IPod charging question

sbmcd · Aug 29, 2014

When I specified my media in interface for my iPod Classic I expected it to not only allow the interface but also charge the iPod at the same time. Not sure if this a problem with the VW design or just my California. Does anyone else have the same issue?

My last car was an VW Audi that had the same media in interface, uses the exact same cable and that did charge the iPod.

Larkrise · Aug 29, 2014

Yes, I was surprised by this one too.

sbmcd · Aug 29, 2014

Had I gone for a USB adapter media-in for my iPod would that have solved the charging issue? USB should have 5v power.

skinnywhippet · Aug 29, 2014

We went for the USB only media-in and that does charge an iPod or iPhone. It doesn't recognise them as devices for any other purpose, but Bluetooth works for playing music.

sbmcd · Aug 29, 2014

skinnywhippet said:
We went for the USB only media-in and that does charge an iPod or iPhone. It doesn't recognise them as devices for any other purpose, but Bluetooth works for playing music.

When you say it does not recognise them as devices, does that mean the track / artist / album info does not display and allow selection? My old iPod classic does not have Bluetooth so we need a hard wired connection.

skinnywhippet · Aug 29, 2014

We have an RNS510 and when the iPod / iPhone is plugged in to the USB media-in, the 510 displays a message saying there is a 'device without function' and the phone displays a message saying 'unsupported device' or similar.

So they just don't recognise each other at all with the physical connection, only the charging works. Bluetooth seems the only way for us to play music via an Apple device.

Pineweasel · Aug 29, 2014

I have the media interface with the iphone/iPod connector and it definitely charges the devices ( as long as the ignition is on). How old is your iPod? The really old ones probably won't charge off the VW connector but anything recent should.

sbmcd · Sep 4, 2014

Thanks for all the responses to my question, after some more investigation it would appear that the iPod was charging when the ignition is on.

The problem seems to be that the iPod classic does not switch off when the I switch off the media unit which is why I was always ending up with a flat battery. Now that I know to switch the iPod off as well as the media unit, problem is solved.