get a replacement fuse (which were
> naturally out of stock) and the manager guy there told me in general
> it's not a good idea to have any charger plugged in until the car has
> been started because it may not handle the power surge. Seems like a
> lame answer to me.

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

I'm not exactly sure which 'replacement fuse' you are replacing?
Fuse inside the charger or one inside car? If a car fuse is blowing,
then the charger plug (into Honda power outlet) may be shorting. This
because a charger's plug is not properly designed to not shift.

Fuses blow typically because hardware has failed. Fuses do not
protect hardware. Fuses are for human safety; so that failed hardware
does not kill humans.

If "the manager guy there told me in general it's not a good idea to
have any charger plugged in until the car has been started because it
may not handle the power surge", then that charger is defective by
design. SAE and ISO standards are explicit. Charger can experience up
to (if I remember) 230 volts on 12 volt supply. A charger should
withstand at least 60 volts due to a rare condition that all vehicle
electronics must withstand without damage: load dump.

IOW start a car every time and have no electronics damaged. How
often is the car computer destroyed by a startup surge? This was
standard probably longer than you have existed. The Radio Shack
manager would be hyping a myth.

But again, not entirely clear which fuse is blown. Therefore I am
not sure a charger failure occurred. Charger plug into Honda's power
outlet may be defective by design. Shifting the plug may cause a short
circuit that blows Honda's fuse. Honda's fuse blows to protect you
from a short circuit created by a defective (by design) charger power
plug.

jeffy3@hotmail.com wrote:
> Thanks much. Went to Radio Shack to get a replacement fuse (which were
> naturally out of stock) and the manager guy there told me in general
> it's not a good idea to have any charger plugged in until the car has
> been started because it may not handle the power surge. Seems like a
> lame answer to me.

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

"Steppenwolf" <aspenbus"@"ballsouth.net> wrote in message
news:Ody_f.12$2_.4@bignews8.bellsouth.net...
>I would be less inclined to blame the radio knowing that it had been
>changed as well, and would look at the wiring more closely for a short or a
>poor ground. The first thing I would want to do is to find out how much
>current (amperage) draw the unit has while running. For instance, if it was
>protected by a 14 amp fuse and drawing 10 amps regularly, (just as an
>example) this might be enough to blow the fuse after a few days but not
>right as soon as it is plugged in.
>
Most modern high current electronic devices use switch-mode power supplies,
which are compact, inexpensive and efficient. One of the peculiarities of
switch-mode supplies is that they draw more current at lower voltages
(pretty much constant power), so if you are trying to power them while
cranking the current may be too high.

While you are looking at it, jeffy, if the fuse is in the part that plugs
into the socket unplug it and give it a feel after it has run a minute to
see if it is hot. It may be that the socket is bad (oxidized center contact)
and is simply overheating the fuse.

Mike

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

"Steppenwolf" <aspenbus"@"ballsouth.net> wrote in message
news:Ody_f.12$2_.4@bignews8.bellsouth.net...
>I would be less inclined to blame the radio knowing that it had been
>changed as well, and would look at the wiring more closely for a short or a
>poor ground. The first thing I would want to do is to find out how much
>current (amperage) draw the unit has while running. For instance, if it was
>protected by a 14 amp fuse and drawing 10 amps regularly, (just as an
>example) this might be enough to blow the fuse after a few days but not
>right as soon as it is plugged in.
>
Most modern high current electronic devices use switch-mode power supplies,
which are compact, inexpensive and efficient. One of the peculiarities of
switch-mode supplies is that they draw more current at lower voltages
(pretty much constant power), so if you are trying to power them while
cranking the current may be too high.

While you are looking at it, jeffy, if the fuse is in the part that plugs
into the socket unplug it and give it a feel after it has run a minute to
see if it is hot. It may be that the socket is bad (oxidized center contact)
and is simply overheating the fuse.

