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baikens89

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 14, 2008
22
0
Does anyone know of a good FM Transmitter/Car Charger...I had a Monster for my iPod, but seeing I am using my iPhone, the Monster wont charge it. Anyone have any suggestions?
 

patd

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2008
79
0
San Marcos, Ca.
Here is a Car charger and FM transmitter that I bought for my 30 gig ipod, it also works for my 3g iphone. Its made by trans dock and cost me around $60.00 at best buy. I have my phone in a clear case and did not want to remove it, so in the picture I have it just sitting on the cradle, but it fits in and charges the phone.

Do not use this charger with your iphone 3g!!
 

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SilverWings

Guest
Aug 5, 2008
23
0
Here is a Car charger and FM transmitter that I bought for my 30 gig ipod, it also works for my 3g iphone. Its made by trans dock and cost me around $60.00 at best buy. I have my phone in a clear case and did not want to remove it, so in the picture I have it just sitting on the cradle, but it fits in and charges the phone.

Patd,

Could you please tell me if you can turn that TransDock to the right and to the left or is it fixed facing the front?
 

SilverWings

Guest
Aug 5, 2008
23
0
Here is a Car charger and FM transmitter that I bought for my 30 gig ipod, it also works for my 3g iphone. Its made by trans dock and cost me around $60.00 at best buy. I have my phone in a clear case and did not want to remove it, so in the picture I have it just sitting on the cradle, but it fits in and charges the phone.

Hint: Guess what the shape of the cigarette light is? :p

There might be some kind of hinge-system in that arm. Thus my question ;)
 

patd

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2008
79
0
San Marcos, Ca.
Patd,

Could you please tell me if you can turn that TransDock to the right and to the left or is it fixed facing the front?

It looks like it will only face straight. I forgot to mention, this is my fix for the short battery life that I get using the 3g network, My phone will last for about 3 weeks with this additional battery pack, the only down side is having to carry it around with me...

Do not use this charger with your iphone 3g!!
 

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severe

macrumors 6502a
May 23, 2007
750
121
Here is a Car charger and FM transmitter that I bought for my 30 gig ipod, it also works for my 3g iphone. Its made by trans dock and cost me around $60.00 at best buy. I have my phone in a clear case and did not want to remove it, so in the picture I have it just sitting on the cradle, but it fits in and charges the phone.

Is this the same charger that's mentioned over here?: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/538410/

Because it claims the phone can't be charged in this dock. I'm a little confused. :confused:
 

patd

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2008
79
0
San Marcos, Ca.
Is this the same charger that's mentioned over here?: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/538410/

Because it claims the phone can't be charged in this dock. I'm a little confused. :confused:
This is a different FM Transmitter/charger than the one you mentioned, This one charges the battery, and I have the 3g phone

Do not use this charger with the iphone 3G!!
 

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schubes

macrumors regular
Jul 14, 2008
109
0
British Columbia

Thanks much. I see they list iPod touch as the nearest compatible product. I know another poster shows his iPhone charging on it, but I'm a but paranoid after reading this comment in another thread:

DO NOT even try it.. the iphone 3G uses only 5volts of power to power the battery, but the iphone 2G (and newer ipods) uses 12volts. using ANYTHING made for an ipod or iphone 2G WILL fry your phone.. do NOT bypass the little warning onthe iphone 3G - you CAN bypass the warning on the 2G because the voltage is the same, but the amperage is different - which measn that it will still power it without frying it..

moral of the story, DO NOT USE ANYTHING TO CHARGE YOUR 3G UNLESS IT IS SPECIFIC TO THE 3G - including FM transmitters, because those draw power.

Is the fact that this other guy's 3G is not fried yet proof enough?
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
i guess on SOME of the chargers, the pins do not connect inside the iphone, so someone said that the worse it could do is just not work, but if it DOES work, but it does NOT say that it is for the 3G, then do not use it. Like i said, the voltage is entirely different and will fry it. No matter what. It will still work, but eventually it will fry if that much voltage is going through your phone.

I dont understand WHY the made the 3G with only 5Volts and the lack of firewire pins, but i believe it had to do with simplifying the circuitry.
 

schubes

macrumors regular
Jul 14, 2008
109
0
British Columbia
i guess on SOME of the chargers, the pins do not connect inside the iphone, so someone said that the worse it could do is just not work, but if it DOES work, but it does NOT say that it is for the 3G, then do not use it. Like i said, the voltage is entirely different and will fry it. No matter what. It will still work, but eventually it will fry if that much voltage is going through your phone.

I dont understand WHY the made the 3G with only 5Volts and the lack of firewire pins, but i believe it had to do with simplifying the circuitry.

Dang! There is an auction ending shortly and my bubble be popped...

Companies need to get on the horn here and make some 3G compliant car kits already. The demand is swelling (and I don't want to risk frying my baby)
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
dude, i have a 2G and I still cant find the right outfit for my car!! My issue, though, is the stupid location of my outlet. It is literally 2 inches away from my key hole for the ingnition, so any of those big honky plugs for the chargers/FM transmitters will fit, but then i cant get the key in the hole.. and the ones that have the cable instead of the gooseneck are not an all in one. So i feel your pain. its REALLY annoying/
 

schubes

macrumors regular
Jul 14, 2008
109
0
British Columbia
dude, i have a 2G and I still cant find the right outfit for my car!! My issue, though, is the stupid location of my outlet. It is literally 2 inches away from my key hole for the ingnition, so any of those big honky plugs for the chargers/FM transmitters will fit, but then i cant get the key in the hole.. and the ones that have the cable instead of the gooseneck are not an all in one. So i feel your pain. its REALLY annoying/

No doubt. I considered something like this http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.aspx?ID=843 but that doesn't charge, and I'd still need an arm and/or cradle. For the 200+ dollars or whatever it comes to, I'd rather wait and listen to the radio...
 

schubes

macrumors regular
Jul 14, 2008
109
0
British Columbia
Companies need to get on the horn here and make some 3G compliant car kits already. The demand is swelling (and I don't want to risk frying my baby)

This guy seems to be all over it:

I would be very careful with using any car chargers and FM transmitters pre-3G release.

