Bizarre 12v issue.

[Firelight76]

Hey peeps!

So the scoob came with a pretty decent Pioneer SPH-DA100.

Its one of these 'AppRadios'.

Basically it can mirror the screen of your iPhone or Android and is controllable from the Head unit screen. Pretty Nifty!

I have an Android phone and to get this working you have to get an MHL adaptor that converts the Micro-USB into a HDMI Source into the head unit.

IT requires power though - from the ciggy lighter in this case.

When the car is stationary it works like a treat! No problems, but as soon as i set off within a few meters the picture and sound cut off.

I was devasated! I didnt want to replace a 200 quid stereo! Seemed there was a fault somewhere either with the stereo or wiring somewhere.

I pulled out the unit and saw the monkey who owned the car before had done a really shoddy job with wiring the unit to the car - sellotape here, gaffer tape there....So i cleaned it all up with proper electrical tape.

Still no Joy..

Tried another HDMI cable as the one that came with the car was pretty old looking.

Nothing.

So I had an idea. I got one of those portable phone chargers, wired that up to get power from the car but the 2amp supply was feeding the MHL cable.

BOOM! Sorted.

So the question is, is the Impreza's 12v power supply shoddy? or is the ciggy lighter flakey?

The port itself doesn't look damaged, and the 12v usb converter I'm using doesn't seem to flicker or anything else.

Anyone got any ideas?

I'll take a video of the unit running from the phone - its pretty cool when its working!

[Red Baron]

Could just be the voltage drop through the wiring loom to the fag lighter. Run a nice chunky wire direct from a good 12V supply with a good in line fuse holder. Cigarette lighters, phone chargers and sat navs wil have a nice wide operating voltage of between 10 and 14 Volts, a high speed digital interface like HDMI will rely on a nice clean source voltage with no noise or inteference.

[Firelight76]

Good plan! So pretty much straight from the Battery would be best?

Is it possible the battery is on its way out as well?

I do have a battery thing on the turbo timer, might take a look and see what its doing next time I'm out.

[Scott.T]

The car voltage from fag lighter will go up to 14.5v so maybe this lack of tight voltage regulation is upsetting it.