TomTom / Iphone battery and overheating problems

[Lunarpsychology]

Has anyone else noticed their iPhone 3GS significantly overheating when running TomTom? I’ve also noticed that my battery drains very quickly, so much so that it almost a percent every minute. I lost just over 20% capacity from fully charged in exactly 30 minutes of TomTom use, again significantly faster than if I used the iPhone to play a game or surf the web.

 

[dhn]

No need to post a message in a font size 5 times normal. People will see what you posted, trust me.

 

[bobpenn]

Has anyone else noticed their iPhone 3GS significantly overheating when running TomTom? I?ve also noticed that my battery drains very quickly, so much so that it almost a percent every minute. I lost just over 20% capacity from fully charged in exactly 30 minutes of TomTom use, again significantly faster than if I used the iPhone to play a game or surf the web.

I don't think you can realistically run a GPS app on the iPhone without being plugged into the car's DC power. I wouldn't even try to use it without external power. You can get the plug from eBay for around a dollar if you search.

 

[mikealder]

You really need a dedicated car holder to make best use of the iPhone as a GPS navigation device that also powers the phone, I use a Brodit active mount that I hard wired in to the vehicle:

1/ It keeps the phone powered up
2/ Reduces the backlight dropping out
3/ Ensures the device isn't sliding about in the car

Mike

 

[Markjans1]

Overheating

The iPhone certainly does get hot with tomtom running. When r tomtom releasing the carkit and will this fix the problem? There should also be a screensaver function to reduce power needs maybe?
Mark

 

[mikealder]

The device is running hot due to the processor being hammered by the application, a new mount won't make the slightest bit of difference in terms of device temperature - Mike

 

[LloydBanks]

The iPhone certainly does get hot with tomtom running. When r tomtom releasing the carkit and will this fix the problem? There should also be a screensaver function to reduce power needs maybe?
Mark

I will second Mikealders reply. I have the kit and it makes no difference to how hot the phone gets.

 

[kg11]

same problem
I have owned iphones since they were available and have never felt it heat up like this
The battery drain when attached to the car kit is unbelievable
you can literally watch the battery go from full to 20% in a matter of 20 minutes to 25 minutes
When the tom tom software is used outside of the kit i do not have this problem. Nether the overheating nor battery consumption

 

[kg11]

Another thing which is interesting why i am using the car kit with the tom tom software the unit is plugged into the cigarette lighter socket drawing power from the car battery how is it that the battery is draining at all
It is supposed to charge the battery while you drive not discharge it
I have a stand alone car charger and it charges the battery when i use the tom tom software and heats up a little. We are talking warm not hot
I am currently plugged into the standard iphone wall mains adapter with the tom tom software running as we speak and the unit is not getting hot at all and the battery is certainly not draining
What is that all about. I have wifi turned on and bluetooth

 

[mikealder]

When the phone is sat charging the process or isn't doing much at all so you don't get much heat build up, running a navigation app on the iPhone the processor will be running flat out which creates heat build up and power requirements increase, the car kit should be capable of charging the phone with the application running it shouldn't be discharging the iPhone - Mike

 

[scotttkd]

When the phone is sat charging the process or isn't doing much at all so you don't get much heat build up, running a navigation app on the iPhone the processor will be running flat out which creates heat build up and power requirements increase, the car kit should be capable of charging the phone with the application running it shouldn't be discharging the iPhone - Mike

Mike...I have the same problem mentioned, a tremendous amount of heat, and though the TomTom car kit shows it is charging the phone in the battery icon, it is discharging at a faster rate than it is charging...i too watch the unit discharge while in the car kit while driving down the road

 

[LloydBanks]

Be interesting to see if Navigon users have the same trouble.

 

[mikealder]

I have used a number of GPS Nav apps on my iPhone and they all increase the temperature of the device by an amount that you notice, I wouldn't say they get hot but they are warm to touch, to date I have tried:
TomTom, I-Go, Sygic, Co-Pilot, Navigon, G-Map and Navmii and all of them do increase the phones temperature and will flaten the battery fairly quickly unless the iPhone is sat in a powered car holder - Mike

 

[scotttkd]

I have used a number of GPS Nav apps on my iPhone and they all increase the temperature of the device by an amount that you notice, I wouldn't say they get hot but they are warm to touch, to date I have tried:
TomTom, I-Go, Sygic, Co-Pilot, Navigon, G-Map and Navmii and all of them do increase the phones temperature and will flaten the battery fairly quickly unless the iPhone is sat in a powered car holder - Mike

Mike...I agree on the heat, but the unit discharging faster than it can charge while using the TomTom carkit is a major problem for me...a carkit should charge a battery while it is plugged in, it appears the app draws power faster than the carkit can charge...was hoping someone on the forum had a similar issue and a quick fix!

 

[mikealder]

I am not even sure what happened to the charger lead with my TomTom car kit but I am currently powering it from a Go-930 car charger cable I had spare in a box with no issues at all, As I recall this charger lead is rated at 2 amps - Mike

 

[scotttkd]

I will give that a go...I have several charge cords around with the same mini usb connector...thanks for the reply.

 

[scotttkd]

fixed....the stock power cord is only 1.2 amp and apparently not enough to power and charge both devices....i used my old tomtom one cord rated at 2 amp and phone charges fine.

thanks to everyone who replied

 

[bonjourdel]

I had this problem before where I would have the Iphone charging in the car and the battery would still drain when using TomTom. I was using a cheap car charger from Ebay.

I bought another charging lead from Tesco for about ?10 and the phone charges OK now. The lead is much better quality and must have a higher power output.

 

[CocoaLove]

Well.. mine still does not charge with 2amp TomTom car charger when app is running. I also have Sygic mobile and have no issue with charging when it is running. Seriously TomTom needs to solve this problem. The app consumes too much power. Bad programming logic I guess.

 

[iflower3]

tom tom iphone overheating

just started up my iphone without the charger connected and it shut down.. and quite hot to touch.. tried this yesterday with charger for 30 minutes and it was quite warm and dint seem to pick up any charge.. started half full finished about the same.. is there a fix to this yet.. already have a tomtom 910 which is quite good but the iphone app complete car kit seems a great combo.