On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 02:08:13 GMT, John DeGroof
put finger to keyboard and composed:

My brother's iPod died after using a new car charger. All firewire
devices I've tested provide 12v, including the iPod A/C adapter. The
Monster car charger provided 11.4-13.66v, which tells me it's either
defective or unregulated. In any case the iPod died within 1 minute
of the new charger's first use.

I've identified what is most likely the problem (not the result), but
need help identifying the part. Being inline with the firewire power
input, it'd make sense it's either a dual transistor, power regulator,
rectifier, etc. - I'm not sure.

I took a picture of the part and posted it to my webpage. The bad
part is identical to the good one next to it, and is located above the
large Ti chip. Part numbers are KJGN5 and KJGN6. Any idea what they
are, or where to find a replacement? Thanks in advance.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jdegroof5/ipod.jpg


Could it be a diode array for ESD protection?

eg http://pdfserv.maxim-ic.com/en/ds/MAX3202E-MAX3206E.pdf


- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 's' from my address when replying by email.

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 17:23:51 +1000, Franc Zabkar
put finger to keyboard and composed:

On Wed, 31 Mar 2004 02:08:13 GMT, John DeGroof
put finger to keyboard and composed:

My brother's iPod died after using a new car charger. All firewire
devices I've tested provide 12v, including the iPod A/C adapter. The
Monster car charger provided 11.4-13.66v, which tells me it's either
defective or unregulated. In any case the iPod died within 1 minute
of the new charger's first use.

I've identified what is most likely the problem (not the result), but
need help identifying the part. Being inline with the firewire power
input, it'd make sense it's either a dual transistor, power regulator,
rectifier, etc. - I'm not sure.

I took a picture of the part and posted it to my webpage. The bad
part is identical to the good one next to it, and is located above the
large Ti chip. Part numbers are KJGN5 and KJGN6. Any idea what they
are, or where to find a replacement? Thanks in advance.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jdegroof5/ipod.jpg


Could it be a diode array for ESD protection?

eg http://pdfserv.maxim-ic.com/en/ds/MAX3202E-MAX3206E.pdf

Your IC is possibly equivalent to the MAX3202E. FWIW, Maxim provide up
to two free samples.


- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 's' from my address when replying by email.

Because this is a very expensive toy, I would send it out to have it
properly service, rather than guess at any type of part replacement.
Obviously the car charger must be defective, or the wrong type!

I hope the user did not skimp on the car charger and get something
universal. We found that with these universal chargers, when used with
sensitive equipment, they can easily do a lot of damage!

The part you want is not a generic number, and you may have to go to the
proper service people to have your unit serviced. It is also possible that
whatever else that IC is feeding may be damaged as well.

If the car adaptor is an original option for your unit, bring that with you
when you have the iPod serviced. Try to see if you can have this done under
warranty. What you want to achieve is to prove that their products are
defective, and they should cover for this. Normally the manufactures will
give a warranty for all of their products, providing that all the used
options are their own.

If the charger is not an original part, there is no way that they will give
warranty for your unit.

--

Greetings,

Jerry Greenberg GLG Technologies GLG
=========================================
WebPage http://www.zoom-one.com
Electronics http://www.zoom-one.com/electron.htm
=========================================


"John DeGroof" wrote in message
...
My brother's iPod died after using a new car charger. All firewire
devices I've tested provide 12v, including the iPod A/C adapter. The
Monster car charger provided 11.4-13.66v, which tells me it's either
defective or unregulated. In any case the iPod died within 1 minute
of the new charger's first use.

I've identified what is most likely the problem (not the result), but
need help identifying the part. Being inline with the firewire power
input, it'd make sense it's either a dual transistor, power regulator,
rectifier, etc. - I'm not sure.

I took a picture of the part and posted it to my webpage. The bad
part is identical to the good one next to it, and is located above the
large Ti chip. Part numbers are KJGN5 and KJGN6. Any idea what they
are, or where to find a replacement? Thanks in advance.

http://home.earthlink.net/~jdegroof5/ipod.jpg

--
John DeGroof, Compressionist
DVD, DAD, DVD Audio, MPEG, AC3, DTS, PCM, DSD, MLP

Not so obvious actually. If the car charger is supposed to be
regulated to 12v, then the 11.4v-13.66v does indicate it's defective.

However, it might not have been designed to be regulated and only
provide car power. If that's the case, I suspect it may have been
already charging when the car was started, and a voltage spike was
passed through the charger. While I'd consider that a design flaw,
it'd be a long battle through the courts to get reimbursed.

Actually, since this corresponds to the typical car voltages, that
would imply there is no regulation at all. Whats inside that charger?
A handful of filter caps and a zener, or a real switching supply?


-Chris