3g iphone not charging in Audi A4

[baronbuzby]

I bought a brand new A4 last year with factory fitted ipod kit - I have used it withan ipod and an iphone (first gen).

I bought a new 3g iphone last month to find that it no longer charged. According to numerous forums it transpires that apple changed the charging spec to 5v from 12v 3 years ago!

I then wrote to apple and after 4 weeks got the folllowing reply:

Dear Mr Dean

Following my email of 05 August I have now had the opportunity to discuss your concerns with Audi's Technical Department.

They have advised me that the I Pod kit fitted by the factory charges all I pods with 5 volts and there should, therefore, be no problem.

I would advise you to contact your Local Audi Centre with a view to investigating the matter, as there may be a problem with the set up on your I Pod kit.

Thank you for bringing this matter to Audi UK's attention and I hope this issue does not deter you from enjoying your Audi A4.

Fiona Bruce
Customer Liaison Manager, Audi AG

I don't know what to do next as I am sure this letter is inaccurate.

has anyone else had the same issue - apparently it affects VW, BMW and Mercedes as well!

[jasonfields007]

Hi There,

I have the same issue with my VW Golf ipod kit. The issue is not that of voltage. The issue is that many ipod connector kits that also charge do so via the Firewire pins on the iPhone.

The iPhone 2.5g (1st generation) and all iPods are able to be charged by USB and Firewire, however with the 3G only can be charged by USB as Apple have not included the ability to charge by Firewire.

I beleive this is bid by Apple to force all manufacturers to charge by USB therefore saving Apple costs and possibly space by not having to include Firewire pins.

There was a bulletin sent out from Apple a while ago with a suggestion that Apple are choosing the USB route but many manfacturers have seemed to ignore it.

I am hoping there is a solution out or coming out that will allow a converter to be put in place between the ipod lead from your car and the iphone which swaps the pins to allow charging - i'm sure there's more too it but there is the basic idea - hoping that it's possible!

In the meanwhile I have resorted to a normal car charger (basically a normal iPhone USB lead with a cigarette lighter plug) and making sure my battery is fully charged over night so I can enjoy music in the car.

Your other option is to swap your ipod interface to a AUX input (lead from the headphone socket) so that frees up the charging interface at the bottom so you can also have a car charger - allowing you to play and charge at the same time.

Hope this post has helped you.

Kind regards

Jason

[jasonfields007]

Found this on another forum relating to BMW.

Turns out there are different pins for charging for USB & Firewire, and Apple did not include Firewire charging on the iPhone 3G. Only solution is an adapter, or replacement adapter for the factory iPod kit, that provides the USB power (5V) instead of the Firewire power (12V).
Technically doable, but no word on an official (or unofficial) adapter as far as I’ve seen.



I have found a company thats working on an adaptor - keep an eye on
http://cablejive.com/iphone_3g_charge_converter.html
and http://home.swipnet.se/ridax/connector.htm?connipod.htm

Kind regards

Jason

[baronbuzby]

Problem now sorted

http://iconfessimageek.com/?p=156

[CMcK]

That's just what I need for my cars and iPhone 3G as well. Thanks for the tip.