Mike

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

I really appreciate everyone's thoughts. It's all pretty interesting to
me , although frustrating too. TO answer W_Tom's question, it is the
fuse inside the car chargers that keep blowing...and it doesn't happen
on the car charger for my MP3 player or my cell phone...it's only
happening with the ones using the Sirius radios....last night I put a
new fuse in and made sure to have it unplugged from the socket before
starting the car and so far, so good...the other thing I should add is
that there are two sockets in my car, one in the between the seats
console and one under the dash....I haven't been able to pinpoint if
both are causing the fuse blowouts or not...maybe I should buy a bunch
of fuses and do a lot of testing with each socket to see if it's one or
both that are causing the blowouts.

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

I really appreciate everyone's thoughts. It's all pretty interesting to
me , although frustrating too. TO answer W_Tom's question, it is the
fuse inside the car chargers that keep blowing...and it doesn't happen
on the car charger for my MP3 player or my cell phone...it's only
happening with the ones using the Sirius radios....last night I put a
new fuse in and made sure to have it unplugged from the socket before
starting the car and so far, so good...the other thing I should add is
that there are two sockets in my car, one in the between the seats
console and one under the dash....I haven't been able to pinpoint if
both are causing the fuse blowouts or not...maybe I should buy a bunch
of fuses and do a lot of testing with each socket to see if it's one or
both that are causing the blowouts.

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

A short ciricuit before the fuse will not blow a fuse. If the fuse
"is the fuse inside the car chargers", then short circuit that can blow
the fuse is insiide Sirrius equipment - not in a power outlet.

BTW, what numbers define that fuse? One kludge solution might
involve replacing that fuse with an automatically resetting type fuse
such as from Raychem/Tyco.

jeffy3@hotmail.com wrote:
> I really appreciate everyone's thoughts. It's all pretty interesting to
> me , although frustrating too. TO answer W_Tom's question, it is the
> fuse inside the car chargers that keep blowing...and it doesn't happen
> on the car charger for my MP3 player or my cell phone...it's only
> happening with the ones using the Sirius radios....last night I put a
> new fuse in and made sure to have it unplugged from the socket before
> starting the car and so far, so good...the other thing I should add is
> that there are two sockets in my car, one in the between the seats
> console and one under the dash....I haven't been able to pinpoint if
> both are causing the fuse blowouts or not...maybe I should buy a bunch
> of fuses and do a lot of testing with each socket to see if it's one or
> both that are causing the blowouts.

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

A short ciricuit before the fuse will not blow a fuse. If the fuse
"is the fuse inside the car chargers", then short circuit that can blow
the fuse is insiide Sirrius equipment - not in a power outlet.

BTW, what numbers define that fuse? One kludge solution might
involve replacing that fuse with an automatically resetting type fuse
such as from Raychem/Tyco.

jeffy3@hotmail.com wrote:
> I really appreciate everyone's thoughts. It's all pretty interesting to
> me , although frustrating too. TO answer W_Tom's question, it is the
> fuse inside the car chargers that keep blowing...and it doesn't happen
> on the car charger for my MP3 player or my cell phone...it's only
> happening with the ones using the Sirius radios....last night I put a
> new fuse in and made sure to have it unplugged from the socket before
> starting the car and so far, so good...the other thing I should add is
> that there are two sockets in my car, one in the between the seats
> console and one under the dash....I haven't been able to pinpoint if
> both are causing the fuse blowouts or not...maybe I should buy a bunch
> of fuses and do a lot of testing with each socket to see if it's one or
> both that are causing the blowouts.

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

Also an Accord 2004, I had a problem with cell phone charger. The
charger worked fine in other cars, but blew the Honda fuse
immediately. Honda dealer said yeah, they've seen that a lot, that
Honda sockets are "funky". A new charger has worked for me, the few
times I've used it, though I expect it to blow at any time. Beats me
what the actual problem is.

J.



On 10 Apr 2006 05:48:18 -0700, jeffy3@hotmail.com wrote:

>I got SIRIUS satellite car kit which plugs into the electrical outlets
>in my Honda Accord (2004) and the first one died after less than a
>week, then I exchanged it for a new charger and that one died in 5
>minutes. I was then thrilled to find that a charger I have for another
>device matches the specifications of the Sirius charger, so was using
>that and now this morning that charger is dead. I'm starting to wonder
>if maybe a power surge is causing this? Should I always unplug these
>chargers when I turn off the car, and not plug them in again until the
>car has been started? I took the one charger apart...can I repair it
>by just replacing the little cylinder fuse inside? Are they easy to
>find? Any help would be appreciated.

