Does your Belkin auto pause your iPod?

[altreality]

I searched all over the forums to find out if the Belkin Auto Kit really pauses the iPod when it loses power. Seems like half of you say it does, and the other half say otherwise. I called Belkin and they said there is "no such feature" on this unit. Bought one today and what do you know, it pauses my 40G perfectly every time power is disconnected. The SiK Imp I have here doesn't do that, so it has to be a feature of the Belkin.

So I decided to start a poll. I'd like to get to the bottom of this once and for all. If someone else has already done this, I apologize; please kindly point me in the right direction.

Note: Before voting, please make sure your Belkin unit is the more expensive unit with the audio output (Belkin Part #F8V7058). Also, please check this by actually pulling the unit out of the cigarette lighter while your iPod is playing or observing that the LED goes out when you turn off the ignition to ensure the unit is really losing power. Lastly, make sure you are plugging the Belkin unit directly into the iPod, not through the dock or some other piece of equipment. If you ARE going through the dock or something else and the pause feature still works, please reply here and let us know.

Thank you!

[rkremser]

Yes Mine will pause my 30 gig but put under other for there was no 30gig option.

[converge]

mine pauses too. i thought it was supposed to.

[altreality]

>> i thought it was supposed to.

I thought the same thing, but this thread (http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15887&highlight=belkin+pause) shows mixed results, and Belkin is telling me "There is no such feature." I'm just really curious as to why or how this is working for some people and not for others, especially considering Belkin's denial that it exists.

I have to wonder how much of this is iPod firmware. As we know, firmware version 2.1 had a problem with this auto-pause feature of the Belkin power supply. When the Belkin paused the iPod, it would never power down. This was fixed in version 2.2. So I'm curious, if this is a firmware thing, then why doesn't the iPod pause for other power supplies such as the Imp or this Dr. Bott's charger I also bought?

Anyhow, I scoured the net and could not find anyone who wanted to get to the bottom of what's really happening here, so I figured I'd give it a shot.

[MOCKBA]

I do not think that you speak to a designer of adapter at Belkin. More likely it was a person without any ideas what's inside. So s(he) could tell you just what written on the box. Look on picture of disassembled Belkin somewhere in threads here, and you can find extra wire not related to sound, so it's possible control interface.

[altreality]

More likely it was a person without any ideas what's inside. So s(he) could tell you just what written on the box.

I'm sure you're right about the person I spoke with knowing nothing about the product other than what's on the box. That still doesn't explain why Belkin won't advertise this feature. Why isn't it on their web site? Why isn't it on the box? Why isn't it mentioned in the literature that comes with the product? I think most people here find the auto-pause to be a major feature. You'd think Belkin would advertise it, especially considering they're the only ones who do it.

Maybe their marketing team just sucks?

[epolieboy]

This auto pause feature really interests me and now I am considering buying the belkin. Let me just ask a few things first. It only auto pauses when the belkin loses power. Do you have to unplug it out of the cigarette lighter or just when you turn the ignition off? When I turn my Chevy Blazer off, the cigarette lighter does not lose power. It continues to charge whatever is in it. Is there a way to make the cigarette lighter lose power when the car shuts off (maybe with wiring) because I like to install the stuff behind my dash and then it would be pointless to get the belkin if the auto pause didnt work.

Or...this is what I thought could happen but I am not sure. When I shut the car off their is a quick surge of power loss and the belkin picks that up pauses it and then starts charging again. Does anyone experience this.

By the way does it unpause when it regains power?

[Guy Kuo]

Yes, it really does pause the iPod upon loss of power. You need the Belkin with the audio output. Once you get it, have an electronics knowledgable friend help you rewire it so you have direct line out and bypass the amplifier. That way you'll get full fidelity sound and auto-pause/off functionality.

[epolieboy]

I already know all that, read my post more carefully. I am asking about the car and how you can rewire the cigarette lighter to turn off when the car does.

I came across a possible solution. I read that if you tap it in to the existing cigarette charger it wont ever shut off. However, if I were to tap it in to a 12V ACC line or the headunit line or something, then when the car shuts off so does the cigarette lighter enabling the auto pause. Is anyone familiar with this?

[altreality]

epolieboy,

Do you have to unplug it out of the cigarette lighter or just when you turn the ignition off?
The Belkin unit will only pause the iPod when it loses power. If your cigarette lighter is not switched with your key - that is, if it's powered all the time even when the car is off - then you will have to pull the Belkin unit out of the cigarette lighter to pause it.

Can you rewire your cigarette lighter? Yes, absolutely. But I wouldn't. It's much easier to simply add another cigarette lighter outlet and wire it up to the +12V ACC and GROUND lines of your stereo. Then you can hide the whole thing behind your dash. See my response to this post (http://ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=36223) for more details on how to do this.