I only trust my local genius bar people (Ardmore PA, Apple Store), and they have confirmed that just about every single car charger/FM transmitter uses a "firewire bus" which is NOT compatible with the iPhone 3G. Even if it states on the box that it is "iPhone compatible" it still most likely uses a firewire bus. Apparently, there is only one car charger that is currently confirmed not to screw up your new iPhone, and I think it was one of the Belkins. Even if it says when you plug in the phone that it is working fine, it will apparently screw something up internally. I don't remember exactly what the created problem was.

Even going to another Apple store (King of Prussia PA, Apple Store), the concierge people and even genius bar people had no idea about the difference. And they were just telling people that everything that says "iPhone compatible" would work.

Give the genius bar at the Ardmore PA store a call if you can't take my word for it. They've already confirmed exchanging many phones (including one of the employees of the store) because of this problem.


I hope there's enough people of this (Ardmore PA) pedigree working at so-called Genius Bars relaying the strife up to the big dogs...
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
He's all over it because he's listening to what others are telling him.

I explained this on another thread but i will do it again.

The reason the ipod and iphone2G chargers do not work on the 3G is because the pins do NOT connect to the phone on the inside. That would mean that NO power is going to your phone, so it will not fry your battery, but also will not charge. The other end is the chargers that are still WRONG, but the pins DO connect (because they are universal and made for other phones too) the phone DOES get power, but it gets the WRONG power. It is getting the FULL 12Volts from the car battery and probably pulling more amps than it needs which will fry it. The electronics inside of the charger (which is why they are all big) is what decides how many amps to pull. If the circuitry is made to pull 2 amps, but there is only a 1 amp fuse in there, then the device will still work, just not get as much juice.. HOWEVER with the 3G, since it needs to pull LESS amps, then if you have a 2 amp car charger (which is what the iphone 2G and ipod ones are), you will fry your battery and ciruitry of your phone with requires only a 1 amp fuse.

So basically, you need a charger that is going to take the 12 volts and only use 5 volts, and THEN only run 1 amps through the cable into the phone. You can do this on your own by taking it apart and adding a 1 amp fuse and converting something, but do you REALLY want to do that>

Unless you have a REALLY expensive system, it is not nessecary.
 

schubes

macrumors regular
Jul 14, 2008
109
0
British Columbia
He's all over it because he's listening to what others are telling him.

I explained this on another thread but i will do it again.

The reason the ipod and iphone2G chargers do not work on the 3G is because the pins do NOT connect to the phone on the inside. That would mean that NO power is going to your phone, so it will not fry your battery, but also will not charge. The other end is the chargers that are still WRONG, but the pins DO connect (because they are universal and made for other phones too) the phone DOES get power, but it gets the WRONG power. It is getting the FULL 12Volts from the car battery and probably pulling more amps than it needs which will fry it. The electronics inside of the charger (which is why they are all big) is what decides how many amps to pull. If the circuitry is made to pull 2 amps, but there is only a 1 amp fuse in there, then the device will still work, just not get as much juice.. HOWEVER with the 3G, since it needs to pull LESS amps, then if you have a 2 amp car charger (which is what the iphone 2G and ipod ones are), you will fry your battery and ciruitry of your phone with requires only a 1 amp fuse.

So basically, you need a charger that is going to take the 12 volts and only use 5 volts, and THEN only run 1 amps through the cable into the phone. You can do this on your own by taking it apart and adding a 1 amp fuse and converting something, but do you REALLY want to do that>

Unless you have a REALLY expensive system, it is not nessecary.

Thanks for going in depth on this. I am content to sit and wait for real 3G options...
 

patd

macrumors member
Jul 28, 2008
79
0
San Marcos, Ca.
i guess on SOME of the chargers, the pins do not connect inside the iphone, so someone said that the worse it could do is just not work, but if it DOES work, but it does NOT say that it is for the 3G, then do not use it. Like i said, the voltage is entirely different and will fry it. No matter what. It will still work, but eventually it will fry if that much voltage is going through your phone.

I dont understand WHY the made the 3G with only 5Volts and the lack of firewire pins, but i believe it had to do with simplifying the circuitry.

I went and looked up the specs on the battery and the Transdock classic, and it looks like you are 100% correct, I use the transdock for my ipod video, I will not ever plug my iphone into it again, thanks for the very helpful posting.
 

lindsayanng

macrumors 68000
May 4, 2008
1,515
1
East Haven, CT
happy to help!! I have been saying this ever since i found out that there were two different circuits inside the chargers.. some people thought i was full of crap because it was "working"

We will see, come september 0- we will see a bunch of dead batteries and people complaining that their phone won't hld a charge.

I still havent been able to figure out a solution to my car/iphone issue! i hate my car.
 
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