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

Also an Accord 2004, I had a problem with cell phone charger. The
charger worked fine in other cars, but blew the Honda fuse
immediately. Honda dealer said yeah, they've seen that a lot, that
Honda sockets are "funky". A new charger has worked for me, the few
times I've used it, though I expect it to blow at any time. Beats me
what the actual problem is.

J.



On 10 Apr 2006 05:48:18 -0700, jeffy3@hotmail.com wrote:

>I got SIRIUS satellite car kit which plugs into the electrical outlets
>in my Honda Accord (2004) and the first one died after less than a
>week, then I exchanged it for a new charger and that one died in 5
>minutes. I was then thrilled to find that a charger I have for another
>device matches the specifications of the Sirius charger, so was using
>that and now this morning that charger is dead. I'm starting to wonder
>if maybe a power surge is causing this? Should I always unplug these
>chargers when I turn off the car, and not plug them in again until the
>car has been started? I took the one charger apart...can I repair it
>by just replacing the little cylinder fuse inside? Are they easy to
>find? Any help would be appreciated.

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

Appreciate the info. I've learned that you don't need to buy a new
charger, just change the fuse. You can get 4 for about a buck fifty.

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

Appreciate the info. I've learned that you don't need to buy a new
charger, just change the fuse. You can get 4 for about a buck fifty.

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

Completely irrelevant to the problem is what JXStern has posted, as
demonstrated by facts in a previous post. He says:
> The charger ... but blew the Honda fuse immediately.
> Honda dealer said yeah, they've seen that a lot, that
> Honda sockets are "funky".

But jeffy3 says fuses inside a Sirrius charger are being replaced.
That 'funky' Honda power outlet cannnot and will not blow fuses inside
a Sirrius charger - obviouslyt. Two events are completely different.
Also in that other post is a question : what is the size of that
Sirrius fuse? Responses will only be as good as information provided -
which is why replacement fuse numbers were important.

jeffy3@hotmail.com wrote:
> Appreciate the info. I've learned that you don't need to buy a new
> charger, just change the fuse. You can get 4 for about a buck fifty.

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

Completely irrelevant to the problem is what JXStern has posted, as
demonstrated by facts in a previous post. He says:
> The charger ... but blew the Honda fuse immediately.
> Honda dealer said yeah, they've seen that a lot, that
> Honda sockets are "funky".

But jeffy3 says fuses inside a Sirrius charger are being replaced.
That 'funky' Honda power outlet cannnot and will not blow fuses inside
a Sirrius charger - obviouslyt. Two events are completely different.
Also in that other post is a question : what is the size of that
Sirrius fuse? Responses will only be as good as information provided -
which is why replacement fuse numbers were important.

jeffy3@hotmail.com wrote:
> Appreciate the info. I've learned that you don't need to buy a new
> charger, just change the fuse. You can get 4 for about a buck fifty.

Re: Car Chargers Keep Blowing Out
 

"w_tom" <w_tom1@usa.net> wrote in message
news:1144878165.580966.81800@u72g2000cwu.googlegro ups.com...
> Completely irrelevant to the problem is what JXStern has posted, as
> demonstrated by facts in a previous post. He says:
>> The charger ... but blew the Honda fuse immediately.
>> Honda dealer said yeah, they've seen that a lot, that
>> Honda sockets are "funky".
>
> But jeffy3 says fuses inside a Sirrius charger are being replaced.
> That 'funky' Honda power outlet cannnot and will not blow fuses inside
> a Sirrius charger - obviouslyt. Two events are completely different.
> Also in that other post is a question : what is the size of that
> Sirrius fuse? Responses will only be as good as information provided -
> which is why replacement fuse numbers were important.
>
There are two ways it can blow the fuse in the charger. The first is if the
fuse is in the plug - a common location. In that case the poor connection
conducts heat straight into the fuse. The second is if the poor connection
reduces the voltage into the charger to the extent that the charger draws
too much current in order to supply the required power. Either of those is
not unusual.

Mike