If you really want to rewire your cigarette lighter, you can clip the +12V line coming into it, and wire it up to your +12V ACC from your stereo instead. However, I would caution you against this for the following reason: The power coming into your lighter is pretty robust - you'll notice that the +12V is rather thick. It's probably a 10 or 12 gauge wire. The wire on your stereo is probably 16, 18 or 20 gauge. If you rewire your main cigarette lighter like this, it is NOT going to be able to handle very much current. It will run your iPod or a cell phone just fine, but some day you (or someone else) might plug in a portable air compressor or other power hungry device and blow a fuse, melt wires, or start a fire. If you put in a dedicated outlet for your iPod and hide the whole thing behind the dash, this won't be a problem because you'll never plug anything else into it.

Now it is possible to do this safely; that would involve adding a relay to switch the high current power on and off, and using your +12V ACC line from your stereo as a trigger. It's simple to do, but isn't something I want to try to explain here. Ask a friend who has some electronics knowledge about this if you really want to go down that route.

Also, the Belkin does NOT resume playing when you reapply power. It will start charging, but you have to hit play to start the music.

Hope this helps.

[epolieboy]

Yeah this does help a lot. I was actually already using an extra cigarette lighter outlet I bought at Radio Shack, so I'm just gonna go do what you said. Thanks alot!

[Guy Kuo]

I'd like to see particulars (firmware version, comfirmation of Belkin model, confirmation that turning off engine shuts off accessory outlet) on the one "No" response. Something is amiss with that one.

[asadowsk]

3G 20gig iPod (version 2.2)

Yes with the Belkin auto kit (line out at cig lighter with volume slide). At first I did not think nothing special of it, then I tried with the iPod own (AC) power cable it came with, with/without the dock it did NOT pause after disconect. I then had the oportunity to try the Monster iCharger (NOT FM modulator) and it did NOT pause either. So it may be either because of the amp/attenuator volume control on the Belkin when powered off for some reason triggers the iPod to pause and subsequently shut off (can be viewed as a positive thing- however in the case of the iCharger if not hardwired one can remove the power, or choose to not continually charge the battery, and use the cig lighter outlet for other means such as cell phone, or radar detector... while continuing to play). Anyways although at first liking the matching white cord, I'm loving the Monster setup! I have the RCA audio cable threaded through the iCharger coiled cord so it is basicly one card (I was concerned with having two cords strung from the iPod but when I found out the iCHarger cord was coiled that sweetened the deal).

2002 Honda Civic, Stock head unit, Blitzsafe HON/AUX adapter (easy reach around install w/o stereo removal), everything works perfectly, no ground loop noise problem, the headphone jack does sound comparably the same (you have to have it at full volume) but the line out is just the more proper way to go, plus dam if I am having a wire on top and on the bottom.

This thing is awsome everyone says they want one!!!

Waiting on the Blitzsafe for the 2003 Honda Accord, they say should be available sometime in July.

Somethings to consider What version of iPod are people running, there ARE different Belkin power chargers car kits, not to mix things up.

[MOCKBA]

Originally posted by altreality
I'm sure you're right about the person I spoke with knowing nothing about the product other than what's on the box. That still doesn't explain why Belkin won't advertise this feature. Why isn't it on their web site? Why isn't it on the box? Why isn't it mentioned in the literature that comes with the product? I think most people here find the auto-pause to be a major feature. You'd think Belkin would advertise it, especially considering they're the only ones who do it.

Maybe their marketing team just sucks? I hope it isn't Easter eggs feature. Why it wasn't advertised? Limited space on box? Actually I think that far not all cars have switchable lighter, so it's always on in most cars (at least American). An ordinary customer can have no idea about lighter feature of own car. And building advertisment in this way a bit risky, people can start complain. I can see another reason of this feature, as preventing draining iPod batteries, although it isn't critical in a car anyway.

[dbett]

I have the Belkin with line out connected to a switched cigarette lighter jack. My iPod does not pause when the Belkin loses power.

The only explanation I have is that I have my Belkin running through the dock - so it's not connected directly to the iPod. I know that the dock splits off the audio lines, so it might also be splitting off the remote control lines (?) that the Belkin uses to pause/power down the iPod.

:confused:

[altreality]

The only explanation I have is that I have my Belkin running through the dock - so it's not connected directly to the iPod.
Yep, that's your problem. The Belkin will not auto-pause if it's going through the dock.

If I were going to use a dock, I'd buy another one and remove or otherwise rewire the board inside to pass all pins through unchanged.