I recently purchased this item. It powers ON when my vehicle is running but turns OFF when I turn my engine off. Does it need charging first?
768797
Have to agree with others; your cigarette lighter outlet is powered off when ignition/engine is off. If you must use this with engine off, wire up a high current capable accessory jack to your car battery with a 10-15A? fuse in-line. if your car has an accessory jack, use that. Running anything off your battery for a long duration will deplete your battery to a point where it may not start your car. Best to run your engine if you are using this for more than maybe 10-15 minutes (wild guess more or less). Check the manual for power limitation of your unit and device you want to power with it.
768798
No, your vehicle needs to be running, or your ignition key turned to the AUX position.
768799
NO, it is acting as it should. It converts the car's 12 volts to 120 volts - and only does so when it gets 12 volts.
768800
The PV150 does not hold a charge and does not contain a battery. All it does is convert the 12 volts DC from your vehicle to 120 volts AC. It turns off when your vehicle turns off because the 12 volt power outlet of your vehicle is wired to cut power when the vehicle isn't running. You could try turning the key into the 'accessory' (radio on, engine not running) position to turn the power outlet on, but I would advise against that as you run the risk of draining your vehicles battery if you leave it for a long period of time.
1001719
No it doesn't, it's designed to charge the cranking battery first, then the aux. battery, when the aux. battery is too low then You need to crank the car and charge the aux battery.
99339
If you are plugging it into a properly wired cigarette lighter outlet, the unit is off, then you have a defective unit. If you have it connected as I describe, and you turn it on with nothing plugged into the AC outlet and the fuse blows, you probably also have a defective unit. Once you have plugged in a load, then you need to examine the device you have plugged in if it also blows the fuse. The power requirement also must take the startup current into consideration.
1411406
You connected the battery power and dash power wrong you may have them backwards. The battery power keeps the device on but turns it off when the key is turned off, the dash power cable will only work for illumination purposes. The manual explains it and refer to your vehicle's specification to your stock wires. Btw auto zone has connector adapters for many vehicle makes and models so you don't have to cut your vehicles wires
679879
Charging stops when the vehicle is fully charged. After that, power draw should be negligible. Of course, you can manually disconnect at the breakers if you ever need to.
1143783
For the process of elimination make sure your power button is on on the top. Unit should be plugged into your vehicle power cord. I always have ny engine running before I plug in the power cord in. It should come on within abt 5 min or sooner. Your internal battery is charging at this time and can rub for about 30 minutes unplugged with no power. Make sure your unit is on your dash because of course it needs to have a clear line to the satellite. Hope this helps.
636286
if you have a starting and acc. battery and a trolling battery, use the two bank charger. pull in,plug in and forget it. after charging full it goes to maintenance mode.
1632489
It will charge when ignition i so, and will takes more than 24 hrs running vehcile to fill completely discharged unit. So, that works, but slowly. Always better to take the devie at home periodcally and charge there.
1238964
When you are checking the charge are you pushing the pedal. There is a switch on the dash that cuts power. Is that in the correct setting.
739795
I connected to the radio power wire. That way it works for a few minutes even after the key is turned off. Every vehicle is different of course. If you do go to the battery direct, be sure to put fuse coupler in next to battery. I have had mine installed for over a year and so far works great.
470847
If red light stays on it should be charging. If it comes on and goes off the battery should be charged and ready for use.
2001916
Kimberly, I have mine connected through USB into a plug in my 4runner. I have to turn on that outlet to receive power. If I'm driving and using the device it's charging provided I have the outlet turned on and the device turned on. Come to think of it, I don't know if it charges with the device off and plugged in. I hope that helps. I will say that I really enjoy having it, so far so good without issue in pairing the device with my iPhone 4s.Jason
1186409
As in "If your car battery gets low will this shut down?" If that's what you mean then no, it doesn't. If the device doesn't receive the charge it needs to run, however, it will shut down. Your car battery won't drain with this turned on as long as your engine's running, thus, keeping your car's battery charged.
1956603
Yes, it will still be charged. The best way to use it is to connect it to the truck battery and wait 5- 10 minutes and then try to start the truck. I have had mine for several years now and still use it every so often. It is a good jumper when you use it right and take care of it. Mine holds a charge for several months at a time before I get around to charging it again.
735680
You have to ensure the internal battery is charged or ensure that you have a good connection to the vehicle power source. If you have the USB connector you can charge it that way, although I never have been able to operate solely on the battery for any length of time.
851280
yes I prefer it that way. Their is no on and off switch on the unit. You can turn off the breaker but that too will cause it to recycle the settings every time it starts back up. The factory told me to leave it plugged in and it will learn your car and its charging system. The unit only supplies the voltage and amperage to the car. The car is actually the charger for it or has a charger built into it right in the line from the plug in for the charger cord to plug into.It is nice to have the car charged in a little over an hour.
180489
If it doesn't turn on with the vehicle, there's some kind of mechanical issue with device. It should just turn on with the car.