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Prevent iPad From Charging

lifeinhd

lifeinhd

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 26, 2008
1,433
64
127.0.0.1
I plan to buy an iPad soon, for use in my car. Because I plan to mold an iPad dock into the dashboard, but I don't want the iPad to be always charging (only when it needs it), I need to be able to stop it charging via an app running in the background. Does anyone know of any JB apps that will let me do this? Or even any non-JB apps for that matter (yeah right)?

Thanks!
 
lifeinhd said:
I plan to buy an iPad soon, for use in my car. Because I plan to mold an iPad dock into the dashboard, but I don't want the iPad to be always charging (only when it needs it), I need to be able to stop it charging via an app running in the background. Does anyone know of any JB apps that will let me do this? Or even any non-JB apps for that matter (yeah right)?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Believe it or not, you don't have to do anything.

The power management which is built into your iPad's OS, takes care of charging duties. As soon as your iPad's battery is fully charged, the power management will automatically stop charging the battery and switch to line power.

If you still don't believe me, just start charging your iPad. As your iPad is charging, that little battery icon in the upper right corner will have a lightning bolt thru it. When the battery is fully charged, the lightning bolt will be replaced by a power plug. The power plug indicates that your iPad has stopped charging the battery and has switched to line power.

Long story short. Unless you alter the power management on your iPad, you will never... ever... not in a hundred years... damage your iPad's battery by overcharging it.
 
xraytech said:
Not Charging
http://flic.kr/p/8vYUoE

Charging
http://flic.kr/p/8vVScX

Charging Complete & Switched to Line Power
http://flic.kr/p/8vVSsi
Click to expand...

I know what you mean (I have an iPhone), but this isn't what I want to do. There are a couple cases I'd want to have it plugged in but with no power going into the unit (not necessarily the battery). First, when I'm exercising the battery (the iPad will never leave the car, so the battery will have to get its exercise while I'm on the road), when I have something plugged into the cigarette lighter with such a large current draw (such as my MBP plugged into an inverter) that I need to have everything else disconnected, or I'm merging onto the highway, where I can't afford to waste any of the engine's power on the alternator.
 
One thing to note is that the heat in an unattended car is potentially an issue for your planned installation. My husband unintentionally left his iPad in the car one day at work. Though the car was parked in the shade and the temps were only around 80 degrees, the iPad reached the danger point within an hour and shut itself down. It would not turn on again until it cooled, and that took an hour in an air conditioned office after he'd retrieved it.

After that experience, there's no way I'd consider permanently installing an iPad into my car viable.
 
lifeinhd said:
I know what you mean (I have an iPhone), but this isn't what I want to do. There are a couple cases I'd want to have it plugged in but with no power going into the unit (not necessarily the battery). First, when I'm exercising the battery (the iPad will never leave the car, so the battery will have to get its exercise while I'm on the road), when I have something plugged into the cigarette lighter with such a large current draw (such as my MBP plugged into an inverter) that I need to have everything else disconnected, or I'm merging onto the highway, where I can't afford to waste any of the engine's power on the alternator.
Click to expand...

OIC!!!

Interesting...

No app that I know of.
 
IrishVixen said:
One thing to note is that the heat in an unattended car is potentially an issue for your planned installation. My husband unintentionally left his iPad in the car one day at work. Though the car was parked in the shade and the temps were only around 80 degrees, the iPad reached the danger point within an hour and shut itself down. It would not turn on again until it cooled, and that took an hour in an air conditioned office after he'd retrieved it.

After that experience, there's no way I'd consider permanently installing an iPad into my car viable.
Click to expand...

My intended design isn't as crude as simply bolting the iPad into the dashboard or anything like that. The iPad will be dockable, so I can pull it out and stow it when away from the car for longer than, say, 20 seconds. I'm also moving the AC vents to be behind the iPad, with a hole on either side of the iPad so I can feel the air as well. Hopefully this will keep the iPad cool in the summer, and the vents can be closed in the winter.
 
lifeinhd said:
...or I'm merging onto the highway, where I can't afford to waste any of the engine's power on the alternator.
Click to expand...

You must have an extremely underpowered car if the alternator draw makes the difference between a safe and an unsafe merge.
 
I'm not sure I understand the setup you are building, but how come you can't simply unhook the iPad from your car's power source when you don't want it to be drawing power?
 
MikePA said:
You must have an extremely underpowered car if the alternator draw makes the difference between a safe and an unsafe merge.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing... If your current draw causes that, you need to get your car checked out...
 
MikePA said:
You must have an extremely underpowered car if the alternator draw makes the difference between a safe and an unsafe merge.
Click to expand...

