Cigarette lighter not powering FM Transmitter

I don't have an ipod, but another mp3 player, and I have a similar FM transmitter product from Griffin. It works fine in the Prius.

 

I've powered an XM radio and a 140W inverter through the 12V outlet with no problems.

 

I have found that some 12v plugs don't fit as easily as others. That could be the first problem. I too have a splitter that alleviates that problem. When I was using the FM modulator with my satellite radio, I too had some difficulty. I would go through some spots where I would get a lot of feedback and/or static. Lifting my foot off the floor (while still on the pedal) helped for some reason. I also had to pick a station much higher than the normal ones. I was using 95.1 (or something in that range) instead of the typical 88.1. That helped. I think a lot of other drivers had their FM modulators set to the lower frequencies, which would cause my static. I no longer have that problem because I switched to a wired FM modulator. I don't know if they make one specifically for the ipods, but they do make wired FM modulators for auxiliary inputs. DICE would be even better.

 

One thought is that the whole 12 system is driven off a couple of inverters. Inverters are terrible for producing noice in pretty much everything. The question how ever is it RF noise in the air or is it coming thew the power in the 12v outlet. The 12v outlet would be easy to fix with some filtering capacitors. Much like the high end stereo nuts would use to filter out noise from an alternator. If it's in the air I don't really have any good idea to reduce that.

 

I am too lazy to read the whole thread, so I forgive me if you have already covered this. make sure to check if the metal contacts of the FM Transmitter is making contact to the appropriate areas of the 12v power recepticle. You asked if the Prius' recepticle is different than other cars. Well I have noticed that all of my accessory cords are difficult to put in, and even harder to pull out. They almost get stuck.

Hope this helps.

 

I believe the outer contacts are the grounds. The pointy end is the positive contact. Maybe the pointy end doesnt make contact. Try sticking it in further. It's the cheapest solution I can think of.

 

does the socket have power? did you try the one in the console?

I bought mine used and the socket had a bad power or ground connection at the spade connector to the socket. I ran a coouple of jumpers for sub/ amp on signal and fixed my problem at the same time.

Steve