Alternator whine when charging iPod

[keitheva]

I know there have been many posts on the subject of alternator noise and the many possible causes/solutions, but I have a specific situation and I wonder if I might get a specific answer how to eliminate it:

Scenario 1. iPod (not charging) connected via headphone-out to aux-in on head, no whine.

Scenario 2. iPod in docking cradle plugged into cigarette lighter socket, connected via headphone-out to aux-in on head, whine.

Any ideas how to eliminate the whine in scenario 2?

Tia.

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[RamenNoodles 10+ year member]

I was having the same problem before as well.

It would sound fine if the aux to aux was all in and it wasnt charging, but as soon as you plugged in the iPod charger while the aux to aux was plugged in, there was a shrill whine through the that went with the engine RPM.

I just stopped charging the ipod while i was listening to music lol

 

[RamenNoodles 10+ year member]

And got a nicer headunit

 

[pilyin 10+ year member]

One thing I bet you'll notice is that if you use your laptop in that aux port, you'll get buzz also. I'm not 100% sure, but I think that those ports can't handle the additional power used when your iPod is plugged in. If you have one, use the aux port on the back of the HU (RCA aux) port and you won't have the buzz. If you don't have that, consider an upgrade in the HU area.

 

[keitheva]

Thanks all. I just ended up putting in a switch on the cigarette socket so I can turn it (charging) off while I'm listening to music. A kludge at best, but...