Well, I'm not sure if the iPad alone would draw enough current to put a strain on the 80A alternator, but because my clutch slips, I need to get as much power as I can at low revs, where the pull from the alternator is most noticeable.

Night Spring said:
I'm not sure I understand the setup you are building, but how come you can't simply unhook the iPad from your car's power source when you don't want it to be drawing power?
Click to expand...

I'm going to be molding an iPad dock into the dashboard in place of the stereo, so I can slide the iPad in from the top and it'll dock. I can't unplug anything because the wires will be hidden behind the trim pieces. At this point I'm thinking my best bet would be to install a manual switch somewhere between the power source and the iPad, but I don't really have a place to mount such a switch.
 
lifeinhd said:
Well, I'm not sure if the iPad alone would draw enough current to put a strain on the 80A alternator, but because my clutch slips, I need to get as much power as I can at low revs, where the pull from the alternator is most noticeable.
Click to expand...
So, instead of getting your clutch replaced, you're spending time and probably money to mold an iPad into your dash. Makes sense to me. Whatever floats your boat.

Also, there is absolutely no way 'the pull from the alternator' is noticeable' at any rev level. You are wasting your time installing a switch to shut off charging to the iPad. Put the money you save into your new clutch fund.
 
MikePA said:
So, instead of getting your clutch replaced, you're spending time and probably money to mold an iPad into your dash. Makes sense to me. Whatever floats your boat.

Also, there is absolutely no way 'the pull from the alternator' is noticeable' at any rev level. You are wasting your time installing a switch to shut off charging to the iPad. Put the money you save into your new clutch fund.
Click to expand...

Well, the car still works, I just can't put my foot down too hard in any gear, or the revs jump. And the car's 11 years old, no sense spending $800 for a new clutch. And because it's a Toyota, the clutch will probably last another 60k anyways. The project is more for the learning experience than long-term investment anyways.
 
lifeinhd said:
Well, the car still works, I just can't put my foot down too hard in any gear, or the revs jump. And the car's 11 years old, no sense spending $800 for a new clutch. And because it's a Toyota, the clutch will probably last another 60k anyways. The project is more for the learning experience than long-term investment anyways.
Click to expand...

Get your piece of crap car off the road before you kill someone.
 
I simply cannot understand what motivates some people to be entirely unhelpful. If you have nothing pertinent to his question, why leave nasty comments instead? :rolleyes:
 
mixvio said:
I simply cannot understand what motivates some people to be entirely unhelpful. If you have nothing pertinent to his question, why leave nasty comments instead? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Because he's the moron that brought it up in the first place. This isn't kindergarten and we can be blunt.

You know what, it doesn't even matter. The OP is obviously trolling as I refuse to believe anyone is that stupid.
 
Czicks said:
Because he's the moron that brought it up in the first place. This isn't kindergarten and we can be blunt.

You know what, it doesn't even matter. The OP is obviously trolling as I refuse to believe anyone is that stupid.
Click to expand...

He's not trolling, he's asking a question. Someone asking a question does not become a "troll" because you failed to learn appropriate social skills in said Kindergarten. Learn some manners.
 
Czicks said:
Because he's the moron that brought it up in the first place. This isn't kindergarten and we can be blunt.

You know what, it doesn't even matter. The OP is obviously trolling as I refuse to believe anyone is that stupid.
Click to expand...

People are that stupid, believe it... and this isn't even that much of a stretch. He's determined to glue an iPad to the dash of his death trap of a car and kill somebody trying to walk across the street.
 
iamthekiller said:
He's determined to glue an iPad to the dash of his death trap of a car and kill somebody trying to walk across the street.
Click to expand...

It's ironic because of your username.

And the brakes work fine... better than fine in fact.

You know, why do I bother... I posted here because I was trying to ask a very focused question that I thought the Mac community might have the best answer to, but I think I'd receive more useful replies on a site dedicated to in-car computing.
 
lifeinhd said:
It's ironic because of your username.

And the brakes work fine... better than fine in fact.

You know, why do I bother... I posted here because I was trying to ask a very focused question that I thought the Mac community might have the best answer to, but I think I'd receive more useful replies on a site dedicated to in-car computing.
Click to expand...

I'm the killer of this nonsense thread, hopefully.
 
lifeinhd said:
Well, the car still works, I just can't put my foot down too hard in any gear, or the revs jump. And the car's 11 years old, no sense spending $800 for a new clutch. And because it's a Toyota, the clutch will probably last another 60k anyways. The project is more for the learning experience than long-term investment anyways.
Click to expand...

What the hell is the new clutch made of, unobtainum?

Get a cheapo off eBay and fix your damn car already. It's just a clutch. Anyone can change one of those.
 
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